A comparison between a girl of 8 years old and one of 16 years old, talking about who they are
A comparison between a girl of 8 years old and one of 16 years old, talking about who they are
Is there any developmental trend?
Abstract:
Two girls, an 8 year old and a sixteen year old were interviewed talking about who they are, following Rosenberg’s categories .It was found that there is a developmental trend between the girls. The locus of self – knowledge shifts with the age from relating on others to relating to the self.
Introduction:
Younger children focus on describing external characteristics when they talk about who they are, for example, physical appearance and routine activities they participate in, on things that other people are able to observe. As children get older, they focus more on internal characteristics, emotions, relationships with others.
Do children have an independent sense of self or is it simply a reflection of the ideas of others? Rosenberg called this locus of self – knowledge and he explored it by asking questions like: If I asked you and your mother how smart you were and you gave different answers, who would be right? Younger children were more likely to rely on another person as the reference point. Only 15 per cent placed the locus of self-knowledge within themselves, comparing with nearly 50 per cent of the older children. The locus of self – knowledge changes with age. This suggests that children come to understand that no one else can fully understand their experiences, feelings.
Methods
Design
In this practical report children and young people were interviewed about what they think about themselves.
Participants
The persons who were interviewed were two girls, a 8 years old from a primary school called Annie and a 16 years old from secondary school, called Kirsty. Both of them were from Milton Keynes.
Materials
The interviews were conducted by two members of the ED209 module team: Kieron Sheeby with the younger girl and Peter Barnes with the older girl.
Procedure
Two schools, one primary and one secondary,
Is there any developmental trend?
Abstract:
Two girls, an 8 year old and a sixteen year old were interviewed talking about who they are, following Rosenberg’s categories .It was found that there is a developmental trend between the girls. The locus of self – knowledge shifts with the age from relating on others to relating to the self.
Introduction:
Younger children focus on describing external characteristics when they talk about who they are, for example, physical appearance and routine activities they participate in, on things that other people are able to observe. As children get older, they focus more on internal characteristics, emotions, relationships with others.
Do children have an independent sense of self or is it simply a reflection of the ideas of others? Rosenberg called this locus of self – knowledge and he explored it by asking questions like: If I asked you and your mother how smart you were and you gave different answers, who would be right? Younger children were more likely to rely on another person as the reference point. Only 15 per cent placed the locus of self-knowledge within themselves, comparing with nearly 50 per cent of the older children. The locus of self – knowledge changes with age. This suggests that children come to understand that no one else can fully understand their experiences, feelings.
Methods
Design
In this practical report children and young people were interviewed about what they think about themselves.
Participants
The persons who were interviewed were two girls, a 8 years old from a primary school called Annie and a 16 years old from secondary school, called Kirsty. Both of them were from Milton Keynes.
Materials
The interviews were conducted by two members of the ED209 module team: Kieron Sheeby with the younger girl and Peter Barnes with the older girl.
Procedure
Two schools, one primary and one secondary,
References: ED209, Study Guide 2, 2006, The Open University. Peter Harris, 2002, 2nd edition Designing and Reporting Experiments in Psychology Rachel George, John Oates and Clare Wood, (2006) Methods and Skills Handbook. Sharon Ding and Karen Littleton (2005), Children’s Personal and Social Development, Milton Keynes, Blackwell, The Open University. The Open University (2006) Media Kit part 2, Video Band 3: Self Concept Interview A (Annie) and Self Concept Interview E(Kirsty)