The Development of Intentional Action. Contributions to Human Development

Transcription

1 The Development of Intentional Action Contributions to Human Development Vol. 22 Series Editor Deanna Kuhn, New York, N.Y. KARGER Basel Munchen Paris London NewYork. New Delhi Bangkok Singapore Tokyo Sydney The Development of Intentional Action Cognitive, Motivational, and Interactive Processes Volume Editor Merry Bullock, Munich 3 tables, 1991 KARGER Basel Munchen Paris London New York. New Delhi Bangkok Singapore Tokyo Sydney Contributions to Human Development Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Development of intentional action: cognitive, motivational, and interactive processes / volume editor, Merry Bullock. (Contributions to human development; ISSN vol. 22) Papers presented at the 1987 Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development in Tokyo. Includes bibliographical references and index. l.intentionalism - Congresses. 2. Motivation (Psychology) - Congresses. 3. Self-perception - Congresses. 4. Cognition and culture - Congresses. I. Bullock, Merry. II. International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development Meeting. III. Series: Contributions to human development; v. 22 BF619.5.D ' 138-dc20 ISBN All rights reserved. No part ofthis publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, micro-copying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. <c> Copyright 1991 by S. Karger AG, P.O. Box, CH-4009 Basel (Switzerland) Printed on acid-free paper. ISBN Contents Contributors... VII

2 Preface....VIII Kay Donahue Jennings Early Development of Mastery Motivation and Its Relation to the Self-Concept Operationalizing Mastery Motivation Development of Mastery Motivation Relationship between Motivation and Self-Concept....9 References Paul Lutkenhaus, Merry Bullock The Development of Volitional Skills...14 Empirical Study of Young Children's Volitional Skills Developmental Mechanisms Conclusion References Matty van der Meulen Toddlers' Self-Concept in the Light of Early Action Theory Developmental Research on the Self-Concept Self-Reference in Natural Speech of Toddlers Conclusions References Contents VI Claire B. Kopp Young Children's Progression to Self-Regulation Role of Caregivers Cognitive Mechanisms Conclusion References Donna L. Bradshaw, Hiroshi Usui, Kazuo Miyake, Rosemary G. Campos, Joseph J. Campos Cross-Cultural Differences in Maternal Control Communications and Child Compliance: Japan and the USA Parental Controls and Child Compliance Early Socialization for Compliance in Japan Cross-Cultural Investigation of Control and Compliance Conclusions Acknowledgment References Clemens Trudewind Commentary: The Interplay of Motivation and Cognition in the Early Development of Intentional Actions Motivation

3 Motivation and Cognitive Representation Self-Concept Self-Regulation versus Self-Direction in Adapting to Standards. 74 Conclusion References Subject Index Contributors Bradshaw, Donna L., Department of Psychology and Social Relations, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (USA) Bullock, Merry, Max Planck Institute for Psychological Research, Leopoldstrasse 24, D-W-8000 Munich 40 (FRG) Campos, Joseph J., University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA (USA) Campos, Rosemary G., University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA (USA) Jennings, Kay Donahue, University of Pittsburgh, 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA (USA) Kopp, Claire B., Psychology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA (USA) Meulen, Matty van der, Institute for Personality and Developmental Psychology, Oude Boteringestraat 34, NL-9712 GK Groningen (The Netherlands) Miyake, Kazuo, Psychology Department, Kawamura Gakuen Women's University, Abiko-shi, Chiba-ken (Japan) Lutkenhaus, Paul, Erziehungs- und Familienberatungsstelle, Gabelsbergerstrasse 46, D- W-8070 Ingolstadt (FRG) Trudewind, Clemens, Department of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Postfach , D-W-4630 Bochum (FRG) Usui, Hiroshi. Hokkaido University, Sapporo (Japan) Preface Few would argue with the proposition that the emergence of an ability to control and achieve intended outcomes is among the major developmental changes in the first years of life. This ability entails many seemingly diverse components: a sense ofthe selfas an agent; the ability to represent future goal states; knowledge of how activities and outcomes are related; the representation of standards - either personal or social - that define successful outcomes, and the motivation and control to behave according to one's knowledge. Yet, we know surprisingly little about the precise developmental chronology or about the mechanisms important for the development of successful intentional behavior. The articles assembled in this volume grew out of a symposium presented at the 1987 Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development in Tokyo. When Paul Lutkenhaus and I originally organized a symposium on this topic, we conceived of it as a forum for gathering research perspectives relevant to asking how cognitive, behavioral

4 and motivational processes contribute to the development and regulation of intentional actions. It seemed to us that an integration oftheoretical perspectives and empirical findings from diverse research areas - self-regulation, self-concept, compliance, action control and mastery motivation - might provide a way ofmore fully describing what it is that changes as children gain increasing intentional control, and might allow us to more precisely ask about the mechanisms underlying these changes. We began with a working definition of an intentional action. It is a sequence of behaviors organized around achieving an anticipated and desired outcome. Each set ofauthors ofthe chapters in this volume draws on this definition to some degree in asking about different phenomena that Preface IX occur in the toddler age range. One might categorize the present chapters in terms of those involving a discussion of the more 'internal' factors related to action development and those involving a discussion of more 'external' factors. On the more 'external' side, Kopp discusses the nature of self-regulation and its developmental precursors in the adoption of standards in interaction with parents, and Bradshaw et al. consider how the practices of parents across two cultures affect one aspect of self-control, compliance. On the more 'internal' side, Lutkenhaus and Bullock consider what volitional skills, such as monitoring and control, are necessary for the attainment of intended outcomes in problem-solving situations. Jennings considers an endogenous motivational basis ofaction - mastery motivation. She discusses how this construct is measured, describes a proposed developmental chronology and suggests that changes in the expression ofmastery motivation are tied to the child's growing self-concept. Most models of intentional behavior or self-regulation, including those implicitly endorsed in the present articles, assume that aspects of the self, especially knowledge of the self as an agent, play an important role in the development and use ofself-regulatory processes. However, this aspect ofthe self is rarely studied in very young children. Van der Meulen describes the relevant child language research and asks whether one can find evidence of a differentiated self-concept in toddlers. As a whole, these articles are quite diverse in the phenomenathey consider, in the ways in which the sources of action control or self-regulation are characterized, and in the developmental processes implied. Taken together, they suggest the sorts of phenomena and underlying mechanisms a more complete model ofaction development must include. Such a model must cover the prerequisite cognitive and volitional skills for performing successfully, the motivations for performing, whether they are to comply with important social others or simply to exercise an endogenous motivation to master the environment, and it must explain how the child's sense ofthe selfas an enduring, active

5 agent both directs and is affected by changes in action control. In his commentary on the chapters, Trudewind addresses these issues and outlines some ofthe points on which the different authors agree and disagree. As Trudewind notes, such a set ofdiverse articles cannot achieve the goal of proposing what a full model ofthe development of actions would be. As a group, however, they provide an important contribution in making the diverse perspectives explicit and in outlining what we already know about early action development and what we have yet to learn. Merry Bullock