Five dimensions of affective development in the preschool child¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The report organizes affective development—defined broadly as "the emotional state and the personal attitudes of the individual"—into five critical dimensions: emergence of self, caretaker attachment, adaptation-mastery, self-concept, and socialization. The authors chose these dimensions "because they appear to be central to affective development" and use them as the analytic framework linking theory, curriculum materials, assessment devices, and bibliography entries throughout the report. They caution that the dimensions are interrelated and may develop simultaneously, while still mapping them to approximate age periods from birth through 48 months.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Affective development must be treated as an interrelated set of dimensions rather than independent segments

Constraints¶

• The authors state the separation of physical, cognitive, and affective components is an artificial one imposed for utility

Target Learners¶

• normal and handicapped preschool children (infancy through 48 months)

Target Learning Objectives¶

• affective development including emotional state, self-concept, and socialization

Claims¶

Related Theories¶

• Control systems view of the infant as a competent, adaptive system
• Five-dimension framework of affective development in preschool children

Examples¶

• Annotated bibliography of 27 instruments for assessing preschool affective development
• Bibliography of 29 curriculum materials for affective development

Key Sources¶

• Casto, Glendon; Biaggio, Mary Kay; Hoagland, Victoria; Muller, Deborah. (1976). Affective Behavior in Preschool Children. Final Report. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED135162