Antecedents of self-regulation: A developmental perspective.

Abstract

The emerging ability to comply with caregivers' dictates and to monitor one's own behavior accordingly signifies a major growth of early childhood. However, scant attention has been paid to the developmental course of self-initiated regulation of behavior. This article summarizes the literature devoted to early forms of control and highlights the different philosophical orientations in the literature. Then, focusing on the from early infancy to the beginning of the preschool years, the author proposes an ontogenetic perspective tracing the kinds of modulation or control the child is capable of along the way. The developmental sequence of monitoring behaviors that is proposed calls attention to contributions made by the growth of cognitive skills. The role of mediators (e.g., caregivers) is also discussed. During the second year of life, children increasingly demonstrate signs of selfhood and autonomy. This growing sense of identity, coupled with the ability to recall the dictates of caregivers, leads to a new dimension in behavior. Children begin to appraise the requirements of social and nonsocial situations and to monitor their own behavior accordingly. Slowly and precariously they move toward self-regulation, an achievement that Flavell (1977) descibes as being one of the really central and significant cognitive-developmental hallmarks of the early childhood period (p. 64).