AP PSYCHOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Highlights: Sharing is hard for toddlers because it involves thinking about someone else’s feelings, wants, and needs and they haven’t developed the ability to do that yet. Self-centeredness in toddlerhood is a normal part of development, and not a reflection of parenting or caregiving.

Detailed explanation-2: -Our recent work finds that one of the reasons young children fail to share when they know they should is that they simply lack the cognitive toolbox to do so. In particular, children’s underdeveloped counting skills play a role in their ability to distribute resources fairly.

Detailed explanation-3: -The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) (n.d.), tells us that children who are younger than 3 CANNOT understand the idea of sharing. In fact, child development specialists explain that sharing skills usually do not appear until around 3.5 to 4 years of age (MacLaughlin, 2017).

Detailed explanation-4: -By age three, many children are beginning to understand about turn-taking and sharing. For example, your preschooler will probably understand that sharing equally is the ‘fair’ thing to do, but they still might not want to share if it involves giving up something.