It is understandable if one is frustrated and impatient with his or her child’s development. One can behave in ways that are difficult for an adult to understand. However, such odd behaviors are a necessary part of a child’s development. At 4 years of age, the child is in the preoperational stage in Piaget’s theory (Grison et al., 2017). He or she is only learning to think logically and may be unable to grasp concepts that seem obvious to an adult (Grison et al., 2017). The child can also seem to lack empathy and act selfishly; this is also normal as the child learns to understand how others think or feel (Grison et al., 2017). One should also expect his or her vocabulary to grow rapidly, but not always grammatically perfect; in particular, one might overapply known rules (Grison et al., 2017).
Erikson’s theory sheds light on one’s social development at this age. Specifically, a 4-years-old preschooler is becoming capable of feeling guilt and taking on basic responsibilities (Grison et al., 2017). In this theory, the latter behavior should be encouraged because it will help the child grow and adjust to his or her social environment later in life (Grison et al, 2017).
References
Grison, S., Heatherton, T. F., & Gazzaniga, M. S. (2017). Psychology in your life (2nd ed.). W. W. Norton & Company, inc.