Lecture 4: Emotional Development and Attachment

Socioemotional development is a combination of

Emotional development and social development

What is emotional development?

Development of qualitatively distinct emotions

What is social development?

Development of social interactions, focus primarily on interpersonal interactions

At birth, infants have emotions of:

Distress or contentment

Temperment is…

Individual differences in emotional, motor, attention reactivity, and self regulation

Temperament traits are the result of ______ between one’s _______ and experience

Interaction, biology

Give an example of temperament

Some infants cry easily, while others do not

What are the four categories of infant temperament?

1. Easy babies

2. Difficult babies

3. Slow-to-warm-up babies

4. Hard to classify

What percent of infants are classified as “easy babies”?

40%

What percent of infants are classified as “difficult” babies?

10%

What percent of infants are classified as “slow-to-warm-up babies”?

15%

What percent of infants do not fall into a specific temperament classification?

35%

Easy babies…

Adjust easily to new situations and quickly establish daily routines (sleeping, eating); generally cheerful and calm in mood

Difficult babies are….

Slow to adjust to new experiences; tend to react negatively and intensely to events; they are irregular in daily routines and bodily functions

Slow-to-warm-up babies are…

Somewhat difficult at first but become easier over time as the baby has had repeated contact with new objects, people, and situations

Measuring temperament relies on….

Parent reports, direct observations

What is milestone one?

Social Smile

Around 6 weeks, infants see emergence of…

Social smile

What is social smile?

Smiling in response to other people, the social world

Initially, babies have _____ smiles, but then have _______ smiles

Endogeneous, exogeneous

What are endogenous social smiles?

Subconscious, internally-motivated smiling

What is an exogenous smile?

A smile as result of social interaction

The social smile is considered the “_______ of the infant”

Social birth

What is milestone two in infants?

Primary Intersubjectivity

What is primary intersubjectivity?

Emotion sharing via face-to-face communication that occurs between caregiver and infant

Through primary intersubjectivity, the caregiver becomes more ____ and sees the baby as ______

Playful, intentional

Primary intersubjectivity allows the baby to

• Gain a new sense of efficacy

• Learn to regulate negative arousal

• Develop social expectations

What is milestone 3 in infants?

Emergence of fear

Around 7-9 months, babies experience emergence of ______

Fear

In what ways does milestone 3 manifest in infants?

• Stranger anxiety

• Separation anxiety

• Fear of novely, fear of heights

What is separation anxiety?

Fear of abandonment, exhibited at departure of caregiver

What is milestone 4 in

What is secondary intersubjectivity?

Sharing attention and emotion in relation to a third event

At what age do infants reach secondary intersubjectivity?

9-12 months

In milestone 4, babies exhibit…

• Joint attention

• Social referencing

What are some manifestations of joint attention in infants?

Gaze / point following, directing attention, imperatives and declaratives

What is social referencing in infants?

Using emotional information from others to guide your responses to an ambiguous situation

The bond is a powerful ______ that keeps infants close to their caregivers

Survival impulse

What is attachment?

An emotional tie in which child takes caregiver as a protective figure, finds security in their presence, misses them in their absence, seeks them as a haven of safety in times of alarm

______ showed that infants bond with surrogate mothers because of bodily contact and not because of nourishment

Harlow

Harlow showed that infants bond with surrogate mothers because of ________ and not because of _______

Bodily contact, nourishment

What is the general developmental sequence in attachment?

1. Young infant behavior enlists proximity to caregiver (0-8 weeks)

2. Infants start responding differently to familiar and unfamiliar people—still friendly to strangers (2-4 months)

3. Infants seek comfort from one caregiver, fears strangers and separation (6-9 months)

First attachment formed around _____

6-9 months

By the end of the first year, infant creates attachment to primary caregiver, uses caregiver as _________ from which to _________ the world

Secure base, explore

Caregiver provides infant with a feeling of ______

Security

What are attachment styles? (definition)

Different patterns of attachment

Who made the “strange situation”

Mary Ainsworth

What does the “strange situation” test?

Attachment security

The “strange situation” measures….

Attachment by evoking an infant’s response to stress

The “strange situation” discovered how many attachment styles?

4

Describe the strange situation

1. C and B enter room and interact normally

2. S enters room, talks with C and B

3. C leaves room (separation)

4. C returns, S leaves (reunion)

5. C leaves again; B alone (separation)

6. S returns

7. C returns (reunion)

What are the 4 different patterns of attachment?

1. Secure (B)

2. Insecure-Avoidant (A)

3. Insecure-Resistant (C)

4. Disorganized (D)

What is considered the healthiest pattern of attachment?

Secure (B)

Describe secure (B) attachment

Infant seeks proximity upon return and calms down

Describe insecure-avoidant (A)

Infant avoids proximity upon return

Describe insecure-resistant (C)

Infant seeks proximity but angrily resists comfort

Describe disorganized (D)

Infant lacks organized manner for dealing with stress; difficulty calming down

When placed in the strange situation, _____% of children showed secure attachment

60

When placed in the strange situation, _____% of children showed insecure attachment

30

What are the 4 main causes of differences in attachment?

1. Caregiver behaviors

2. Child characteristics

3. Family factors

4. Cultural influences

Warm, consistent, sensitive caregivers usually result in ______ attachment in babies

Secure (B)

Rejecting or distant caregivers usually result in ______ attachment in babies

Insecure-avoidant (A)

Inconsistent, ignoring caregivers usually result in ______ attachment in babies

Insecure-resistant (C)

Depressed or abusive caregivers usually result in ______ attachment in babies

Disorganized (D)