Emotional and Social Development in Early Childhood

These vocabulary flashcards cover emotional development, temperament, attachment styles, play stages, and parenting styles from Chapters 7 and 10 of the lecture notes.

Basic Emotions

Universal emotions rooted in evolution, including happiness, interest, surprise, fear, anger, sadness, and disgust.

Social Smile

An infant's smile in response to human faces that appears between 6-10 weeks.

Stranger Anxiety

The most frequent expression of fear, emerging around 6 months when infants encounter unfamiliar adults.

Social Referencing

Beginning around 8-10 months, the process where infants look to trusted adults for emotional cues in uncertain situations.

Self-Conscious Emotions

Emotions such as guilt, shame, embarrassment, envy, and pride that appear in the middle of the second year and require adult guidance and a sense of self.

Emotional Self-Regulation

Strategies for adjusting emotional states; infants rely on caregivers while toddlers use words or actions as their brains mature.

Temperament

Stable individual differences in emotional reactivity and self-regulation.

The Easy Child

A temperament structure (40%) where the child quickly establishes routines, is generally cheerful, and adapts easily to new experiences.

The Difficult Child

A temperament structure (10%) characterized by irregular routines, slowness to accept new experiences, and intense negative reactions; carries a high risk for later adjustment problems.

The Slow-to-Warm-Up Child

A temperament structure (15%) where the child is inactive, shows mild reactions, possesses a negative mood, and is slow to adjust to new experiences.

Effortful Control

The ability to suppress a dominant response and plan a more adaptive one, such as waiting for a toy; the modern standard for temperament in Rothbart's Model.

Goodness-of-Fit Model

A model stating that favorable outcomes occur when a child's temperament and environment are matched.

Bowlby's Ethological Theory

A theory stating that an infant's bond with a caregiver is an evolved survival mechanism.

Preattachment

The first stage of attachment (Birth-6 weeks) where signals like crying and smiling bring newborns into close contact with others.

Attachment-in-the-Making

The second stage of attachment (6 weeks-8 months) where infants respond differently to familiar caregivers versus strangers.

Clear-Cut Attachment

The third stage of attachment (8 months-2 years) where attachment is evident and separation anxiety occurs when a trusted adult leaves.

Formation of Reciprocal Relationship

The final stage of attachment (2 years+) where toddlers understand a caregiver’s comings and goings, leading to a reduction in separation protests.

Internal Working Model

A child's internal guide for future relationships based on their early attachment experiences.

The Strange Situation

A lab procedure developed by Ainsworth to measure attachment security in children between 1-2 years old.

Secure Attachment

An attachment style (60%) where the child uses the parent as a secure base and is easily comforted upon their return.

Avoidant Attachment

An attachment style (15%) where the child is unresponsive to the parent, not distressed by their departure, and reacts to strangers in a similar way as the parent.

Resistant/Ambivalent Attachment

An attachment style (10%) where the child seeks closeness before separation, is distressed when the parent leaves, and is clingy and angry upon their return.

Disorganized/Disoriented Attachment

An attachment style (15%) reflecting the greatest insecurity, characterized by confused and contradictory behaviors upon reunion.

Self-Awareness

The recognition of one's own physical distinctness, with explicit self-recognition (mirror-and-rouge test) appearing around 20 months.

Self-Control & Compliance

The emergence of voluntary obedience between 12-18 months and the development of the ability to delay gratification through age 2.

Self-Concept

Attributes used by preschoolers to define themselves, typically limited to observable characteristics like name, physical traits, possessions, and behaviors.

Self-Esteem

An unrealistically high self-evaluation in preschoolers who cannot distinguish between actual and desired competence, which motivates them to try new tasks.

Proactive (Instrumental) Aggression

An unemotional form of aggression used to obtain objects or privileges.

Reactive (Hostile) Aggression

An angry, defensive form of aggression meant to hurt others.

Physical Aggression

A form of aggression that involves physical injury.

Verbal Aggression

A form of aggression involving threats or teasing.

Relational Aggression

A form of aggression characterized by social exclusion or gossip.

Nonsocial Activity

A stage of play involving unoccupied behavior, onlooker behavior, or solitary play.

Parallel Play

A stage of play where a child plays near others with similar materials but does not influence their behavior.

Associative Play

A stage of play involving separate activities but with the exchange of toys and comments between children.

Cooperative Play

A stage of play where children work toward a common goal, such as acting out themes or building something together.

Gender Typing

The association of objects, activities, and roles with one sex, conforming to cultural stereotypes.

Gender Identity

The internal perception of oneself as masculine or feminine.

Gender Constancy

The understanding that sex remains permanent despite changes in appearance or activity.

Gender Schema Theory

A theory explaining gender-role development by combining social learning and cognitive-developmental features.

Authoritative Parenting

The 'Gold Standard' style characterized by high acceptance and involvement, adaptive and reasonable control, and appropriate autonomy granting.

Authoritarian Parenting

A child-rearing style with low acceptance and involvement, high and rigid control, and low autonomy granting (psychological control).

Permissive Parenting

A style with high acceptance and warmth but low control and overindulgent autonomy granting.

Uninvolved Parenting

A style characterized by low acceptance and warmth, low control, and indifference to the child's needs or autonomy.