Child and Ad Psych - Psychosocial The First 2 years

Psychosocial development

the combination of emotional and social development

Emotional Development in the First Year

• at birth: distress and contentment

• social smile appears around 6 weeks

  • eyes usually begin tracking at this time too, due to heavy cortical myelination

• anger ( as early as 4 months, usually by 6 )

• Fear ( usually by 9 months)

  • Stranger wariness

  • Separation anxiety

• Sadness

  • Indicates withdrawal and is accompanied by increased production of cortisol

  • stressful experience for infants

Emotional Development in 2nd year

• fear and anger, laughing and crying become more discriminating

• New emotions appear: pride, shame, embarrassment, guilt

  • these motions require a sense of self and are affected by social awarness

  • dot-of-rouge experiment

Self-awarness

• the realization that one is a unique person separate from others

• emerges around 15-18 months

  • measured by reaction to dot of rouge on face

  • is the prerequisite for pride, guilt, shame, embarrassment, jealousy, empathy

• Infants are very ego centric, thus pride does not necessarily come from others

Pride and Shame

• generally, girls are more at risk for internalizing disorders such as anxiety and depression

• one study of boys demonstrated those who received less parental praise actually developed more pride in themselves

Psychoanalytic Theory

• Freud believed that conflicts during the oral and anal stages shaped the infant’s later personality

Erik Erikson’s 1st stage

• trust versus mistrust

  • quality of care in the first year shapes the infant’s view of the consistency and predictability of the world

erikson’s 2nd stage

• Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

  • basic need to gain self-rule or feel ashamed that it doesn’t happen

Behaviorism

• Infants emotions and personality are molded as parents reinforce or punish child’s spontaneous behavior

• social referencing strengthens learning by observation

Cognitive Theory

• Cognitive theory states that infant’s form a concept of what to expect from people

• the result is a working model, a set of assumptions about relationships

• Example: an infant learns to expect that people can be trusted ( or not)

Epigenetic Theory

• holds that child-rearing practices shape inborn predispositions

• Example: a “naturally” fearful infant becomes less fearful in the context of a supportive parent who encourages bravery

Temperament

• traits originate in one’s genes, but are influenced by experience

• Examples: infants differ in their reactions to new situations ( fearful or bold); some infants cry easily, others seem “born tough”

Measuring Temperament

• Easy ( 40%)

• Slow to warm up ( 15%)

• Difficult ( 10%)

• Hard to classify ( 35%)

Nine dimensions of temperament

• Activity

• Rhythmicity

• Approach/withdrawal

• adaptability

• Intensity

• Mood

• Persistence and attention span

• Distractibility

• Sensory threshold

Only three dimensions generally present in early childhood education

• Effortful control

  • ability to regulate attention

• Negative mood

  • Fearful, angry, unhappy

• Surgency

  • active, social, not shy

Toddlers - Measuring Temperament

• Extremely inhbited

• extremely uninhibited

• intermediate

Goodness of fit

• the match between the child’s temperament and the environment

Social cultural theory

• theory places a strong emphasis on the role of the entire social context on infant development

Ethnotheory

• states that child-rearing practices are embedded within each culture or ethnic group

Ethological Attachment

• infants are biologically predisposed to form attachments and that attachments provide comfort - innate releasing mechanisms

Ethological attachment

• Phase 1

  • birth - 2 months

  • ifnants instinctively direct their attachment to human figures

• Phase 2

  • 2-7 months

  • attachment becomes focused on one figure, usualyl primary caregiver, baby distinguishes familiarity

• Phase 3

  • 7 - 14 months

  • specific attachments develop, increased locomotor skills, babies actively seek caregivers

• Phase 4

  • 24 months on

  • Children become more aware of others’ feelings, goal and plans

Still face technique

• studying synchrony by assessing infant’s reaction when caregiver halts synchronous behaviors

  • not usually by 2 months but clearly at 6 months , babies are very upset by the still face

  • Babies are much more upset by the still face then when parents actually leave the room

Signs of attachment

• Contact-maintaining behaviors ( smile, hold on to person)

• Proximity-seeking behaviors ( crawl toward person)

Measuring attachment

• Insecure-avoidant

  • child plays happily in play room, when mom leaves child continues playing, when mom returns, child ignores her

  • 10 - 20 percent

• Secure

  • child plays happily in play room, child pauses is not as happy when mom leaves, child welcomes her, return to play

  • 50-70%

• insecure-resistant/ambivalent

  • child clings, is preoccupied with mothers, child is unhappy and stops playing when mom leaves, child is angry when mother returns

  • 10 - 20 %

• Disorganized

  • child is cautious in play room, child may stare, or yell when mom leaves, child acts oddly when mom returns

  • 5-10%

Secure attachment

long term outcomes are positive

Insecure-resistant attachment

• long term outcomes include dependence ( especially for girls), or aggression ( especially for boys)

Disorganized attachment

• outcomes for them are negative

On baby Faces

• positive preceptions of the baby face

  • innocence

  • kidness

  • honesty

• Negative perceptions of the baby face

  • less competence

  • less responsability