PSYC160 Week 3 - F24

Infancy Sections 24, 25, & 26 Overview

  • Fall 2024 - Week 3 Roadmap:

    • Updates/Announcements

    • Discussion on Moon et al., 1993

    • Review of Attachment Theories

    • Discussion on Davis et al. (2023)

    • Parenting Activity: To Co-Sleep or Not?

    • Reminders for students

Moon et al., 1993 Summary

Introduction

  • Infants demonstrate preferences for familiar sounds.

  • Ability to distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar languages.

  • Question: Does language discrimination correlate with preferences?

Methodology

  • Participants: 16 infants, 2 days old (8 monolingual English; 8 monolingual Spanish).

  • Exposed to 18 minutes of audio featuring both English and Spanish speech.

  • Audio quality matched for pitch, fluency, and volume.

  • Playback triggered by infants’ sucking bursts.

Findings

  • Sucking Frequency: No significant effects noted.

  • Sucking Duration: Increased duration during exposure to native language audio in the last 6 minutes.

  • Suggests preferences for hearing familiar (native) language.

Infant Language Discussion

  • Exploration of early language preferences.

  • Consideration of how bilingual or multilingual backgrounds may influence these preferences.

Review of Attachment Theories

Key Theoretical Perspectives

  • Bowlby: Defines attachment through affectionate bonds with caregivers and responsive care.

  • Harlow: Stresses the importance of contact comfort and secure base in attachment.

  • Freud: Links sucking and pleasure to attachment formation.

  • Ainsworth: Explores different caregiver interactions leading to distinct attachment styles.

  • Erikson: Connects trust in caregivers with secure attachment development.

Attachment Concepts

  • Attachment serves as a crucial element in providing a sense of security for infants.

Attachment Discussion

  • Inquiry into the correctness of various attachment theories.

  • Examination of parental behaviors that may inadvertently promote insecure attachment styles.

Reading Review: Davis et al. (2023)

Key Concepts

  • Appraisal: Evaluative judgments that shape emotional responses.

  • Emotion: Comprised of psychological states, expressive behaviors, and physiological responses that are context-dependent.

  • Emotion Differentiation: Refers to how nuanced a child is in their emotional experiences.

  • Emotion Regulation: Processes by which individuals manage emotions and expressions.

Connections Between Concepts

  • Infants calibrate appraisals based on their surroundings, leading to improved emotion differentiation and more effective regulation strategies.

  • Infants learn social responses through observation and interactions.

Emotions Discussion

  • Debate over whether physiological changes or cognitive appraisals come first in emotional experiences.

  • Inquiry into whether infants have goals—what might these be?

Parenting Activity: To Co-Sleep or Not?

Perspectives on Infant Sleeping Arrangements

  • Destiny: Advocates for crib sleeping in a separate nursery.

  • Carmen: Supports co-sleeping in the parental bed.

Data on Sleeping Practices

  • Approximately 74% of American mothers place their infants in separate sleep surfaces.

  • Around 70% of infants in Japan co-sleep with parents.

Expert Opinions

  • Covington et al. (2022): Notes co-sleeping may heighten childhood sleep issues and negatively affect maternal mental health.

  • Barry (2019): Highlights co-sleeping’s role in fostering sensitive caregiving and maternal-infant synchrony.

Decision-Making in Parenting

  • Guidance for parents facing conflicting information about infant sleeping arrangements.

Reminders

  • Reflection Essay (250-500 words) due Sunday by 11:59 PM on Canvas.

  • Required readings before the next session: Karasik et al., 2015; Humphries et al., 2014.

  • Office Hours: Thursday, 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM, Olmsted 2139.

  • Quiz #1 scheduled for next week.

Conclusion

  • Encouragement for students to engage with the material and share thoughts with peers and instructors.