Social-Emotional Development Across the Lifespan

Social Environment Influences

  • Ecological Systems Theory: The social environment impacts development directly and indirectly.

    • Five systems influencing human development, ranging from direct interactions to cultural influences.

    • Interaction of these systems affects child development.

Ecological Systems Theory

  • Five systems:

    • Microsystem: Immediate settings (family, peers, school, neighborhood).

    • Mesosystem: Connections between microsystems (e.g., family-school, family-peers).

    • Exosystem: External social settings that indirectly influence the individual.

    • Macrosystem: Cultural attitudes and ideologies.

    • Chronosystem: Patterning of environmental events and transitions over time.

Parent-child Attachment

  • Infants develop attachments to caregivers from birth, preferring familiar faces and voices.

    • Attachment: Emotional tie with another person, shown by seeking closeness and distress on separation functioning.

    • Survival impulse: Keeps infants close to caregivers.

Temperament

  • Temperament: Innate emotional reactivity and intensity.

    • Related to how children attach to caregivers. Easily observed in early weeks.

Stranger Anxiety

  • Stranger anxiety: Fear of strangers, typically begins around 8 months.

    • Requires object permanence.

  • Separation anxiety: Peaks around 13 months, then declines.

Conditions Creating Anxiety

  • Harlow's Monkey Studies:

    • Harry and Margaret Harlow studied infant monkeys separated from mothers.

    • Monkeys became distressed when their cheesecloth blankets were removed.

Harlows’ Research

  • Psychologists initially thought attachment was based on nourishment.

  • Harlows' recognized monkeys' need for blankets contradicted this idea.

Harlows’ research design

  • Monkeys raised with two artificial mothers: one wire with food, one cloth without food.

What were the assumptions in the When raised in the Harlow study?

  • Monkeys preferred the cloth mother, especially when anxious.

    • Rocking, warmth, and feeding made the cloth mother more appealing.

    • Attachment = comfort, not just nourishment.

Differences in Attachment

  • Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation Experiment:

    • Observed mother-infant pairs at home for six months.

    • Observed 1-year-olds in a playroom with and without their mothers.

The Strange Situation

  • Child placed in unfamiliar environment; caregiver leaves and returns.

    • Ainsworth: Sensitive, responsive mothers had securely attached infants.

    • Insensitive, unresponsive mothers had insecurely attached infants.

Secure vs. Insecure Attachment

  • Secure attachment: Infants explore comfortably with caregiver present, show temporary distress when caregiver leaves, and find comfort upon return.

  • Insecure attachment: Clinging, anxious, or avoidant attachment styles.

Anxious vs. Avoidant Insecure Attachment

  • Anxious attachment: Child is very upset when caregiver leaves, resists comfort upon return.

  • Avoidant attachment: Infant does not seek proximity after separation, avoids returning parent.

One more type of Attachment

  • Disorganized attachment: Inconsistent behavior during separation and reunion.

Parenting Styles

  • Four types of parenting styles:

    • Authoritarian: Strict rules, demand obedience.

    • High control, low involvement.

    • Authoritative: Sets rules, allows discussion and exceptions.

    • High control, high involvement.

    • Permissive: Few limits, little punishment.

    • Low control, high involvement.

    • Negligent: Careless, inattentive.

    • Low control, low involvement.

PLEASE NOTE

  • Cultural variations in parenting exist.

    • US values independence; Japan values cooperation and community.

    • Parenting-styles model is culturally based, best applies to American majority culture.

Outcomes for Children of Authoritarian Parents

  • Children have less social skill and self-esteem and may overreact to mistakes.

Outcomes for Children of Permissive Parents

  • Children are more aggressive and immature.

Outcomes for Children of Negligent Parents

  • Children experience poor academic and social outcomes.

Outcomes for Children of Authoritative Parents

  • Children have the highest self-esteem, self-reliance, self-regulation, and social competence.

HOWEVER, Correlation != Causation!

  • Other factors might explain the parenting-competence link.

    • Children's traits may influence parenting.

    • Competent parents and children may share genes that predispose social competence.

Social Development

  • Childhood-Pretend Play: Fantasy or make-believe play with an "as-if" orientation. Involves role play and mental representations.

Childhood-Parallel Play

  • Parallel Play: Children play next to each other using similar objects but engage in their own activities.

Adolescence-Peer Relationships

  • Adolescence: Diminishing parental influence, growing peer influence.

    • Teens pull away from parents to form their own identities.

Adolescence-Peer Relationships

  • Teens often mimic peers in dress, actions, and beliefs.

    • Peer approval matters significantly.

Adolescence-Peer Relationships

  • Adolescent egocentrism:

    • Imaginary Audience: Belief that others are scrutinizing them.

    • Personal Fable: Belief in one's uniqueness and invulnerability.

Adulthood-Support and Care

  • Adult relationships form families or family-like structures providing support and care.

    • Childhood attachment styles influence adult attachments.

Adulthood-Dependent on Culture

  • Culture determines when adulthood begins and major life events occur.

    • Social Clock: Norms governing the ages for life events.

What is Emerging Adulthood?

  • Emerging Adulthood: Period from 18 to mid-20s; not adolescents but not fully independent adults.

What is Emerging Adulthood?

  • Emerging adults feel "in between," managing time and priorities while still dependent on parents.

Identity Development

Stage Theory of Psychosocial Development

  • Erik Erikson's theory: Each life stage has a psychosocial task.

    • Positive resolution leads to positive social development.

    • Negative resolution leads to negative social development.

Basic Trust vs. Mistrust Stage

  • First stage (birth through infancy):

    • Infant develops basic trust if needs are reliably met.

    • Mistrust develops if needs are not reliably met.

Autonomy vs. Shame and doubt

  • Toddler years: Developing control and responsibility.

    • Autonomy: Develops when toddlers are given opportunities to demonstrate control.

    • Shame and doubt: Develops when toddlers lack independence.

Initiative vs. Guilt

  • Preschool years: Developing a sense of purposeful behavior.

    • Initiative: Develops when preschoolers plan activities and make decisions.

    • Guilt: Develops when preschoolers lack decision-making opportunities.

Competence vs. Inferiority

  • Elementary years: Developing social and academic skills.

    • Competence: Develops through success in making friends and schooling.

    • Inferiority: Develops through difficulty in making friends and schooling.

Identity vs. Role Confusion

  • Adolescent years: Determining one's identity.

    • Strong sense of self provides a basis for future development.

    • Inability to form a singular identity leads to confusion.

Intimacy vs. Isolation

  • Young adulthood: Determining intimate relationships.

    • Capacity for intimate love leads to emotionally close relationships.

    • Inability to form intimate love leads to isolation and loneliness.

Generativity vs. Stagnation

  • Middle adulthood: Finding value in life and contributing to future generations.

    • Generativity: Develops through a sense of purpose and contribution.

    • Stagnation: Develops if one lacks purpose in life.

Integrity vs. Despair

  • Late adulthood: Reflecting on life with satisfaction or failure.

    • Integrity: Develops when older adults view their life as meaningful.

    • Despair: Develops when older adults reflect on life with regrets.

STAGE THEORY OF PSYCHOSOCIAL

  • Erikson's Stages:

    • Infant: Basic Trust vs. Mistrust

    • Toddler: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

    • Preschooler: Initiative vs. Guilt

    • School-Ager: Industry vs. Inferiority

    • Adolescent: Identity vs. Role Confusion

    • Young Adult: Intimacy vs. Isolation

    • Middle Age: Generativity vs. Stagnation

    • Older Adult: Integrity vs. Despair

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES)

  • ACEs: Potentially traumatic events before age 18:

    • Abuse (Physical, Emotional)

    • Neglect (Physical, Emotional)

    • Household Dysfunction (Mental Illness, Incarcerated Relative, Mother treated violently, Substance Abuse)

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES)

  • ACEs disrupt child development, causing lasting mental consequences.

    • Include parental separation, household dysfunction, exposure to violence or abuse, toxic environment.

    • Cause delayed learning, inadequate coping skills, difficulty regulating emotions, and reduced social functioning.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES)

  • Linked to psychiatric difficulties:

    • Behavioral/learning problems, anxiety, depression, PTSD, substance abuse, psychosis, suicide attempts.

Adolescent Identity Development

  • Adolescents develop a sense of identity through achievement, diffusion, foreclosure, and moratorium.

Adolescent Identity Development

  • Identity Foreclosure: Commitment without exploration.

  • Identity Diffusion: Lack of exploration and commitment.

  • Identity Achievement: Commitment after exploration.

  • Identity Moratorium: Exploring without commitment.

Identity Development

  • Includes racial/ethnic identity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious identity, occupation, family, and Possible Self: Mental representation of what one could become.

Okay, I will give the important notes, along with some explanations to help with understanding:

  1. Ecological Systems Theory:This theory emphasizes that a child's development is influenced by multiple environmental systems, from immediate surroundings to broader cultural contexts. Understanding these systems helps to see how various factors interact.

  2. Parent-Child Attachment: Attachment is the emotional bond between an infant and caregiver, crucial for the infant's sense of security. Attachment isn't just about nourishment; it’s about comfort and emotional connection.

  3. Temperament: This refers to a child's innate emotional and behavioral style, influencing how they react to the world. Understanding temperament can help tailor parenting approaches.

  4. Stranger and Separation Anxiety: These are normal developmental stages where infants show distress around strangers or when separated from caregivers. These anxieties reflect the infant's growing awareness and attachment.

  5. Harlow's Monkey Studies: These studies demonstrated that comfort and security are more critical than just feeding in forming attachments. The monkeys preferred the cloth mother over the wire mother, even when the wire mother provided food.

  6. Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation Experiment: This experiment identified different attachment styles based on how infants react to separation and reunion with their caregivers. Secure attachment is linked to responsive parenting, while insecure attachments are linked to insensitive parenting.

  7. Parenting Styles: Different parenting styles (authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and negligent) impact child development differently. Authoritative parenting, which balances structure and warmth, is generally associated with the best outcomes.

  8. Social Development: Childhood involves different types of play (pretend and parallel), which are essential for social and cognitive development. Adolescence is marked by increasing peer influence and the development of identity.

  9. Adolescent Egocentrism: This includes the imaginary audience (feeling constantly scrutinized) and the personal fable (believing one is unique and invulnerable). These are typical thought patterns during adolescence.

  10. Erik Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development: This theory proposes that each stage of life presents a psychosocial task or crisis that needs resolution. Positive resolution leads to healthy development, while negative resolution can lead to issues later in life.

  11. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): These are traumatic events in childhood that can have lasting negative effects on mental and emotional health. ACEs can disrupt development and increase the risk of psychiatric difficulties.

  12. Adolescent Identity Development: Adolescents explore different aspects of their identity to find a sense of self. Identity achievement, foreclosure, diffusion, and moratorium are different pathways in this process.