Socioemotional Development in Infancy
Emotional Development
What Are Emotions?
emotions play important roles in communication with others and behavioral organization
Biological, Cognitive, and Environmental Influences
Biological
parts of the brain that develop early in life play a role in emotions
infants gradually develop the ability to regulate emotions (cerebral cortex)
Cognitive
children who can distract themselves from a stressful encounter
lower level of negative affect
less anxiety over time
emotional development and coping skills are influenced by whether caregivers have maltreated / neglected children and whether children’s caregivers are depressed or not
toddlers are distressed when their parents fight
Early Emotions
self-conscious emotions require self-awareness that involves consciousness and a sense of “me”
parents and babies copy each other’s emotions
babies pick up on mother’s stress
sensitive, responsive parents help their infants grow emotionally
reciprocal / synchronous interactions
Emotional Expression and Social Relationships
fear: one of the child’s earliest emotions
stranger anxiety: infant shows a fear and wariness of strangers
separation protest: crying when caregiver leaves
Temperament
temperament: individual differences in behavioral styles, emotions, and characteristic ways of responding
reactivity: variations in the speed and intensity with which an individual responds to situations with positive or negative emotions
self-regulation: variations in extent / effectiveness of an individual’s ability to control their emotions
Describing and Classifying Temperament
Chess and Thomas
easy child: positive mood, regular routine, easy to adopt
difficult child: reacts negatively, cries, irregular routine, slow to change
slow to warm up child: low activity level, negative, low intensity of mood
Kagan
inhibition to unfamiliar: avoidance, distress, subdued effect
inhibition shows stability in infancy to early childhood
Rothbart and Bates
effortful control / self-regulation
extraversion / surgency. uninhibited children
negative affectivity: easily distressed
Biological Foundations and Experience
Biological
inhibited temperament is associated with high and stable heart rate, high level of cortisol, high activity in frontal lobe
contemporary view: temperament is a biologically based but evolving aspect of behavior
Gender, Culture, and Temperament
parents react differently to an infant’s temperament based on gender
fathers’ internalizing problems (anxiety and depression, etc) were linked to a higher level of negative affectivity in their 6 mth olds
maternal negativity and child problem behavior were most strongly linked for children who were low in effortful control and living in chaotic homes
Goodness of Fit and Parenting
goodness of fit: match between a child’s temperament and the environmental demands the child must cope with
lack of fit can produce adjustment problems
differential susceptibility model
biological sensitivity to context model
certain characteristics, like different temperaments, that render children more vulnerable to difficulty in adverse contexts also make them more susceptible to optimal growth in very supportive conditions
Personality Development
Trust
Erik Erikson: trust v mistrust stage of development in first year of life
infants learn trust when they are cared for in a consistent, warm manner
if the infant is not well fed and kept warm on a consistent basis, a sense of mistrust is likely to develop
The Developing Sense of Self
mirror technique
signs of self-recognition begin to appear among some infants 15-18 months old
late in the second year and early in the third year, toddlers show a self-awareness of “me”
infants begin developing an understanding of others as early as 13 months
Independence
Erik Erikson: important issue in second year of life
second stage of development: autonomy v shame and doubt
autonomy builds as infant’s mental and motor abilities develop
It is important for parents to recognize the motivation of toddlers to do what they are capable of doing at their own pace. Then they can learn to control their muscles and their impulses themselves. But when caregivers are impatient and do for toddlers what they are capable of doing themselves, shame and doubt develop. Every parent has rushed a child from time to time. It is only when parents consistently overprotect toddlers or criticize accidents (wetting, soiling, spilling, or breaking, for example) that children develop an excessive sense of shame and doubt about their ability to control themselves and their world.
Social Orientation / Understanding and Attachment
Social Orientation / Understanding
social orientation
young infants stare intently at faces and are attuned to the sounds of human voices, especially the voices of their caregivers
later, they become adept at interpreting the meaning of facial expressions and voices
face-to-face play begins to characterize caregiver-infant interactions when the infant is 2-3 months old
focused social interaction
vocalizations, touch, and gestures
illustrates a mothers’ motivation to create a positive emotional state in their infants
by 2-3 months infants respond in dif ways to ppl and objects
show more positive emotion to ppl than to inanimate objects
most infants expect ppl to react positively when the infants initiate a behavior
interaction w peers increases considerably in the last half of the second year
between 18 and 24 months of age, children increase their imitative and reciprocal play
imitating nonverbal actions like jumping and running
locomotion
newly developed, self-produced locomotion skills (ability to crawl, walk, and run) allow the infant to independently initiate social interchanges on a more frequent basis
development of these gross motor skills results from factors such as the development of the nervous system, the goal
the infant is motivated to reach, and environmental support for the skill the infant’s and toddler’s push for independence is paced by the development of locomotion skills
intention, goal-directed behavior, and meaningful interactions with others
joining attention: when the caregiver and infant focus on the same object or event. occurs at 7-8 months and intensifies at 10-11 months
gaze-following
social referencing: reading emotional cues in others to help determine how to act in a particular situation
Attachment and Its Development
attachment: close emotional bond between two people
Freud: infants become attached to the person or object that provides oral satisfaction
Harlow: contact comfort is important in attachment
Bowlby: both infants and their primary caregivers are biologically predisposed to form attachments
newborn is biologically equipped to elicit attachment behavior
immediate result is to keep primary caregiver nearby
long-term effect is to increase the infant’s chance of survival
infants develop an internal working model of attachment (a simple mental model of the caregiver, their relationship, and the self as deserving of nurturant care)
influences the infant’s and later, the child’s subsequent responses to other people
plays a pivotal role in the discovery of links between attachments and emotional understanding, conscience development, and self-concept
attachment develops in phases
birth - 2 months: infants instinctively direct their attachment to human figures
2 - 7 months: attachment becomes focused on one figure (primary caregiver) as the baby leans to distinguish between people
7 - 24 months: specific attachments develop. with increased locomotor skills, babies actively seek contact with regular caregivers
24 months +: children become aware of others’ feelings, goals, and plans and begin to take these into account in forming their own actions
Individual Differences in Attachment
Ainsworth and the Strange Situation
securely attached babies use the caregiver as a secure base from which to explore the environment
insecure avoidant babies show insecurity by avoiding the caregiver
insecure resistant babies often cling to the caregiver, then resist the caregiver
insecure disorganized babies appear disoriented and disorganized
secure attachment in the first year of life provides an important foundation for psychological development later in life
developmental cascade model: connections across domains over time that influences developmental pathways and outcomes
Caregiving Styles and Attachment
securely attached babies have caregivers who are sensitive to their signals and are consistently available to respond to their infant’s needs
caregivers of avoidant babies tend to be unavailable or rejecting
don’t respond to their babies’ signals
have little physical contact w them
when they do interact, they may behave in an angry and irritable way
caregivers of resistant babies are inconsistent
sometimes they respond to their babies’ needs and sometimes they don’t
tend to not be very affectionate
show little synchrony when interacting with them
caregivers of disorganized babies often neglect or physically abuse them (or are depressed)
Developmental Social Neuroscience and Attachment
prefrontal cortex, subcortical regions of amygdala, and hypothalamus likely have an important role in maternal attachment behavior
oxytocin is released during breast feeding and by contact in warmth
Social Contexts The Family
Reciprocal Socialization
children socialize parents just as parents socialize children
reciprocal interchanges and mutual influence processes are transactional
scaffolding: parents time interactions in such a way that the infant experiences turn taking with the parents
in using scaffolding, caregivers provide a positive, reciprocal framework in which they and their children interact
when adults used explicit scaffolding (encouragement and praise) their 13- and 14- month old infants were twice as likely to engage in helping behavior
epigenetic view emphasizes that development is the result of an ongoing, bidirectional interchange between heredity and the environment
harsh, hostile parenting is associated with negative outcomes for children, such as benign defiant and oppositional
Managing and Guiding Infants’ Behavior
being proactive and childproofing the environment
engaging in corrective methods when infants engage in undesirable behaviors
Maternal and Parental Caregiving
fathers have the ability to act as sensitively and responsively as mothers with their infants
infants who showed a higher level or externalizing, disruptive problems at 1 year of age has fathers who displayed a low level of engagement with them as early as the third month of life
children whose father’s behavior was more withdrawn and depressed at 3 moths had a lower level of cognitive development at 24 months of age
children whose fathers were more engaged and sensitive, as well as less controlling, at 24 months of age showed a higher level of cognitive development at that age
if fathers have mental health problems, they may not interact as effectively with their infants
Child Care
most countries provide parental benefits only to women who have been employed for a minimum time prior to childbirth
Variations in Child Care
infants and toddlers are more likely to be found in family child care in informal care settings
older children are more likely to be in child care centers and preschool and early education programs
child-care quality makes a difference
children and more likely to experience poor childcare if they come from families with few resources
extensive child care was harmful to low-income children only when the care was of low quality
high-quality child care involves providing children with
a safe environment
access to age-appropriate toys
participation in age-appropriate activities
low caregiver-to-child ratio that allows caregivers to spend considerable time with children on an individual basis
Emotional Development
What Are Emotions?
emotions play important roles in communication with others and behavioral organization
Biological, Cognitive, and Environmental Influences
Biological
parts of the brain that develop early in life play a role in emotions
infants gradually develop the ability to regulate emotions (cerebral cortex)
Cognitive
children who can distract themselves from a stressful encounter
lower level of negative affect
less anxiety over time
emotional development and coping skills are influenced by whether caregivers have maltreated / neglected children and whether children’s caregivers are depressed or not
toddlers are distressed when their parents fight
Early Emotions
self-conscious emotions require self-awareness that involves consciousness and a sense of “me”
parents and babies copy each other’s emotions
babies pick up on mother’s stress
sensitive, responsive parents help their infants grow emotionally
reciprocal / synchronous interactions
Emotional Expression and Social Relationships
fear: one of the child’s earliest emotions
stranger anxiety: infant shows a fear and wariness of strangers
separation protest: crying when caregiver leaves
Temperament
temperament: individual differences in behavioral styles, emotions, and characteristic ways of responding
reactivity: variations in the speed and intensity with which an individual responds to situations with positive or negative emotions
self-regulation: variations in extent / effectiveness of an individual’s ability to control their emotions
Describing and Classifying Temperament
Chess and Thomas
easy child: positive mood, regular routine, easy to adopt
difficult child: reacts negatively, cries, irregular routine, slow to change
slow to warm up child: low activity level, negative, low intensity of mood
Kagan
inhibition to unfamiliar: avoidance, distress, subdued effect
inhibition shows stability in infancy to early childhood
Rothbart and Bates
effortful control / self-regulation
extraversion / surgency. uninhibited children
negative affectivity: easily distressed
Biological Foundations and Experience
Biological
inhibited temperament is associated with high and stable heart rate, high level of cortisol, high activity in frontal lobe
contemporary view: temperament is a biologically based but evolving aspect of behavior
Gender, Culture, and Temperament
parents react differently to an infant’s temperament based on gender
fathers’ internalizing problems (anxiety and depression, etc) were linked to a higher level of negative affectivity in their 6 mth olds
maternal negativity and child problem behavior were most strongly linked for children who were low in effortful control and living in chaotic homes
Goodness of Fit and Parenting
goodness of fit: match between a child’s temperament and the environmental demands the child must cope with
lack of fit can produce adjustment problems
differential susceptibility model
biological sensitivity to context model
certain characteristics, like different temperaments, that render children more vulnerable to difficulty in adverse contexts also make them more susceptible to optimal growth in very supportive conditions
Personality Development
Trust
Erik Erikson: trust v mistrust stage of development in first year of life
infants learn trust when they are cared for in a consistent, warm manner
if the infant is not well fed and kept warm on a consistent basis, a sense of mistrust is likely to develop
The Developing Sense of Self
mirror technique
signs of self-recognition begin to appear among some infants 15-18 months old
late in the second year and early in the third year, toddlers show a self-awareness of “me”
infants begin developing an understanding of others as early as 13 months
Independence
Erik Erikson: important issue in second year of life
second stage of development: autonomy v shame and doubt
autonomy builds as infant’s mental and motor abilities develop
It is important for parents to recognize the motivation of toddlers to do what they are capable of doing at their own pace. Then they can learn to control their muscles and their impulses themselves. But when caregivers are impatient and do for toddlers what they are capable of doing themselves, shame and doubt develop. Every parent has rushed a child from time to time. It is only when parents consistently overprotect toddlers or criticize accidents (wetting, soiling, spilling, or breaking, for example) that children develop an excessive sense of shame and doubt about their ability to control themselves and their world.
Social Orientation / Understanding and Attachment
Social Orientation / Understanding
social orientation
young infants stare intently at faces and are attuned to the sounds of human voices, especially the voices of their caregivers
later, they become adept at interpreting the meaning of facial expressions and voices
face-to-face play begins to characterize caregiver-infant interactions when the infant is 2-3 months old
focused social interaction
vocalizations, touch, and gestures
illustrates a mothers’ motivation to create a positive emotional state in their infants
by 2-3 months infants respond in dif ways to ppl and objects
show more positive emotion to ppl than to inanimate objects
most infants expect ppl to react positively when the infants initiate a behavior
interaction w peers increases considerably in the last half of the second year
between 18 and 24 months of age, children increase their imitative and reciprocal play
imitating nonverbal actions like jumping and running
locomotion
newly developed, self-produced locomotion skills (ability to crawl, walk, and run) allow the infant to independently initiate social interchanges on a more frequent basis
development of these gross motor skills results from factors such as the development of the nervous system, the goal
the infant is motivated to reach, and environmental support for the skill the infant’s and toddler’s push for independence is paced by the development of locomotion skills
intention, goal-directed behavior, and meaningful interactions with others
joining attention: when the caregiver and infant focus on the same object or event. occurs at 7-8 months and intensifies at 10-11 months
gaze-following
social referencing: reading emotional cues in others to help determine how to act in a particular situation
Attachment and Its Development
attachment: close emotional bond between two people
Freud: infants become attached to the person or object that provides oral satisfaction
Harlow: contact comfort is important in attachment
Bowlby: both infants and their primary caregivers are biologically predisposed to form attachments
newborn is biologically equipped to elicit attachment behavior
immediate result is to keep primary caregiver nearby
long-term effect is to increase the infant’s chance of survival
infants develop an internal working model of attachment (a simple mental model of the caregiver, their relationship, and the self as deserving of nurturant care)
influences the infant’s and later, the child’s subsequent responses to other people
plays a pivotal role in the discovery of links between attachments and emotional understanding, conscience development, and self-concept
attachment develops in phases
birth - 2 months: infants instinctively direct their attachment to human figures
2 - 7 months: attachment becomes focused on one figure (primary caregiver) as the baby leans to distinguish between people
7 - 24 months: specific attachments develop. with increased locomotor skills, babies actively seek contact with regular caregivers
24 months +: children become aware of others’ feelings, goals, and plans and begin to take these into account in forming their own actions
Individual Differences in Attachment
Ainsworth and the Strange Situation
securely attached babies use the caregiver as a secure base from which to explore the environment
insecure avoidant babies show insecurity by avoiding the caregiver
insecure resistant babies often cling to the caregiver, then resist the caregiver
insecure disorganized babies appear disoriented and disorganized
secure attachment in the first year of life provides an important foundation for psychological development later in life
developmental cascade model: connections across domains over time that influences developmental pathways and outcomes
Caregiving Styles and Attachment
securely attached babies have caregivers who are sensitive to their signals and are consistently available to respond to their infant’s needs
caregivers of avoidant babies tend to be unavailable or rejecting
don’t respond to their babies’ signals
have little physical contact w them
when they do interact, they may behave in an angry and irritable way
caregivers of resistant babies are inconsistent
sometimes they respond to their babies’ needs and sometimes they don’t
tend to not be very affectionate
show little synchrony when interacting with them
caregivers of disorganized babies often neglect or physically abuse them (or are depressed)
Developmental Social Neuroscience and Attachment
prefrontal cortex, subcortical regions of amygdala, and hypothalamus likely have an important role in maternal attachment behavior
oxytocin is released during breast feeding and by contact in warmth
Social Contexts The Family
Reciprocal Socialization
children socialize parents just as parents socialize children
reciprocal interchanges and mutual influence processes are transactional
scaffolding: parents time interactions in such a way that the infant experiences turn taking with the parents
in using scaffolding, caregivers provide a positive, reciprocal framework in which they and their children interact
when adults used explicit scaffolding (encouragement and praise) their 13- and 14- month old infants were twice as likely to engage in helping behavior
epigenetic view emphasizes that development is the result of an ongoing, bidirectional interchange between heredity and the environment
harsh, hostile parenting is associated with negative outcomes for children, such as benign defiant and oppositional
Managing and Guiding Infants’ Behavior
being proactive and childproofing the environment
engaging in corrective methods when infants engage in undesirable behaviors
Maternal and Parental Caregiving
fathers have the ability to act as sensitively and responsively as mothers with their infants
infants who showed a higher level or externalizing, disruptive problems at 1 year of age has fathers who displayed a low level of engagement with them as early as the third month of life
children whose father’s behavior was more withdrawn and depressed at 3 moths had a lower level of cognitive development at 24 months of age
children whose fathers were more engaged and sensitive, as well as less controlling, at 24 months of age showed a higher level of cognitive development at that age
if fathers have mental health problems, they may not interact as effectively with their infants
Child Care
most countries provide parental benefits only to women who have been employed for a minimum time prior to childbirth
Variations in Child Care
infants and toddlers are more likely to be found in family child care in informal care settings
older children are more likely to be in child care centers and preschool and early education programs
child-care quality makes a difference
children and more likely to experience poor childcare if they come from families with few resources
extensive child care was harmful to low-income children only when the care was of low quality
high-quality child care involves providing children with
a safe environment
access to age-appropriate toys
participation in age-appropriate activities
low caregiver-to-child ratio that allows caregivers to spend considerable time with children on an individual basis