chapter 7: emotional and social development in infancy and toddlerhood

Temperament

A child's personal "style" - the way he or she experiences the world

Self-Awareness

(rouge test with mirror) Self-awareness occurs when the infant/toddler recognizes that their bodies and actions are separate from other people. Gains in self-awareness result from: acting on the environment sensitive caregiving Another form of self-awareness is body awareness, which is explained in the embedded video and tested with the shopping cart task.

Gene (Temperament) x Environment Interaction

As a reminder, gene- environment interactions describe ways our responses to our environment depend on our genes. Temperament is believed to be largely hereditary. Thus, in temperament x environment interactions, the effect of an environmental exposure on health and behavior is conditional upon a person's temperament

Attachment

Attachment can be defined as a deep and enduring emotional bond between two people in which each seeks closeness and feels more secure when in the presence of the attachment figure. This relationship strongly influences subsequent development.

possible factors that impact attachment relationships

Early availability of consistent caregiver Quality of caregiving Infant characteristics Family circumstances Parents' internal working models

Self-Regulation

Early in development, young infants depend on caregivers to soothe them (see embedded video on co-regulation to the right) In the second year, brain development, growth in representation and language leads to new ways of regulating emotions Caregivers contribute to their child's self-regulation style. As babies develop into toddlers and children, caregivers can help them learn effective coping skills

Self-Control

Effortful control: ability to inhibit impulses and manage negative emotion Compliance (12-18 months): Toddlers show clear awareness of caregivers' wishes and expectations Assertiveness and opposition occur alongside eager, willing compliance

goodness of fit

Goodness of fit happens when an adult's expectations and methods of caregiving match the child's personal style and abilities. Goodness of Fit in systems theory: Development occurs in very specific set of nested contexts, which interact with each other. Thus, temperament and environment may interact and produce favorable outcomes.

Gene (Temperament) x Environment Correlation

Our temperaments influence the environments to which we are exposed Consider possible passive, reactive/evocative, and active (niche-picking) links

Attachment: An Ethological Approach

The emotional bond that typically forms between infant and caregiver Close child-caregiver interactions are necessary, as they are the means by which the helpless infant gets primary needs met Children need to explore and play, and use the caregiver as a secure base It then becomes the engine of subsequent social, emotional, and cognitive development Attachments are most likely to form with those who respond accurately to the baby's signals, not the person they spend more time with.

self-conscious emotions

These develop later in childhood compared to basic emotions because they require self-awareness. Self-conscious emotions are affected by how we see ourselves and how we think others perceive us. Examples include guilt, shame, embarrassment, envy, and pride.

Complex emotions

Usually comprised of two or more basic emotions. For example, fear, anger, and disgust, when combined, make the complex emotion of hate. Complex emotions are also expressed very differently across different cultures of the world. Some examples include jealousy, regret, and grief. They require more cognitive processing than basic emotions. For example, happiness and surprise might be combined to form the complex emotion of awe.

social referencing

searching for and recognizing others' emotions to interpret experiences.

Basic Emotions

thought to be universally recognizable (i.e., expressed in similar ways) in humans and shared with other primates. They are produced automatically and become apparent early in development. Basic emotions include: happiness, interest, surprise, fear, anger, and disgust

7.4 Describe the development of self-awareness in infancy and toddlerhood, along with the emotional and social capacities it supports.

■ At birth, infants sense that they are physically distinct from their surroundings, an implicit self-awareness that serves as the foundation for explicit self-awareness. Toward the end of the second year, self-recognition is evident in toddlers' awareness of their own unique facial appearance. ■ Soon after, body self-awareness is apparent in toddlers' ability to locate and name body parts. However, they make scale errors, attempting to do things their body size makes impossible. ■ Self-awareness leads to toddlers' first efforts to appreciate others' perspectives, including expectations of fairness in dividing resources and early signs of empathy. Between 18 and 30 months, as language develops, children develop a categorical self, classifying themselves and others on the basis of age, sex, physical characteristics, and competencies. ■ Self-awareness also contributes to gains in self-control. Compliance emerges between 12 and 18 months, followed by delay of gratification, which strengthens between 1½ and 4 years. Toddlers who experience parental warmth and gentle encouragement are likely to be advanced in self-control.

7.3c Discuss factors that influence early attachment security, infants' and toddlers' formation of multiple attachments, and how attachment paves the way for peer sociability.

■ Attachment security is influenced by early availability of a consistent caregiver, quality of caregiving, the fit between the baby's temperament and parenting practices, and family circumstances. ■ Late adoption from institutionalized settings is associated with high rates of attachment insecurity and emotional and social difficulties. ■ In Western cultures that value independence, sensitive caregiving involves responding contingently to infant signals and "reading" the baby's mental states. In non-Western village communities and Asian cultures that value interdependence, proximal care is deemed sensitive because it promotes connection to the social group. ■ Babies genetically predisposed to emotional reactivity are at increased risk for insecure attachment, but only when exposed to negative parenting. With exposure to sensitive caregiving, these infants are more likely to be securely attached. ■ Parents' internal working models are modestly related to their sensitive caregiving and own infants' attachment security. However, parents' childhood experiences do not transfer directly to quality of attachment with their children. ■ Infants develop strong affectionate ties to fathers, who tend to engage in more exciting physical play than do mothers. In Western cultures, paternal warmth and secure attachment are associated with higher academic achievement, better social skills, and a reduction in child and adolescent behavior problems. ■ Despite highly stressful life circumstances, grandparents who serve as primary caregivers for grandchildren forge significant attachment ties that help protect children from worsening adjustment problems. ■ Early in the first year, infants start to form rich emotional relationships with siblings that combine rivalry and resentment with affection and sympathetic concern. Temperament, parenting, and marital quality affect individual differences in quality of sibling relationships. ■ Peer sociability begins in infancy with isolated social acts followed by reciprocal exchanges that promote peer engagement and increasing sensitivity to playmates' needs. A warm caregiver-child bond supports peer sociability.

7.2a Explain the meaning of temperament and how it is measured.

■ Children differ greatly in temperament. The pioneering New York Longitudinal Study identified three patterns: the easy child, the difficult child, and the slow-to-warm-up child. Rothbart's influential model of temperament includes dimensions representing emotion, attention, and action along with effortful control. ■ Temperament is assessed through parental reports, behavior ratings by others familiar with the child, and laboratory observations. Most neurobiological research has focused on distinguishing inhibited, or shy, children from uninhibited, or sociable, children.

7.3d Discuss the relationship of attachment patterns in infancy and of caregiving quality from infancy through adolescence to children's long-term adjustment.

■ Children's long-term, favorable adjustment is promoted by continuity of good caregiving and attachment security. With improved caregiving, insecurely attached infants show signs of developmental recovery.

ch. review: 7.1a Describe the development of basic emotions over the first year, noting the adaptive function of each.

■ During the first half-year, basic emotions gradually become clear, well-organized signals. The social smile appears between 6 and 10 weeks, though its frequency thereafter varies by culture. Laughter emerges around 3 to 4 months. Happiness strengthens the parent-child bond and fosters physical, cognitive, and social competencies. ■ Anger and fear increase in the second half of the first year. Stranger anxiety varies with infant-rearing practices. Newly mobile babies use the familiar caregiver as a secure base. Sadness often occurs when infants are deprived of a loving caregiver.

7.3a Describe the features of ethological theory of attachment and its view of the development of attachment during the first two years.

■ Ethological theory of attachment recognizes the infant's emotional tie to the caregiver as an evolved response that promotes survival. In early infancy, built-in signals help bring infants into close contact with other humans. ■ Around 6 to 8 months, separation anxiety and use of the caregiver as a secure base indicate a true attachment bond. As representation and language develop, separation anxiety declines. From early caregiving experiences, children construct an internal working model that guides future close relationships.

7.1b Summarize changes during the first two years in understanding of others' emotions, expression of self-conscious emotions, and emotional self-regulation.

■ Social referencing appears at 8 to 10 months as infants' ability to detect the meaning of emotional expressions improves. By the middle of the second year, toddlers realize that others' emotional reactions may differ from their own. ■ During toddlerhood, self-awareness and adult instruction provide the foundation for self-conscious emotions: guilt, shame, embarrassment, envy, and pride. ■ Emotional self-regulation emerges as the prefrontal cortex functions more effectively, as caregivers sensitively assist infants in adjusting their emotional reactions, and as infants' ability to shift attention improves. In the second year, growth in representation and language leads to more effective ways of regulating emotion. Berk, Laura E.. Infants and Children (p. 276). Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.

7.2b Discuss the roles of heredity and environment in the stability of temperament, including the goodness-of-fit model.

■ Temperament has low to moderate stability: It develops with age and can be modified by experience. Long-term prediction from early temperament is best achieved after age 3, when effortful control improves substantially. ■ Temperament has a genetic foundation, but child rearing and cultural beliefs and practices have much to do with maintaining or changing it. ■ Children with self-regulation difficulties function worse than other children when exposed to ineffective parenting but benefit more from good parenting. Parents' tendency to exaggerate siblings' differences also affects development of temperament. ■ According to the goodness-of-fit model, parenting practices that fit well with the child's temperament help children achieve adaptive functioning.

7.3b Describe techniques for measuring attachment security, the stability of attachment patterns, and cultural variations in attachment behavior.

■ Using the Strange Situation, a laboratory technique for assessing the quality of attachment between 1 and 2 years of age, researchers have identified four attachment patterns: secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-resistant, and disorganized/disoriented attachment. The Attachment Q-Sort, based on home observations of children between ages 1 and 5, yields a score ranging from low to high security. ■ Securely attached babies in middle-SES families with favorable life conditions more often maintain their attachment pattern than insecure babies. However, the disorganized/disoriented pattern is highly stable. ■ Wide cultural variations in infants' ways of expressing attachment reflect cultural differences in child-rearing beliefs and goals.