chpt 4 psychosocial development

Behaviorism

From the perspective of behaviorism, emotions and personality are molded as adults reinforce or punish children. Behaviorists believe that parents who respond joyously to every glimmer of a grin will have children with a sunny disposition. The opposite is also true: Failure to bring up a happy child, a well-adjusted child—assuming bodily health—falls squarely upon the parents' shoulders. [By the time the child is 3] parents have already determined . . . [whether the child] is to grow into a happy person, wholesome and good-natured, whether he is to be a whining, complaining neurotic, an anger-driven, vindictive, over-bearing slave driver, or one whose every move in life is definitely controlled by fear. Later behaviorists recognized that infants' behavior also reflects social learning, when infants learn from other people. You already saw an example, social referencing. Social learning occurs throughout life, not necessarily via direct teaching but often through observation (Shneidman & Woodward, 2016). Toddlers express emotions in various ways—from giggling to cursing—just as their parents or older siblings do. For example, a boy might develop a hot temper if his father's outbursts seem to win his mother's respect; a girl might be coy, or passive-aggressive, if that is what she has seen at home. These examples are deliberately sexist: Gender roles, in particular, are learned, according to social learning. Parents often unwittingly encourage certain traits in their children. Should babies have many toys, or will that make them too greedy? Should you pick up your crying baby or give her a pacifier? Should you breast-feed until age 2 or longer or switch to bottle-feeding before 6 months? These questions highlight the distinction between proximal parenting (being physically close to a baby, often holding and touching) and distal parenting (keeping some distance—providing toys, encouraging self-feeding, and talking face-to-face instead of communicating by touch). Caregivers tend to behave in proximal or distal ways very early, when infants are only 2 months old (Kärtner et al., 2010). Each pattern reinforces some behavior. proximal parenting Caregiving practices that involve being physically close to the baby, with frequent holding and touching. distal parenting Caregiving practices that involve remaining distant from the baby, providing toys, food, and face-to-face communication with minimal holding and touching. For instance, toddlers who, as infants, were often held, patted, and hushed (proximal) became toddlers who are more obedient to their parents but less likely to recognize themselves in a mirror. This is one of those findings that has been replicated in many nations. In Greece, Cameroon, Italy, Israel, Zambia, Scotland, and Turkey, distal or proximal infant care correlates with whether adults value individual rather than collective action (Scharf, 2014; Keller et al., 2010; Ross et al., 2017; Carra et al., 2013; Borke et al., 2007; Kärtner et al., 2011).

At About This Time: Developing Emotions

Birth Distress; contentment 6 weeks Social smile3 months Laughter; curiosity 4 months Full, responsive smiles 4-8 months Anger 9-14 months Fear of social events (strangers, separation from caregiver) 12 months Fear of unexpected sights and sounds 18 months Self-awareness; pride; shame; embarrassment

TEMPERAMENT OVER THE YEARS

In laboratory studies of temperament, 4-month-old infants might see spinning mobiles or hear unusual sounds, and older babies might confront a clown who approaches quickly. During such experiences, some children laugh, some cry, and others are quiet. Infant reactions may be categorized as easy (40 percent), difficult (10 percent), slow-to-warm-up (15 percent), and hard-to-classify (35 percent). These four categories originate from the New York Longitudinal Study (NYLS). Begun in the 1960s, the NYLS was the first large study to recognize that each newborn has a distinct temperament (Thomas & Chess, 1977). According to the NYLS, by 3 months, infants manifest nine traits that cluster into the four categories just listed. Although the NYLS was the first major study to consider temperament longitudinally, its nine dimensions have not been replicated. Generally, only three (not nine) dimensions of temperament are found (Hirvonen et al., 2013; van den Akker et al., 2010; Degnan et al., 2011), each affecting later personality and achievement. The three are: Effortful control (able to regulate attention and emotion, to self-soothe) Negative mood (fearful, angry, unhappy) Exuberance (active, social, not shy) One longitudinal study analyzed temperament at least eight times, at 4, 9, 14, 24, and 48 months and then in middle childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. The scientists designed laboratory experiments to evoke emotions appropriate for the age of the participants, collected detailed reports from mothers and later from participants themselves, and gathered observational data and physiological evidence, including brain scans. Past data on each person were reevaluated each time, and cross-sectional and international studies were considered (Fox et al., 2001, 2005, 2013; Hane et al., 2008; Williams et al., 2010; Jarcho et al., 2013). Half of the participants did not change much over time, reacting the same way and having similar brain-wave patterns in adulthood and in infancy. Curiously, change was most likely for the inhibited, fearful infants and least likely for the exuberant ones (see Figure 4.2). Why was that? Are parents likely to coax frightened infants to be brave but willing to let exuberant babies stay happy? The researchers found unexpected gender differences. As teenagers, relatively high rates of drug abuse occurred with the formerly inhibited boys, but low rates occurred in the girls (L. R. Williams et al., 2010). A likely explanation is cultural: Shy boys use drugs to mask their social anxiety, but shy girls may be more accepted as they are. Other research also finds that shyness is more stable in girls than boys over the years (Poole et al., 2017). Continuity and change were seen in another study, which found that angry infants often provoked hostility from their mothers, and, if that happened, they became antisocial children. However, if the mothers were loving and patient despite the difficult temperament of the children, hostile traits were not evident later on (Pickles et al., 2013). In general, infants with difficult temperaments are more likely than other babies to develop emotional problems, especially if their mothers had a difficult pregnancy and were depressed or anxious caregivers (Garthus-Niegel et al., 2017). This is a developmental cascade—no single factor determines later outcomes, but several can combine to cause a disorder.

SELF AND OTHERS

Temper can be seen as an expression of selfhood, as can other common toddler emotions: pride, shame, jealousy, embarrassment, disgust, and guilt. These emotions may begin with inborn sensitivities, but they involve social awareness. Such awareness typically emerges from family interaction, which begins with the relationship between caregiver and baby. For instance, in a study of infant jealousy, when mothers were instructed to ignore their own baby and attend to another infant, the babies moved closer to their mothers, bidding for attention. Their brain activity also registered social emotions (Mize et al., 2014). Positive emotions show social awareness and then learning as well. Most toddlers try to help a stranger who has dropped something or who is searching for a hidden object. Their response seems to be natural empathy, quite apart from any selfish motives (Warneken, 2015). Over time, children learn when and whom to help; adults may teach them not to help. Some adults donate to beggars, others look away, and still others complain to the police that such people should not be seen in public. Attitudes about ethnicity, or immigration, or clothing, begin with the infant's preference for the familiar and interest in novelty, and then upbringing adds appreciation or rejection. In addition to social awareness, another foundation for emotional growth is self-awareness, the realization that one's body, mind, and activities are distinct from those of other people (Kopp, 2011). Closely following the new mobility that results from walking is an emerging sense of "me" and "mine" that leads to a new awareness of others. self-awareness A person's realization that he or she is a distinct individual whose body, mind, and actions are separate from those of other people. In a classic experiment (Lewis & Brooks, 1978), 9- to 24-month-olds looked into a mirror after a dot of rouge had been surreptitiously put on their noses. If they reacted by touching the red dot on their noses, that meant they knew the mirror showed their own faces. None of the babies younger than 12 months did that, although they sometimes smiled and touched the dot on the "other" baby in the mirror. Between 15 and 24 months, babies become self-aware, touching their own red noses with curiosity and puzzlement. Self-recognition in the mirror/rouge test (and in photographs) usually emerges with two other advances: pretending and using first-person pronouns (I, me, mine, myself, my) (Lewis, 2010). Thus, "an explicit and hence reflective conception of the self is apparent at the early stage of language acquisition at around the same age that infants begin to recognize themselves in mirrors" (Rochat, 2013, p. 388). This illustrates the interplay of infant abilities—walking, talking, social awareness, and emotional self-understanding all combine to make the 18-month-old quite unlike the 8-month-old. Again, timing and expression are affected by the social context (Ross et al., 2017). Does the parents' culture prize individuality (self-awareness) or cherish community (social understanding)?

THE COST OF CHILD REARING

The financial costs of raising a child are substantial: Food, diapers, clothes, furniture, medical bills, toys, and child care (whether paid or unpaid) are just a start. Before a child becomes independent, many parents buy a bigger residence and pay for education—including such luxuries as piano lessons, karate class, or basketball camp. The emotional costs are greater—worry, self-doubt, fear, etc. A book about parenting is titled All Joy and No Fun, highlighting the paradox: People choose to sacrifice time, money, and fun because they find parenting deeply satisfying (Senior, 2014). Evolutionary theory holds that the emotions of attachment—love, jealousy, even clinginess and anger—keep toddlers near caregivers who remain vigilant. Infants fuss at still faces, fear separation, and laugh when adults play with them—all to sustain caregiving. Emotions are our genetic legacy; we would die without them. Evolutionary social scientists note that if mothers were the exclusive caregivers of each child until children were adults, a given woman could rear only one or two offspring—not enough for the species to survive. Instead, before the introduction of reliable birth control, the average interval between births for humans was two to four years. Humans bear children at relatively short intervals because of allocare—the care of children by alloparents, caregivers who are not the biological parents (Hrdy, 2009). allocare Literally, "other-care"; the care of children by people other than the biological parents. Allocare is essential for Homo sapiens' survival. Compared with many other species (mother chimpanzees space births by four or five years and never let another chimp hold their babies), human mothers have evolved to let other people help with child care (Kachel et al., 2011). That may be universal for our species—but each culture has distinct values and preferences for nonmaternal care, as the next topic explains.

As always, culture and experience influence the norms of development.

This is especially true for emotional development after the first 8 months.

Evolutionary Theory

Remember that evolutionary theory stresses two needs: survival and reproduction. Human brains are extraordinarily adept at those tasks. However, not until after more than two decades of maturation is the human brain fully functioning. A human child must be nourished, protected, and taught much longer than offspring of any other species. Infant and parent emotions ensure this lengthy protection (Hrdy, 2009).

Psychoanalytic Theory

Psychoanalytic theory connects biosocial and psychosocial development. Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson each described two distinct stages of early development, one in the first year and one beginning in the second year.

INSIDE THE BRAIN The Growth of Emotion

s Brain maturation is crucial for emotional development, particularly for emotions that respond to other people. Experience connects the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex (van Goozen, 2015), teaching infants to align their own feelings with those of their caregivers (Missana et al., 2014). Joy, fear, and excitement become shared, mutual experiences—as anyone who successfully makes a baby laugh knows. Maturation of the cortex and connections between parts of the brain are crucial for the social smile and then laughter—newborns can't do it (Konner, 2010). As the brain matures over the first two years, fear, self-awareness, jealousy, and anger become more pronounced, all evident in brain activity as well as in behavior. Essentially, connections between innate emotional impulses from the amygdala and experience-based learning shows "dramatic age-dependent improvement," with genes, prenatal influences, and early caregiving all contributing to the development of the infant brain (Gao et al., 2017). Infant experience leads to adult reactions: If you know someone who cries, laughs, or angers quickly, ask about their childhood. An example of the connection between the brain and caregiving came from a study of "highly reactive" infants (i.e., those whose brains naturally reacted with intense fear, anger, and other emotions). Highly reactive 15-month-olds with responsive caregivers (not hostile or neglectful) became less fearful, less angry, and so on. By age 4, they were able to regulate their emotions, presumably because they had developed neurological links between brain excitement and emotional response. However, highly reactive toddlers with less responsive caregivers were often overwhelmed by later emotions (Ursache et al., 2013). Differential susceptibility is apparent: Innate reactions and caregiver actions together sculpt the brain. Both are affected by culture: Some parents are especially sympathetic to distress, while others especially fear spoiling. Genes and prenatal influences also matter. Some newborns have been exposed to toxic drugs; some inherit genes that make them vulnerable to autism spectrum disorder. For them, particularly, postnatal experiences are crucial to promote healthy emotional development (Gao et al., 2017) (see Figure 4.1). An illustration shows normal brain development from birth and as the kid grows. FIGURE 4.1 Seven Arrows Pointing Up This figure is intended to show the ongoing development of the brain. Prenatal, genetic, and experiential influences continue lifelong. The social smile, for instance, is fleeting when 2-month-olds see a face—almost any face. As the brain develops, infants smile more quickly and openly at the sight of a familiar, loving caregiver but not at seeing a stranger. That occurs because caregivers appear frequently, and that causes neurons to repeatedly fire together, so the dendrites become closely connected. In classic research, the brains of infant mice released more serotonin when their mothers licked them. That not only increased the mouselings' pleasure but also started epigenetic responses, reducing cortisol from brain and body, including the adrenal glands. The effects were lifelong; those baby mice became smarter and more loving adults, with larger brains. That research with mice has been replicated and extended, with neuroscientists in awe of the "remarkable capacity for plastic changes that influence behavioural outcomes throughout the lifetime" (Kolb et al., 2017, p. 1218). For optimal brain development, some stimulation is needed (overprotection is harmful), but so is comfort. Too much fear and stress harms the hypothalamus, which then grows more slowly. If infants are maltreated, they develop abnormal responses to stress, anger, and other emotions, apparent in the many brain areas (hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex) (Bernard et al., 2014; Cicchetti, 2013a). The immune system is impaired (Hostinar et al., 2018); abused children become sickly adults because of what has happened inside their brains decades earlier.

Infant Day Care

About 150 million births occurred in 2017 (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2017). Most of these babies are cared for primarily by their mothers. Before age 2, marked differences in their allocare are evident. Fathers and grandmothers frequently care for infants. The United States has more single mothers than other nations, but it also has higher rates of father care, unlike a few decades ago. Most married mothers are currently happy with how much infant care their husbands provide, although mothers are still primary caregivers (DeMaris & Mahoney, 2017). In some families in the United States and some other nations, grandmothers are primary caregivers from day 1. In other families, grandmothers are rarely, or never, alone with the infant. In Western cultures, infant care provided by a nonrelative, either at the baby's home or at a day-care center, has increased since 1980. Since paid maternal leave is uncommon in the United States, 58 percent of the mothers of infants under 1 year of age were in the labor force in 2015 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, April 22, 2016). That requires allocare, either by a relative or a professional. As you can see from Figure 4.3, even among wealthy nations, care of infants varies markedly—the babies are all quite similar in their caregiving needs and responses, but nations and families vary dramatically in who cares for them at 6 months of age and again from ages 1 to 3. By contrast, virtually no infant in some of the poorest nations receives regular nonmaternal care unless the mother is dead or severely ill. Not shown is the socioeconomic split: In most nations—except the United States—low-income children are most likely to be in exclusive maternal care (Petitclerc et al., 2017). The United States has higher rates of infant day care for the working poor, whose infant care is subsidized, as well as higher rates for the wealthy, because they can afford it. Middle-class infants are usually in home care.

ERIKSON: TRUST AND AUTONOMY

According to Erikson, the first crisis of life is trust versus mistrust, when infants learn whether or not the world can be trusted to satisfy basic needs. Babies feel secure when food and comfort are provided with "consistency, continuity, and sameness of experience" (Erikson, 1993a, p. 247). If social interaction inspires trust, the child (later the adult) confidently explores the social world. trust versus mistrust Erikson's first crisis of psychosocial development. Infants learn basic trust if the world is a secure place where their basic needs (for food, comfort, attention, and so on) are met. The second crisis is autonomy versus shame and doubt, beginning at about 18 months, when self-awareness emerges. Toddlers want autonomy (self-rule) over their own actions and bodies. Without it, they feel ashamed and doubtful. Like Freud, Erikson believed that problems in early infancy could last a lifetime, creating adults who are suspicious and pessimistic (mistrusting) or easily shamed (lacking autonomy).

FREUD: ORAL AND ANAL STAGES

According to Freud (1935/1989, 2001), the first year of life is the oral stage, so named because the mouth is the young infant's primary source of gratification. In the second year, with the anal stage, pleasure comes from the anus—particularly from the sensual satisfaction of bowel movements and, eventually, the psychological pleasure of controlling them. Freud believed that the oral and anal stages are fraught with potential conflicts. If a mother frustrates her infant's urge to suck—weaning too early or too late, for example, or preventing the baby from sucking a thumb or a pacifier—that may later lead to an oral fixation. Adults with an oral fixation are stuck (fixated) at the oral stage, and therefore they eat, drink, chew, bite, or talk excessively, still seeking the mouth-related pleasures of infancy. Similarly, if toilet training is overly strict or if it begins before maturation allows sufficient control, that causes a clash between the toddler's refusal—or inability—to comply and the wishes of the adult, who denies the infant normal anal pleasures. That may lead to an anal personality—an adult who seeks self-control, with a strong need for regularity and cleanliness in all aspects of life.

High-quality day care during infancy has five essential characteristics:

Adequate attention to each infant A small group of infants (no more than five) needs two reliable, familiar, loving caregivers. Continuity of care is crucial. Encouragement of language and sensorimotor development Infants need language—songs, conversations, and positive talk—and easily manipulated toys. Attention to health and safety Cleanliness routines (e.g., handwashing), accident prevention (e.g., no small objects), and safe areas to explore are essential. Professional caregivers Caregivers should have experience and degrees/certificates in early-childhood education. Turnover should be low, morale high, and enthusiasm evident. Warm and responsive caregivers Providers should engage the children in active play and guide them in problem solving. Quiet, obedient children may indicate unresponsive care.

Early Emotions

At first, comfort predominates: Newborns are happy and relaxed when fed and drifting off to sleep. Pain is also part of daily life: Newborns cry when they are hurt or hungry, tired or frightened (as by a loud noise or a sudden loss of support). By the second week, some infants have bouts of uncontrollable crying, called colic, probably the result of immature digestion. Others have reflux, probably the result of immature swallowing. About 20 percent of babies cry "excessively," defined as more than three hours a day, more than three days a week, for more than three weeks (J. Kim, 2011).

SECURE AND INSECURE ATTACHMENT

Attachment is classified into four types: A, B, C, and D. Infants with secure attachment (type B) feel comfortable and confident. The caregiver is a base for exploration, providing assurance and enabling discovery. A toddler might, for example, scramble down from the caregiver's lap to play with an intriguing toy but periodically look back and vocalize (contact-maintaining) or bring the toy to the caregiver for inspection (proximity-seeking). secure attachment (type B) A relationship in which an infant obtains both comfort and confidence from the presence of his or her caregiver. The caregiver's presence gives the child courage to explore; the caregiver's departure causes distress; the caregiver's return elicits positive social contact (such as smiling or hugging) and then more playing. This balanced reaction—being concerned but not overwhelmed by comings and goings—indicates security. By contrast, insecure attachment (types A and C) is characterized by fear, anxiety, anger, or indifference. Some insecure children play independently without seeking contact; this is insecure-avoidant attachment (type A). The opposite reaction is insecure-resistant/ambivalent attachment (type C). Children with type C cling to their caregivers and are angry at being left. insecure-avoidant attachment (type A) A pattern of attachment in which an infant avoids connection with the caregiver, as when the infant seems not to care about the caregiver's presence, departure, or return. insecure-resistant/ambivalent attachment (type C) A pattern of attachment in which an infant's anxiety and uncertainty are evident, as when the infant becomes very upset at separation from the caregiver and both resists and seeks contact on reunion. Early research was on mothers and infants. Later, it was found that infants may be securely or insecurely attached to fathers or other caregivers. It was thought that temperament might affect attachment, but research shows that temperament does not determine attachment status (Groh et al., 2017). Ainsworth's original schema differentiated only types A, B, and C. Later researchers discovered a fourth category (type D), disorganized attachment. Type D infants may suddenly switch from hitting to kissing their mothers, from staring blankly to crying hysterically, from pinching themselves to freezing in place. disorganized attachment (type D) A type of attachment that is marked by an infant's inconsistent reactions to the caregiver's departure and return. Among the general population, almost two-thirds of infants are secure (type B). About one-third are insecure, either indifferent (type A) or unduly anxious (type C), and about 5 to 10 percent are disorganized (type D). The latter have no consistent strategy for social interaction, even avoidance or resistance. Instead, they may become hostile and aggressive, difficult for anyone to relate to. They are at high risk for later psychopathology, including severe aggression and major depression (Cicchetti, 2016; Groh et al., 2012).

Almost every developmentalist agrees with three conclusions.

Attachment to one or several familiar caregivers is essential. That could be mothers, other close relatives, or regular day-care providers. Frequent changes and instability are problematic. If an infant is cared for by a neighbor, a grandmother, a day-care center, and then another grandmother, each for only a month or two, or if an infant is with the biological mother, then a foster mother, then back with the biological mother, that is harmful. By age 3, children with unstable care histories are likely to be more aggressive than those with stable care (Pilarz & Hill, 2014). Babies benefit from a strong relationship with their parents. Accordingly, most nations provide some paid leave for mothers who are in the workforce, with variations of a few days to 15 months (see Figure 4.4). Increasingly, paid leave is allowed for fathers, or family leave can be taken by either parent. In most nations, a mother's job is legally required to be available when her leave is over.

Cognitive Theory

Cognitive theory holds that thoughts determine a person's perspective. Early experiences are important because beliefs, perceptions, and memories make them so, not because they are buried in the unconscious (psychoanalytic theory) or burned into the brain's patterns (behaviorism). According to many cognitive theorists, early experiences help infants develop a working model, which is a set of assumptions that becomes a frame of reference for later life (S. Johnson et al., 2010). It is a "model" because early relationships form a prototype, or blueprint; it is "working" because it is a work in progress, not fixed or final. working model In cognitive theory, a set of assumptions that the individual uses to organize perceptions and experiences. For example, a person might assume that other people are trustworthy and be surprised by an incident in which this working model of human behavior is erroneous. Ideally, infants develop "a working model of the self as lovable and competent" because the parents are "emotionally available, loving, and supportive of their mastery efforts" (Harter, 2012, p. 12). However, reality does not always conform to this ideal. A 1-year-old girl might develop a model, based on her parents' inconsistent responses to her, that people are unpredictable. She will continue to apply that model to everyone: Her childhood friendships will be insecure, and her adult relationships will be guarded. The crucial idea, according to cognitive theory, is that an infant's early experiences themselves are not necessarily pivotal, but the interpretation of those experiences is (Olson & Dweck, 2009). Children may misinterpret their experiences, or parents may offer inaccurate explanations, and these form ideas that affect later thinking and behavior. In this way, working models formed in childhood echo lifelong. A hopeful message from cognitive theory is that people can rethink and reorganize their thoughts, developing new models. Our mistrustful girl might marry someone who is faithful and loving, so she may gradually develop a new working model. The form of psychotherapy that seems most successful at the moment is called cognitive-behavioral, in which new thoughts about how to behave are developed. In other words, a new working model is developed.

ANGER AND SADNESS

Crying in pain and smiling in pleasure are soon joined by more responsive emotions. Anger is notable at 6 months, usually triggered by frustration. To study infant emotions, researchers "crouched behind the child and gently restrained his or her arms for 2 min[utes] or until 20 s[econds] of hard crying ensued" (Mills-Koonce et al., 2011, p. 390). "Hard crying" was not rare: Infants hate to be strapped in, caged in, closed in, or just held in place when they want to explore. In infancy, anger is a healthy response to frustration, unlike sadness, which also appears in the first months (Thiam et al., 2017). Sadness indicates withdrawal instead of an active bid for help, and it is accompanied by a greater increase in the body's production of cortisol. All social emotions, particularly sadness and fear, affect the hormones and hence the brain. Caregiving matters. Sad and angry infants whose mothers are depressed become fearful toddlers and depressed children (Dix & Yan, 2014). Abuse and unpredictable responses from caregivers are likely among the "early adverse influences [that] have lasting effects on developing neurobiological systems in the brain" (van Goozen, 2015, p. 208). "Lasting effects" could be lifelong.

BOTH PARTNERS ACTIVE

Direct observation reveals synchrony; anyone can see it when watching a caregiver play with an infant who is far too young to talk. Adults rarely smile much at newborns until that first social smile, weeks after birth. That is like a switch that lights up the adult. Soon both partners synchronize smiles, eyes, noises, and movements. Detailed research, typically with two cameras simultaneously recording infant and caregiver and later reviewed in slow motion to calibrate every millisecond of arched eyebrows, widening eyes, pursed lips, and so on, confirms the symbiosis of adult-infant partnership (Messinger et al., 2010). Recorded heart rate and brain waves also indicate synchrony, which explains why maternal depression leads to infant depression (Atzil et al., 2014). In every interaction, infants read others' emotions and develop social skills, taking turns and watching expressions. Synchrony usually begins with adults imitating infants (not vice versa) in tone and rhythm. At first, adults respond to barely perceptible infant facial expressions and body motions (Beebe et al., 2016). This helps infants connect their internal state with behaviors that are understood within their family and culture.

synchrony A coordinated, rapid, and smooth exchange of responses between a caregiver and an infant.

Early parent-infant interactions are described as synchrony, a mutual exchange with split-second timing. Metaphors for synchrony are often musical—a waltz, a jazz duet—to emphasize that each partner must be attuned to the other, with moment-by-moment responses. Synchrony increases over the first year (Feldman, 2007). To be specific, long before they can reach out and grab, infants respond excitedly to caregiver attention by waving their arms. Adults with animated expressions move close so that a waving arm can touch a face or, even better, a hand can grab hair. This is the eagerness to "make interesting events last" that was described in Chapter 3. Synchronizing adults open their eyes wide, raise their eyebrows, smack their lips, and emit nonsense sounds. Hair-grabbing might make adults bob their heads back and forth, in a playful attempt to shake off the grab, to the infants' joy. Over time, an adult and an infant might develop a routine of hair-grabbing in synchrony. Another adult and infant might develop another routine, perhaps with hand-clapping, or lip-smacking, or head-turning. Synchrony may begin haphazardly and become a mutual dance, with both knowing the steps.

Toddlers' Emotions

Emotions take on new strength during toddlerhood, as both memory and mobility advance. For example, throughout the second year and beyond, anger and fear become less frequent but more focused, targeted toward infuriating or terrifying experiences. Similarly, laughing and crying are louder and more discriminating.

NEGLECTED SYNCHRONY

Experiments involving the still-face technique suggest that synchrony is experience-expectant (needed for normal brain growth) (Tronick, 1989; Tronick & Weinberg, 1997; Hari, 2017). [Life-Span Link: Experience-expectant and experience-dependent brain function are described in Chapter 3.] still-face technique An experimental practice in which an adult keeps his or her face unmoving and expressionless in face-to-face interaction with an infant. In still-face studies, at first an infant is propped in front of an adult who responds normally. Then, on cue, the adult stops all expression, staring quietly with a "still face" for a minute or two. Sometimes by 2 months, and clearly by 6 months, infants are upset when their parents are unresponsive. Babies frown, fuss, drool, look away, kick, cry, or suck their fingers. By 5 months, they also vocalize, as if to say, "React to me!" Many studies reach the same conclusion: Synchrony is experience-expectant, not simply experience-dependent. Responsiveness aids psychosocial and biological development, evident in heart rate, weight gain, and brain maturation. For example, one study looked in detail at 4-month-old infants during and immediately after the still-face episode (Montirosso et al., 2015). The researchers found three clusters, which they called "socially engaged" (33 percent), "disengaged" (60 percent), and "negatively engaged" (7 percent). When the mothers were still-faced, the socially engaged babies remained active, looking around at other things, apparently expecting that the caregivers would soon resume connection. When the still face was over, they quickly reengaged. The disengaged group became passive, taking longer to return to normal. The negatively engaged babies were upset and angry, crying even after the still face ended. The mothers of each type differed in how they played with their infants before and after the still face. The socially engaged mothers matched the infants' actions (bobbing heads, opening mouth, and so on), but the negatively engaged mothers almost never matched and sometimes expressed anger—not sympathy—when the baby cried (Montirosso et al., 2015). That absent synchrony is a troubling sign for future emotional and brain development.

EMOTIONS FOR SURVIVAL

Infant emotions are part of this evolutionary mandate. All of the reactions described in the first part of this chapter—from the hunger cry to the temper tantrum—can be seen from this perspective (Konner, 2010). For example, newborns are extraordinarily dependent, unable to walk or talk or even sit up and feed themselves for months after birth. They must attract adult devotion—and they do. That first smile, the sound of infant laughter, and their role in synchrony are all powerfully attractive to adults—especially to parents. Adults call their hairless, chinless, round-faced, big-stomached, small-limbed offspring "cute," "handsome," "beautiful," "adorable," yet all of these characteristics are often considered ugly in adults. Parents willingly devote hours to carrying, feeding, changing, and cleaning their infants, who never express their gratitude. Adaptation is evident. Adults have the genetic potential to be caregivers, and grandparents have done it before, but, according to evolutionary psychology, whether or not that potential is expressed, turning busy adults into devoted caregivers and dependent infants into emotional magnets, is ruled by survival needs of the species. If humans were motivated solely by money or power, no one would have children. Yet evolution has created adults who find parenting worth every sacrifice, and when they provide the care that evolution has ordained, children develop well (Narvaez et al., 2013). We can all be grateful for that.

SIGNS OF ATTACHMENT

Infants show their attachment through proximity-seeking (such as approaching and following their caregivers) and through contact-maintaining (such as touching, snuggling, and holding). Attachment is evident when a baby cries if the caregiver closes the door when going to the bathroom, or fusses if a back-facing car seat prevents the baby from seeing the parent. To maintain contact when driving in a car and to reassure the baby, some caregivers in the front seat reach back to give a hand, or they install a mirror angled so that driver and baby can see each other. Some caregivers take the baby into the bathroom: One mother complained that she hadn't been alone in the bathroom for two years (Senior, 2014). Contact need not be physical: Visual or verbal connections are often sufficient. Attachment is mutual. Caregivers often keep a watchful eye on their baby, initiating contact with expressions, gestures, and sounds. Before going to sleep at midnight they might tiptoe to the crib to gaze at their sleeping infant, or, in daytime, absentmindedly smooth their toddler's hair.

Other research on children adopted nationally and internationally finds that many develop quite well, but every stress—such as parental maltreatment, institutional life, and the uncertainty of the adoption process—makes it more difficult for a child to become a happy, well-functioning adult (Grotevant & McDermott, 2014). Romania no longer permits international adoption, even though some infants are still institutionalized. Research confirms that early emotional deprivation, not genes or nutrition, is their greatest problem. Romanian infants develop best in their own families, second best in foster families, and worst in institutions (Nelson et al., 2014). This is generally true for infants everywhere: Families usually nurture their babies better than strangers who provide good physical care but not emotional attachment. The longer children live in hospitals and orphanages, the higher the risk of social and intellectual harm (Julian, 2013). Fortunately, most institutions have improved or closed, although many (estimated 8 million) children worldwide are still in institutions (Marshall, 2014). Recent adoptees are much less impaired than those Romanian orphans (Grotevant & McDermott, 2014), and many adoptive families are as strongly attached as any biological family, as A Case to Study demonstrates.

Many nations now restrict international adoptions, in part because some children were literally snatched from their biological parents to be sent abroad. According to government records, the number of international adoptees in the United States was 6,441 in 2014, down from 22,884 in 2004. The decrease is influenced more by international politics than by infant needs. Ideally, no infant would be institutionalized, but if that ideal is not reached, scientists advocate quick adoption or change in institutions, because psychological health is crucial for well-being (McCall, 2013).

ADOPTEES FROM ROMANIA

No scholar doubts that close human relationships should develop in the first year of life and that the lack of such relationships risks dire consequences. Unfortunately, thousands of children born in Romania are proof. When Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu forbade birth control and abortions in the 1980s, illegal abortions became the leading cause of death for Romanian women aged 15 to 45 (Verona, 2003), and 170,000 children were abandoned and sent to crowded, impersonal, state-run orphanages (Marshall, 2014). The children were severely deprived of social contact, experiencing virtually no synchrony, play, or conversation. In the two years after Ceauşescu was ousted and killed in 1989, thousands of those children were adopted by North American, western European, and Australian families. Infants under 6 months of age fared best; the adoptive parents established synchrony via play and caregiving. Many of those adopted between 6 and 18 months of age also fared well. For those adopted later, early signs were encouraging: Skinny toddlers gained weight, started walking, and grew quickly, developing motor skills they had lacked (H. Park et al., 2011). However, if their social deprivation had lasted more than a year, their emotions and intellect suffered. Many were overly friendly to strangers, a sign of past insecure attachment. By age 11, their average IQ was only 85, which is 15 points lower than the statistical norm. The older they had been at adoption, the worse they fared (Rutter et al., 2010). Some became impulsive, angry teenagers. Apparently, the stresses of adolescence and emerging adulthood exacerbated cognitive and social strains that they had encountered in infancy (Merz & McCall, 2011). (See Table 4.1 on page 139.)

FEAR

Note the transition from instinct to learning to expectation (Panksepp & Watt, 2011). Fear is not always focused on things and events; it also involves relationships. Two kinds of social fear are typical: Separation anxiety—clinging and crying when a familiar caregiver is about to leave. Separation anxiety is normal at age 1, may intensify by age 2, and then usually subsides. separation anxiety An infant's distress when a familiar caregiver leaves; most obvious between 9 and 14 months. Stranger wariness—fear of unfamiliar people, especially when they move too close, too quickly. Wariness indicates memory: When Isaac hesitated at seeing Bethany, that meant his memory was maturing. stranger wariness An infant's expression of concern—a quiet stare while clinging to a familiar person, or a look of fear—when a stranger appears. If separation anxiety remains intense after age 3, it may impair a child's ability to leave home, to go to school, or to play with other children. Then it is considered an emotional disorder. Separation anxiety can be diagnosed as a disorder up to age 18 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013); some clinicians diagnose it in adults, as well (Bögels et al., 2013). Stranger wariness also may continue. It may become social phobia or a general anxiety (Rudaz et al., 2017). But both emotions are expected at age 1. Curiosity is also normal, a sign of intelligence. Any unexpected or unfamiliar action attracts infant attention in the second half of the first year. In one study, infants first enjoyed watching a video of dancing to music as it normally occurs, on the beat. Then some watched a video in which the sound track was mismatched with dancing. Eight- to 12-month-old babies, compared to younger ones, were quite curious—but less delighted—about the offbeat dancing. That led the researchers to conclude that "babies know bad dancing when they see it" (Hannon et al., 2017). Many 1-year-olds are wary of anything unexpected, from the flush of the toilet to the pop of a jack-in-the-box, from closing elevator doors to the tail-wagging approach of a dog. With repeated experience and reassurance, older infants might enjoy flushing the toilet (again and again) or calling the dog (crying if the dog does not come). Note the transition from instinct to learning to thought (Panksepp & Watt, 2011).

Recent Past and Present

Research in the United States has found that center care benefits children of low-income families (Peng & Robins, 2010). For less impoverished children, questions arise. An ongoing longitudinal study by the Early Child Care Network of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has followed the development of more than 1,300 children born in 1991. Early day care correlated with many cognitive advances, especially in language. The social consequences were less clear, however. Most analyses find that secure attachment to the mother was as common among infants in center care as among infants cared for at home. Like other, smaller studies, the NICHD research confirms that the mother-child relationship is pivotal. Indeed, although infants seem to benefit from nonmaternal care, the other half of the relationship—the mothers—have concerns of their own (Green, 2015). Some mothers feel guilty for allocare (remember attachment parenting), and others welcome the opportunity to continue their profession. The problems of multiple roles—parent, partner, professional etc.—are discussed in Chapter 13. However, infant day care seemed detrimental if the mother was insensitive and the infant spent more than 20 hours a week in a poor-quality program with too many children per group (McCartney et al., 2010). Boys in such circumstances had more conflicts with their teachers than did the girls or other boys with a different mix of maternal traits and day-care experiences. Many criticisms of early research—on children born more than 25 years ago, when caregivers knew less about infant development—seem valid. But day care itself has changed. For instance, it now seems that infants do best if they have regular, restful naps—and good day-care centers now structure the day accordingly. When they do, regular day care is likely to advance cognition (Plancoulaine, 2017). Another criticism is that early research was almost exclusively on the United States (Dearing & Zachrisson, 2017). Other nations organize child care differently, and attitudes of mothers, fathers, and educators vary by culture. More recent work finds that high-quality care in infancy benefits the cognitive skills of children of both sexes and all income groups, with no evidence of emotional harm, especially when it is followed by good preschool care (Li et al., 2013; Huston et al., 2015).

Attachment

Responsive and mutual relationships are important throughout childhood and beyond. However, once infants can walk, the moment-by-moment, face-to-face synchrony is less common. Instead, attachment — the connection between one person and another, measured by how they respond to each other—comes to the fore. This connection helps infants learn to express as well as understand human emotions (Cooke et al., 2016). attachment According to Ainsworth, "an affectional tie" that an infant forms with a caregiver—a tie that binds them together in space and endures over time. Attachment can begin even before birth, but the scientific study of attachment has been most intense with infants who are about a year old. Research on mother-infant attachment began with John Bowlby (1983) in England and Mary Ainsworth (1967) in Uganda, and it has now been studied in virtually every nation, in both atypical populations (e.g., infants with Down syndrome or autism spectrum disorder) and typical ones. Attachment is lifelong. It begins before birth and influences relationships during early and late childhood, adolescence, and adulthood (e.g., Simpson & Rholes, 2015; Grossmann et al., 2014; Tan et al., 2016; Hunter & Maunder, 2016) (see At About This Time). Developmentalists are convinced that attachment is basic to the survival of Homo sapiens, with the manifestation dependent on culture and the age of the person. For instance, Ugandan mothers never kiss their infants, but they often massage them, contrary to Westerners. American adults may phone their mothers every day—even when the mothers are a thousand miles away. Or attached family members may sit in the same room of a large house, each reading quietly, speaking only a few words every so often. All of these signify attachment.

A VIEW FROM SCIENCE Measuring Attachment

Scientists take great care to develop valid measurements of various constructs because when studying people, it is crucial that other scientists know what is measured and how to replicate it. For instance, if you wanted to study love between romantic partners, what would your empirical measurement be? Ask the couple on a questionnaire? Record a video of their interaction, and count how often they made eye contact, or agreed with each other, or moved closer together? Or would you wait to see if they married, divorced, had sex, shared finances? As you might imagine, none of these is quite right, but all might be useful. Crucial is that to study an emotion such as love, some empirical measurement is defined. The same is true for attachment. Mary Ainsworth (1973) developed a now-classic laboratory procedure called the Strange Situation to measure attachment. In a well-equipped playroom, an infant is observed for eight episodes, each lasting no more than three minutes. First, the child and mother are together. Next, according to a set sequence, the mother and then a stranger come and go. Infants' responses to their mother indicate which type of attachment they have formed. Strange Situation A laboratory procedure for measuring attachment by evoking infants' reactions to the stress of various adults' comings and goings in an unfamiliar playroom. Researchers distinguish types A, B, C, and D. They focus on the following: Exploration of the toys. A secure toddler plays happily. Reaction to the caregiver's departure. A secure toddler notices when the caregiver leaves and shows some sign of missing him or her. Reaction to the caregiver's return. A secure toddler welcomes the caregiver's reappearance, seeking contact, and then plays again. When scientists measure attachment, they are carefully trained to distinguish one type from another. That training involves watching videos, calibrating ratings, and studying manuals. Researchers are not certified to measure attachment until they reach a high standard of accuracy. Although such training is the standard, respected by scientists, in current studies many other measures are used—but always the published scientific report describes exactly how attachment was measured. Research measuring attachment has revealed that some behaviors that might seem normal are, in fact, a sign of insecurity. For instance, an infant who clings to the caregiver and refuses to explore the toys might be type C. And young children who are immediately friendly to strangers might be type A (Tarullo et al., 2011). In adulthood, signs of an insecure childhood are not only rejection of mother ("I never want to see her again") but also sanctification of her ("she was a saint"). It is especially troubling if an adult can provide few details about their awful or perfect childhood. There are now many ways to measure attachment in older children, in adolescents, and in adults. At every age, the essential concept is that people who are securely attached are both independent and interdependent, neither anxious nor dismissive. In recent decades, this research has spawned attachment parenting, which prioritizes the mother-infant relationship during the first three years of life far more than Ainsworth or Bowlby did (Sears & Sears, 2001; Komisar, 2017). Attachment parenting mandates that mothers should always be near their infants (co-sleeping, "wearing" the baby in a wrap or sling, breast-feeding on demand). That may create two problems: (1) Mothers feel guilty if they are not available 24/7, and (2) other caregivers are less appreciated. Some experts suggest that attachment parenting is too distant from the research concept and evidence (Ennis, 2014). The measurement of attachment via the Strange Situation has made longitudinal studies possible, with interesting results that could not have been established unless the measurement was understood and procedures carefully followed. Attachment affects brain development and the immune system (Pietromonaco & Powers, 2015). But insecure attachment in infancy does not always lead to later problems (Keller, 2014), and the links from one generation to another are weaker than originally thought Nonetheless, thanks to a procedure developed by Mary Ainsworth half a century ago, we now know that securely attached infants are more likely to become secure toddlers, socially competent preschoolers, high-achieving schoolchildren, partners in loving couples, capable parents, and healthy adults (Shaver et al., 2019; Raby et al., 2017).

SMILING AND LAUGHING

Soon, crying decreases and additional emotions become recognizable. Curiosity is evident: Infants respond to objects and experiences that are new but not too novel. Happiness is expressed by the social smile, evoked by a human face at about 6 weeks. (Preterm babies smile later; the social smile is affected by age since conception, not age since birth.) social smile A smile evoked by a human face, normally first evident in infants about 6 weeks after birth. Laughter builds as curiosity does; a typical 6-month-old chortles upon discovering new things, particularly social experiences that balance familiarity and surprise, such as Daddy making a funny face. That is just what Piaget would expect, "making interesting experiences last." Very young infants prefer seeing happy faces over sad ones, even if the happy faces are not looking at them (Kim & Johnson, 2013).

Fathers as Social Partners

Synchrony, attachment, and social referencing are evident with fathers as well as with mothers. Indeed, fathers tend to elicit more smiles and laughter from their infants than mothers do. They tend to play more exciting games, swinging and chasing, while mothers do more caregiving and comforting (Fletcher et al., 2013). Although women do more child care than men in every nation, and men are more likely to play with their children, ideally both parents coordinate their efforts, with specifics attuned to their particular strengths (Shwalb et al., 2013). Too much can be made of gender roles. One researcher reports that "fathers and mothers showed patterns of striking similarity: they touched, looked, vocalized, rocked, and kissed their newborns equally" (Parke, 2013, p. 121). Differences are more evident between couples than within couples, and variation is evident. One researcher reports only one enduring gender difference in child care: Women do more smiling Other researchers find that gender differences in child rearing vary by nation, by income, by cohort, and by ideology. For instance, a study in rural Indonesia found that fathers were almost never involved in direct care of infants but felt responsible for the household (Pardosi et al., 2017). A study of men in Italy found that younger generations were more often securely attached than older generations (Cassibba et al., 2017). A third study, this one of U.S. parents having a second child, found that mothers used slightly more techniques to soothe their crying infants than fathers did (7.7 versus 5.9). However, when fathers did active comforting, mothers were less stressed by infant crying (Dayton et al., 2015). It is a stereotype that African American, Latin American, and Asian American fathers are less nurturing and stricter than other men (Parke, 2013). The opposite may be more accurate (Cabrera et al., 2011). Within the United States, contemporary fathers in all ethnic groups are, typically, more involved with their children than their own fathers were. As with humans of all ages, social contexts are influential: Fathers are influenced by other fathers (Roopnarine & Hossain, 2013; Qin & Chang, 2013). Thus, fathers of every ethnic group know what other men are doing, and that affects their own behavior. For both sexes, stress decreases parent involvement. That brings up another difference between mothers and fathers. When money is scarce and stress is high, some fathers opt out. That choice is less possible for mothers

Temperament

Temperament is defined as the "biologically based core of individual differences in style of approach and response to the environment that is stable across time and situations" (van den Akker et al., 2010, p. 485). "Biologically based" means that these traits originate with nature. temperament Inborn differences between one person and another in emotions, activity, and self-regulation. It is measured by the person's typical responses to the environment Confirmation that temperament arises from the inborn brain comes from an analysis of the tone, duration, and intensity of infant cries after the first inoculation, before much experience outside the womb. Cry variations at this very early stage correlate with later temperament: Those who scream loudest become quickest to protest later on (Jong et al., 2010). Temperament is not the same as personality, although temperamental inclinations may lead to personality differences. Generally, personality traits (e.g., honesty and humility) are learned, whereas temperamental traits (e.g., shyness and aggression) are genetic. Of course, for every trait, nature and nurture interact, as the following makes clear.

QUALITY CARE

The issue of the quality of care has become crucial. A professional organization in the United States, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, updated its standards for care of babies from birth to 15 months, based on current research (NAEYC, 2014). Breast-feeding is encouraged (via bottles of breast milk that mothers have expressed earlier), babies are always put to sleep on their backs, group size is small (no more than eight infants), and the ratio of adults to babies is 1:4 or fewer. Many specific practices are recommended to keep infant minds growing and bodies healthy. For instance, "before walking on surfaces that infants use specifically for play, adults and children remove, replace, or cover with clean foot coverings any shoes they have worn outside that play area. If children or staff are barefoot in such areas, their feet are visibly clean" (NAEYC, 2014, p. 59). Another recommendation is to "engage infants in frequent face-to-face social interactions"—including talking, singing, smiling, and touching (NAEYC, 2014, p. 4). All of the research on infant day care confirms that sociocultural and temperament differences matter. What seems best for one infant, in one culture, may not be best for another infant elsewhere. Good infant care—whether by mother, father, grandmother, or day-care center—depends on specifics, not generalities. No matter what form of care is chosen or what theory is endorsed, individualized care with stable caregivers seems best (Morrissey, 2009). Frequent caregiver change is especially problematic for infants because each simple gesture or sound that a baby makes not only merits an encouraging response but also requires interpretation by someone who knows that particular baby well. For example, "baba" could mean bottle, baby, blanket, banana, or some other word that does not even begin with b. This example is an easy one, but similar communication efforts—requiring individualized emotional responses, preferably from a familiar caregiver—are evident even in the first smiles and cries. A related issue is the growing diversity of baby care providers. Especially when the home language is not the majority language, parents hesitate to let people of another background care for their infants. That is one reason that immigrant parents in the United States often prefer care by relatives instead of by professionals (P. Miller et al., 2014). Relationships are crucial, not only between caregiver and infant but also between caregiver and parent (Elicker et al., 2014). However, especially for immigrants, young children need to learn the language and customs of the new nation in order to thrive. Many immigrant families understand this. They help the children adjust while maintaining cultural pride. A study of West African immigrants in Italy, for instance, found that the mothers were more verbal than they would have been in their native country, thus encouraging language, but they retained some of their home culture (Carra et al., 2013). Obviously, the success of parents in raising successful, bicultural children depends on the attitudes within the host nation as well as on their own practices. As is true of many topics in child development, controversies remain. But one fact is without question: Each infant needs personal responsiveness. Someone should serve as a partner in the synchrony duet, a base for secure attachment, and a social reference who encourages exploration. Then, infant emotions and experiences—cries and laughter, fears and joys—will ensure that development goes well.

TEMPER TANTRUMS

The new strength of emotions is apparent in temper tantrums. Toddlers are famous for fury. When something angers them, they might yell, scream, cry, hit, and throw themselves on the floor. Logic is beyond them: If adults tease or get angry, that makes it worse. Parental insistence on obedience exacerbates the tantrum (Cierpka & Cierpka, 2016). One child said, "I don't want my feet. Take my feet off. I don't want my feet." Her mother tried logic, which didn't work, and then offered to get scissors and cut off the offending feet. A new wail erupted, with a loud shriek "Nooooo!" (Katrina, quoted in Vedantam, 2011). With temper tantrums, soon sadness comes to the fore. Then comfort—not punishment—is helpful (Green et al., 2011). Outbursts of anger are typical at age 2, but if they persist and lead to overt destruction, that signifies trouble, in parent or child (Cierpka & Cierpka, 2016). Disgust is strongly influenced by culture as well as by maturation. Already by 10 months, infants looking at faces can distinguish disgust from anger (Ruba et al., 2017). In expressing disgust themselves, many 18-month-olds (but not younger infants) were disgusted at touching a dead animal (Stevenson et al., 2010). This is considered innate: Humans have evolved to develop disgust at smells and objects that might make them sick, so toddlers naturally avoid rotting objects as soon as they are mature enough to notice (Herz, 2012). However, toddlers are not disgusted when a teenager curses at an elderly person—something that parents and older children often find disgusting (Stevenson et al., 2010). Culture and upbringing make some disgusting items less so, while adding new items that once were accepted. Toddlers who are unusually sensitive to disgust, raised by parents who frequently express disgust, may develop extreme reactions. By middle childhood, they may be diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (Ruba et al., 2017). Adults who are hypersensitive to disgust are also likely to suffer from phobia and anxiety (Olatunji et al., 2017). As with this example, a toddler's innate reactions may evolve into moral values and psychic responses, with specifics depending on parents and experiences. For example, many children take off their clothes in public, unaware of the taboo of nakedness. Children are curious and unaware that some practices are taboo for some adults.

Secure attachment (type B) is more likely if:

The parent is usually sensitive and responsive to the infant's needs. The infant-parent relationship is high in synchrony. The infant's temperament is "easy." The parents are not stressed about income, other children, or their marriage. The parents have a working model of secure attachment to their own parents.

Insecure attachment is more likely if:

The parent mistreats the child. (Neglect increases type A; abuse increases types C and D.) The mother is mentally ill. (Paranoia increases type D; depression increases type C.) The parents are highly stressed about income, other children, or their marriage. (Parental stress increases types A and D.) The parents are intrusive and controlling. (Parental domination increases type A.) The parents have alcohol use disorder. (Father with alcoholism increases type A; mother with alcoholism increases type D.) The child's temperament is "difficult." (Difficult children tend to be type C.) The child's temperament is "slow-to-warm-up." (This correlates with type A.)

NORWAY

The prior correlation between infant day care and childhood psychosocial problems, although not found in every study, raises concern. For that reason, the experience of Norway is instructive. In Norway, new mothers are paid at full salary to stay home with their babies for 47 weeks, and high-quality, free center day care is available from age 1 on. Most (62 percent) Norwegian 1-year-olds are in center care, as are 84 percent of the 2-year-olds and 93 percent of the 3-year-olds. Longitudinal results in Norway find no detrimental results of center care, including when it begins at age 1. By kindergarten, Norwegian day-care children had slightly more conflicts with caregivers, but the authors suggest that this may be the result of shy children becoming bolder as a result of day care (Solheim et al., 2013). That raises another question: Was previous research biased to favor docile, passive children?

Social Referencing

The third social connection that developmentalists look for during infancy, after synchrony and attachment, is social referencing. Much as a student might consult a dictionary or other reference work, social referencing means seeking emotional responses or information from other people. A reassuring glance, a string of cautionary words, a facial expression of alarm, pleasure, or dismay—those are social references. social referencing Seeking information about how to react to an unfamiliar or ambiguous object or event by observing someone else's expressions and reactions. That other person becomes a social reference. Even at 8 months, infants notice where other people are looking and use that information to look in the same direction themselves (Tummeltshammer et al., 2014). After age 1, when infants can walk and are "little scientists," their need to consult others becomes urgent and more accurate—although they do not always respond to a shouted "No" or a worried look. Toddlers search for clues in gazes, faces, and body position, paying close attention to emotions and intentions. They focus on their familiar caregivers, but they also use relatives, other children, and even strangers to help them assess objects and events. They are remarkably selective, noticing that some strangers are reliable references and others are not (Fusaro & Harris, 2013). Social referencing has many practical applications for the infant. Consider mealtime. Caregivers the world over pretend to taste and say "yum-yum," encouraging toddlers to eat beets, liver, or spinach. Toddlers read expressions, insisting on the foods that the adults really like. If mother likes it, and presents it on the spoon, then they eat it—otherwise not (Shutts et al., 2013). Some tastes (spicy, bitter, sour, etc.) are rejected by very young infants, but if they repeatedly see that their caregivers eat it, they learn to like it (Forestel & Mennella, 2017). Through this process, some children develop a taste for raw fish or curried goat or smelly cheese—foods that children in other cultures refuse. Similarly, toddlers use social cues to understand the difference between real and pretend eating, as well as to learn which objects, emotions, and activities are forbidden