Chapter 7 Child Development

"Chess and Thomas' Classification -

Psychiatrists Stella Chess and Alexander Thomas (Chess & Thomas, 1977; Thomas & Chess, 1991) identified three basic types, or clusters, of temperament:An easy child is generally in a positive mood, quickly establishes regular routines in infancy, and adapts readily to new experiences. A difficult child reacts negatively and cries frequently, engages in irregular daily routines, and is slow to accept change. A slow-to-warm-up child has a low activity level, is somewhat negative, and displays a low intensity of mood."

"Locomotion

Recall from earlier in the chapter how important independence is for infants, especially in the second year of life. As infants develop the ability to crawl, walk, and run, they are able to explore and expand their social world. These newly developed self-produced locomotor skills allow the infant to independently initiate social interchanges on a more frequent basis. Remember that the development of these gross motor skills reflects a number of factors, including the development of the nervous system, the goal the infant is motivated to reach, and environmental support for the skill (Adolph, 2018; Kretch & Adolph, 2017)."

". Reciprocal socialization

is socialization that is bidirectional; children socialize parents just as parents socialize children. These reciprocal interchanges and mutual influence processes are sometimes referred to as transactional (Sameroff, 2009)."

"scaffolding,

which means adjusting the level of guidance to fit the child's performance (Erickson & others, 2013; Melzi, Schick, & Kennedy, 2011). "

Developmental cascade model-

" developmental cascade model, which involves connections across domains over time that influence developmental pathways and outcomes (Almy & Cicchetti, 2018; Groh & others, 2015; Masten & Kalstabakken, 2017). Developmental cascades can include connections between a wide range of biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes (attachment, for example), and also can involve social contexts such as families peers, schools, and culture. Further, links can produce positive or negative outcomes at different points in development, such as infancy, early childhood, middle and late childhood, adolescence, and adulthood."

Strange situation-

". Ainsworth created the Strange Situation, an observational measure of infant attachment in which the infant experiences a series of introductions, separations, and reunions with the caregiver and an adult stranger in a prescribed order. In using the Strange Situation, researchers hope that their observations will provide information about the infant's motivation to be near the caregiver and the degree to which the caregiver's presence provides the infant with security and confidence (Brownell & others, 2015)."

Temperament-

"Do you get upset a lot? Does it take much to get you angry, or to make you laugh? Even at birth, babies seem to have different emotional styles. One infant is cheerful and happy much of the time; another baby seems to cry constantly. These tendencies reflect temperament, which involves individual differences in behavioral styles, emotions, and characteristic ways of responding. With regard to its link to emotion, temperament refers to individual differences in how quickly the emotion is shown, how strong it is, how long it lasts, and how quickly it fades away (Campos, 2009)."

Personality development-

"Emotions and temperament represent key aspects of personality—the enduring personal characteristics of individuals. Let's now examine characteristics that often are thought of as central to personality development during infancy: trust and the development of self and independence. Trust According to Erik Erikson (1968), the first year of life is characterized by the trust versus mistrust stage of development. Following a life of regularity, warmth, and protection in the mother's womb, the infant faces a world that is less secure. Erikson proposed that 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. Trust versus mistrust is not resolved once and for all in the first year of life. It arises again at each successive stage of development, a pathway that can have positive or negative outcomes. For example, children who leave infancy with a sense of trust can still have their sense of mistrust activated at a later stage, perhaps if their parents are separated or divorced under conflictual circumstances. The Developing Sense of Self Real or imagined, the sense of self is a strong motivating force in life. When does the individual begin to sense a separate existence from others?"

Evaluating the Strange Situation-

"Evaluating the Strange Situation Does the Strange Situation capture important differences among infants? As a measure of attachment, it may be culturally biased (Gernhardt, Keller, & Rubeling, 2016; Otto & Keller, 2013). For example, German and Japanese babies often show different patterns of attachment from those of American infants. As illustrated in Figure 6, German infants are more likely to show an avoidant attachment pattern and Japanese infants are less likely to display this pattern than U.S. infants (van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg, 1988). The avoidant pattern in German babies likely occurs because their caregivers encourage them to be independent (Grossmann & others, 1985). Also as shown in Figure 6, Japanese babies are more likely than American babies to be categorized as resistant. This may have more to do with the Strange Situation as a measure of attachment than with attachment insecurity itself. Japanese mothers rarely allow anyone unfamiliar with their babies to care for them. Thus, the Strange Situation might create considerably more stress for Japanese infants than for American infants, who are more accustomed to separation from their mothers (Miyake, Chen, & Campos, 1985). Even though there are cultural variations in attachment classification, the most frequent classification in every culture studied so far is secure attachment (Mooya, Sichimba, & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2016; van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg, 1988)."

Attachment-

"Phase 1: From birth to 2 months. Infants instinctively direct their attachment to human figures. Strangers, siblings, and parents are equally likely to elicit smiling or crying from the infant.Phase 2: From 2 to 7 months. Attachment becomes focused on one figure, usually the primary caregiver, as the baby gradually learns to distinguish familiar from unfamiliar people.

Attachment-

"Securely attached babies use the caregiver as a secure base from which to explore the environment. When in the presence of their caregiver, securely attached infants explore the room and examine toys that have been placed in it. When the caregiver departs, securely attached infants might protest mildly, and when the caregiver returns these infants reestablish positive interaction with her, perhaps by smiling or climbing on her lap. Subsequently, they often resume playing with the toys in the room.Insecure avoidant babies show insecurity by avoiding the mother. In the Strange Situation, these babies engage in little interaction with the caregiver, are not distressed when she leaves the room, usually do not reestablish contact on her return, and may even turn their back on her. If contact is established, the infant usually leans away or looks away.Insecure resistant babies often cling to the caregiver and then resist her by fighting against the closeness, perhaps by kicking or pushing away. In the Strange Situation, these babies often cling anxiously to the caregiver and don't explore the playroom. When the caregiver leaves, they often cry loudly and push away if she tries to comfort them on her return.Insecure disorganized babies are disorganized and disoriented. In the Strange Situation, these babies might appear dazed, confused, and fearful. To be classified as disorganized, babies must show strong patterns of avoidance and resistance or display certain specified behaviors, such as extreme fearfulness around the caregiver."

Social orientation-

"Social Orientation From early in their development, infants are captivated by the social world. Young infants stare intently at faces and are attuned to the sounds of human voices, especially those of their caregivers (Jakobsen, Umstead, & Simpson, 2016; Singarajah & others, 2017; Sugden & Moulson, 2017). Later, they become adept at interpreting the meaning of facial expressions (Weatherhead & White, 2017). Face-to-face play often begins to characterize caregiver-infant interactions when the infant is about 2 to 3 months of age. The focused social interaction of face-to-face play may include vocalizations, touch, and gestures (Beebe & others, 2016). Such play is part of many mothers' efforts to create a positive emotional state in their infants (Laible, Thompson, & Froimson, 2015)."

"Crying

- Crying is the most important mechanism newborns have for communicating with their world. The first cry verifies that the baby's lungs have filled with air. Cries also may provide information about the health of the newborn's central nervous system. Newborns even tend to respond with cries and negative facial expressions when they hear other newborns cry (Dondi, Simion, & Caltran, 1999). However, a recent study revealed that newborns of depressed mothers showed less vocal distress when another infant cried, reflecting emotional and physiological dysregulation (Jones, 2012). Babies have at least three types of cries:

"Early Emotions-

A leading expert on infant emotional development, Michael Lewis (2010, 2015, 2016) distinguishes between primary emotions and self-conscious emotions. Primary emotions are emotions that are present in humans and other animals; these emotions appear in the first six months of the human infant's development. Primary emotions include surprise, interest, joy, anger, sadness, fear, and disgust (see Figure 1 for infants' facial expressions of some of these early emotions). In Lewis' classification, self-conscious emotions require self-awareness that involves consciousness and a sense of "me." Self-conscious emotions include jealousy, empathy, embarrassment, pride, shame, and guilt—most of these occurring for the first time at some point in the second half of the first year or during the second year."

Basic cry.

A rhythmic pattern that usually consists of a cry, followed by a briefer silence, then a shorter inspiratory whistle that is somewhat higher in pitch than the main cry, then another brief rest before the next cry. Some infancy experts stress that hunger is one of the conditions that incite the basic cry.

Pain cry.

A sudden long, initial loudPage 192 cry followed by breath holding; no preliminary moaning is present. The pain cry is triggered by a high-intensity stimulus."

Anger cry.

A variation of the basic cry in which more excess air is forced through the vocal cords. The anger cry has a loud, harsh sound to it, almost like shouting.

"Social Referencing

Another important social cognitive accomplishment in infancy is developing the ability to "read" the emotions of other people (Carbajal-Valenzuela & others, 2017). Social referencing is the term used to describe "reading" emotional cues in others to help determine how to act in a specific situation. The development of social referencing helps infants to interpret ambiguous situations more accurately, as when they encounter a stranger and need to know whether or not to fear the person (Stenberg, 2017). By the end of the first year, a mother's facial expression—either smiling or fearful—influences whether an infant will explore an unfamiliar environment."

"Emotion Regulation and Coping

During the first year of life, the infant gradually develops an ability to inhibit, or minimize, the intensity and duration of emotional reactions (Calkins & Perry, 2016). From early in infancy, babies put their thumbs in their mouths to soothe themselves. But at first, infants mainly depend on caregivers to help them soothe their emotions, as when a caregiver rocks an infant to sleep, sings lullabies to the infant, gently strokes the infant, and so on. In a recent study, young infants with a negative temperament used fewer emotion regulation strategies while maternal sensitivity to infants was lined to more adaptive emotion regulation (Thomas & others, 2017).Later in infancy, when they become aroused, infants sometimes redirect their attention or distract themselves in order to reduce their arousal. By 2 years of age, toddlers can use language to define their feeling states and the context that is upsetting them (Kopp, 2008). A toddler might say, "Feel bad. Dog scare." This type of communication may allow caregivers to help the child regulate emotions.Contexts can influence emotion regulation (Groh & others, 2015; Thompson, 2016). Infants are often affected by fatigue, hunger, time of day, which people are around them, and where they are. Infants must learn to adapt to different contexts that require emotion regulation. Further, new demands appear as the infant becomes older and parents modify their expectations. For example, a parent may take it in stride if a 6-month-old infant screams in a grocery store but may react very differently if a 2-year-old starts screaming.To soothe or not to soothe—should a crying baby be given attention and soothed, or does this attention spoil the infant? Many years ago, the behaviorist John Watson (1928) argued that parents spend too much time responding to infant crying. As a consequence, he said, parents reward crying and increase its incidence. Some researchers, such as Jacob Gewirtz, have found that a caregiver's quick, soothing response to crying increased crying (Gewirtz, 1977). However, infancy experts Mary Ainsworth (1979) and John Bowlby (1989) stress that you can't respond too much to infant crying in the first year of life. They argue that a quick, comforting response to the infant's cries is an important ingredient in the development of a strong bond between the infant and caregiver. In one of Ainsworth's studies, infants whose mothers responded quickly when they cried at 3 months of age cried less later in the first year of life (Bell & Ainsworth, 1972). Further, a recent study revealed that depressed mothers rocked and touched their crying infants less than non-depressed mothers (Esposito & others, 2017a).

"Goodness of Fit

Goodness of fit refers to the match between a child's temperament and the environmental demands the child must cope with. Suppose Jason is an active toddler who is made to sit still for long periods of time and Jack is a slow-to-warm-up toddler who is abruptly pushed into new situations on a regular basis. Both Jason and Jack face a lack of fit between their temperament and environmental demands. Lack of fit can produce adjustment problems (Rothbart, 2011)."

"Managing and Guiding Infants' Behavior

In addition to sensitive parenting that involves warmth and caring and can result in secure attachment to parents, other important aspects of parenting infants involve managing and guiding their behavior in an attempt to reduce or eliminate undesirable behaviors (Holden, Vittrup, & Rosen, 2011). This management process includes (1) being proactive and childproofing the environment so infants won't encounter potentially dangerous objects or situations, and (2) using corrective methods when infants engage in undesirable behaviors such as excessive fussing and crying, throwing objects, and so on."

"Infants' Social Sophistication and Insight

In sum, researchers are discovering that infants are more socially sophisticated and insightful at younger ages than was previously envisioned (Thompson, 2015, 2016). Such sophistication and insight are reflected in infants' perceptions of others' actions as intentionally motivated and goal-directed and their motivation to share and participate in that intentionality by their first birthday. More advanced social cognitive skills of infants could be expected to influence their understanding and awareness of attachment to a caregiver."

"Caregiving Styles and Attachment

Is the style of caregiving linked with the quality of the infant's attachment? Securely attached babies have caregivers who are sensitive to their signals and are consistently available to respond to their infants' needs (Hoffman & others, 2017; Pasco-Fearon & Belsky, 2016). These caregivers often let their babies have an active part in determining the onset and pacing of interaction in the first year of life. A recent study revealed that maternal sensitivity in responding was linked to infant attachment security (Finger & others, 2009). Another study found that maternal sensitivity in parenting was linked with secure attachment in infants in two different cultures: the United States and Colombia (Posada & others, 2002). Although maternal sensitivity is linked to the development of secure attachment in infancy, it is important to note that the connection is not especially strong (Campos, 2009)."

"Rothbart and Bates' Classification

New classifications of temperament continue to be forged. Mary Rothbart and John Bates (2006) argue that three broad dimensions best represent what researchers have found to characterize the structure of temperament: extraversion/surgency, negative affectivity, and effortful control (self-regulation): Extraversion/surgency includes "positive anticipation, impulsivity, activity level, and sensation seeking" (Rothbart, 2004, p. 495). Kagan's uninhibited children fit into this category. Negative affectivity includes "fear, frustration, sadness, and discomfort" (Rothbart, 2004, p. 495). These children are easily distressed; they may fret and cry often. Kagan's inhibited children fit this category. In a recent study, positive affectivity and surgency at 4 months of age was linked to school readiness at 4 years of age (Gartstein, Putnam, & Kliewer, 2016).Effortful control (self-regulation) includes "attentional focusing and shifting, inhibitory control, perceptual sensitivity, and low-intensityPage 195 pleasure" (Rothbart, 2004, p. 495). Infants who are high on effortful control show an ability to keep their arousal from getting too high and have strategies for soothing themselves. By contrast, children low on effortful control are often unable to control their arousal; they become easily agitated and intensely emotional. A recent study found that young children higher in effortful control were more likely to wait longer to express anger and were more likely to use a self-regulatory strategy, distraction (Tan, Armstrong, & Cole, 2013). Another recent study revealed that self-regulation capacity at 4 months of age was linked to school readiness at 4 years of age (Gartstein, Putnam, & Kliewer, 2016). In two recent studies, effortful control was linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In the first study, a lower level of children's temperament regulation at 3 years of age predicted the presence of ADHD symptoms in the first grade (Willoughby, Gottfredson, & Stifter, 2016). In the second study, children with a lower level of effort control at 3 years of age were more likely to have ADHD symptoms at 13 years of age (Einziger & others, 2017)."

"Fear

One of a baby's earliest emotions is fear, which typically first appears at about 6 months of age and peaks at about 18 months. However, abused and neglected infants can show fear as early as 3 months (Witherington & others, 2010). Researchers have found that infant fear is linked to guilt, empathy, and low aggression at 6 to 7 years of age (Rothbart, 2011).

"The Transition to Parenthood

When people become parents through pregnancy, adoption, or stepparenting, they face disequilibrium and must adapt. Parents want to develop a strong attachment with their infant, but they also want to maintain strong attachments to their spouse and friends, and possibly continue their careers. Parents ask themselves how the presence of this new being will change their lives. A baby places new restrictions on partners; no longer will they be able to rush out to a movie on a moment's notice, and money may not be readily available for vacations and other luxuries. Dual-career parents ask, "Will it harm the baby to place her in child care? Will we be able to find responsible baby-sitters?""

"Biological, Cognitive, and Environmental Influences Emotions-

are influenced by biological foundations, cognitive processes, and a person's experiences (Causadias, Telzer, & Lee, 2017). Biology's importance to emotion also is apparent in the changes in a baby's emotional capacities (Martin & others, 2017; Miller & others, 2017; Thompson & Goodvin, 2016). Certain regions of the brain that develop early in life (such as the brain stem, hippocampus, and amygdala) play a role in distress, excitement, and rage, and even infants display these emotions (Frenkel & Fox, 2015; Santiago, Aoki, & Sullivan, 2017). But, as we discuss later in the chapter, infants only gradually develop the ability to regulate their emotions, and this ability seems to be tied to the gradual maturation of frontal regions of the cerebral cortex that can exert control over other areas of the brain (Bell & others, 2018; Calkins, Perry, & Dollar, 2016; Lusby & others, 2017)."

" emotion -

as feeling, or affect, that occurs when a person is in a state or an interaction that is important to him or her, especially in relation to his or her well-being. Particularly in infancy, emotions play important roles in (1) communication with others, and (2) behavioral organization. Through emotions, infants communicate important aspects of their lives such as joy, sadness, interest, and fear (Witherington & others, 2010). In terms of behavioral organization, emotions influence infants' social responses and adaptive behavior as they interact with others in their world (Roos & others, 2017)."