Child Development Chapter 10

attachment

An emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation.

easy child

A child whose temperament is characterized by establishment of regular routines in infancy, general cheerfulness, and easy adaptation to new experiences.

slow-to-warm-up child

A child whose temperament is characterized by inactivity; mild, low-key reactions to environmental stimuli; negative mood; and slow adjustment to new experiences.

difficult child

A child whose temperament is characterized by irregular daily routines, slow acceptance of new experiences, and a tendency to react negatively and intensely.

interactional synchrony

A form of communication in which the caregiver responds to infant signals in a well-timed, rhythmic, appropriate fashion and both partners match emotional states, especially positive ones.

Goodness-of-fit model

This model describes how a child's temperament and environment work together to affect later development. Parenting practices that fit well with the child's temperament help children achieve more adaptive functioning.

Describe the development of empathy from infancy into adolescence.

Toddlerhood: -As they develop self-awareness, they begin to empathize. Childhood: -Gains in language, emotional understanding and perspective taking support an increase in empathy, which motivates prosocial, or altruistic, behavior.

developmentally appropriate practice

Toys, activities, and tasks that are suitable for a child at a certain age.

functionalist approach

approach that emphasizes that the broad function of emotions is to energize behavior aimed at attaining personal goals.

emotions

central in cognitive processing, social behavior, and physical health. contribute to the emergence of self awareness. gradually, children gain voluntary control over them

emotional display rules

culturally defined rules specifying which emotions should or should not be expressed under which circumstances

avoidant attachment

20% upset--avoid mom, Children that seek little contact with their mothers and are often not distressed when she leaves.

secure attachment

An infant obtains both comfort and confidence from the presence of his or her caregiver.

temperament

A person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity.

internal working model

A set of expectations about parents' availability and responsiveness, generally and in times of stress.

strange situation

A standardized set of episodes involving a child, their mother and a stranger in a laboratory in a sequence of separations and reunions. A way of assessing attachment security. Developed by Mary Ainsworth to measure the quality of attachment between ages 1 and 2. Identified four attachment patterns: Secure Avoidant Resistant Disorganized/Disoriented

prosocial, or altruistic, behavior

Actions that benefit another person without any expected reward for the self.

Attachment Q Sort

Based on home observations of children between ages 1 and 4 years, yields a score ranging from high to low in security.

resistant attachment

Before the seperation these infants seek the closeness of the parent and often fail to explore . When the parent leaves they are usually destressed and on her return combine angryness with clingyness. Sometimes hit and push. Sometimes cannot be comforted easily.

Describe the differences in the development of empathy between individuals.

Children who are sociable, assertive and good at regulating emotion are more likely than poor emotion regulators to move from empathy to sympathy and engage in prosocial behavior. Warm parents who encourage emotional expressiveness, show empathic concern, and help their child regulate feelings of anger promote development of empathy and sympathy. Angry, punitive parenting disrupts these capacities.

Discuss the relationship of temperament to cognitive and social functioning

Children's temperamental traits consistently predict their cognitive and social functioning. Effortful control is linked to generally favorable development and adjustment.

sympathy

Concern, sorrow, or pity felt by the child for someone else

How does the expression of basic emotions change during infancy?

During the first 6 months, basic emotions gradually become clear, well-organized signals. The social smile appears between 6-10 weeks, laughter around 3-4 months. Happiness strengthens the parent-child bond and reflects and promotes motor and cognitive mastery. Anger and fear (especially in the form of stranger anxiety) increase from the second half of the first year into the second year, as infants' cognitive and motor capabilities improve. Newly mobile babies use the familiar caregiver as a secure base from which to explore.

Describe the development of self conscious emotions.

During toddlerhood, self-awareness and adult instruction provide the foundation for self-conscious emotions: guild, shame, embarrassment, envy and pride. With age, these emotions become more internally governed.

separation anxiety

Emotional distress seen in many infants when they are separated from people with whom they have formed an attachment

Describe the development of emotional self-regulation.

Emotional self regulation emerges as the prefrontal cortex develops and as caregivers sensitively assist their infants in adjusting their emotional reactions. With motor, cognitive and language development and warm parental guidance, children acquire more effect methods of self regulation. Children who experience negative emotion intensely find it harder to inhibit feelings and shift attention away from disturbing events. By age 10, most children can shift adaptively between problem-centered and emotion-centered coping in order to regulate emotion. Emotionally well-regulated children are optimistic and cooperative and have positive relationships with teachers and peers.

basic emotion

Emotions such as happiness, interest, surprise, fear, anger, sadness, and disgust that are universal in humans and other primates and have a long evolutionary history of promoting survival.

self-conscious emotions

Emotions that require self-awareness, especially consciousness and a sense of "me"; examples include jealousy, empathy, pride, and embarrassment.

empathy

Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives

Describe the development of emotional understanding from infancy through middle childhood.

Infancy: -Around middle to first year, begin responding to emotional expressions as organized, meaningful wholes. -At 8-10months, begin to engage in social referencing (seeking emotional information from caregivers in uncertain situations) Toddlerhood: -Realize that others' emotional reactions may differ from their own. Early Childhood: -Understand causes, consequences, and behavioral signs of emotion. Middle Childhood: -Consider conflicting cues when explaining others' feelings. -Appreciation of mixed emotions

Discuss Infants' formation of multiple attachments

Infants develop strong affectionate ties to fathers, who tend to engage in more exciting, physical play with babies than do mothers. Sensitive, stimulating play is a vital context in which fathers and babies build secure attachments, predicting favorable emotional and social adjustment. Grandparents who serve as primary caregivers for grandchildren in skipped-generation families forge significant attachment ties that help protect children with troubled family lives from adjustment problems

Discuss the roles of heredity and environment in the stability of temperament

Long-term prediction from early temperament is best achieved after age 3, when styles of responding are better established. Although temperament is moderately heritable, both shared environmental influences and non shared influences - evident in parents tendency to emphasize each child's unique qualities - contribute.

Discuss the implications of parental employment and child care for attachment security and early psychological development.

Research indicates that quality of care is crucially important. Spending many hours in mediocre to por quality child care, especially when combined with family risk factors, predicts insecure attachment and less favorable cognitive, emotional and social development. WHen childcare setting meet professionally accepted standards for developmentally appropriate practice, children's learning opportunities and the warmth, sensitivity and stability of their carevgivers are especially high. Good child care can also serve as an effective early intervention for children whose development is at risk.

Discuss the role of early attachment quality in later development

Secure attachment in infancy launches the parent-child relationship on a positive path. But continuity of caregiving determines whether attachment security is linked to later development. If caregiving improves, children can recover from an insecure attachment history.

emotional self-regulation

Strategies for adjusting our emotional state to a comfortable level of intensity so we can accomplish our goals.

What is temperament, and how is it measured?

Temperament: Early appearing, stable individual differences in reactivity and self-regulation. The NY longitudinal study identified three patterns: easy child, difficult child and slow-to-warm-up child. The most influential model of temperament, by ROTHBART, includes dimensions representing emotion, attention, and action, along with effortful control.

secure base

The familiar caregiver as a point from which the baby explores, venturing into the environment and then returning for emotional support.

social smile

The infant's broad grin evoked by the parent's communication. First appears between 6 and 10 weeks of age.

Describe the development of conformity to emotional display rules.

Young preschoolers start to conform to their cultures emotional display rules. From infancy on, parents encourage children - especially boys - to suppress negative emotion. In middle childhood, children understand the value of display rules in ensuring social harmony.

inhibited, or shy, child

a child whose temperament is such that he or she displays negative reaction to and withdrawal from novel stimuli

uninhibited, or sociable, child

a child whose temperament is such that he or she displays positive emotion to and approaches novel stimuli

emotion-centered coping

internal, private, and aimed at controlling distress when little can be done about an outcome

sensitive caregiving

responding promptly, consistently, and appropriately to infants and holding them tenderly and carefully

Discuss the stability of attachment patterns

securely attached babies in middle SES families with favorable life conditions more often maintain their attachment pattern than insecure babies. However, the disorganized/disoriented attachment pattern is highly stable. Cultural conditions must be considered in interpreting the meaning of attachment patterns. Attachment security is influenced by early availability of a consistent caregiver, quality of caregiving, the fit between baby's temperament and parenting practices, and family circumstances. Sensitive caregiving is moderately related to secure attachment. In western cultures, interactional synchrony characterizes the experiences of securely attached babies Parents internal working models are good predictors of children's attachment security, but parent's childhood experiences do not transfer directly to quality of attachment with their own children

social referencing

seeking emotional information from caregivers in uncertain situations. Begins around 8-10 months.

effortful control

the ability to regulate one's reactivity

ethological theory of attachment

theory that recognizes the infant's emotional tie to the caregiver as an evolved response that promotes survival. Around 6-8 months, separation anxiety and the use of the parent as a secure base indicate the existence of a true attachment bond. Separation anxiety declines as representation and language develop, enabling preschoolers to better understand the parents coming and going. From early caregiving experiences, children construct an internal working model that serves as a guide for all future close relationships.

problem-centered coping

they appraise the situation as changeable, identify the difficulty, and decide what to do about it

disorganized/disoriented attachment

this patterns reflects greatest insecurity; at reunion, these infants show confused, contradictory behaviors such as looking away while the parent is holding them or approaching the parent with flat, depressed emotion