Psych250 Final

Sociometric Status

A term that describes the extent to which children are liked or disliked by their peer group Is typically assessed by asking children to rate how much they like or dislike each of their classmates. Or it may be assessed by asking children to name the children they like the most and those they like the least.

Acculturation and Ethnic Minority Parenting

Acculturation refers to cultural changes that occur when one culture comes in contact with another. The level of family acculturation can affect parenting style by influencing expectations for children's development, parent-child interactions, and the role of the extended family The family's level of acculturation also influences important decisions about child care and early childhood education. The opportunities for acculturation that young children experience depend mainly on their parents and extended family. If parents send the children to a child-care center, school, church, or other community setting, the children are likely to learn about the values and behaviors of the dominant culture, and they may be expected to adapt to that culture's norms. Over time, the differences in the level of acculturation experienced by children and by their parents and extended family may grow

Predictors of Antecedents of Juvenile Delinquency

Conflict with authority Minor covert acts that are followed by property damage and other more serious acts Minor aggression followed by fighting and violence Identity (negative identity) Self-control (low degree) Cognitive distortions (egocentric bias) Age (early initiation) Sex (male) Expectations for education (low expectations, little commitment) School achievement (low achievement in early grades) Peer influence (heavy influence, low resistance) Socioeconomic status (low) Parental role (lack of monitoring, low support, and ineffective discipline) Siblings (having an older sibling who is a delinquent) Neighborhood quality (urban, high crime, high mobility)

Intergenerational Relationships

Connections between generations play important roles in development through the life span - With each new generation, personality characteristics, attitudes, and values are replicated or changed In many families, females' relationships across generations are closer and more intimate than are males' relationships

Cognitive benefits of play

Creativity, Abstract thinking, Imagination, Attention, Concentration and persistence, Problem-solving, Social cognition, Empathy, Perspective taking, Language and mastering new concepts.

Parent- adolescent Conflict

Cross-cultural studies reveal that parent-adolescent conflict is lower in some countries than in the United States (eg Japan and India) When families immigrate into another country, children and adolescents typically acculturate more quickly to the norms and values of their new home faster than do their parents The norms and values immigrant children and adolescents experience are especially likely to diverge from their parents in areas such as autonomy and romantic relationships. These conflicts are not always expressed in open conflict but are often present in underlying, internal feelings.

Development Social Neuroscience and Attachment

Developmental social neuroscience = connections between socioemotional processes, development, and the brain - Especially Attachment attachment and the brain involve the neuroanatomy of the brain, neurotransmitters, and hormones. Neuotransmitters - two neuropeptide hormones: oxytocin and vasopressin in the formation of the maternal-infant bond The influence of these neuropeptides on the neurotransmitter dopamine in the nucleus accumbens (a collection of neurons in the forebrain that are involved in pleasure) = important in motivating approach to the attachment object

Baumrind's Parenting Styles

Diana Baumrind points out that parents should be neither punitive nor aloof. They should develop rules for their children and be affectionate with them. She has described four types of parenting styles: Authoritarian parenting Authoritative parenting Neglectful parenting Indulgent parenting

Parenting Styles in Context

Elements of the authoritarian style may take on different meanings and have different effects depending on context: Asian American parents often continue aspects of traditional Asian child-rearing practices that have sometimes been described as authoritarian. The parents exert considerable control over their children's lives. Ruth Chao argues that the style of parenting used by many Asian American parents is distinct from the domineering control of the authoritarian style. An emphasis on requiring respect and obedience is also associated with the authoritarian style, but in Latino child rearing this focus may be positive rather than punitive. Rather than suppressing the child's development, it may encourage the development of a self and an identity that are embedded in the family and require respect and obedience African American parents are more likely than non-Latino White parents to use physical punishment The use of physical punishment has been linked with increased externalized child problems (such as acting out and high levels of aggression) in non-Latino White families but not in African American families.

Communicating with Children about Divorce

Ellen Galinsky and Judy David (1988) developed a number of guidelines for communicating with children about divorce: Explain the Separation. Explain That the Separation Is Not the Child's Fault. Explain That It May Take Time to Feel Better. Keep the Door Open for Further Discussion. Provide as Much Continuity as Possible. Provide Support for Your Children and Yourself. (see graph in ppt. families pt. 2)

Stranger Anxiety

Emerges gradually at about 6 months - more intense by 9 months - escalates thru 12 months Not all infants show distress Social context + characteristics of the stranger matter Individual differences, Proximity to mother, warmth of stranger, child or adult are all variables that influence the presence and degree of SA

Ethnicity

Families within different ethnic groups in the United States differ in their typical size, structure, composition, reliance on kinships networks, and levels of income and education Large and extended families are more common among minority groups than among the White majority Single-parent families are more common among African Americans and Latinos than among White Americans The extended family also can serve as an important buffer to stress Individual families vary, and how ethnic minority families deal with stress depends on many factors Whether the parents are native-born or immigrants, how long the family has been in this country, their socioeconomic status, and their national origin all make a difference The characteristics of the family's social context also influence its adaptation.

Macrosystem

culture in which the individual lives

Positive feelings in Empathy

empathy, sympathy, admiration, and self-esteem

Negative Emotion

include anxiety, anger, guilt, and sadness

Positive Emotion

include enthusiasm, joy and love

Exosystem

influence from another setting

Emotion-coaching parents

monitor their children's emotions view their children's negative emotions as opportunities for teaching assist them in labeling, coach them in how to deal effectively with emotions. Interact with their children in a less rejecting manner, Use more scaffolding and praise and are more nurturing than are emotion-dismissing parents Emotion-coaching parents monitor their children's emotions, view their children's negative emotions as opportunities for teaching, assist them in labeling emotions, and coach them in how to deal effectively with emotions.

Average children

receive an average number of positive and negative nominations from peers

Interpersonal dimension

regulated social interactions and arbitrates conflict

Intrapersonal dimension

regulates a person's activities when she or he is not engaged in social interaction

Status offenses

running away, truancy, underage drinking, sexual promiscuity, and uncontrollability, are less serious acts.

Chronosystem

sociohistorical circumstances

Mesosystem

the links between Microsystems

Microsystem

the setting in which the individual lives

Sociocultural and Historical Changes

Family development does not occur in a social vacuum. sociocultural and historical influences affect family processes - macrosystem and chronosystem upheavals such as war, famine, or massive immigration and subtle transitions in ways of life stimulate changes in families Subtle changes in a culture have significant influences on the family - Such changes include: The longevity of older adults Movement to urban and suburban areas Internet Children increasingly experience a world in which their parents are not participants.

Fear

Fear is one the earliest emotions - appear at 6 months of age and peaks at about 18 months. Abused and neglected infants can show fear as early as 3 months Researchers have found that infant fear is linked to guilt, empathy, and low aggression at 6 to 7 years of age

Emotional Competence

Focuses on the adaptive nature of emotional experience. Emotionally competent involves developing a number of skills in social contexts.

Punishment

For centuries, corporal (physical) punishment, such as spanking, has been considered a necessary and even desirable method of disciplining children. A cross-cultural comparison found that individuals in the United States and Canada were among those with the most favorable attitudes toward corporal punishment and were the most likely to remember it being used by their parents A research review concluded that corporal punishment by parents is associated with higher levels of immediate compliance and aggression by the children A history of harsh physical discipline was related to adolescent depression and externalized problems, such as juvenile delinquency Several recent longitudinal studies also have found that physical punishment of young children is associated with higher levels of aggression later in childhood and adolescence Some reasons to avoid spanking or similar punishments: When adults punish a child by yelling, screaming, or spanking, they are presenting children with out-of-control models for handling stressful situations. Children may imitate this aggressive, out-of-control behavior. Punishment can instill fear, rage, or avoidance. Punishment tells children what not to do rather than what to do. Punishment can be abusive Most child psychologists recommend handling misbehavior by reasoning with the child, especially explaining the consequences of the child's actions for others Time out, in which the child is removed from a setting that offers positive reinforcement, can also be effective. One thing that is clear regarding research on punishment of children is that if physical punishment is used, it needs to be mild, infrequent, age-appropriate, and used in the context of a positive parent-child relationship

Theories of Attachment

Freud Oral satisfaction. Harlow Contact comfort. Erikson Physical comfort and sensitivity.

Emotion-dismissing parents

view their role as to deny, ignore, or change negative emotions. In contrast, emotion-dismissing parents view their role as to deny, ignore, or change negative emotions.

Emotional Abuse

(psychological/verbal abuse/mental injury) Includes acts or omissions by parents or other caregivers that have caused, or could cause, serious behavioral, cognitive, or emotional problems

Social Networks Research

(see pictures on ppt 15) Measured children as Liked Most and Liked Least by Peers when given a list and then calculated social preference (LM-LL) and social impact (LM+LL) and placed them on the scale in the picture other scales were used in the study- but see the picture for these

Neglectful Parenting

A style in which the parent is uninvolved in the child's life. Children whose parents are neglectful develop the sense that other aspects of the parents' lives are more important than they are. These children tend to be socially incompetent, have poor self-control, and don't handle independence well.

Indulgent Parenting

A style in which parents are highly involved with their children but place few demands or controls on them. Parents let their children do what they want. The children never learn to control their own behavior and always expect to get their way. Children whose parents are indulgent rarely learn respect for others and have difficulty controlling their behavior. These children might be: Domineering / Egocentric / nonncompliant / have difficulties in peer relations

Outcomes of Bullying

A collection of studies suggest that those who are bullied are more likely to experience... depression, suicidal ideation attempt suicide lower academic achievement heightened risk of developing borderline personality disorder symptoms (a pervasive pattern of unstable interpersonal relationships, low self-image, and emotional difficulties) 18-year-olds who were former victims of bullying reported what actually made the bullying stop The most common reasons given were: - Intervention by school personnel, - Transitioning to a new school level - Changing the way they coped with the bullying, especially by being more assertive or ignoring the bullying. Researchers have found that many victims cope poorly in bullying situations, reacting by crying and withdrawal in many cases, so teaching them to cope in more effective ways might help to reduce the bullying.

Emotion

A feeling, or affect, that occurs when a person is in a state or an interaction that is important to him or her, especially to his or her well-being Most all classifications designate an emotion as either positive or negative Emotions are influenced by biological foundations + experience Functionalist view = a child's emotional responses cannot be separated from the situations in which they are evoked ---- emotions are elicited in interpersonal contexts. AND Emotions are linked with an individual's goals in a variety of ways

Parental Monitoring in Childhood and Adolescence

A key aspect of the managerial role of parenting is effective monitoring, which becomes especially important as children move into the adolescent years Monitoring includes supervising an adolescent's choices of social settings, activities, and friends. A current interest involving parental monitoring focuses on adolescents' management of their parents' access to information, especially the extent to which adolescents disclose or conceal strategies about their activities Researchers have found that adolescents' disclosure to parents about their whereabouts, activities, and friends is linked to positive adolescent adjustment and achievement Researchers also have found that family management practices are related positively to students' grades and self-responsibility, and negatively to school-related problems Among the most important family management practices in this regard are maintaining a structured and organized family environment, such as establishing routines for homework, chores, bedtime, and so on, and effectively monitoring the child's behavior.

Scaffolding

Adjusting the level of guidance to fit the child's performance.

Relationships with Parents and Adolescent Romantic Relationships

Adolescents' relationships with their parents influence their dating and romantic relationships Adolescents' observations of their parents' marital relationship also contribute to their own construction of dating relationships. Marital conflict and divorce also are linked to adolescents' and emerging adults' dating and romantic relationships. A longitudinal study examined how youths' personality traits and beliefs about marriage are related to romantic relationships in early adulthood In this study, a higher level of neuroticism in the 9th grade was linked with the belief in late adolescence/early adulthood that marriage is not likely to lead to fulfillment in life and happiness as an adult. And less endorsement of the marriage/fulfillment belief, in turn, predicted fewer observed positive interactions with a romantic partner and lower perceived relationship quality in early adulthood.

Antisocial Behavior- Conduct Disorder

Age-inappropriate actions and attitudes that violate family expectations, society's norms, and the personal or property rights of others. About 5% of children show serious conduct problems, also called an externalizing or undercontrolled pattern of behavior. Children who show this pattern often are impulsive, overactive, and aggressive and engage in delinquent actions. Conduct problems in children are best explained by a confluence of causes, or risk factors, operating over time. Possible causes are genetic inheritance of a difficult temperament, ineffective parenting, and living in a neighborhood where violence is the norm. Despite considerable efforts to help children with conduct problems, there is a lack of consensus regarding what works Sometimes recommended is a multisystem treatment carried out with all family members, school personnel, juvenile justice staff, and other individuals in the child's life.

Other-Sex Friendships

Although adolescents are more likely to have same-sex friends, associations with other-sex friends are more common than is often thought The number of other-sex friendships increases in early adolescence, with girls reporting more other-sex friends than boys, and the number of other-sex friendships increases as adolescence proceeds Other-sex friendships and participation in mixed-sex groups provide a context for adolescents to learn how to communicate with the other sex and reduce anxiety in social and dating heterosexual interactions. Researchers have found that other-sex friendships are sometimes linked to negative behaviors such as earlier sexual intercourse, as well as increases in alcohol use and delinquency Parents likely monitor their daughters' other-sex friendships more closely than their sons' because they perceive boys as having a more negative influence, especially in initiating problem behavior A recent study revealed that a higher level of parental monitoring led to fewer other-sex friendships, which in turn was associated with a lower level of subsequent alcohol use

Cliques

Are small groups that range from 2 to 12 individuals & average about 5 to 6 Cliques form when adolescents engage in similar activities (club , sports team of friendship). In late childhood, boys and girls participate in small, same-sex cliques. In the early adolescent years, the same-sex cliques begin to interact with each other. Gradually, the leaders and high-status members form further cliques based on mixed-sex relationships. The newly created mixed-sex cliques replace the same-sex cliques. The mixed-sex cliques interact with each other in large crowd activities, too—at dances and athletic events. In late adolescence, the crowd begins to dissolve as couples develop more serious relationships and make long-range plans that may include engagement and marriage.

Developmental Consequences of Abuse

Among the consequences of child maltreatment in childhood and adolescence are: Poor emotional regulation Attachment problems Problems in peer relations Difficulty in adapting to school Other psychological problems such as depression and delinquency Adolescents who experienced abuse or neglect as children are more likely than adolescents who were not maltreated as children to engage in violent romantic relationships, delinquency, sexual risk taking, and substance abuse Later, during the adult years, individuals who were maltreated as children are more likely to experience problems with physical health, mental health, and sexual function A 30-year longitudinal study found that middle-aged adults who had experienced child maltreatment had increased risk for diabetes, lung disease, malnutrition, and vision problems Child maltreatment was linked to depression in adulthood and to unfavorable outcomes for treatment of depression Adults who were maltreated as children often have difficulty in establishing and maintaining healthy intimate relationships As adults, maltreated children are also at higher risk for violent behavior toward other adults—especially dating partners and marital partners—as well as for substance abuse, anxiety, and depression

Individual Difference Factors

Among the wide range of individual differences that can affect peer relations are personality traits such as how shy or outgoing children are. One individual difference factor that impairs peer relations is the trait of negative emotionality, which involves a relatively low threshold for experiencing anger, fear, anxiety, and irritation.

Jerome Kagan and his research in temperament...

Another way of classifying temperament focuses on the differences between a shy, subdued, timid child AND a sociable, extraverted, bold child Jerome Kagan regards shyness with strangers (peers or adults) as one feature of a broad temperament category called inhibition to the unfamiliar. Inhibited children react to many aspects of unfamiliarity with initial avoidance, distress, or subdued affect, beginning at about 7 to 9 months of age. Kagan has found that inhibition shows considerable stability from infancy through early childhood.

Sibling Relationships

Approximately 80 percent of American children have one or more sibling Siblings in the presence of each other when they are 2 to 4 years of age, on average, have a conflict once every 10 minutes and then the conflicts go down somewhat from 5 to 7 years of age A research review concluded that sibling relationships in adolescence are not as close, are not as intense, and are more egalitarian than in childhood Judy Dunn (2007), a leading expert on sibling relationships, recently described three important characteristics of sibling relationships: Emotional quality of the relationship. Familiarity and intimacy of the relationship. Variation in sibling relationships.

Games

Are activities that are engaged in for pleasure and are governed by rules. Often involve competition between two or more individuals. In sum, play ranges from an infant's simple exercise of a new sensorimotor talent to a preschool child's riding a tricycle to an older child's participation in organized games.

Peers

Are children who share the same age or maturity level. One of their most important functions is to provide a source of information and comparison about the world outside the family. Children receive feedback about their abilities from their peer group. They evaluate what they do in terms of whether it is better than, as good as, or worse than what other children do.

Index offenses

Are criminal acts, whether they are committed by juveniles or adults They include such acts as robbery, aggravated, assault, rape, and homicide.

Lower Socioeconomic Status Parents

Are more concerned that their children conform to society's expectations Create a home atmosphere in which it is clear that parents have authority over children Use physical punishment more in disciplining their children Are more directive and less conversational with their children.

Higher Socioeconomic Status Parents

Are more concerned with developing children's initiative and delay of gratification Create a home atmosphere in which children are more nearly equal participants and in which rules are discussed as opposed to being"laid down in an authoritarian manner Are less likely to use physical punishment Are less directive and more conversational with their children.

As children acquire these skills (emotional competence) in a variety of contexts, they...

Are more likely to effectively manage their emotion become resilient in the face of stressful circumstances develop more positive relationships.

Primary Emotions

Are present in humans and animals. Appear in the first six months of the human infant's development. Include surprise, interest, joy, anger, sadness, fear, and disgust.

Gender and Friendship

Are the friendships of girls different than the friendships of boys? An increasing number of studies indicate boys and girls have different types of friendships - girls' friendships are more intimate Boys' friendships tend to emphasize power and excitement in contrast to girls' interest in intimacy and self-disclosure Boys may discourage one another from openly disclosing their problems because they perceive that self-disclosure is not masculine When asked to describe their best friends, girls refer to intimate conversations and faithfulness more than boys do When conflict is present, girls place a higher priority on relationship goals such as being patient until the relationship improves, whereas boys are more likely to seek control over a friend Although girls' friendships in adolescence are more likely to focus on intimacy, boys' friendships tend to emphasize power and excitement Boys may discourage one another from openly disclosing their problems because self-disclosure is not viewed as masculine

Social Knowledge- metacognition

As children and adolescents develop, they acquire more social knowledge (also sometimes referred to as social intelligence). There is considerable individual variation in how much one child or adolescent knows about what it takes to make friends, to get peers to like him or her, and so forth.

Coping with stress in middle and late childhood

As children get older, they are able to more accurately appraise a stressful situation and determine how much control they have over it. Older children generate more coping alternatives and coping strategies More intentionally shifting their thoughts to something that is less stressful. better at reframing, or changing, one's perception of a stressful situation. By 10 years of age, most children are able to use these cognitive strategies to cope with stress In families that have not been supportive and are characterized by turmoil or trauma, children may be so overwhelmed by stress that they do not use such strategies

Parenting within Middle and Late Childhood

As children move into the middle and late childhood years, parents spend less time with them. Parents especially play an important role in supporting and stimulating children's academic achievement in middle and late childhood The value parents place on education can mean the difference in whether children do well in school. Parents not only influence children's in-school achievement, but they also make decisions about children's out-of-school activities Elementary schoolchildren tend to receive less physical discipline than they did as preschoolers. During middle and late childhood, some control is transferred from parent to child. The process is gradual, and it produces co-regulation rather than control by either the child or the parent alone. Parents continue to exercise general supervision and control, while children are allowed to engage in moment-to-moment self-regulation. The major shift to autonomy does not occur until about the age of 12 or later.

Locomotion

As infants develop the ability to crawl, walk, and run, they are able to explore their social world. These newly developed self-produced locomotor skills allow the infant to independently initiate social interchanges on a more frequent basis The infant's and toddler's push for independence also is likely paced by the development of locomotion skills. Locomotion is also important for its motivational implications

Constructive Play

Combines sensorimotor/practice play with symbolic representation of ideas. Constructive play occurs when children engage in self-regulated creation of a product or a solution.

The Development Course of Peer Relations

At 3 - prefer same-sex playmates, this preference increases in early childhood. During the preschool years, frequency of peer interaction ( both + and - ), increases Peer interactions involve conversing about "negotiating roles/rules arguing, agreeing" Young preschool children are more likely than older children to have friends who are of different gender and ethnicity As children enter the elementary school years, reciprocity becomes especially important Children play games, function in groups and cultivate friendships. Time spent in peer interaction also rises during middle and late childhood and adolescence. Increases from peers approximately 10% at 2 years of age to more than 30% in middle/late childhood In middle and late childhood there is an increase in the size of their peer group and peer interaction that is less closely supervised by adults Peer interactions take varied forms—cooperative and competitive, boisterous and quiet, joyous and humiliating. Gender influences not only the composition of children's groups but also their size and the types of interactions within them From about 5 years of age onward: Boys tend to associate in large clusters more than girls do, Boys' groups are more likely to engage in rough-and-tumble play, competition, conflict, ego displays, risk taking, and dominance seeking. Girls are more likely than boys to play in groups of two or three. Girls' groups are more likely to engage in collaborative discourse

Who is likely to be bullied?

Boys and younger middle school students Children who said they were bullied reported more loneliness and difficulty in making friends. Researchers have found that anxious, socially withdrawn, and aggressive children are often the victims of bullying Aggressive children may be the targets of bullying, because their behavior is irritating to bullies

Bowlby's theory on attachment

British psychiatrist. Stressed the importance of attachment in the first year of life and the responsiveness of the caregiver. States that infants and their primary caregivers are biologically predisposed to form attachments. Newborn is biologically equipped to elicit attachment behavior. The baby cries, clings, coos, and smiles. Later, the infant crawls, walks, and follows the mother. The immediate result is to keep the primary caregiver nearby; the long-term effect is to increase the infant's chances of survival. Attachment develops in a series of phases from a general preference for human beings to a partnership with primary caregivers. 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. Phase 3: From 7 to 24 months. Specific attachments develop. With increased locomotor skills, babies actively seek contact with regular caregivers, such as the mother or father. Phase 4: From 24 months on. Children become aware of others' feelings, goals, and plans and begin to take these into account in forming their own actions.

Interactions in the Family System

Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory analyzes the social contexts of development in terms of five environmental systems: Microsystem The setting in which the individual lives Mesosystem The links between microsystems Exosystem Influences from another setting Macrosystem Culture in which the individual lives Chronosystem Sociohistorical circumstances

Perspective Taking and Moral Motivation of Bullies, Bully-Victims, Victims and Prosocial Children

Bullies are highly aggressive toward other children but are not victims of bullying. Bully-victims are not only highly aggressive toward other children but also are the recipients of other children's bullying. Victims are passive, non-aggressive respondents to bullying. Prosocial children engage in such positive behaviors as sharing, helping, comforting, and empathizing.

Prosocial Behavior

Caring about the welfare and rights of others, feeling concern and empathy for them, and acting in a way that benefits others are all components. Most sharing during the first three years of life is done for non-empathic reasons i.e. for the fun of the social play ritual or out of imitation. At about 4 years of age, a combination of empathic awareness and adult encouragement produces a sense of obligation on the part of the child to share with others. By the start of the elementary school years, children begin to express more complicated notions of what is fair. Throughout history, varied definitions of fairness have been used as the basis for distributing goods and resolving conflicts. Prosocial behavior occurs more often in adolescence than childhood Females view themselves as more prosocial and empathic, and they also engage in more prosocial behavior more than males Two other aspects of prosocial behavior are Forgiveness Is an aspect of prosocial behavior that occurs when the injured releases the injurer from possible behavioral retaliation. Gratitude Is a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation, especially in response to someone doing something kind or helpful Interest in studying adolescents' gratitude or lack thereof is increasing. Consider the following recent studies: Gratitude was linked to a number of positive aspects of adolescent development, including satisfaction with one's family optimism, prosocial behavior fewer depressive symptoms A longitudinal study assessed the gratitude of adolescents at 10 to 14 years of age. Four years later, the most grateful adolescents (top 20%) had a stronger sense of the meaning of life, were more satisfied with their life, were happier and more hopeful, and had a lower level of negative emotions and were less depressed than the least grateful students (bottom 20%).

Child Neglect

Characterized by failure to provide for the child's basic needs Neglect can be physical (abandonment), educational (allowing chronic truancy), or emotional (marked inattention to the child's needs). Child neglect is, by far, the most common form of child maltreatment

Physical Abuse

Characterized by the infliction of physical injury as the result of punching, beating, kicking, biting, burning, shaking, or otherwise harming a child. The parent or other person may not have intended to hurt the child; the injury may have resulted from excessive physical punishment

Emotional Regulation and Coping

During the 1st year - the infant gradually develops an ability to inhibit, or minimize, the intensity and duration of emotional reactions The caregivers' actions influence the infant's neurobiological regulation of emotions By soothing the infant, caregivers help infants to modulate their emotion and reduce the level of stress hormones Many developmentalists believe it is a good strategy for a caregiver to soothe an infant before the infant gets into an intense, agitated, uncontrolled state During the 2nd year when infants become aroused, they 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 Contexts can influence emotional regulation (fatigue, hunger, time of day, which people are around them, and where they are) New demands appear as the infant becomes older and parents modify their expectations.

Parenting within Infancy and Early Childhood

During the first year, parent-child interaction moves from a heavy focus on routine caregiving—feeding, changing diapers, bathing, and soothing—to gradually include more non-caregiving activities, such as play and visual-vocal exchanges, and managing the infant's behavior Parent-child interactions during early childhood focus on such matters as modesty bedtime regularities control of temper fighting with siblings and peers eating behavior and manners autonomy in dressing attention seeking

Mutual synchrony

Each person's behavior depends on the partner's previous behavior (e.g., mutual gazing or eye contact).

Alexander Chess and Stella Thomas identifies three basic types/cluster of temperament...

Easy child This child is generally in a positive mood, quickly establishes regular routines in infancy, and adapts easily to new experiences. 40% of the children they studied could be classified as easy Difficult child This child reacts negatively and cries frequently, engages in irregular daily routines, and is slow to accept change. 10% as difficult Slow-to-warm-up child This child has a low activity level, is somewhat negative, and displays a low intensity of mood. 15% as slow to warm up These three basic clusters are moderately stable across the childhood years.

Socioemotional benefits of play

Enjoyment, Relaxation, Self-expression, Cooperation, Sharing, Turn-taking, Anxiety reduction, Self-confidence.

Rothbart and Bates' Classification of temperament

Extraversion/surgency includes "positive anticipation, impulsivity, activity level, and sensation seeking" Kagan's uninhibited children fit into this category. Negative affectivity includes "fear, frustration, sadness, and discomfort". These children are easily distressed; they may fret and cry often. Kagan's inhibited children fit this category. Effortful control (self-regulation) includes "attentional focusing and shifting, inhibitory control, perceptual sensitivity, and low-intensity pleasure" Infants high on effortful control = keep their arousal from getting too high and have strategies for soothing themselves. Infatns low on effortful control = unable to control their arousal; they become easily agitated and intensely emotional Children should not be pigeon-holed as having only one temperament dimension, such as "difficult" or "negative affectivity." A good strategy when attempting to classify a child's temperament is to think of temperament as consisting of multiple dimensions

Play Functions

Freud and Erikson thought play helps the child master anxieties and conflicts. Piaget + Vygotsky proposed that play is a child's work. Opportunity to practice their competencies and acquired skills in a relaxed, pleasurable way. . Play advances children's cognitive development. AND children's cognitive development constrains the way they play. Symbolic and make-believe aspects of play advance cognitive development, especially creative thought. Play allows children to Work off excess physical energy and to release pent-up tensions. Daniel Berlyne (1960) described play as exciting and pleasurable in itself, because it satisfies the exploratory drive. This drive involves curiosity and a desire for information about something new or unusual. Play encourages this exploratory behavior by offering children the possibilities of novelty, complexity, uncertainty, surprise, and incongruity. Play has been described as an important context for the development of language and communication skills through discussions and negotiations regarding roles and rules in play. These types of social interactions during play can benefit young children's literacy skills An increasing concern is that the large number of hours children spend with electronic media, such as television and computers, takes time away from play The contemporary perspective on play emphasizes both the cognitive and the social aspects of play Among the most widely studied types of children's play today are sensorimotor and practice play, pretense/symbolic play, social play, constructive play, and games

Similarity and Intimacy

Friends are generally similar—in terms of age, sex, ethnicity, and many other factors Similarity is referred to as homophily, the tendency to associate with similar others Friends often have similar attitudes toward school, similar educational aspirations, and closely aligned achievement orientations. Friends like the same music, wear the same kind of clothes, and prefer the same leisure activities Priorities change as the child reaches adolescence The most consistent finding in the last two decades of research on adolescent friendships is that intimacy is an important feature of friendship Intimacy in friendship is defined narrowly as self-disclosure or sharing of private thoughts; private or personal knowledge about a friend has been used as an index of intimacy. When young adolescents are asked what they want from a friend or how they can tell someone is their best friend, they frequently say that a best friend will share problems with them, understand them, and listen when they talk about their own thoughts or feelings. When young children talk about their friendships, they rarely comment about intimate self-disclosure or mutual understanding.

Friendship's Functions

Friendships serve six functions Companionship Stimulation Physical support Ego support Social comparison Intimacy/affection Not having a close relationship with a best friend, having less contact with friends, having friends who are depressed, and experiencing peer rejection all increase depressive tendencies in adolescents Researchers have found that interacting with delinquent peers and friends greatly increases the risk of becoming delinquent Sullivan concludes that friends also play important roles in shaping children's and adolescents' well-being and development. According to Sullivan, all people have a number of basic social needs, including tenderness (secure attachment), playful companionship, social acceptance, intimacy, and sexual relations. Whether or not these needs are fulfilled largely determines our emotional well-being. Sullivan stressed that the need for intimacy intensifies during early adolescence, motivating teenagers to seek out close friends. Adolescents report disclosing intimate and personal information to their friends more often than do younger children Friendship relationships are oft en important sources of support (Berndt, 1999). Sullivan described how adolescent friends support one another's sense of personal worth: When close friends disclose their mutual insecurities and fears about themselves, they discover that they are not "abnormal" and that they have nothing to be ashamed of. Friends also act as important confidants who help children and adolescents work through upsetting problems (such as difficulties with parents or the breakup of romantic relationships) by providing both emotional support and informational advice.

To reduce bullying- schools can adopt the following strategies

Get older peers to serve as monitors for bullying and intervene when they see it taking place. Develop school-wide rules and sanctions against bullying and post them throughout the school. Form friendship groups for adolescents who are regularly bullied by peers. Identify bullies and victims early and use social skills training to improve their behavior. Encourage parents to contact the school's psychologist, counselor, or social worker and ask for help with concerns involving bullying or victimization. Incorporate the message of the anti-bullying program into places of worship, schools, and other community activity areas where adolescents are involved. Encourage parents to reinforce their adolescent's positive behaviors and model appropriate interpersonal interactions.

Parenting Styles and Discipline

Good parenting takes time and effort It's not just the quantity of time parents spend with children that is important for childrens development—the quality of the parenting is clearly important

Domain-Specific Socialization

Grusec and Davidov proposed a domain-specific view of parenting that emphasizes how parents often operate in different domains characterized by different types of relationships. The five domains are listed below: Protection Reciprocity Control Guided Learning Group Participation real-life interactions in families often involve overlapping across the domains, but the extent of this overlapping has not yet been identified

Parenting

Parenting calls on a number of interpersonal skills and makes intense emotional demands, yet there is little in the way of formal education for this task. Most parents learn parenting practices from their own parents. Husbands and wives may bring different views of parenting to the marriage. Unfortunately, when parents' methods are passed on from one generation to the next, both desirable and undesirable practices are perpetuated.

Dating and Romantic Relationships

Heterosexual Romantic Relationships Three stages characterize the development of romantic relationships in adolescence Entry into romantic attractions and affiliations at about 11 to 13 years of age. Exploring romantic relationships at approximately 14 to 16 years of age. Consolidating dyadic romantic bonds at about 17 to 19 years of age. Variations: Early and late bloomers Early bloomers include 15 to 20% of 11- to 13-year-olds who say that they currently are in a romantic relationship and 35% who indicate that they have had some prior experience in romantic relationships. Late bloomers comprise approximately 10% of 17- to 19-year-olds who say that they have had no experience with romantic relationships and another 15% who report that they have not engaged in any romantic relationships that lasted more than 4 months. Early romantic relationships serve as a context for adolescents to explore how attractive they are, how to interact romantically, and how all of these aspects look to the peer group. Only after adolescents acquire some basic competencies in interacting with romantic partners does the fulfillment of attachment and sexual needs become a central function of these relationships Adolescents often find comfort in numbers during their early exploration of romantic relationships

Social Information-Processing Skills

How children process information about peer relationships also influences those relationships Peer relations researcher Kenneth Dodge argues that children go through five steps in processing information about their social world: Decoding social cues Interpreting Searching for a response Selecting an optimal response Enacting it.

Cross-Culture Comparisons of Peer Relations

In some countries, adults restrict adolescents' access to peers: In many areas of rural areas across the world - opportunities for peer relations in adolescence are severely restricted, especially for girls In a cross-cultural analysis, the peer group was more important to U.S. adolescents than to Japanese adolescents Japanese adolescents spend less time outside the home, have less recreational leisure time, and engage in fewer extracurricular activities with peers than U.S. adolescents U.S. adolescents are more likely to put pressure on their peers to resist parental influence than Japanese adolescents are In some cultures, children are placed in peer groups for much greater lengths of time at an earlier age than are in the United States. For example, in the Murian culture of eastern India, both male and female children live in a dormitory from the age of 6 until they get married In some cultural settings, peers even assume responsibilities usually assumed by parents. For example, street youth in South America rely on networks of peers to help them negotiate survival in urban environments

Sexual Abuse

Includes fondling a child's genitals, intercourse, incest, rape, sodomy, exhibitionism, and commercial exploitation through prostitution or the production of pornographic materials

Gay Male and Lesbian Parents

Increasingly, gay, and lesbian couples are creating families that include children Approximately 33% of lesbians and 22% of gay men are parents. Like heterosexual couples, gay male and lesbian parents vary greatly. Researchers have found few differences in children growing up with lesbian mothers or gay fathers and children growing up with heterosexual parents The overwhelming majority of children growing up in a gay or lesbian family have a heterosexual orientation

Emotional Expressions and Social Relationships in Infancy

Infant emotional communications allows for coordinated interactions with their caregivers and the beginning of an emotional bond between them Infants also modify their emotional expressions in response to their parents' emotional expressions. These interactions are reciprocal or synchronous when all is going well Sensitive, responsive parents help their infants grow emotionally, whether the infants respond in distressed or happy ways

Social Orientations/Understanding in Infants

Infants show a strong interest in the social world and are motivated to orient to and understand it

Variations in Child Care

Numerous factors influence the effects of child care: The age of the child The type of child care The quality of the program The type and quality of child care varies extensively large centers with elaborate facilities and in private homes. commercial operations/nonprofit centers run by churches, civic groups, and employers. Some child-care providers are professionals; others are untrained adults who want to earn extra money. Use of different types of child care varies by ethnicity Latino families are far less likely than non-Latino White and African American families to have children in child-care centers (11%, 20%, and 21% respectively in one recent study) African American and Latino families often rely on family-based care, especially by grandmothers.

Temperament in Childhood, Personality in Adulthood and Intervening Contexts Table- Initial Temperament Trait: Inhibition

Intervening Context Caregivers- - Child A- caregivers (parents) who are sensitive and accepting and let child set his or her own pace - Child B- caregivers who use inappropriate "low-level control" and attempt to force the child into a new situations Physical Environment- - Child A- presence of "stimulus shelters" or "defensible spaces" that the children can retreat to when there is too much stimulation - Child B- child continually encounter noisy, chaotic environments that allow no escape from stimulation Peers- - Child A- peer groups with other inhibited children with common interests, so the child feels accepted - Child B- peer groups consist of athletic extroverts, so the child feels rejected Schools- - Child A- school is "undermanned," so inhibited children are more likely to be tolerated and feel they can make a contribution - Child B- school is "overmanned," so inhibited children are less likely to be tolerated and more likely to feel undervalued ----- Personality Outcomes - Child A- as an adult, individual is closer to extraversion (outgoing, sociable) and is emotionally stable - Child B-as an adult, individual is closer to introversion and has more emotional problems

Moral Development

Involves changes in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors regarding standards of right and wrong. Intrapersonal dimension Regulates a person's activities when she or he is not engaged in social interaction. Interpersonal dimension Regulates social interactions and arbitrates conflict

Gratitude

Is a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation, especially in response to someone doing something kind or helpful Gratitude was linked to a number of positive aspects of adolescent development, including satisfaction with one's family optimism, prosocial behavior fewer depressive symptoms A longitudinal study assessed the gratitude of adolescents at 10 to 14 years of age. Four years later, the most grateful adolescents (top 20%) had a stronger sense of the meaning of life, were more satisfied with their life, were happier and more hopeful, and had a lower level of negative emotions and were less depressed than the least grateful students (bottom 20%).

Forgiveness-

Is an aspect of prosocial behavior that occurs when the injured releases the injurer from possible behavioral retaliation.

Moral performance or behavior

Is determined by motivation and the rewards and incentives to act in a moral way.

Crying

Is the most important mechanism newborns have for communicating with their world. Basic cry: A rhythmic pattern usually consisting of a cry, a briefer silence, a shorter whistle that is higher pitched than the main cry, and then a brief rest before the next cry. Anger cry: A variation of the basic cry, with more excess air forced through the vocal cords. Pain cry: A sudden, long, initial loud cry followed by breath holding; it is stimulated by a high-intensity stimulus.

Coparenting

Is the support that parents provide one another in jointly raising a child. Poor coordination between parents, undermining of the other parent, lack of cooperation and warmth, and disconnection by one parent are conditions that place children at risk for problems Parents who do not spend enough time with their children or who have problems in child rearing can benefit from counseling and therapy.

Evaluating the Strange Situation

It may be culturally biased. May not generalize to the natural environment. Researchers have found that infants' behaviors in the Strange Situation are closely related to how they behave at home in response to separation and reunion with their mothers Many infant researchers conclude that the Strange Situation continues to show merit as a measure of infant attachment.

Reciprocal interactions

The actions of the partners can be matched (e.g., one partner imitates the other).

Stepfamilies

It takes time for parents to marry, have children, get divorced, and then remarry. Consequently, there are far more elementary and secondary school children than infant or preschool children living in stepfamilies. Divorces occur at a 10% higher rate in remarriages than in first marriages About half of all children whose parents divorce will have a step-parent within four years of the separation. Remarried parents face some unique tasks: The couple must define and strengthen their marriage Renegotiate the biological parent-child relationships Establish step-parent-stepchild and stepsibling relationships The complex histories and multiple relationships make adjustment difficult in a stepfamily Only one-third of stepfamily couples stay remarried. Some remarried individuals are more adult-focused, responding more to the concerns of their partner, while others are more child-focused, responding more to the concerns of the children Three common types of stepfamily structure are: Stepfather In stepfather families, the mother typically had custody of the children and remarried, introducing a stepfather into her children's lives. Stepmother In stepmother families, the father usually had custody and remarried, introducing a stepmother into his children's lives. Blended or complex In a blended or complex stepfamily, both parents bring children from previous marriages to live in the newly formed stepfamily. Children often have better relationships with their custodial parents (mothers in stepfather families, fathers in stepmother families) than with stepparents Children in simple families (stepmother, stepfather) often show better adjustment than their counterparts in complex (blended) families Children in stepfamilies show more adjustment problems than children in nondivorced families Adolescence is an especially difficult time for the formation of a stepfamily

Old and New Model for Attachment and Autonomy Figure

Old Model- autonomy, detachment from parents, parent and peer world are isolated. Intense , stressful conflict throughout adolescence; parent-adolescent relationships are filled with storm and stress on virtually a daily basis New model- attachment and autonomy; parents are important support systems and attachment figures; adolescent-parent and adolescent-peer worlds have some important connections. Moderate parent-adolescent conflict is common and can serve a positive developmental function; conflict greater in early adolescence

Socioeconomic Status in Parenting

Low-income families have less access to resources than higher-income families The differential in access to resources includes: Nutrition Health care Protection from danger Enriching educational and socialization opportunities ( i.e. tutoring and lessons) These differences are compounded in low-income families characterized by long-term poverty In the US and most Western cultures, differences also have been found in child rearing among different socioeconomic-status (SES) groups Lower-SES parents Are more concerned that their children conform to society's expectations Create a home atmosphere in which it is clear that parents have authority over children Use physical punishment more in disciplining their children Are more directive and less conversational with their children. Higher-SES parents Are more concerned with developing children's initiative and delay of gratification Create a home atmosphere in which children are more nearly equal participants and in which rules are discussed as opposed to being"laid down in an authoritarian manner Are less likely to use physical punishment Are less directive and more conversational with their children.

Positive friendship relationships in adolescence are associated with a host of positive outcomes including

Lower rates of delinquency, Substance abuse, Risky sexual behavior, Bullying victimization, A higher level of academic achievement

Child Care

Many U.S. children today experience multiple caregivers. Most do not have a parent staying home to care for them.

Parenting Roles and the Timing of Parenthood

Many adults decide when they would like to become parents and consider how parenting will fit with their economic situation. The prospective parents may have mixed emotions and romantic illusions about having a child Currently, there is a tendency to have fewer children. The age at which individuals have children has been increasing In 2008, the average age at which women gave birth for the first time was 25 years of age, up from 21 years of age in 2001 As birth control has become common practice, many individuals choose when they will have children and how many children they will raise. The percentage of 40- to 44-year-old U.S. women who remain childless increased from 10% in 1976 to 24% in 2006-2010

Developmental Contexts of Temperament

Many aspects of a child's environment can encourage or discourage the persistence of temperament characteristics

Middle and Late Childhood- Developmental Changed in Emotion

Most children show marked improvement in understanding and managing their emotions. Improved emotional understanding. Increased Understanding that more than one emotion can be experienced in a particular situation. Awareness of the events leading to emotional reactions. Use of self-initiated strategies for redirecting feelings. Capacity for genuine empathy Ability to suppress or conceal negative emotional reactions.

Autonomy and Attachment

Most parents anticipate that their teenager will have some difficulty adjusting to the changes that adolescence brings. Few parents imagine and predict just how strong an adolescent's desires will be to spend time with peers or how intensely adolescents will want to show that it is they—not their parents—who are responsible for their successes and failures. Adolescents' ability to attain autonomy and gain control over their behavior is acquired through appropriate adult reactions to their desire for control Gender differences characterize autonomy-granting in adolescence, with boys being given more independence than girls. A recent analysis concluded that the most consistent outcomes of secure attachment in adolescence involve positive peer relations and development of the adolescent's emotion regulation capacities Although adolescents are moving toward independence, they still need to stay connected with families Survey of 12,000 adolescents found that those who did not eat dinner with a parent five or more days a week had dramatically higher rates of smoking, drinking, marijuana use, getting into fights, and initiation of sexual activity

Romantic Relationships in Sexual Minority Youth

Most research on romantic relationships in adolescence has focused on heterosexual relationships. Recently, researchers have begun to study romantic relationships in gay male, lesbian, and bisexual youth The average age of the initial same-sex activity for females ranges from 14 to 18 years of age and for males from 13 to 15 The most common initial same-sex partner is a close friend. More lesbian adolescent girls have sexual encounters with boys before same-sex activity, whereas gay adolescent boys are more likely to show the opposite sequence Most sexual minority youth have same-sex sexual experience, but relatively few have same-sex romantic relationships because of limited opportunities and the social disapproval such relationships may generate from families or heterosexual peers The importance of romance to sexual minority youth was underscored in a study that found that they rated the breakup of a current romance as their second most stressful problem, second only to disclosure of their sexual orientation to their parents The romantic possibilities of sexual minority youth are complex

Mothers and Fathers as Caregivers

Mothers typically spend considerably more time in caregiving with infants and children. Mothers engage in the managerial role with their children, coordinating their activities, making sure their health care needs are fulfilled, and so on. An increasing number of U.S. fathers stay home full-time with their children A recent study revealed that the stay-at-home fathers were as satisfied with their marriage as traditional parents, although they indicated that they missed their daily life in the workplace. Observations of fathers and their infants suggest that fathers have the ability to act as sensitively and responsively as mothers with their infants. Maternal interactions usually center on child-care activities—feeding, changing diapers, and bathing. Paternal interactions are more likely to include more rough-and-tumble play.

Parent- Adolescent Conflict

Much of the conflict involves the everyday events of family life, such as keeping a bedroom clean, dressing neatly, getting home by a certain time, and not talking or text messaging for hours at a time. Conflict with parents > during early adolescence, remains stable during high school years, and then < as the adolescent reaches 17 to 20 years of age. The everyday conflicts that characterize parent-adolescent relationships may serve a positive function. The minor disputes and negotiations facilitate the adolescent's transition from being dependent on parents to becoming an autonomous individual. The old model of parent-adolescent relationships suggested that as adolescents mature, they detach themselves from parents and move into a world of autonomy apart from parents. The new model emphasizes that parents serve as important attachment figures and support systems while adolescents explore a wider, more complex social world. The new model also emphasizes that, in most families, parent-adolescent conflict is moderate rather then severe. A high degree of conflict characterizes some parent-adolescent relationships. Prolonged intense conflict is associated with various adolescent problems Movement out of the home Juvenile delinquency School dropout Pregnancy and early marriage Membership in religious cults Drug abuse

Every family is a system, a complex whole made up of interrelated and interacting parts...

Mutual synchrony Each person's behavior depends on the partner's previous behavior (e.g., mutual gazing or eye contact). Reciprocal interactions The actions of the partners can be matched (e.g., one partner imitates the other). Scaffolding Adjusting the level of guidance to fit the child's performance.

Emotional Regulation

Not only does cognition play an important role in peer relations, so does emotion The ability to regulate emotion is linked to successful peer relations Moody and emotionally negative individuals experience greater rejection by peers, whereas emotionally positive individuals are more popular Children who have effective self-regulatory skills can modulate their emotional expressiveness in contexts that evoke intense emotions, as when a peer says something negative .

Parenting and Children's Emotional Development in Early Childhood

Parents = important role in children's emotional regulation Parents can be described as taking an emotion-coaching or an emotion-dismissing approach The distinction is most evident in the way the parent deals with the child's negative emotions (anger, frustration, sadness, and so on). -Emotion-coaching parents- monitor their children's emotions view their children's negative emotions as opportunities for teaching assist them in labeling, coach them in how to deal effectively with emotions. Interact with their children in a less rejecting manner, Use more scaffolding and praise and are more nurturing than are emotion-dismissing parents -Emotion Dismissing Parents-view their role as to deny, ignore, or change negative emotions. The children of emotion-coaching parents are better at soothing themselves when they get upset, more effective in regulating their negative affect, focus their attention better, and have fewer behavior problems than the children of emotion-dismissing parents.

Parents as Managers of Children's Lives

Parents can play important roles as managers of children's opportunities, as monitors of their lives, and as social initiators and arrangers An important developmental task of childhood and adolescence is to develop the ability to make competent decisions in an increasingly independent manner. To help children and adolescents reach their full potential, a parent needs to be an effective manager—one who finds information, makes contacts, helps structure choices, and provides guidance. Mothers are more likely than fathers to engage in a managerial role in parenting.

Coordinated Worlds of Parent-Child and Peer Relations

Parents may influence peer relations directly + indirectly - through their interactions with their children - how they manage their children's lives, and the opportunities they provide their children Basic lifestyle decisions by parents— choices of neighborhoods, churches, schools, and their own friends— determine the pool from which their children select possible friends. Children's peer relations are linked to attachment security + parents' marital quality A secure attachment to parents is linked to positive peer relations The link between mother/peer attachment was stronger than father/peer attachment The success or failure of parent-adolescent attachments does not necessarily guarantee success or failure in peer relationships. Children also learn other modes of relating through their relationships with peers. The are more likely to interact on a much more equal basis and to learn a mode of relating based on mutual influence.

Peer interaction and contexts

Peer interaction is influenced by contexts, which can include the type of peer the child and adolescent interacts with and also the Situation or Location An acquaintance School A crowd Neighborhood A clique Community center A friend Dance A romantic partner Religious setting Sporting event The culture in which the child and adolescent lives As they interact with peers in these various contexts, children and adolescents are likely to encounter different messages and different opportunities to engage in adaptive and maladaptive behavior that can influence their development Peers play an important role in the development of individuals in all cultures.

Positive and Negative Peer Relations

Peers who engage in prosocial behavior at age 9 had a higher level of self-control at age 10 those whose peers engaged in deviant behavior at 9 had a lower level of self-control at 10 Rejection and neglect by peers are related to an individual's subsequent mental health For some adolescents, the peer culture is a corrupt influence that undermines parental values and control. Peer relations are linked to adolescents' patterns of drug use, delinquency, and depression. A recent study found that low parental control was linked to higher delinquency in adolescence through its association with deviant peer affiliation

Intention, Goal-Directed Behavior, and Cooperation

Perceiving people as engaging in intentional and goal-directed behavior occurs toward the end of the first year Joint attention and gaze help the infant to understand that people have intentions At about 10-11 months of age, joint attention intensifies and infants begin to follow the caregiver's gaze. By their first birthday, infants have begun to direct the caregiver's attention to objects that capture their interest

Biological Foundations and Experience of Temperament

Physiological characteristics have been linked with different temperaments An inhibited temperament is associated with a unique physiological pattern that includes high and stable heart rate, high level of the hormone cortisol high activity in the right frontal lobe of the brain low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin = increase in vulnerability to fear and frustration What is heredity's role in the biological foundations of temperament? The contemporary view is that temperament is a biologically based but evolving aspect of behavior it evolves as the child's experiences are incorporated into a network of self-perceptions and behavioral preferences that characterize the child's personality self-regulatory dimensions of temperament such as adaptability, soothability, and persistence look very different in a 1-year-old and a 5-year-old These temperament dimensions develop and change with the growth of the neurobiological foundations of self-regulation. Gender may be an important factor shaping the context that influences the fate of temperament Parents might react differently to an infant's temperament depending on whether the baby is a boy or a girl. The reaction to an infant's temperament may depend in part on culture

Social Play

Play that involves social interactions with peers. Social play increases dramatically during the preschool years and includes varied interchanges such as: Turn taking Conversations about numerous topics Social games and routines Physical play

Pretense/symbolic play

Play that occurs when a child transforms the physical environment into a symbol. Between 9 and 30 months of age, children increase their use of objects in symbolic play They learn to transform objects, substituting them for other objects and acting toward them as if they were those other objects Many experts on play view the preschool years as the "golden age" of symbolic/pretense play that is dramatic or sociodramatic in nature This type of make-believe play often appears at about 18 months of age and reaches a peak at 4 to 5 years of age, then gradually declines. Some child psychologists conclude that pretend play is an important aspect of young children's development and often reflects advances in their cognitive development, especially their capacity for symbolic understanding

Regulating Emotions and Peer Relations in Early Childhood

Plays a key role in children's ability to manage the demands and conflicts they face in interacting with others Emotional regulation can be conceptualized as an important component of self-regulation or of executive functioning. Executive functioning is increasingly thought to be a key concept in describing the young child's higher-level cognitive functioning Emotions play a strong role in determining the success of a child's peer relationships Moody and emotionally negative children are more likely to experience rejection by their peers, whereas emotionally positive children are more popular.

Empathy

Positive feelings (e.g., empathy, sympathy, admiration, and self-esteem) and Negative feelings (e.g., anger, outrage, shame, and guilt) contribute to children's moral development When strongly experienced, these emotions influence children to act in accord with standards of right and wrong Empathy is a particularly impactful emotion on moral development Feeling empathy = reacting to another's feelings with an emotional response that is similar to the other's feelings. To empathize is not just to sympathize; it is to put oneself in another's place emotionally. Empathy has a cognitive component—the ability to discern another's inner psychological states, or what we have previously called perspective taking

What accounts for such differences related to birth order?

Proposed explanations usually point to variations in interactions with parents and siblings associated with being in a particular position in the family. The oldest child is the only one who does not have to share parental love and affection with other siblings—until another sibling comes along.

Mary Ainsworth and Strange Situation

Proposed that the quality of some babies' attachment experiences varies and may have a more positive experience than others. She devised 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. ----- Attachment Styles based on the strange situation Securely attached Babies use the caregiver as a secure base from which to explore the environment. Insecure avoidant Babies show insecurity by avoiding the mother. Insecure resistant Babies often cling to the caregiver, then resist her by fighting against the closeness, perhaps by kicking or pushing away. Insecure disorganized Babies are disorganized and disoriented.

Influence of quality in child care

Quality makes a difference. High-quality child care involves: Providing children with a safe environment Access to age-appropriate toys Participation in age-appropriate activities A low caregiver-child ratio that allows caregivers to spend considerable time with children on an individual basis Children are more likely to experience poor-quality child care if they come from families with few resources (psychological, social, and economic) Many researchers have examined the role of poverty in quality of child care A recent study revealed that children from low-income families benefited in terms of school readiness and language development when their parents selected higher-quality child care

Multiple Developmental Trajectories

Refers to the fact that adults follow one trajectory and children and adolescents another one Adult developmental trajectories include: Timing of entry into marriage Cohabitation Parenthood Child developmental trajectories include: Timing of child care Entry into middle school The timing of parenthood in the United States has undergone some dramatic shifts First, the number of adolescent pregnancies in the United States increased considerably in the 1970s and 1980s. Second, the number of women who postpone childbearing until their thirties and early forties simultaneously increased.

Goodness of Fit and Parenting- Temperament

Refers to the match between a child's temperament and the environmental demands the child must cope with. A lack of fit can produce adjustment problems Some temperament characteristics pose more parenting challenges than others, at least in modern Western societies

Self-Conscious Emotions

Require self-awareness that involves consciousness and a sense of "me." include jealousy, empathy, embarrassment, pride, shame, and guilt. Some call them other-conscious emotions because they involve the emotional reactions of others when they are generated Some experts like Jerome Kagan conclude that the structural immaturity of the infant brain make it unlikely that emotions which require thought—such as guilt, pride, despair, shame, empathy, and jealousy—can be experienced in the first year.

Infants' Social Sophistication and Insight

Researchers are discovering that infants are more socially sophisticated and insightful at younger ages than previously envisioned This sophistication and in sight is reflected in infants perceptions of others' actions as intentionally motivated and goal-directed. The more advanced social cognitive skills of infants could be expected to influence their understanding and awareness of attachment to a caregiver.

Romantic Relationships and Adjustment

Researchers have linked dating and romantic relationships with various measures of how well adjusted adolescents are Dating and romantic relationships, at an early age, can be especially problematic Researchers have found that early dating and "going with" someone are linked with adolescent pregnancy and problems at home and school

Social Cognitive Theory

SCT emphasizes a distinction between moral competence (the ability to perform moral behaviors) and moral performance (performing those behaviors in specific situations)

Caregiving Styles and Attachment

Securely attached babies have caregivers who are sensitive to their signals and are consistently available to respond to their infants' needs Caregivers of insecurely attached babies often don't respond to their babies' signals and have little physical contact with them. Caregivers of resistant babies tend to be inconsistent, sometimes responding, sometimes not. Caregivers of disorganized babies often neglect or physically abuse them

Smiling

Smiling is critical as a means of developing a new social skill and is a key social signal Reflexive smile A smile that does not occur in response to external stimuli and appears during the first month after birth, usually during sleep Social smile A smile in response to an external stimulus, typically a face in the case of the young infant. Social smiling occurs as early as 4 to 6 weeks of age in response to a caregiver's voice 2 to 6 months after birth infant's social smiling increases considerably, both in self-initiated smiles and smiles in response to others' smiles. 6 to 12 months of age, smiles that couple what is called the Duchenne marker (eye constriction) and mouth opening occur in the midst of highly enjoyable interactions and play with parents. In the 2nd year smiling continues to occur in such positive circumstances with parents, and in many cases an increase in smiling occurs when interacting with peers. toddlers become increasingly aware of the social meaning of smiles, especially in their relationship with parents. Infants also engage in anticipatory smiling They communicate pre-existing positive emotion by smiling at an object and then turning their smile toward an adult

Sensorimotor and Practice Play

Sensorimotor play: Behavior by infants to derive pleasure from exercising their sensorimotor schemas. Practice play Play that involves repetition of behavior when new skills are being learned or when physical or mental mastery and coordination of skills are required for games or sports. Practice play can be engaged in throughout life.

Separation Protest Peak

Separation protest peaks about 15 months for U.S. infants / 13- 15 worldwide

Bullying

Significant numbers of students are victimized by bullies In a survey of more than 15,000 students in grades 6 through 10, nearly 1 of every 3 students said that they had experienced occasional or frequent involvement as a victim or perpetrator in bullying In this study, bullying was defined as verbal or physical behavior intended to disturb someone less powerful. Social contexts also influence bullying Recent research indicates that 70 to 80% of victims and their bullies are in the same school classroom Classmates are often aware of bullying incidents and in many cases witness bullying. The larger social context of the peer group plays an important role in bullying In many cases, bullies torment victims to gain higher status in the peer group, and bullies need others to witness their power displays. Many bullies are not rejected by the peer group In one study, bullies were only rejected by peers to whom they were a potential threat In another study, bullies often affiliated with each other or in some cases maintained their position in the popular peer group

Emotional Competence Skill Table

Skill-Example - Awareness of one's emotional states-being able to differentiate whether sad or anxious - Detecting others' emotions- understanding when another person is sad rather than afraid - Using the vocabulary of emotion terms in socially and culturally appropriate ways- appropriately describing a social situation in one culture's when a person is feeling distress - Empathic and sympathetic sensitivity to others' emotional experiences- being sensitive to others when they are feeling distressed - Recognizing that inner emotional states do not have to correspond to outer expressions- recognizing that one can feel very angry yet manage one's emotional expression so that it appears more neutral - Adaptively coping with negative emotions by using self-regulatory strategies that reduce the intensity or duration of such emotional states- reducing anger by walking away from an aversive situation and engaging in an activity that takes one's mind off of the aversive situation - Awareness that the expression of emotions plays a major role in a relationship- knowing that expressing anger toward a friend on a regular basis is likely to harm the friendship - Viewing oneself overall as feeling the way one wants to feel- feeling like one can cope effectively with the stress in one's life and feeling that one is doing this successfully

Peer Statuses

Sociometric status A term that describes the extent to which children are liked or disliked by their peer group Is typically assessed by asking children to rate how much they like or dislike each of their classmates. Or it may be assessed by asking children to name the children they like the most and those they like the least. Popular children Are frequently nominated as a best friend and are rarely disliked by their peers. Average children Receive an average number of positive and negative nominations from peers. Neglected children Are infrequently nominated as a best friend but are not disliked by their peers. Rejected children are rarely nominated as someone's best friend and are actively disliked by their peers. Controversial children Are frequently nominated both as someone's best friend and as being disliked. Popular children have a number of social skills that contribute to their being well liked. Researchers have found that popular children: Give out reinforcements, Listen carefully, Maintain open lines of communication with peers, Are happy, Control their negative emotions, Act like themselves, Show enthusiasm and concern for others, and Are self-confident without being conceited Neglected children engage in low rates of interaction with their peers and are often described as shy by peers. Rejected children often have more serious adjustment problems than those who are neglected The best predictor of whether rejected children would engage in delinquent behavior or drop out of school later during adolescence was aggression toward peers in elementary school.

Mixed-Age Friendships

Some adolescents become best friends with younger or older individuals. A common fear, especially among parents, is that adolescents who have older friends will be encouraged to engage in delinquent behavior or early sexual behavior. A recent study revealed that over time, from 6th through 10th grades, girls were more likely to have older male friends, which places some girls on a developmentally trajectory for engaging in problem behavior

Bandura and social cognitive theory

Stresses that moral development is best understood by considering a combination of social and cognitive factors, especially those involving self control. Self-regulation (not abstract reasoning) is the key to positive moral development.

Perspective Taking

Taking another's point of view. Researchers have documented a link between perspective-taking skills and the quality of peer relations, especially in the elementary school years Perspective-taking is important in part because it helps children communicate effectively.

Children in Divorced Families

The U.S. divorce rate increased dramatically in the 1960s and 1970s but has declined since the 1980s - it is still much higher than in most other countries. It is estimated that 40% of children born to married parents in the United States will experience their parents' divorce Some important questions about children in divorced families: Are children better adjusted in intact, never-divorced families than in divorced families? Should parents stay together for the sake of the children? How much do family processes matter in divorced families? What factors influence an individual child's vulnerability to suffering negative consequences as a result of living in a divorced family? What role does socioeconomic status play in the lives of children in divorced families? In sum, many factors are involved in determining how divorce influences a child's development

Still-face paradigm

The caregiver alternates between engaging in face-to-face interaction with the infant and remaining still and unresponsive The frequency of face-to-face play decreases after 7 months of age as infants become more mobile Infants' higher positive affect and lower negative affect as displayed during the still-face paradigm were linked to secure attachment at one year of age. Infants also learn about their social world through contexts other than face-to-face play with a caregiver Between 18- to 24-months of age, children markedly increase their imitative and reciprocal play, such as imitating nonverbal actions like jumping and running As increasing numbers of U.S. infants experience child care outside the home, they are spending more time in social play with peers

Peer Rejection and Aggression

The combination of being rejected by peers and being aggressive = problems Three reasons why aggressive peer-rejected boys have problems in social relationships... Rejected, aggressive boys Are more impulsive and have problems sustaining attention. As a result, they are more likely to be disruptive of ongoing activities in the classroom and in focused group play. Are more emotionally reactive. They are aroused to anger more easily and probably have more difficulty calming down once aroused. Because of this they are more prone to become angry at peers and to attack them verbally and physically. have fewer social skills in making friends and maintaining positive relationships with peers. Not all rejected children are aggressive Although aggression and its related characteristics of impulsiveness and disruptiveness underlie rejection about half the time, approximately 10 to 20% of rejected children are shy. What are the antecedents of peer rejection? poor parenting skills are at the root of children becoming rejected by their peers. They especially argue that inadequate monitoring and harsh punishment produce a child with aggressive, antisocial tendencies. Researchers have often found it difficult to improve the social skills of adolescents who are actively disliked and rejected. Many of these adolescents are rejected, because they are aggressive or impulsive and lack the self-control to keep these behaviors in check. Social-skills training programs have generally been more successful with children 10 years of age or younger than with adolescents Peer reputations become more fixed as cliques and peer groups become more salient in adolescence. Once an adolescent gains a negative reputation among peers as being "mean," "weird," or a "loner," the peer group's attitude is often slow to change, even after the adolescent's problem behavior has been corrected.

Crowds

The crowd is a larger group structure than a clique. Adolescents are usually members of a crowd based on reputation and may or may not spend much time together. Many crowds are defined by the activities adolescents engage in (such as "jocks," "druggies")

Working Parents

The increased number of mothers in the labor force represents one source of change in U.S. families and U.S. society Many mothers spend the greatest part of their day away from their children, even their infants. Most research on parental work has focused on young children and the mother's employment Research on maternal employment and children's development usually reveals few links between the mother's work status and children's cognitive and socioemotional development The effects of working parents involves the father as well as the mother when such matters as work schedules and work-family stress are considered Recent research indicates that children's development is affected more strongly by the nature of parents' work than by the employment of one or both parents outside the home A consistent finding is the children (especially girls) of working mothers engage in less gender stereotyping and have more egalitarian views of gender

Studies that link romantic relationships and adolescence adjustment

The more romantic experiences 10th-graders had the more they reported.... higher levels of social acceptance friendship competence, and romantic competence However, having more romantic experience also was linked to a higher level of substance use depression delinquency, and sexual behavior Adolescent girls who engaged in corumination (excessive discussion of problems with friends) were more likely to be involved in a romantic relationship, and corumination + romantic involvement predicted an increase in depressive symptoms Among adolescent girls, but not adolescent males, having an older romantic partner was linked to an increase in depressive symptoms, largely influenced by an increase in substance use Adolescents with a stronger romantic involvement were more likely to engage in delinquency than their counterparts with a lower level of romantic involvement

Reciprocal Socialization

The mutual influence that parents and children extend to the whole process of socialization This Socialization is bidirectional with children socializing parents as parents socialize children. These reciprocal interchanges and mutual influence processes are sometimes referred to as transactional Each family member is a participant in several subsystems—some dyadic (two-person) and some polyadic (more than two people) systems interact and influence each other. Promoting marital satisfaction often leads to good parenting.

What is the only child like?

The popular conception is that the only child is a "spoiled brat," with such undesirable characteristics as dependency, lack of self-control, and self-centered behavior. Researchers present a more positive portrayal of the only child. Only children often are achievement oriented and display a desirable personality, especially in comparison with later-borns and children from large families

Cognition and Emotion in Family Process

The role of cognition in family socialization takes many forms: Parents' cognitions Beliefs Values about their parental role How parents perceive, organize, and understand their children's behaviors and beliefs. Children's social competence is linked to the emotional lives of their parents Through interaction with parents, children learn to express their emotions in appropriate ways. Researchers are also finding that parental sensitivity to children's emotions is related to childrens ability to manage their emotions in positive ways Emotion-coaching parents monitor their children's emotions, view their children's negative emotions as opportunities for teaching, assist them in labeling emotions, and coach them in how to deal effectively with emotions. In contrast, emotion-dismissing parents view their role as to deny, ignore, or change negative emotions.

Sociocultural Contexts and Dating

The sociocultural context exerts a powerful influence on adolescent's dating Values, religious beliefs, and traditions often dictate the age at which dating begins, how much freedom in dating is allowed, whether dates must be chaperoned by adults or parents, and the roles of males and females in dating. When immigrant adolescents choose to adopt the ways of the dominant U.S. culture (such as unchaperoned dating), they often clash with parents and extended-family members who have more traditional values.

Juvenile Delinquency

The term refers to a broad range of behaviors, from socially unacceptable behavior (such as acting out in school) to status offenses (such as running away) to criminal acts (such as burglary). For legal purposes, a distinction is made between index offenses and status offenses: Index offenses: Are criminal acts, whether they are committed by juveniles or adults They include such acts as robbery, aggravated, assault, rape, and homicide. Status offenses: running away, truancy, underage drinking, sexual promiscuity, and uncontrollability, are less serious acts. One issue in juvenile justice is whether an adolescent who commits a crime should be tried as an adult Some psychologists have proposed that individuals 12 and under should not be evaluated under adult criminal laws and that those 17 and older should be They also recommend that individuals 13 to 16 years of age be given some type of individualized assessment in terms of whether to be tried in a juvenile court or an adult criminal court. Males are more likely to engage in delinquency than are females Rates of delinquency and crime indicate that theft, property damage, and physical aggression decreased from 18 to 26 years of age The peak for property damage is 16 to 18 years of age for males, 15 to 17 years of age for females. The peak for violence is 18 to 19 years of age for males and 19 to 21 years of age for females A distinction is made between early-onset (before age 11) and late-onset (11 and older) antisocial behavior. Early-onset antisocial behavior is associated with more negative developmental outcomes than late-onset antisocial behavior Early-onset antisocial behavior is more likely to persist into emerging adulthood and is associated with increased problems involving mental health and relationships.

Social Referencing

The term used to describe "reading" emotional cues in others to help determine how to act in a particular situation. Helps infants to interpret ambiguous situations more accurately, as when they encounter a stranger and need to know whether to fear the person 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. Infants become better at social referencing in the second year of life.

Cross- Cultural Studies in Variations in Parenting

There are important cross-cultural variations in parenting Ifor instance, in some countries, authoritarian parenting is widespread. In some parts of the Arab world, many families today are very authoritarian, dominated by the father's rule, and children are taught strict codes of conduct and family loyalty Chinese mothers of preschool children reported that they used more physical coercion, more encouragement of modesty, more shaming and love withdrawal, less warmth, and less democratic participation than U.S. mothers of preschool children The most common pattern of parenting style was a warm and controlling style, one that was neither permissive nor restrictive. There are trends toward greater family mobility, migration to urban areas, separation as some family members work in cities or countries far from their homes, smaller families, fewer extended-family households, and increases in maternal employment

What do adolescents do in cliques?

They share ideas hang out together often develop an in-group identity in which they believe that their clique is superior.

Authoritarian Parenting

This is a restrictive, punitive style in which parents exhort the child to follow their directions and respect their work and effort. Firm limits and controls are placed on the child, and allows little verbal exchange. Children of authoritarian parents are often unhappy, fearful, and anxious about comparing themselves with others, fail to initiate activity, and have weak communication skills.

Managing and Guiding the Infant's Behavior

This management process includes Being proactive and childproofing the environment so infants won't encounter potentially dangerous objects or situations, and Using corrective methods when infants engage in undesirable behaviors, such as excessive fussing and crying, throwing objects, and so on. As infants move into the second year of life and become more mobile and capable of exploring a wider range of environments, parental management of the toddler's behavior often involves increased corrective feedback and discipline A special concern is that such corrective discipline tactics not become abusive. Too often what starts out as mild to moderately intense discipline on the part of parents can move into highly intense anger.

Authoritative Parenting

This style encourages children to be independent but still places limits and controls on their actions. Extensive verbal give and take is allowed, and parents are warm and nurturant toward the child. Parents show pleasure and support in response to children's constructive behavior.

Parental Leave

Today far more young children are in child care than at any other time in history. About 2 million children in the United States currently receive formal, licensed child care, and uncounted millions of children are cared for by unlicensed babysitters. Many U.S. adults cannot receive paid leave from their jobs to care for their young children.

The Changing Family in a Changing Social World

U.S. children are growing up in a greater variety of family contexts than ever before. Children are experiencing many sorts of care-giving—not only from stay-at-home mothers but also from stay-at-home fathers, from different types of child-care programs, and from after-school programs. The structure of American families also varies. The United States has a higher percentage of single-parent families than other countries with similar levels of economic and technological development. (see graph in ppt families pt.2)

Child Maltreatment

Unfortunately, punishment sometimes leads to the abuse of infants and children In 2009, approximately 702,000 U.S. children were found to be victims of child abuse . Eighty-one percent of these children were abused by a parent or parents. Laws in many states now require physicians and teachers to report suspected cases of child abuse, yet many cases go unreported, especially those involving battered infants. The public and many professionals use the term child abuse to refer to both abuse and neglect. Developmentalists increasingly use the term child maltreatment This term does not have quite the emotional impact of the term abuse and acknowledges that maltreatment includes diverse conditions. Types of child maltreatment Physical abuse Child neglect Sexual abuse Emotional abuse Among the family and family-associated characteristics that may contribute to child maltreatment are: Parenting stress, Substance abuse, Social isolation, Single parenting, and Socioeconomic difficulties (especially poverty) The interactions of all family members need to be considered, regardless of who performs the violent acts against the child. About 1/3 of parents who were abused themselves when they were young abuse their own children Some, but not a majority, of abusive parents are involved in an intergenerational transmission of abuse.

Moral competencies

What individuals are capable of doing What they know Their skills Their awareness of moral rules and regulations Their cognitive ability to construct behaviors.

Birth Order

Whether a child has older or younger siblings has been linked to development of certain personality characteristics. AND increasing number of family researchers stress that when all of the factors that influence behavior are considered, birth order itself shows limited ability to predict behavior. A recent review concluded that "firstborns are the most intelligent, achieving, and conscientious, while later-borns are the most rebellious, liberal, and agreeable" Compared with later-born children, firstborn children have also been described as more adult oriented, helpful, conforming, and self-controlled. What accounts for such differences related to birth order? Proposed explanations usually point to variations in interactions with parents and siblings associated with being in a particular position in the family. The oldest child is the only one who does not have to share parental love and affection with other siblings—until another sibling comes along. What is the only child like? The popular conception is that the only child is a "spoiled brat," with such undesirable characteristics as dependency, lack of self-control, and self-centered behavior. Researchers present a more positive portrayal of the only child. Only children often are achievement oriented and display a desirable personality, especially in comparison with later-borns and children from large families

Transition to Parenthood

Whether people become parents through pregnancy, adoption, or step-parenting, they face disequilibrium and must adapt A baby places new restrictions on partners. In a longitudinal investigation of couples from late pregnancy until 3½ years after the baby was born, couples enjoyed more positive marital relations before the baby was born than after

Are Peers Necessary for Development

Yes! Good peer relations may be necessary for normal social development Social isolation, or the inability to "plug in" to a social network, is linked with problems and disorders ranging from delinquency and problem drinking to depression

Peer Pressure and Conformity

Young adolescents conform more to peer standards than children do. Around the 8th & 9th grades, conformity to peers—especially to their antisocial standards—peaks A recent study revealed that 14 to 18 years of age is an especially important time for developing the ability to stand up for what one believes and resist peer pressure to do otherwise Which adolescents are most likely to conform to peers? Mitchell Prinstein and his colleagues have recently concluded that adolescents who are uncertain about their social identity, which can appear in the form of low self-esteem and high social anxiety, are most likely to conform to peers. This uncertainty often increases during times of transition, such as school and family transitions.

Emotions in Early Childhood

Young children experience many emotions in the course of a day. Their growing awareness of self is linked to the ability to feel an expanding range of emotions. To experience self-conscious emotions- children must be able to refer to themselves and be aware of themselves as distinct from others Among the most important changes in early childhood = an increased understanding of emotion certain situations are likely to evoke particular emotions facial expressions indicate specific emotions, and emotions affect behavior and emotions can be used to influence others' emotions Between 2 and 4 years of age children considerably increase their emotional vocabulary learning about the causes and consequences of feelings At 4 to 5 years of age children show an increased ability to reflect on emotions. Also that the same event can elicit different feelings in different people. and growing awareness that they need to manage their emotions to meet social standards. By 5 years most children can accurately determine emotions that are produced by challenging circumstances and describe strategies they might call on to cope with everyday stress

Social Orientation

Young infants stare intently at faces and are attuned to the sounds of human voices, especially their caregiver's Face-to-face play often begins to characterize caregiver-infant interactions when the infant is about 2 to 3 months of age. Such play is part of many mothers' motivation to create a positive emotional state in their infants By 2 to 3 months of age, infants respond differently to people than objects, showing more positive emotion to people than inanimate objects, such as puppets At this age, most infants expect people to react positively when the infants initiate a behavior, such as a smile or a vocalization. This finding has been discovered using a method called the still-face paradigm.

Functionalist view on emotion

a child's emotional responses cannot be separated from the situations in which they are evoked ---- emotions are elicited in interpersonal contexts. AND Emotions are linked with an individual's goals in a variety of ways

Negative feelings in Empathy

anger, outrage, shame and guilt

Popular children

are frequently nominated as a best friend and are rarely disliked by their peers

Controversial children

are frequently nominated both as someone's best friend and as being disliked

Neglected children

are infrequently nominated as a best friend but are not disliked by their peers

Rejected children

are rarely nominated as someone's best friend and are actively disliked by their peers

Attachment

attachement is a close emotional bond between two people Infants develop a simple mental model of the caregiver, their relationship, and the self as deserving of nurturing care. This internal model influences subsequent responses to other people Attachment emerges from the social cognitive advances (recognizing the caregiver's face, voice and other features) that allow infants to develop expectations for the caregiver's behavior (likelihood of pleasure in social interaction and relief from distress) and to determine the affective quality of their relationship