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Socioemotional Development in Infancy

Chapter 6

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EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Basic emotions, such as happiness, interest, surprise, fear, anger, sadness, and disgust, are directly inferred from facial expressions.

An emotion or affect that can involve physiological arousal, conscious experience, or behavioral expression

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What is the emotional state of this baby?Carroll Izard’s MAX System can be used to code

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Emotions emerge in sequence Social smile

Evoked by the stimulus of the human face First appears between 4 and 6 weeks

Anger, surprise, sadness First appears around 3 to 4 months in response

to active stimuli. Shame: 6 to 8 months Contempt: 2 years

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Negative Emotions

Anger is expressed during the first months when babies cry in response to unpleasant experiences (4-6 months).

Expressions of sadness are usually less frequent than anger.

Fear rises during the second half of the first year. cause and effect stranger anxiety

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Why is this baby crying?

Could be out of anger, pain, or unknown reasons

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Can babies imitate emotions? (Meltzoff)

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Understanding and Responding to the Emotions of Others

Emotion Contagion (birth) Social referencing (~1 year)

Infant relies on a trusted person's emotional reaction in an uncertain situation.

By toddlerhood, children use emotional signals to infer others’ internal states and guide their own actions.

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Emergence of Self-Conscious Emotions

At the end of the second year (18-24 months)

Child needs to have a self-concept Injury to or enhancement of the sense of

self Embarassment, guilt, envy, pride

Helps children to acquire values of society

Beginnings of Emotional Self-Regulation

Emotional self-regulation refers to the strategies used to adjust emotional states to a comfortable level of intensity.

Infants have only limited capacity to regulate their emotional states.

By the end of the first year, babies’ ability to move around permits them to regulate feelings more effectively by approaching or retreating from various stimuli.

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End of lecture 1

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TEMPERAMENT AND DEVELOPMENT

Temperament stable individual differences in quality and

intensity of emotional reaction, activity level, attention, and emotional self-regulation.

New York Longitudinal Study (Thomas & Chess, 1956) indicates Temperament predicts adjustment. Parenting can modify emotional styles.

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Structure of Temperament

Easy child (40%) Quickly establishes regular routines in infancy, is

generally cheerful, and adapts easily to new experiences

Difficult child (10%) Irregular in daily routines, is slow to accept new

experiences, and tends to react negatively and intensely

Slow-to-warm-up child (15%) Inactive, shows mild reactions to stimuli, is negative,

and adjusts slowly to new experiences

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Measuring Temperament

Assessed through Parent interviews and questionnaires Behavior ratings by medical professionals or

caregivers Direct researcher observation

Physiological measures supplement these techniques. Heart rate, hormone levels, and EEG waves in the

frontal cortex differentiate children with inhibited and uninhibited temperamental styles.

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Genetic Influences

Twin studies reveal that identicals are more similar than fraternals.

About half the individual differences among us can be traced to differences in our genetic make-up.

Ethnic and sex differences in early temperament exist, implying a role for heredity.

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Environmental Influences

Differences in temperament are encouraged by cultural beliefs and practice.

Parents encourage infant sons to be physically active and daughters to seek help and closeness.

When one child in a family is viewed as easy, another is perceived as difficult.

Temperament and Child Rearing: The Goodness-of-Fit Model

The goodness-of-fit model Goodness-of-fit is an effective match

between child-rearing environments and a child’s temperament, leading to healthy adjustment.

Difficult infants are less likely than easy babies to receive sensitive care.

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Goodness-of-fit: person X environment interaction

Irritable Baby

Parenting: Unstable Stable

Baby: More Fussy Less Fussy

Parent: Poor coping Good coping

Toddler: Negative Happy

Fussy Calm

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Personality Development

Erikson Basic trust versus

mistrust Dilemma is resolved

positively if caregiving is sympathetic and loving.

Erikson Autonomy versus Shame

and Doubt Resolved positively if

parents provide suitable guidance and appropriate choices

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Personality DevelopmentDevelopment of the Self

Emergence of the I-Self and the Me-Self

I-self—the sense of self as subject, or agent, who is separate from but acts on other objects and people.

me-self—a reflective observer that considers the self an object of knowledge and evaluation (during 2nd year).

Development of the me-self permits toddlers to compare themselves to other people.

Self-awareness is accompanied by empathy

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Watson, 1972: “The Game”

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What is a relationship like in which the other person completely ignores you?What about completely obeys you?

Emergence of Self-Control

Self-control is the capacity to resist an impulse to engage in socially disapproved behavior.

The first signs of self-control appear as compliance—voluntary obedience to adult requests and commands.

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ATTACHMENT THEORY

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Harry Harlow & Rhesus Monkeys

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Attachment theory

Emotional bonds between people have adaptive significance, develop through an interactional history, and influence personality development

History: Spitz and WWII orphans; Harry Harlow and rhesus monkeys; Lorenz and his ducks; Genie and deprivation; sabre-tooth tigers

Bowlby: Attachment, Separation, and Loss The nature of emotional bond between the infant

and the caregiver

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John Bowlby: Self and other as a secure base

http://www.psychology.sunysb.edu/attachment/

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Young infants need caregivers for contact, security, and distress resolution Separation anxiety: distress when left alone Distress when strangers or other threats are

around Social referencing Categories of infant caregiver relationships

can be described from how children depend on and act within relationships

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Development of Attachment

Preattachment phase (birth to 6 weeks) Signals such as smiling and crying bring

the baby into close contact. “Attachment-in-the-making” phase (6

weeks to 6-8 months) Respond differently to a familiar

caregiver than to a stranger

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Development of Attachment

“Clearcut” attachment (6 to 8 months to 18 months to 2 years) Attachment to caregiver is evident. Separation anxiety: Upset at the departure of a

familiar caregiver Caregivers provide secure base from which they

can explore.

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Mary Ainsworth: Self, sensitivity, and securityStrange Situation

Measures attachment between 1 and 2 yearsInvolves short separations from and reunions with the parent

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Patterns in Infancy: Ainsworth’s Strange Situation Insecure-Avoidant (A): No distress or proximity-

seeking, no distinction between mother and stranger, “Detached”

Secure (B): Distress resolved, proximity-seeking Insecure-Resistant (C): Distress not resolved,

ambivalent proximity-seeking, “Clingy babies” Insecure-Disorganised (D): Dazed, confused,

and fearful (e.g., maltreated toddlers)

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Maasi in africa: Attachment theory is cross-cultural

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Development of Attachment Formation of a reciprocal relationship (18 months to 2

years and on) Separation anxiety decreases.

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Cultural Variations German parents encourage

infants to be independent. German infants show

more avoidant attachment.

Japanese mothers rarely leave babies in the care of strange people. Japanese infants

display more resistant attachment responses.

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Quality of Caregiving

Secure infants’ mothers respond promptly to infants, are positive, and handle babies tenderly.

Insecure infants’ mothers dislike contact, handle them awkwardly, and are insensitive.

Avoidant infants receive caregiving that is overstimulating and intrusive.

Child abuse and neglect are associated with all three forms of insecure attachment.

Quality of Daycare (Howe & Jacobs, 1995): Well trained stable staff, small group size/high adult:child

ratio, structured day, high emphasis on interaction

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Attachment in context

Parental work status does not predict attachment

Emotional adjustment of the parent (e.g., family stress and conflict) is important

Quality of non-parental care is important Relationship quality becomes internalizes

and influences later adult and romantic relationships AAI: Dismissing, Autonomous, Preoccupied