1. Chapter 7 Infancy: Social and Emotional Development

2. Infancy: Social and Emotional Development: Truth or Fiction?
Infants who are securely attached to their mothers do not like to stray from them.
You can estimate how strongly infants are attached to their fathers if you know how many diapers per week the father changes.

3. Infancy: Social and Emotional Development: Truth or Fiction?
Child abusers have frequently been the victims of child abuse themselves.
Autistic children may respond to people as if they were pieces of furniture.

4. Infancy: Social and Emotional Development: Truth or Fiction?
Children placed in day care are more aggressive than children who are cared for in the home.
Fear of strangers is abnormal among infants.

5. Infancy: Social and Emotional Development: Truth or Fiction?
All children are “born” with the same temperament. Treatment by caregivers determines whether they are difficult or easy-going.
Girls prefer dolls and toy animals, and boys prefer trucks and sports equipment only after they have become aware of the gender roles assigned to them by society.

6. Attachment
Bonds That Endure

7. What is Meant by Attachment?
Enduring emotional tie between one animal/person and another specific individual
Separation anxiety
Experienced by infant when contact can not be maintained with caregiver
Attachment is assessed by Strange Situation

8. Patterns of Attachment?
Secure attachment
Mildly protest mother’s departure, seek interaction upon her return and are easily comforted by her
Avoidant attachment
Least distressed by mothers’ departure, ignore mother upon her return
Ambivalent/resistant attachment
Show severe distress when mother leaves and ambivalence upon her return, clinging and pushing away their mother
Disorganized/disoriented attachment
Dazed, confused or disoriented

9. Developing in a World of Diversity
Cross-Cultural Patterns of Attachment

10. Is it Better for an Infant to be Securely Attached to it’s Caregiver?
Securely attached infants and toddlers
Happier, more sociable, more cooperative
Use mother as secure base for exploration
Have longer attention spans, are less impulsive and better problem solvers
At 5 and 6, are better liked, more competent, less aggressive and have fewer behavioral problems

11. What are the Roles of the Parents in the Formation of Bonds of Attachment?
High-quality care contributes to security
Siblings develop similar attachment relationships with their mother
Infant’s temperament and caregivers’ behavior both contribute to attachment
What determines an infants’ attachment to their father?
Quality of the time the father spends with the baby
Amount of affectionate interaction between father and infant

12. Stability of Attachment?
When caregiving remains constant – attachment persists
When caregiving changes – attachment can change
Early attachment patterns tend to endure even into adulthood

13. What did Ainsworth Learn about Stages of Attachment?
Three phases of attachment
Initial-preattachment phase
Birth to 3 months; indiscriminate affection
Attachment-in-the-making phase
3 to 6 months; preference for familiar figures
Clear-cut-attachment phase
Begins at 6 months; intensified dependence on primary caregiver
Most children form more than one attachment

14. Figure 7.2 The Development of Attachment
Figure 7.2 The Development of Attachment. During the first 6 months, infants tend to show indiscriminate attachment. Indiscriminate attachment then wanes while specific attachments grow intense and remain at high levels. Fear of strangers develops a month or so after the intensity of specific attachments begins to blossom.
Figure 7.2 The Development of Attachment

15. How do Different Theorists Emphasize Nature or Nurture in their Explanation of the Development of Attachment?
Cognitive View of Attachment
Infant must develop object permanence prior to forming attachment
Behavioral View of Attachment
Infants become conditioned to caregivers
Psychoanalytic Views of Attachment
Caregiver becomes a love object
Harlows’ View of Attachment
Content comfort is key to attachment

16. How do Different Theorists Emphasize Nature or Nurture in their Explanation of the Development of Attachment?
Ethological View of Attachment
Attachment is an inborn fixed action pattern (FAP) which occurs during a critical period in response to releasing stimulus.
In humans, baby’s smile in response to human voice or face
2-3-month emergence of social smile
In non-humans, FAP occurs during critical period: imprinting

17. Hormones and Attachment: Of Mice and Men – and Women and Infants
A Closer Look
Hormones and Attachment: Of Mice and Men – and Women and Infants

18. When Attachment Fails

19. What are the Findings of the Harlows’ Studies on the Effects of Social Deprivation with Monkeys?
Monkeys reared in isolation
Later avoided contact with other monkeys
Did not attempt to fend off attacks by other monkeys
Females who later bore children ignored or abused them
Attempts to overcome effects of deprivation
Deprived monkeys are placed with younger monkeys
Eventually expand contacts with other monkeys
Children socially withdrawn and placed with younger playmates make gains in social and emotional development

20. What do we Know about the Effects of Social Deprivation on Humans?
Institutionalized children with little social stimulation encounter developmental problems
May become withdrawn and depressed
Infants may require sensory stimulation and social interference more than a specific relationship with a primary caregiver
Infants have much capacity to recover from deprivation

21. Figure 7.7 The Development of Adopted Children Separated from Temporary Foster Parents. The older the child at time of separation, the more likely it is that behavioral disturbances will occur.
Figure 7.7 The Development of Adopted Children Separated from Temporary Foster Parents

22. What is the Incidence of Child Abuse and Neglect?
Nearly 3 million American children are neglected or abused each year
1 in 6 experiences serious injury
More than 150,000 are sexually abused
Researchers believe % of abuse and neglect go unreported
Abused children show high incidence of personal, social problems, and psychological disorders
Less securely attached to parents
Less intimate with peers
More aggressive, angry and noncompliant with other children

23. A Closer Look
How Child Abuse May Set the Stage for Psychological Disorders in Adulthood

24. Causes of Child Abuse Situational stress History of child abuse
Lack of coping and problem solving skills
Deficiency in child-rearing skills
Substance abuse

25. Why Does Child Abuse Run in Families?
Parents are role models, even abusive ones
Exposure to violence may lead to violence as a norm
Rationalization of hurting children

26. Dealing with Child Abuse
Reporting child abuse
Many states require suspicions to be reported
Preventing child abuse
Strengthening parenting skills
Home visits to high risk groups
Providing information, ie. child abuse hotline

27. What to Do if You Think a Child Has Been the Victim of Sexual Abuse
A Closer Look
What to Do if You Think a Child Has Been the Victim of Sexual Abuse

28. Autism Spectrum Disorders

29. What are Autism Spectrum Disorders?
Characterized by impairment in communication skills, social interactions, and repetitive stereotyped behavior
Becomes evident by age 3
Forms of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs)
Asperger’s disorder – social deficits and stereotyped behavior
Rett’s disorder – physical, behavioral, motor and cognitive abnormalities, begins a few months after normal development
Childhood disintegrative disorder – loss of previously acquired skills, begins 2 years after normal development

30. What is Autism?
Children with autism do not show interest in social interaction, may avoid eye contact and have weak or absent attachment
Features of autism
aloneness
communication problems
intolerance of change
stereotypical behaviors
mutism
echolalia
self-mutilation

31. What are the Origins of Autism Spectrum Disorder?
Biological factors
Evidenced by genetic studies
Focus on neurological involvement
Abnormal brain wave patterns or seizures
Structural differences in brains
Fewer receptors for neurotransmitters

32. What Can be Done to Help Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders?
Behavior modification
Drug therapies are under study
Use of SSRIs and major tranquilizers

33. Day Care

34. Does Day Care Affect Children’s Bonds of Attachment
Does Day Care Affect Children’s Bonds of Attachment? Does it Affect Social and Cognitive Development?
No highly likelihood of insecure attachment for infants in day care
Social development of children in day care
More independent, self confident, outgoing, affectionate and more cooperative
Cognitive development of children in quality day care
Outperform children who remain at home
Children in day care show more aggression
Aggression may indicate independence

35. Finding Day Care You (and Your Children) Can Live With
A Closer Look
Finding Day Care You
(and Your Children) Can Live With

36. Emotional Development

37. What are Emotions?
A state of feeling that has physiological, situational, and cognitive components
Physiological – body reaction
Situational – environmental presence
Cognitive – ideas and thoughts

38. How do Emotions Develop?
Bridges’ and Stroufe’s Theory of Emotion
Born with one emotion – diffused excitement
Other emotions differentiate over time
Cognitive development is necessary for differentiation of emotions
Izard’s Theory of Emotion
Born with several emotional states
Appearance of those emotions is linked to cognitive development and social experiences

39. Figure 7.8 Illustration from Izard’s Maximally Discriminative Facial Movement Scoring System. What emotion do you think is being experienced by each of these infants?
Figure 7.8 Illustrations from Izard’s Maximally Discriminative Facial Movement Scoring System

40. Is Fear of Strangers Normal?
Fear of strangers – stranger anxiety is normal
Appears at about 6 to 9 months
Development of stranger anxiety
4 – 5 months – smile more at mother than strangers
Older infants – show distress
Fear peaks at 9 to 12 months and decline in 2nd year, or
Second peak at 18 to 24 months and decline in 3rd year
Show less distress when mothers are present
Closer to stranger, more distressed

41. When Does Social Referencing Develop?
Social referencing – seeking another’s perception of a situation to help form our own view
Development of social referencing
Appears as early as 6 months
Use caregiver’s facial expression and tone of voice

42. What is Emotional Regulation?
Refers to ways young children control their own emotions
Caregivers help infants learn to regulate emotions
Interplay between caregiver and infant
Secure mothers = children more able to positively regulate emotions

43. Personality Development

44. What is Self-Concept? The sense of self Development of self-concept
Emerges gradually during infancy
Development of self-concept
Mirror technique – 18 months - infants demonstrate self concept
30 months – can point to their own picture
Presence of self-awareness allows
Sharing and cooperation
“Self-conscious” emotions

45. Psychoanalytic Views of Self-Concept
Separation-individuation
Necessary for self-concept (5 months through 3 years)
Erikson – task is to develop autonomy
Freud - task is to develop independence and control but focuses on child’s bodily functions
Demonstration of autonomy and independence
Noncompliance with parental requests

46. What is Meant by the Temperament of a Child?
Characteristic way of relating and adapting to the world; present very early in life
Basic core of personality
Has a genetic component
Research establishes characteristics of temperament

47. What Types of Temperament do we Find among Children?
Thomas and Chess (1989) three types of temperament
Easy (40% of sample)
regular schedule, adapts easily, generally cheerful
Difficult (10% of sample)
irregular schedule, slow at accept and adapt to change, responds negatively
Slow to warm up (15% of sample)
somewhat irregular schedule, respond negatively to new experiences, but adapt slowly after repeated exposure

48. Goodness of Fit Good fit Poor fit
Parents modify expectations, attitudes and behaviors to assist child In developing a more positive temperament
Poor fit
Discrepancy between child’s behavior style and parent’s expectations

49. How do Girls and Boys Differ in their Social, Emotional and Other Behaviors?
Infant behaviors
Girls sit, crawl and walk earlier than boys
By 12 to 18 months – difference in toy preference
girls prefer dolls, doll furniture, dishes and toy animals
boys prefer transportation toys, tools, and sports equipment
Adult behaviors
Adults respond differently to boys and girls
Parent behaviors
More rough and tumble play with sons
Talk to and smile at daughters more
Favorable reactions when child plays with “appropriate” gender toys

50. Lessons in Observation: Gender
Are sex differences present at birth or learned? Support your answer with research. What evidence can you find in the video to support the idea that sex differences are present at birth or learned.
How do the adults in the video describe their children in terms of gender? How do parental expectations contribute to children’s ideas of gender-appropriate roles and activities?

51. Lessons in Observation: Gender
In what ways does the physical environment reinforce gender role stereotypes and gender-typed behavior? Give examples from the video.
At what age do children begin to engage in gender-specific play. Describe the play interactions illustrated on the video. Are the children engaged in gender specific play activities? Do they learn to choose these play activities, or are they biologically based? Why?