Chapter 9: Emotional & Social Development During The First Year

Chapter 9: Emotional & Social Development During The First Year
Section 1: Emotional Development During the First Year (page 266)

Objectives: Recognize the signs of emotional development in babies.
Explain how a baby’s care affects emotional development. Describe how emotions change during infancy.

Introduction… An infant’s physical development is rapid and impressive during the first year. For healthy infants, emotional development and social development are also impressive, but these important kinds of development can be harder to observe and measure.

Distinguishing between Emotional and Social Development…
Emotional Development: the process of learning to recognize and express one’s feelings and learning to establish one’s identity and individuality. Healthy emotional development in children is important because it results in an adult who has self-confidence, can handle stressful situations, and displays empathy toward others.

Social Development: the process of learning to interact with others and to express oneself to others. Healthy social development results in an adult who actions display a tolerance for others and who has an ability to interact peacefully with others. A socially healthy adult listens to all points of view before action, communicates accurately with others, and treats both himself or herself and other people with respect and dignity.

Observing and understanding a baby’s feelings and relationships with others are important tasks for parents and other caregivers. Succeeding at these tasks requires the ability to recognize and respond to each child’s age level and maturity. It is also important to remember that emotional and social development are closely interwoven; a child’s feelings about self and a child’s behavior toward others are dependent on one another.

Understanding Emotional Development…
Emotional development begins at birth and continues throughout life. Like physical development, emotional development follows predictable patters but progresses according to each baby’s individual timing.

Every baby copes with life in a very personal way. This is because each baby brings his or her own individuality to a situation. For example, all babies react to a sudden shaking of the surface on which they are lying. However, one baby may respond by screaming, while another baby may simply squirm a bit and quickly settle down again.

Emotional development depends on other factors beside the child’s individuality. The type of care the baby receives and the atmosphere of the home are two important influences on an infant’s emotional development.

Building Trust Through Care…
The attitudes that newborns develop about their world depends on how well their needs are met. For example, if the newborn is kept warm and dry, and is fed when hungry, soothed when fussy, and talked to when awake, the infant comes to feel that this world is a comfortable place and develops a sense of security.

On the other hand, if the newborn is made to conform to a rigid schedule of feeding, and crying brings no comfort or adult response, the baby learns that this world is not a very friendly place. If schedules are changed often, or if parents and caregivers are sometimes gentle and loving and other times sharp and impatient, the baby has difficulty building trust.

Building trust in infancy is essential for a person’s emotional and social development. A baby who learns to trust parents and caregivers will grow into a child who can trust himself or herself and into an adult who can establish and maintain caring relationships with others.

Emotional Climate of the Home…
Every family has its normal ups and downs, and a baby adapts to these. However, it is essential for the baby to feel that genuine, warm affection and caring are the basis of the family’s interactions. Continuing bitterness and mistrust can interfere with the baby’s healthy development.

Crying and Comforting…
The most obvious sign of an infant’s emotions is crying. Newborns vary greatly in the amount and intensity of their crying.

A young baby who is crying needs attention and care. Ask yourself: Is the baby hungry? Does the baby need a diaper change? If the infant too cold or too hot? Does the baby need burping? If none of these actions are needed, they you can assume that the baby needs something else, such as: Your company. Cuddling. Comforting

Some actions to take to comfort a baby: Cuddle up with the baby in a rocking chair. Move the baby to a new position. Talk softly to the baby, or sing to the baby. Offer a toy to interest and distract the baby. Place the baby facedown across your legs as you sit in a sturdy chair.

Emotions in Infancy… At birth the range of emotions is limited to pleasure or satisfaction, during which the baby is quiet, and pain or discomfort causes the baby to cry. This is why crying does not necessarily indicate pain in a newborn; it may indicate boredom or some other form of discomfort. By the second month, however, babies produce different cries to express different feelings. These more specific responses continue to develop as babies connect their feelings with inner sensations or outer experiences.

Emotional Climate of the Home…
Affection and harmony between parents, caregivers and all family members are the foundation of successful family life. If the family members and caregivers also love and understand each child as an individual, the conditions are ideal for emotional and social development.

Chapter 9: Emotional & Social Development During The First Year
Section 2: Social Development and Personality (page 276)

Objectives: Recognize the signs of socia development in babies.
Explain the importance of attachment to emotional and social development. Describe how behavior is learned. Define personality and describe how it develops. Recognize different personality types in babies.

Introduction… A baby’s social development is closely related to his or her physical development and emotional development. (Development is interrelated). Even a newborn responds to other people in ways that encourage those people to satisy the baby’s physical and emotional needs. As the baby develops physically, he or she becomes more capable of involvement and interaction with other people. As the baby develops emotionally, his or her feelings about self become an integral part of the baby’s relationships with other people.

Signs of Social Development in Infancy…
Like physical and emotional development, social development follows a predictable pattern. (Development is similar for everyone.) The following time frames discussing infant social development is an indication of typical development. It should be considered a general guide – not a checklist – for helping caregivers understand individual babies…

The first days of life… From birth onward, babies respond to human voices. A clam, soothing voice will quiet a baby; a harsh or loud voice will upset a baby.

One Month… Most babies stop crying when they are lifted or touched. A baby’s face brightens when he or she sees a familiar person – usually a parent.

Two Months… Babies begin to smile at people. Now their eyes can follow moving objects and they especially enjoy watching people move about the room.

Three Months… Babies turn their head in response to a voice. Now they want companionship as well as physical care.

Four months… Babies laugh out loud. They look to other people for entertainment.

Five Months… Babies show an increase interest in family members other than their parents. They may cry when they are left alone in a room. At this age, babies babble to their toys, dolls, or stuffed animals or to themselves.

Six Months… Babies love company and attention. They delight in playing games such as peek-a-boo.

Seven Months… Babies prefer their parents over other family members or strangers.

Eight Months. Babies prefer to be in a room with other people. Many babies this age can move from room to room, looking for company.

Nine & Ten Months… Babies are quite socially involved. They creep after their parents and are often underfoot. At this age, babies love attention. They enjoy being chased; they like to throw toys over and over again – with someone else picking the toys up each time.

Eleven & Twelve Months… Babies are most often friendly and happy at this age. They are also sensitive to the emotions of others. They know how to influence and adjust to the emotions of people around them. At one year, babies like to be the center of attention. They like to play games with other family members and are usually tolerant of strangers.

Attachment… Around the age of six months, a baby comes to understand that he or she is a separate person. The baby then works to develop an attachment, a special strong bond between two people, to parents to other important caregivers. This attachment is a strong emotional bond; it also represents that baby’s first real social relationship.

Attachment… Researchers have discovered that physical contact is an important factor in this attachment. Harry Harlow, American experimental psychologist used substitute “mothers”, monkey shaped forms in either chicken wire or soft cloth, to raise baby monkeys. All the baby monkeys clung to the soft “mothers” regardless of which kind of mother held their feeding bottles. Clearly, the monkeys needed the feeling of physical closeness in addition to the nourishment of their feedings.

Attachment… However, attachment requires more than physical contact. Once the baby monkeys were grown, it was clear that Harlow’s experiment had had a profound effect. These monkeys did not know how to relate to other monkeys; they did not develop normal social relationships. Harlow believed this was caused by the lack of interaction between the babies and their “mothers.”

Attachment… Human babies, or course, are quite different from monkeys, but such research can give us cluse to the process of human social development. Interaction with adults seems critical to human development as well.

Attachment… All babies need lots of love. Even very young babies can experience loneliness. If a baby is left alone most of the time except for physical care, the infant begins to fail to respond to people and objects.

Attachment… This problem is most likely to develop in certain kinds of institutions, where babies may receive physical care but no emotional support or social practice. However, the problem can also develop in families if the parent or caregivers consistently lack the time, energy, or ability to become emotionally and socially involved with the baby. When normal, demanding infants get so little attention and encouragement from parents or caregivers, their cries weaken, their smiles fade, and the babies become withdrawn and unresponsive.

Attachment… For some babies, a lack of love and attention may result in failure to thrive, a condition in which the baby does not grow and develop properly. Failure to thrive may be caused by a physical problem, such as heart disease or the lack of proper food. However, failure to thrive can also be a physical symptom of poor emotional and social care. In these cases, parents and caregivers must be given instruction and support so that they can help the baby recover and grow. If these babies are not helped, they become unattached. Throughout development into adulthood, they will be unable to develop caring, meaningful relationships with other people.

Attachment… Most parents and caregivers can identify signs that the baby is making healthy attachment as he or she matures. Babies who cry to communicate various needs, gaze into the eyes of parents or caregivers, track the movements of parents or caregivers with their eyes, snuggle, cuddle, and become quiet when comforted are showing positive signs of growing attachment.

Attachment… As babies mature and their attachments continue to develop, they vocalize with their parents or caregivers, embrace parents or caregivers, and eventually crawl or walk to parents or caregivers.

Stranger Anxiety… Parents and caregivers may recognize and enjoy signs of a baby’s social development. The baby smiles brightly at a familiar face. The baby reaches up to be held. The baby laughs as she drops the ball once more and waits eagerly6 for her big brother to pick it up again.

Stranger Anxiety… Another important sign of social development is not so immediately heartwarming, but is nonetheless a significant stage for each baby. During the second half of the first uyear, often around the age of eight months, babies develop stranger anxiety, a fear, usually expressed by crying, of unfamiliar people. During this period, a baby who used to sit cheerfully on anyone’s lap suddenly screams and bursts into tears when an unfamiliar person approaches.

Stranger Anxiety… Stranger anxiety is an indiator of the baby’s improving memory. At this age, the child is better able to remember the faces of parents and beloved caregivers; these are the people who provide comfort and security. Most other faces suddenly seem strange and make the baby feel fearful.

Stranger Anxiety… You can help a baby through this stage by reminding new people to approach the baby slowly and to give the baby time to adjust. You may also want to keep the baby’s routine as regular as possible; if you can avoid it, this is not the time to introduce sudden changes in activities or caregivers. If you find the baby’s stranger anxiety troubling, you can reassure yourself that this is just a stage for the baby – and it indicates a healthy social development.

How Behavior Is Learned…
An infant learns to behave in certain ways through his or her relationships with other people. What kind of behavior the baby learns depends primarily on the attitudes and expectations of the baby’s parents and other caregivers. Babies learn some behavior through their daily routine. Running water may signal bath time; the rattle of the keys may mean a ride in the car. A baby begins to respond to these clues with a predictable behavior.

As babies mature, they learn that certain kinds of behavior are rewarded with positive responses, such as smiles, hugs, or praise. Because love is very important to them, they begin to repeat behavior that brings approval. Babies also learn to avoid behavior that provokes negative responses, such as frowns or scoldings.

Babies are more sensitive to attitudes than to words. For example, if a mother says “no” as her ten-month old blows food all over the high-chair tray, yet laughs at the same time, the baby thinks she approves. This kind of mixed message can be very confusing.

To help a child understand what behavior is expected, parents and caregivers must provide consistency, repeatedly acting the same way. Their responses, both verbal and nonverbal, should be consistent and should convey the same meaning. A baby will be confused if the same behavior provokes a positive response one time and a negative response the next, or if he or she continually receives mixed messages.

Children react best to definite expectations. Parents and caregivers who often change their mind about expectations or who frequently switch moods make learning appropriate behavior difficult for their children.

Influences on Personality…
As babies develop emotionally and socially, their personalities become increasingly evident. Personality if the total of all the specific traits (such as shyness or cheerfulness) that are considtent in an individual’s behavior. To be consistent, the trait must be present over a period of time and in a variety of activiites. For example, babies who always pick themselves up after a tumble and try again can be said to have the personality trait of determination or persistence.

There are many personality traits. Each trait can have many degrees. For example, a person might be described as somewhat shy or very shy. With all the possible traits and all the degrees of each, you can see why not two people are exactly alike.

Some personality traits seem to be inborn. If you observe a group of newborns for a few weeks, you would see striking differences. One baby, for example might be very active whenever she is awake; she waves her arms and legs and squirms almost constantly. A second bby might be very different; he lies quietly but cries at the slightest change in surroundings. A third baby may be different from both of the others, he sleeps quietly, looks around, and rarely cries except when he is hungry.

Family & environment also play an important role in shaping a child’s personality. Children tend to pattern themselves after their parents. They adopt some of their parents’ likes and dislikes, many of their interests, and some of their ideas. Children may imitate their parents’ mannerisms and share many of their attitudes.

In spite of strong parental influences, a wide range of personalities is possible among children in the same family. Why? Each child has a un ique heredity and so responds in her or her own way to the same environment. Another reason … the family environment is slightly different for each child. Family experiences for the oldest child are clearly different from those for the youngest child.

Each child’s personality is also influenced by his or her self-concept, a person’s feelings about himself or herself. Self-concept is then strongly influenced by the way parents and other people regard, and treat the child. Babies who are cared for, praised, and admired for their individual strengths are likely to develop positive self-concepts. Babies who are belittled or are often negatively compared with other children risk developing negative self-concepts.

Common Personality Traits…
Each person has his or her individual personality, composed of a unique set of personality traits. It is common for certain clusters of personality traits to occur together. For this reason, people are sometimes considered as belonging to one of three main groups reflecting three general personality patterns.

The Sensitive Child When compared with other babies, is usually aware of his or her surroundings and of any changes in those surroundings. Often quite fussy and irritable as babies. More often likely to cry and be difficult to comfort. Need more than the average amount of love and tenderness. Becomes fearful of new experiences. Sensitive baby’s parents often tend to withdraw rather than to respond with extra attention. Parents of sensitive babies should encourage these babies to explore and try new things, be especially patient and understanding to help the baby establish self-confidence.

The Placid Child Remarkably easygoing and accepting of their surroundings. Easiest personality type to live with. Less easily upset by changes in schedules and the demands of family life. As they grow up are usually cheerful and patient or simply quiet and willing. Adjust easily to new people and situations. Make friends easily and handle life with a minimum of fuss and upset. This personality type can easily be “forgotten” … Parents need to remember that these children need as much attention as sensitive and aggressive children.

The Aggressive Child Usually strong-willed and determined. Response of aggressive babies is extreme. Eat more heartily, cry more loudly, kick more strenuously than other personality types. Love activity, enjoy new things, less concern about failure Express anger when they do not get their own way or are frustrated. Parents and caregivers should try to react unemotionally to these outbursts and keep the child from hurting themselves and others. Parents need to maintain a sense of humor, keep their voice calm and reassuring, should acknowledge the babies feelings and help the child to channel ways to vent their frustrations in a positive manner. Parents need to remember that aggressive children need love, praise, and immediate attention … they also need help in becoming aware of the feelings and interests of other.

Assignment… Complete review questions for this section.

Chapter 9: Emotional & Social Development During The First Year

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