Psychosocial Development in Infancy

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Chapter 6 Psychosocial Development in
Infancy Slides by Jerri Stone And Nikki Rabon
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• Characteristics of the Developing Relationship
• Synchrony the ability of parents to adjust
  their behavior to that of an infant
• Symmetry an infants capacity for attention
  style of responding influences
• Entrainment the rhythm that is established
  between a parents and an infants behavior
• Autonomy infants realize that they have a share
  in controlling their interactions with others

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• How do Children Develop Relationships?
• Three motives infants use to develop
  relationships are
• Bodily needs lead to a series of interactions
  that soon become a need for social interaction.
• Psychological needs cause infants to interrupt
  one of their most important functions, such as
  feeding.
• Adult response needs provide stimulation and
  initiate communication which establishes the
  basis for future social interactions

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How do Children Develop Relationships? The
Developmental Sequence
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Reciprocal Interactions An unending process that
recognizes the childs active role to its
environment for development.
The Process of Reciprocal Interactions is as
Follows I do something to the child and the
child changes. As a result of child changing, I
change. Children immediately seek stimulation
from their environment and automatically
interpret and react to how they are being
treated. A parents tone of voice or playfulness
with a child may emit reactions, such as cooing
or crying. In turn the parent responds with
another action, such as smiling.
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Parental Roles Expectations for a Relationship
Mothers and fathers have certain expectations
they must fulfill because they are expected to
play a role in their childs life. How they
exercise that power and how their children react
to their suggestions and encouragements, demands
and commands, determine the success of a
relationship.
Ghosts in the Nursery
More commonly known to us as skeletons in the
closet, the term ghosts in the nursery was
coined by child psychiatrist Selma Fraiberg.
Fraiberg believes that when parents are aware
that ghosts from their past may influence them,
they usually try to overcome them with use of
their childrentrying to direct them to a more
positive outcome.
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Attachment Intended to keep a child (or an adult)
in close proximity to a significant other John
Bowlby used concepts from psychology and ethology
(study of behavior in natural settings) to
formulate his basic premise A warm, intimate
relationship between mother and infant is
essential to mental health because a childs need
for its mothers presence is as great as its
need for food. A mothers absence can generate a
sense of loss, and feelings of anger.
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• Attachment (contd)
• A research known as the Strange Situation
  Technique was conducted my Mart Ainsworth to see
  how an infant reacted toward a stranger who
  entered a room with him and his mother, without
  his mother, and a stranger followed by his
  mother. The following terms have been used to
  classify children.
• Securely attached children- used their mothers as
  a base from which to explore. Separation
  intensified their attachment behavior they
  exhibited considerable distress, ceased their
  explorations, and at a reunion sought contact
  with their mothers.
• Avoidantly attached children- rarely cried during
  separation and avoided their mothers at reunion.
  The mother of these babies seemed to dislike or
  were indifferent to physical contact.

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• Attachment (contd)
• Disorganized/disoriented children- showed
  confused behavior at the reunion.
• Ambivalently attached children manifests
  anxiety before separation and were intensely
  distressed by the separation, yet on reunion they
  displayed ambivalent behavior toward their
  mothers they sought contact but simultaneously
  seemed to resist it

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Adult Attachment Interview This interview
examines the responses of parents to determine if
they maintain a coherent, relevant discussion of
their early attachments. Their answers are then
connected to the quality of their childrens
attachment, and in turn provide four
classifications of adults autonomous,
dismissing, preoccupied, and unresolved/disorganiz
ed.
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• Fathers and Attachment
• Parke and Brott noted that todays fathers are
  pretty much the same as they were before Some
  are involved some are even raising their
  children by themselves some remain uninvolved.
• Bowlby was intrigued to find that there was no
  correlation between the attachment patterns for
  each parent
• Fathers contribute substantially to the
  financial, social, and emotional healthy
  development of their children, but not the
  physical presence alone.

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Differences in Mother/Father Behavior Mothers
Fathers

• More verbal
• Tend to offer toys
• Play conventional games

• Provides more unpredictable, less rhythmic, and
  more exciting stimulation
• Interactions are more physical