Title: Infancy: Social and Emotional Development Truth or Fiction?
1Chapter 7InfancySocial and Emotional
Development
2Infancy 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.
3Infancy 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.
4Infancy 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.
5Infancy 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.
6Attachment
7What 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
8Patterns of Attachment?
- Secure attachment
- Mildly protest mothers 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
9Developing in a World of Diversity
- Cross-Cultural Patterns of Attachment
10Is it Better for an Infant to be Securely
Attached to its 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
11What 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 - Infants 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
12Stability of Attachment?
- When caregiving remains constant attachment
persists - When caregiving changes attachment can change
- Early attachment patterns tend to endure even
into adulthood
13What 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
14Figure 7.2 The Development of Attachment
15How 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
16How 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, babys smile in response to human
voice or face - 2-3-month emergence of social smile
- In non-humans, FAP occurs during critical period
imprinting
17A Closer Look
- Hormones and AttachmentOf Mice and Men and
Women and Infants
18When Attachment Fails
19What 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
20What 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
21Figure 7.7 The Development of Adopted Children
Separated from Temporary Foster Parents
22What 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 50- 60 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
23A Closer Look
- How Child Abuse May Set the Stage for
Psychological Disorders in Adulthood
24Causes of Child Abuse
- Situational stress
- History of child abuse
- Lack of coping and problem solving skills
- Deficiency in child-rearing skills
- Substance abuse
25Why 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
26Dealing 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
27A Closer Look
- What to Do if You Think a Child Has Been the
Victim of Sexual Abuse
28Autism Spectrum Disorders
29What 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)
- Aspergers disorder social deficits and
stereotyped behavior - Retts 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
30What 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
31What 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
32What Can be Done to Help Children with Autism
Spectrum Disorders?
- Behavior modification
- Drug therapies are under study
- Use of SSRIs and major tranquilizers
33Day Care
34Does Day Care Affect Childrens 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
35A Closer Look
- Finding Day Care You
- (and Your Children) Can Live With
36Emotional Development
37What are Emotions?
- A state of feeling that has physiological,
situational, and cognitive components - Physiological body reaction
- Situational environmental presence
- Cognitive ideas and thoughts
38How do Emotions Develop?
- Bridges and Stroufes Theory of Emotion
- Born with one emotion diffused excitement
- Other emotions differentiate over time
- Cognitive development is necessary for
differentiation of emotions - Izards Theory of Emotion
- Born with several emotional states
- Appearance of those emotions is linked to
cognitive development and social experiences
39Figure 7.8 Illustrations from Izards Maximally
Discriminative Facial Movement Scoring System
40Is 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
41When Does Social Referencing Develop?
- Social referencing seeking anothers perception
of a situation to help form our own view - Development of social referencing
- Appears as early as 6 months
- Use caregivers facial expression and tone of
voice
42What 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
43Personality Development
44What is Self-Concept?
- The sense of self
- 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
45Psychoanalytic 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 childs bodily functions - Demonstration of autonomy and independence
- Noncompliance with parental requests
46What 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
47What 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
48Goodness of Fit
- Good fit
- Parents modify expectations, attitudes and
behaviors to assist child In developing a more
positive temperament - Poor fit
- Discrepancy between childs behavior style and
parents expectations
49How 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
50Lessons 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 childrens ideas of
gender-appropriate roles and activities?
51Lessons 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? -