Socioemotional Development in Infancy

Emotional Development Emotion is a feeling, or affect, that can involve physiological arousal, conscious experience, and behavioral expression. An example of early emotional regulation are infants’ soothing themselves by sucking.

Early Emotions Primary emotions—present in the first 6 months of life

Self-conscious emotions—require self awareness

Developmental Timetable of Emotions (Izzard research) Interest, distress, and disgust are present at birth. A social smile appears at about 4-6 weeks. Anger, surprise, and sadness emerge at about 3-4 months. Fear is displayed at about 5-7 months. Contempt and guilt don’t appear until 2 years old.

Infant and adult affective communicative capacities make possible coordinated, bidirectional infant-adult interactions. Synchronous or reciprocal interaction Crying Crying is the most important mechanism newborns have for communicating with their world. Babies have at least three types of cries: The basic cry is a rhythmic pattern usually consisting of a cry followed by a brief silence, then a short inspiratory high-pitched whistle, followed by a rest prior to another cry. The anger cry is a variation of the basic cry with more excess air forced through the vocal cords. The pain cry differs from other cries, as it suddenly appears without preliminary moaning and followed by an extended period of breath holding.

Most parents, and adults in general, can determine whether an infant’s cries signify anger or pain. Parents can distinguish the cries of their own baby better than those of a strange baby. developmentalists increasingly argue that an infant cannot be spoiled in the first year of life, suggesting that parents should soothe a crying infant rather than be unresponsive.

Two types of smiling can be distinguished: A reflexive smile does not occur in response to external stimuli, rather during irregular patterns of sleep. A social smile occurs in response to an external stimulus, usually a face. It does not occur until 2-3 months of age.

Fear: Stranger Anxiety--- is exhibited when an infant shows a fear and wariness of strangers. It tends to appear in the second half of the first year of life, intensifying and escalating around 9 months of age.

When infants have a sense of security, through familiar settings and physical proximity to parent-- less likely to show stranger anxiety.

Separation protest: may start around mo., peaks around 15 mo in US infants. Emotional regulation and coping—develop ability to inhibit or minimize the intensity and duration of emotional reactions. Soothing themselves Caretakers responses

Temperament Temperament is an individual’s behavioral style and characteristic way of emotional response. Psychiatrists Alexander Chess and Stella Thomas believe there are three basic types of temperament. An easy child--generally in a positive mood, quickly establishes regular routines in infancy, and adapts easily to new experiences. A difficult child-- tends to react negatively and cry frequently, engages in irregular daily routines, and is slow to accept new experiences. A slow-to-warm-up child-- has a low activity level, is somewhat negative, shows low adaptability, and displays a low intensity of mood.

Jerome Kagan: labels temperament as inhibition

Mary Rothbart and John Bates have concluded that, based on current research, the best framework for classifying temperament involves a revision of Chess and Thomas’ categories. The general classification of temperament now focuses on: Extraversion/surgency –positive approach (inhibition/Kagan) negative affectivity effortful control (self-regulation)

Goodness of fit refers to the match between a child’s temperament and environmental demands the child must cope with.

A lack of fit between the child’s temperament and strong environmental demands may produce adjustment problems for the child.

Parenting and the Child’s Temperament

Temperament experts Sanson and Rothbart conclude that the following are implications of temperamental variations for parenting: Attention to and respect for individuality Structuring the child’s environment The “difficult child” and packaged parenting programs

Personality Development Trust: According to Erik Erikson, the first year of life is characterized by the trust-versus-mistrust stage of development.

Erikson believed that infants learn trust when they are cared for in a consistent, warm manner. If the infant is not well fed and kept warm on a consistent basis, a sense of mistrust will develop.

The Developing Sense of Self Infants are not “given” a self by their parents or the culture, rather they find and construct selves.

Independence Erikson described the second developmental stage as autonomy versus shame and doubt. Autonomy builds on the infant’s developing mental and motor abilities. Infants feel pride in their new accomplishments (such as climbing, pushing, pulling, etc.). They want to do everything themselves so important for parents to recognize the motivation of toddlers to do what they are capable of doing at their own pace.

When parents consistently overprotect or criticize toddlers, children develop an excessive sense of shame and doubt about their ability to control themselves and their world.

Social orientation/Understanding Social orientation Locomotion Intention/goal directed behavior Joint attention

Social referencing

What Is Attachment? Attachment is a close emotional bond between the infant and the caregiver.

Harlow and Zimmerman study found that feeding is not the crucial element in the attachment process and that contact comfort is very important. Erikson believed that the first year of life is the key time frame for the development of attachment.

John Bowlby believes that the newborn is biologically equipped to elicit the attachment behavior from the primary caregiver. Bowlby stages of attachment

Studying Attachment Mary Ainsworth believes that some babies have a more positive attachment experience than others. Strange Situation—an observational measure of infant attachment that requires the infant to move through a series of introductions, separations, and reunions with the caregiver and an adult stranger in a prescribed order.

Individual Differences Secure babies use their caregiver as a secure base from which to explore the environment.

Insecure avoidant babies show insecurity by avoiding their caregiver.

Insecure resistant babies may cling to the caregiver then resist her by fighting against the closeness, by kicking or pushing away.

Disorganized babies are disorganized and disoriented, appearing dazed, confused, and fearful.

Caregiver characteristics: Caregivers of securely attached babies are sensitive to their signals and are consistently available to respond to their infants’ needs.

Caregivers of avoidant babies tend to be unavailable or rejecting, tending not to respond to their babies’ signals and having little physical contact with them.

Caregivers of resistant babies sometimes respond to their babies’ need and sometimes do not.

Caregivers of disorganized babies often neglect or physically abuse their babies, and sometimes these caregivers suffer from depression. Researchers recognize the importance of competent, nurturant caregivers in an infant’s development, but it is debated whether or not secure attachment is critical. Some researchers stress that genetic and temperament characteristics play more important roles in a child’s social competence.

The Transition to Parenthood When people become parents they face disequilibrium and must adapt. Parents want to develop a strong attachment with their infant, but still want to maintain strong attachments to their spouse and friends and possibly continue their careers. In one study, many couples report that being parents enhanced their sense of themselves and gave them a new, more stable identity as a couple.

Reciprocal Socialization Reciprocal socialization is bidirectional; children socialize parents just as parents socialize children. The behaviors of mothers and infants involve substantial interconnection, mutual regulation, and synchronization. Scaffolding is parental behavior that supports children’s efforts, allowing them to be more skillful than they would be if they were to rely only on their own abilities.

Maternal and Paternal Infant Caregiving Fathers have the ability to act sensitively and responsively with their infants as mothers do. Maternal interactions usually center around child- care activities. Paternal interactions are more likely to include play. Fathers engage in more rough-and-tumble play, while mothers’ play is less physical. In stressful circumstances, infants show a stronger attachment to their mother.

Child Care Far more young children are in day care today than at any other time in history. Many US children experience multiple caregivers

Unlike many European countries, the United States does not have a policy of paid leave for child care, thus day care has become a major national concern.

Variations in child care

Findings of Day Care Research children in low-quality day care as infants were least likely to be socially competent in early childhood. Children who come from families with few resources are more likely to experience poor-quality day care than more advantaged children. Child care in and of itself neither adversely affected or promoted the security of infants’ attachment to their mothers. High-quality child care, especially sensitive and responsive attention, was linked with fewer child problems.

Strategies for parents to follow in child care choices Importance of parenting quality Monitor child’s development Take time to find best child care