Chapter Five Entering the Social World: Socioemotional Development in Infancy and Early Childhood Flashcards
What are Erikson’s Stages of Psychological Development?
Basic trust vs. mistrust
– With a proper balance of trust and mistrust, infants
can acquire hope
* Autonomy vs. shame and doubt
– A blend of autonomy, shame, and doubt gives rise
to will, the knowledge that within limits, youngsters
can act on their world intentionally
* Initiative vs. guilt
– Purpose is achieved with a balance between
individual initiative and a willingness to cooperate
with others
What is the growth of Attachment?
Attachment to caregivers is a critical aspect of
Erikson’s first stage (basic trust vs. mistrust)
* Evolutionary psychology: many human
behaviors are successful adaptations to the
environment
– Humans are social beings who also form
parent-child attachments
– These are adaptations promoting survival
to the reproductive years, thereby
sustaining the species’ existence
What are the steps toward attachment?
Bowlby proposed four stages of attachment
– Preattachment stage (birth to 6-8 weeks)
– Attachment in the making (6-8 weeks to 6-
8 months)
– True attachment (6-8 months to 18
months)
– Reciprocal relationships (18 months on)
What are father-infant relationships?
Attachment to fathers tends to follow that with
mothers
* Fathers tend to spend more time playing with
children than taking care of them
* Fathers play with children differently than
mothers (more rough and tumble)
– Mothers more often read to children and
talk with them
* Children tend to seek out the father for a
playmate; mothers are preferred for comfort
What are the forms of attachment?
Ainsworth’s Strange Situation paradigm
– Three phases (~3 minutes each)
* Child and mother first occupy an
unfamiliar room filled with toys
* Mother leaves room momentarily
* Mother then returns to room
– Observe child’s reactions during each
– Classified four types of attachment
* Three insecure types; one secure
What are the four types of attachment relationships?
*Secure attachment (60-65%): baby may or
may not cry upon separation; wants to be with
mom upon her return and stops crying
* Avoidant attachment (20%): baby not upset
by separation; ignores or looks away when
mom returns
Four Types of Attachment
Relationships
* Resistant attachment (10-15%): separation
upsets baby; remains upset after mom’s
return and is difficult to console
* Disorganized attachment (5-10%): separation
and return confuse the baby; reacts in
contradictory ways (e.g., seeking proximity to
the returned mom, but not looking at her)
What are the consequences of attachment?
Consequences of Attachment
* Environmental instability and stress may
cause changes in the quality of attachment
(from secure to insecure)
* Early secure attachment predicts
– Successful and confident peer
relationships
* Early disorganized attachments predicts
problems with anxiety, anger, and aggression
Two mutually nonexclusive explanations of
why early attachment is a strong predictor
What Determines Quality of
Attachment?
Secure attachment results from predictable,
sensitive, and responsive parenting
– Internal working mode
* Positive model
* Negative mode
* Temperament also contributes to attachment
* Parental training helps parents interact more
affectionately, responsively, and sensitively
What is included with attachment, work, and alternate caregiving?
Quality of mother-child attachment for 15-
and 36-month-olds is unrelated to:
– Daycare’s quality or length of stays
– Number of changes in daycare
– Age when this care began
– Type of childcare (e.g., childcare center vs.
in the home with a non-relative)
– The child forming attachments to nonparental caregivers
What is the function of emotions?
Emotions have functional (adaptive) value
(e.g., guiding behavior and facilitating
relationships)
Theorists distinguish complex from basic
emotions
– Basic emotions consist of:
* A subjective feeling, a physiological
change, and an overt behavior
– Joy, sadness, anger, fear, distress,
disgust, interest, and surprise all occur in 8
to 9 months
* Studying infants’ facial expressions and overt behaviors reveals their probably trajectory
What is included in the development of emotions?
Newborns: pleasure and distress
* 2 to 3 months: sadness
* 2 to 3 months: social smiles
– Occur upon seeing a human face
– Sometimes accompanied by cooing
– Express pleasure at seeing another
* 4 to 6 months: anger
– Reflects an increasing understanding of
goals and their frustration
What is included in the development of basic emotions: stranger wariness and disgust?
6 months: stranger wariness
– Occurs once children start to locomote
– Adaptive as a natural restraint against
wandering away from familiar others
– Wanes once children can recognize
friendly faces
* 6 months: disgust
* Adaptive in signaling toxins (e.g., feces)
or potential illness (e.g., vomit)
What is the convergence of complex emotions?
Complex emotions include guilt,
embarrassment, and pride
– To be experienced, child first must
understand the self and behavior in relation
to whether they have met standards or
expectations
– This self-understanding emerges around
15-18 months
– Complex emotions emerge at 18-24
months
What is included in later developments?
With increasing cognitive development,
children experience basic and complex
emotions in more and different situations
– Ex.: elementary school but not preschool
children would experience
* Shame for not defending a peer
* Normative fear about school, health, and
personal harm
What are the cultural differences in Emotional Expression?
Many basic and complex emotions are
expressed similarly around the world
* Expressing emotions differs across cultures
– Asian children are encouraged to show
emotional restraint
– European-American 11-month-olds cried
and smiled more than Chinese infants of
same age
