© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers 6 Social and Personality Development in Infancy This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or part, of any images; any rental, lease, or lending of the program.

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Freud –Oral Stage – derive satisfaction from the mouth –Symbiotic relationship between mother and child –Fixation could later result in swearing, nail biting Erikson –Trust versus Mistrust Helping the infant get its needs met consistently Social relationships go beyond feeding Theories Psychoanalytic Perspectives

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers The ability to make strong emotional bonds is innate These bonds have survival value Bonds are maintained by instinctive behaviors that create and sustain proximity Theories John Bowlby: Attachment theory

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Attachment –An attachment is an emotional bond in which a person’s sense of security is bound up in the relationship The child can use the “mother” as a “safe base” –Ethologists believe the first 2 years constitute a sensitive period for attachment in human infants Theories Ethological Perspectives: John Bowlby

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers The opportunity for parent and infant to develop a mutual, interlocking pattern of attachment behaviors Takes practice over time to develop until each participant follows the other Highly synchronous 6 – 8-month-old infants –Have larger vocabularies at age 2 –Have higher intelligence scores at age 3 The Parent’s Attachment to the Infant Synchrony

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Mothers end up doing more routine caregiving than fathers Talk to and smile at the baby more The Parent’s Attachment to the Infant Mother’s bond with the infant

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Fathers have the same repertoire as mothers. –Touch, talk to, and cuddle the baby After first few weeks, fathers begin to spend more time playing with baby –More physical roughhousing The Parent’s Attachment to the Infant Father’s bond with the infant

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Bowlby suggests there are 4 phases 1. Nonfocused orienting and signaling (0 – 3 months) –Uses an innate set of behavior patterns to signal needs –Proximity promoting behaviors 2. Focus on one or more figures (3 – 6 months) –Smiles more at people who regularly care for her The Infant’s Attachment to the Parents Establishing Attachment

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers The Infant’s Attachment to the Parents Establishing Attachment 3. Secure base behavior (6 – 24 months) –Proximity seeking behaviors –Most important person used as a safe base for explorations 4. Internal model (24 months and beyond) –Child can imagine how her behavior would affect the bonds with her caregiver

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Stranger Anxiety –Cling to mother when strangers are present Separation Anxiety –Infants cry and protest when separated from mother. Social Referencing –Use cues from caregiver facial expressions Helps to figure out novel situations Helps to learn to regulate emotions The Infant’s Attachment to the Parents Attachment Behaviors

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers The Strange Situation –Series of eight episodes played in a laboratory –Children between 12 and 18 months Secure attachment Insecure/avoidant attachment Insecure/ambivalent attachment Insecure/disorganized attachment Secure and Insecure Attachments Mary Ainsworth

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Dependent on child’s life circumstances Major upheavals can alter attachment Internal models become elaborated from when a child is 1 year until age of 4 or 5 Stability of Attachment Quality

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Insecure/avoidant attachment –Mother rejects or regularly withdraws from infant –Mother overly intrusive or overly stimulating Insecure/ambivalent attachment –Primary caregiver inconsistently or unreliably available to child Insecure/disorganized attachment –Likely when child has been abused, or when parent has unresolved childhood trauma Secure and Insecure Attachments

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Emotional Availability –Caregiver who is able and willing to form an emotional attachment Contingent Responsiveness –Caregivers who are sensitive to the child’s cues and respond appropriately Both are essential to formation of a secure attachment Caregiver Characteristics and Attachment

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Marital Status: married parents have –Higher educational background –Higher socio-economic status –Older parents Psychiatric Illness –Depressed mothers interact less Caregiver Characteristics and Attachment Factors influencing secure attachment

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers What kind of attachment do you have with your parents? Has it changed since you were a child or does it reflect the type of attachment you had when you were younger? What factors will influence your choice of child care if the mother is working? What would be best for your child? Questions to Ponder

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers More sociable More positive in relationships with friends Less clinging and dependent on teachers Less aggressive and disruptive More emotionally mature Continues into adolescence –More likely to be leaders –Have higher self-esteem Attachment Quality: Long Term Consequences The Securely Attached

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Increased sociability throughout early, middle, and late adulthood Affects their parenting behaviors Demonstrates that the attachment relationship can become the foundation for future social relationships Attachment Quality: Long Term Consequences The Securely Attached

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Figure 6.1 Cross-Cultural Comparisons of Attachment Categories

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Personality: stable patterns in how people relate to those around them Temperament: basic behavioral and emotional predispositions Dimensions of Temperament –Thomas and Chess Easy child – 40% Difficult child – 10% Slow-to-warm-up child – 15% Personality, Temperament, and Self-Concept

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Heredity –Identical twins more alike in temperament than fraternal twins –Stable across long periods of time Neurological processes –Underlying physiological processes – Kagan Shyness –Differing thresholds for arousal –Dopamine and serotonin brain chemicals involved –Frontal lobe asymmetry Personality, Temperament, and Self-Concept Origins and stability of temperament

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Environment –Sandra Scarr Niche-Picking: People of all ages choose experiences that reflect their temperaments –May affect how a child interprets a given experience –Tendency of parents to respond differently to each child depending on temperament Synchronous relationships may modify heredity effects Personality, Temperament, and Self-Concept Origins and stability of temperament

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers The subjective self –Awareness by the child that he is separate from others and endures over time –Appears by 8–12 months at the same time as object permanence The objective self –Toddler comes to understand he is an object in the world –The self has properties, such as gender Self-Concept

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Rouge Test Children at 21 months show self- recognition in the mirror. –This is the same age that children name themselves, use “I,” “me,” and “mine.” Studying Self-Awareness

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Figure 6.2 The Rouge Test

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Babies learn to identify changes in emotional expression –Starts at 2 – 3 months Perception of other’s emotions helps guide the child’s actions Self-Concept The Emotional Self

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Child-care arrangements vary considerably Grandparents Relative in one’s own or their home Length of time in care varies Some children in multiple care settings Effects of Nonparental Care

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Figure 6.3 Nonparental Care Arrangements for Children under 6 in the U.S.

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers High-quality day care has beneficial effects, especially for children from poor families Middle-class children who entered daycare in the first year of life had lower reading and math scores than poor children who began daycare before age 1 Effects of Nonparental Care Effects on Cognitive Development

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Infant daycare has negative effects on attachment if started under one year Parents whose behaviors are associated with insecure attachment have children who are negatively affected by early day care Belsky associates early day care with greater risks for social problems in school-age children Effects of Nonparental Care Effects on Social Development

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Effects of Nonparental Care What’s Responsible? Nonparental care may induce child stress causing higher levels of cortisol –May affect child’s brain development Shy children may be more sensitive to stress in center-based care Boys more insecurely attached to caregivers in nonparental care BUT Differences between children in parental and nonparental care are very small