Infant Social Development Reciprocity Social Smiling Development of Emotions Emotional Regulation Bases of Attachment Harlow’s Monkey Studies Attachment and the Strange Situation Attachment and later development Sensitive Period Cultural Differences in Attachment Temperament

The Newborn as Preadapted to Social Exchanges Predispositions of newborns: Built-in ability to signal needs in ways adults can interpret and respond to. Capacity to detect contingencies in the environment. Built-in attraction to social stimuli. Inclination to fall in step with the caregiver’s behavior. Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

The Origins of Reciprocity True social interactions involving mutual exchanges between partners. Reciprocity in social interaction develops gradually. At first caregivers orchestrate social dialogues, ideally providing sensitive care. Infants’ involvement in social encounters becomes increasingly complex until they are full partners in social interactions. Remember circular reactions. Social learning theorists emphasize the mutual reinforcement of reciprocity. Brazelton sees the caregiver as providing a holding framework for the baby. Attunement: Caregivers’ adjustment of the stimulation they provide in response to signs from the infant. Sensitive care: A caregiving style in which the caregiver attends to the infant’s needs and responds to them promptly and effectively.

Development of social smiling follows a predictable timetable: Newborns smile because of activity in lower brain regions. By 8-10 weeks, babies smile as a result of recognitory assimilation. By 4-5 months, babies produce truly social smiles in response to people they know. Newborns’ smiles are spontaneous discharges of messages from the lower brain structures. Parents often attribute higher order emotionality to these smiles which is important for relationship development as it encourages their interactions with the infant. There are gentle fluctuations in arousal around a critical threshold, causing facial muscles to relax into a little smile. Recognitory assimilation – assimilates an event into an established scheme. Recognitory assimilation: A form of visual mastery in which the infant recognizes a familiar stimulus and assimilates it to an established scheme.

Emotion: A state of feeling that arises when a person evaluates an event in a particular way. Newborns’ physiological responses to stimulation develop into forerunners of specific basic emotions, but differ from these emotions in several ways: They often require time to build up. Meanings attached to events involved are very general. They are not well differentiated. Infants differ in their ability to moderate their arrousal Capacity to cope with emotionally arousing situations begins to develop in first 6 months. Early techniques are global and involuntary and interrupt contact with the environment.

Development from 6 mo. To 1 year During this time, emotional responses change in several fundamental ways: Clearly differentiated specific emotions emerge. Emotional responses become increasingly immediate. All the classic facial expressions of emotion begin to appear regularly.

Emotional Reactions to the Unfamiliar Stranger Anxiety A stranger staring can cause a 5-month-old infant to cry after about 30 seconds. At 7-10 months, babies begin to react negatively to strangers even without prolonged stares. This stranger distress usually continues for 2-3 months. Degree of stranger distress varies greatly from baby to baby.

Emotional Reactions to the Unfamiliar At the same time they show stranger distress, infants show fear in other situations, such as high places or impending collisions. This is not just wariness toward unfamiliarity in general, though. Novel stimuli can make babies squeal with delight, if the baby feels secure in the particular context. Mother putting on mask can amuse baby, while stranger with a mask can invoke fear. Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Photo copyright © 2003 www.arttoday.com. Used with permission.

Emotional Regulation and Coping In the second 6 months, babies develop more flexible skills for coping with emotionally arousing situations, such as: signaling the caregiver moving near the caregiver

Pestisides in the Salinas Valley and Brain development   Pestisides in the Salinas Valley and Brain development Attachment and the Strange Situation Attachment and later development Sensitive Period Cultural Differences in Attachment Temperament Inner Working Models Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

“Salinas and Watsonville … had higher yearly average (pesticide) concentrations in 2013 compared to both 2011 and 2012.” One of the monitoring sites was Ohlone Elementary in Watsonville.  More on how pesticides affect children's developing brains from the CHAMACOS study in Salinas:  http://www.thenation.com/article/178804/warning-signs-how-pesticides-harm-young-brain# Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Attachments: An enduring emotional tie between infant and caregiver. A major development in the second 6 months is the formation of specific infant-caregiver attachments. Hallmarks of Attachment Separation distress: Negative reactions of infants when the caregiver temporarily leaves. Greeting reactions: Positive reactions of infants when the caregiver appears. Secure-base behavior: Behavior in which the infant uses the caregiver as a base for exploration. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTsewNrHUHU

The Bases of Attachment Attachment is 2-way between parent & child. Bonding is 1-way, parent toward child. Infants adopted in the 1st year are just as likely as other infants to develop healthy attachments. Infants often become attached to more than one person.

Harlow & Harlow 1966 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrNBEhzjg8I Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

The Attachment Framework John Bowlby All that is required for an attachment to form is that an adult be present to engage the infant; food need not be involved. Harlow Baby monkeys preferred a soft, terry cloth “mother” over a wire “mother” who fed the monkey. Erikson and Bowlby’s ideas emphasizing quality of care the infant receives and the resulting variability in the security of infant-caregiver attachment. Others emphasize the infant’s inborn temperament, based on genetic makeup and other biological influences. Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

The Attachment Framework In all but the most extreme cases, infants become attached to a caregiver. When infants experience sensitive care, they become confident the caregiver will be responsive, giving the infant a secure base for exploration. This is what Erikson meant by trust and Bowlby meant by secure attachment. The negative result is mistrust (Erikson) or insecure/anxious attachment (Bowlby). Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Patterns of Attachment The Strange Situation Test: Mary Ainsworth’s technique for assessing attachments. Secure Infant is confident of caregiver’s availability and responsiveness, and can use caregiver as secure base for exploration. Most (60-70%) infants show this. Anxious-resistant Infant separates form the caregiver reluctantly but shows ambivalence toward caregiver after a separation. Anxious-avoidant Infant readily separates from caregiver and avoids contact after a brief separation. Main added another attachment style: Disorganized-disoriented Infant shows contradictory features of several patterns of anxious attachment or appears dazed and disoriented. Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Quality of Care & Security of Attachment Attachment Pattern Associated Caregiver Behavior secure sensitive care anxious-resistant inconsistent care exaggerated maternal behaviors ineffective soothing anxious-avoidant indifference emotional unavailability or active rejection disorganized-disoriented maltreatment or frightening or confusing behavior Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Sensitive care & encouragement of Exploration Bernier, A., et al. (2014). Taking stock of two decades of attachment transmission gap: Broadening the assessment of maternal behavior. Child Development, Vol. 85 (5), 1771-2105. Sensitive care explains less than half of the explained variance. Encouragement of exploration explains more. Two together are best. Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Infant Attachment and Later Development Internal working model = An infant’s generalized expectations about the social world, including caregiver responsiveness infant’s own ability to obtain care the nature of social relationships Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

The Temperament Framework An individual infant’s general style of behavior across contexts. Infant Temperament Characteristics activity rhythmicity approach-withdrawal adaptability intensity threshold mood distractibility persistence of attention Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

The Stability of Temperament Newborn behavior does not predict later temperament very well. But by the end of the 1st year, temperament becomes more stable and predictive of later behavior. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGjO1KwltOw Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

The Biology of Temperament Infants wary in new situations have higher or more variable heart rates and blood pressure. They show less symmetrical brain activity. Associations have been found between hormone levels and baby’s emotions. Whether these factors influence the emotions or the emotions influence these factors is unclear. Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

The Genetics of Temperament Some characteristics, like reactivity to stimulation, seem to have a genetic component. Others, like tendency to be nurturant, appear to be based more on experience. Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Temperament and Attachment How Temperament May Relate to Attachment: Temperament may help determine sensitive care. Characteristics of a particular infant may be at odds with those of a particular caregiver (match-mismatch hypothesis). Early infant characteristics may feed into the quality of care parents provide. An infant’s characteristics may tax caregivers’ ability to cope. Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Later attachment formation may be more difficult. The Sensitive Period Hypothesis: The idea that certain kinds of experience are especially important at particular points in development. The quality of attachments in infancy sets the stage for later relationships. Later attachment formation may be more difficult. Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Although cultures around the world vary in specific child-rearing goals and practices, there is a consistent recognition of the need to provide responsive care. Early experience has special significance for development because basic expectations about oneself and the social world are laid down in infancy. However, it does not determine the rest of development, and later change is generally possible.