Infancy and Childhood

What are our basic needs for development?

Social Development

Harry Harlow: Discovering Love

Attachment: an emotional tie with another person Contact comfort: in primates, the innate pleasure derived from close physical contact Origins of Attachment

Social Development

Stranger anxiety: the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning about 8 months of age

Attachment Differences Strange Situation

Focus is on the “reunion” with mother Securely Attached: seeks contact upon reunion Insecurely Attached: anxious or avoidant upon reunion Mothers were sensitive and responsive Mothers were insensitive and unresponsive

Graph on pg 79

Basic trust: A sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy (Erikson)

Deprivation of Attachment

Infancy and Childhood Adolescence

Parents As we mature, our secure base and safe haven shift – from parents to peers to partners.

Parenting Styles Authoritarian: impose rules and expect obedience Permissive: submit to their child’s desires, make few demands, and use little punishment Authoritative: both demanding and responsive; set rules, but also explain them Children tend to have high self-esteem, self-reliance, and social competence Children tend to have less social skills and self-esteem Children tend to be more aggressive and immature

Culture and Child-Rearing Individualist vs. Collectivist Individualist – values independence; focus on individual goals Collectivist – Group harmony is more important than the individual Culture: the enduring behaviors, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

Does Parenting Matter? Yes….and no. Environmental influences account for only about 10% of a child’s personality However…parents influence their child’s attitudes, values, manners, faith, and politics The power of parenting is clearest at the extremes (abusive, neglectful)

Peers

Do Peers Matter? True or False? Preschoolers who reject a certain food despite parents’ urgings often will eat the food if put at a table with a group of children who like it. A child who hears English spoken with one accent at home and another in the neighborhood and at school will adopt the accent of the parents, not the peers. Teens who start smoking typically have friends who model smoking, suggest its pleasures, and offer cigarettes. TRUE FALSE TRUE peers

When researchers used a beeper to sample the daily experiences of American teens, they found them unhappiest when alone and happiest when with friends. As Aristotle said, we humans are “the social animal”