Socioemotional Development in Infants and Toddlers Chapter 6

Attachment emotional tie to a specific person or persons exists across time and space infants tend to form attachments with primary caregivers

Attachment Bowlby’s early work – Early infancy—orientation without discrimination.(2-4 mos) Orients to any attending adult Little discrimination among caregiving adults – Middle infancy—orientation with discrimination (6-8 mos) Gazing preference for primary caregivers Responds differentially to primary caregivers

Bowlby’s Early Work on Attachment – Late infancy early toddlerhood—safe-base attachment (6-12 mos) Actively seek to be near caregivers Seek proximal contact Become distressed when caregiver leaves (bond across time and space) – Toddlerhood—goal corrected partnerships Recognize motives of caregivers Toddler adjusts behaviors to needs and motives of caregivers

Ainsworth’s work Strange situation (page 193, Table 6.1) – Stranger anxiety—signals attachment – Separation anxiety—signals attachment Attachment Status – Secure Attachment Mother return: infant seeks contact; cling tightly; allows mother to comfort and soothe Majority of infants show secure attachment

Ainsworth’s work Attachment Status – Insecure Avoidant Attachment No preference for mother (avoids or shows equal preference for mother and stranger) Mother leaves infants undisturbed; Continue playing with stranger

Ainsworth’s work Attachment Status – Insecure Resistant\ Ambivalent Attachment Exaggerated stranger and separation anxiety Exaggerated need to maintain proximal contact with mother Some resistant to mother’s attempts to soothe Some passive with mother’s attempts to console Some variable in response (cycles of calm and anger) Variable in status

Ainsworth’s work Attachment Status Parental quality and attachment (sensitive responsiveness) – Secure Attachment Timely response Appropriate response – Insecure disorganized or disoriented Attachments abusive parents or parents who suffered abuse themselves

Ainsworth’s work Insecure Attachments – indifferent parenting—response only when necessary or when the parent is impacted – indulgent parenting—over stimulating; intrusive; – unresponsive parenting—neglectful Mothers of insecurely attached infants – tense – irritable – unresponsive; little interest – mechanical handling – scheduled vs. demand feeding

Infant Characteristics, Caregiver Characteristics and Attachments Easy Infants--associated with greater frequency of secure attachments Special needs—associated with insecure attachments Fussy or difficult infants associated with higher levels of irritability-- tend to develop insecure attachments with mothers who have low levels of social support Model tends to be bidirectional with infant characteristics interacting with caregiver characteristics to yield the attachment status

Infant Characteristics, Caregiver Characteristics and Attachments Fathers’ role in attachment: – fathers’ roles tend to reflect mothers’ roles in relationships with attachment statuses Child care and caregiver attachment: – with quality child care, no difference in attachment given caregiver is responsive in sensitive and timely ways when with infant

Attachment and Developmental Outcomes Long-term outcomes: – securely attached infants tend to have some early advantage over other attachment statuses; – higher quality care later in childhood and adolescence can overcome early attachment challenges;

Erikson’s first psychosocial stage: Trust vs. Mistrust Two tasks: – establish sense that the environment is going to meet basic needs in a timely and appropriate manner – establish sense that the self is an active agent in one’s own outcomes

Erikson’s first psychosocial stage: Trust vs. Mistrust caregivers who establish a sensitive responsiveness are likely to develop a sense of trust infant comes to learn that differential cries relate to differential outcomes Infant develops a sense of contingency between behaviors and outcomes—a sense of agency

Temperament The reactivity of the infant to the environment Genetics plays a significant role in temperament Temperament is measured across nine dimensions (Table 6.5, pg 204) – Activity level, rhythmicity, intensity of reaction, etc. – Profile based on levels of each dimension

Temperament Temperament Constellations: – Easy: generally positive; stable rhythm of movement, sleep adapts to new situations, smiles – Slow-to-Warm-Up: slow to adapt to new situations; mildly negative response; more intense reactions than Easy babies but less than difficult babies – Difficult: intense negative reactions to new situations; slow to adapt; irregular patterns of sleeping and activity overall;

Temperament Based on an interaction of genetics and interactions with the environment Balance between temperament and environment determines outcomes

Temperament Scarr: – Passive: infant’s environment is frequently based on biological parents so, genetic tendency is reinforced by the environment – Parents who accommodate to their infant’s temperament tend to have more successful outcomes

Emotions In the first 12 months of life, infants tend to respond differentially and more sensitively to expressed emotions by caregiver – Fear, anger, sadness, interest, joy resulted in differential responses to the visual cliff – Infants reference the reactions of caregivers as cues for their own reactions – From very early on, infants tend to respond to distress cries from other infants

Emotions Toddlers: – Sense of self as independent entity leads to: Self conscious emotions Expanded emotional repertoire – Guilt, embarrassed, pride – Comparison of one’s own behaviors to some standard is linked to cognitive and social development

Infant and Toddler Play Infant Play – Mutual gaze—first awareness of the other – Sensorimotor Play— Focus is on interactions with motion and objects in the environment Some level of novelty is preferred Repetition of actions is frequent Toys over which infants can assert control tend to be preferred and build a sense of agency (Bandura, 1977; c.f. Erikson, trust—mistrust)

Infant and Toddler Play Toddler Play – With language, mobility, and cognitive development, toddlers move to more socially mediated play – Coordinated imitation—tend to repeat others’ actions – Early toddler play remains focused on motion and objects (e.g. block stacking) – As maturation occurs, more social role play begins;

Infant and Toddler Play Toddler Play – More advanced levels of social play (negotiating roles, changing roles) tend to be related to more lasting friendships across childhood – Conflicts arise! Distraction and diversion tend to work best with toddlers Conflicts tend to be based on possession of objects or turns at some desired activity Possession is ownership (similar to dog rules)

Infant and Toddler Play Toddler Play – As language and symbolic thought improve, toddlers begin make-believe play – Imaginary roles and substitution of one object for another (shoe becomes a truck) occurs – Children can appear to be much more cognitively advanced in play with peers than alone.