1. Socio-emotional Development in Infancy
Chapter 6
Socio-emotional Development in Infancy
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

2. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

3. Emotional Development
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

4. Emotional Development
Defining Emotion
Affect in Parent-Child Relationships
Developmental Timetable of Emotions
Crying
Smiling
Fear
Social Referencing
Emotional Regulation
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

5. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Defining Emotion
Emotion is a feeling, or affect, that can involve physiological arousal, conscious experience, and behavioural expression.
An important aspect of emotional development is emotional regulation.
During the first year, infants develop an ability to inhibit or minimize the intensity and duration of emotional responses.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

6. Affect in Parent-Child Relationships
Emotions are the first language with which parents and infants communicate.
The initial aspects of infant attachment to parents are based on emotion-linked interchanges, as when an infant cries and the caregiver responds.
Infant and adult affective communication capacities make possible coordinated, bidirectional infant-adult interactions.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

7. Developmental Timetable of Emotions
The Maximally Discriminative Facial Movement Coding System (MAX) is used to code infant’s facial expressions related to emotion.
On the basis of the classification system:
Interest, distress, and disgust are present at birth
A social smile appears at about 4–6 weeks
Anger, surprise, and sadness emerge at about 3–4 months
Fear is displayed at about 5–7 months
Contempt and guilt don’t appear until age 2
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

8. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Crying
Crying is the most important mechanism of newborns have for communicating with their world.
Babies have at least 3 types of cries:
Basic cry
Anger cry
Pain cry
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

9. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Basic Cry
A rhythmic pattern usually consisting of a cry followed by a brief silence, then a short inspiratory high-pitched whistle, followed by a rest prior to another cry
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

10. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Anger Cry
A variation of the basic cry with more excess air forced through the vocal cords
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

11. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Pain Cry
Differs from the other cries, as it suddenly appears without preliminary moaning and followed by an extended period of breath holding
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

12. Responding to Infant Cries
Most parents, and adults in general, can determine whether an infant’s cries signify anger or pain.
Parents can distinguish the cries of their own baby better than those of a strange baby.
Developmentalists increasingly argue that an infant cannot be spoiled in the first year of life, suggesting that parents should soothe a crying infant rather than being unresponsive.
Infants will thus develop a sense of trust and secure attachment to the caregiver.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

13. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Smiling
Smiling is another important communicative affective behaviour of infants.
Two types of smiling can be distinguished:
A reflexive smile does not occur in response to external stimuli, but rather during irregular patterns of sleep.
A social smile occurs in response to an external stimulus, usually a face. It does not occur until 2–3 months of age.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

14. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Fear
Stranger anxiety is exhibited when an infant shows fear and wariness of strangers.
It tends to appear in the second half of the first year of life, intensifying and escalating around 9 months of age.
When infants have a sense of security, through familiar settings and physical proximity to mom, they are less likely to show stranger anxiety.
Who the stranger is and how he/she behaves also influence stranger anxiety.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

15. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Social Referencing
Social referencing involves “reading” emotional cues in others to help determine how to act in a particular situation.
Social referencing helps infant to interpret ambiguous situations more accurately, as when encountering a stranger and needing to know whether to fear that person.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

16. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Emotional Regulation
Emotional regulation consists of effectively managing arousal to adapt to and reach a goal.
Arousal involves a state of alertness or activation, which can reach levels that are too high for effective functioning.
Crying and anger are two emotions that often require regulation.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

17. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Temperament
Defining and Classifying Temperament
Goodness of Fit
Parenting and the Child’s Temperament
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

18. Defining and Classifying Temperament
Temperament is an individual’s behavioural style and characteristic way of emotional response.
Many scholars conceive of temperament as a stable characteristic of newborns, which comes to be shaped and modified by later experiences.
However, it may be that as a child becomes older, behaviour indicators of temperament are more difficult to spot.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

19. Temperament Classification of Chess and Thomas
Psychiatrists Alexander Chess and Stella Thomas believe there are three basic types of temperament.
An easy child is generally in a positive mood, quickly establishes regular routines in infancy and adapts easily to new situations.
A difficult child tends to react negatively and cry frequently, engages in irregular daily routines, and is slow to accept new experiences.
A slow-to-warm-up child has a low activity level, is somewhat negative, shows low adaptability, and displays a low intensity of mood.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

20. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

21. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Goodness of Fit
Goodness of fit refers to the match between a child’s temperament and environmental demands the child must cope with.
Goodness of fit may be important to the child’s adjustment.
A lack of fit between the child’s temperament and strong environmental demands may produce adjustment problems for the child.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

22. Parenting and Child’s Temperament
Parents often don’t discover the importance of temperament until the birth of their second child.
Management strategies that worked with the first child might not be as effective with the second child, and new problems may arise.
Temperament experts Sanson and Rothbart conclude that the following are implications of temperamental variations of parenting:
Attention to and respect for individuality
Structure in the child’s environment
The “difficult child” and packaged parenting programs
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

23. Attention to and Respect for Individuality
Parents need to be sensitive and flexible.
Parents need to be sensitive the infant’s signals and needs.
Some temperament characteristics pose more parenting challenges than others.
Parents might react differently to a child’s temperament, depending on the child’s gender and culture they live in.
Parents should respect each child’s temperament, rather than try to fit all children into the same mold.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

24. Structuring the Child’s Environment
Crowded, noisy environments can pose greater problems for some children than others.
We also might expect that a fearful, withdrawing child would benefit from slower entry into new contexts.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

25. The “Difficult Child” and Packaged Parenting Programs
Some books and programs for parents focus specifically on temperament, particularly “difficult” temperaments.
Acknowledgment that some children are harder to parent, and advice on how to handle particular difficult characteristics can be helpful.
There is a problem, however, identifying a child as “difficult,” which implies that the problem rests solely with him or her rather than being a particular “fit” between characteristics and environment.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

26. Personality Development
Trust
The Developing Sense of Self
Independence
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

27. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Trust
According to Erikson, the first year of life is characterized by the trust-versus-mistrust stage of development.
Erikson believed that infants learn trust when they are cared for in a consistent, warm manner.
If the infant is not well fed and kept warm on a consistent basis, a sense of mistrust will develop.
Trust vs. mistrust arises again at each successive stage of development.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

28. The Developing Sense of Self
Infants are not “given” a self by their parents or the culture; rather, they find and construct selves.
Infants can recognize their reflection in the mirror by 18 months.
To determine whether infants can recognize themselves, psychologists employ the “rouge test.”
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

29. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Independence
The theories of Margaret Mahler and Erik Erikson have important implications for both self-development and independence.
Mahler believes the child goes through separation, involving movement away from the other, and then individual process, involving the development of self.
Erikson described the second development stage as autonomy vs. shame and doubt.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

30. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

31. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
What Is Attachment?
Attachment is a close emotional bond between the infant and the caregiver.
Harlow and Zimmerman found that feeding is not the crucial element in the attachment process and contact comfort is very important.
Erikson believed that the first year is the key time frame for the development of attachment.
John Bowlby believes that the newborn is biologically equipped to elicit the attachment behaviour from the primary caregiver.
(Socioemotional Development in Infancy: “Attachment Theory”)
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

32. The Development of Attachment
Phase 1: Birth to 2 months – infants instinctively direct their attention to human figures.
Phase 2: 2–7 months – attachment becomes focused on one figure, usually a primary caregiver.
Phase 3: 7–24 months – specific attachments develop.
Phase 4: 24 months on – a goal-directed partnership is formed in which children become aware of others’ feelings, goals, and plans.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

33. Caregiving Style and Attachment Classification
Caregivers of securely attached babies are sensitive to their signals and are consistently available to respond to their infants’ needs.
Caregivers of avoidant babies tend to be unavailable or rejecting, tending not to respond to their babies’ signals and having little physical contact with them.
Caregivers of resistant babies sometimes respond to their babies’ needs and sometimes do not.
Caregivers of disorganized babies often neglect or physically abuse their babies, and sometimes these caregivers suffer from depression.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

34. Attachment, Temperament, and Wider Social World
Researchers recognize the importance of competent, nurturant caregivers in an infant’s development, but it is debated whether or not secure attachment is critical.
Not all research reveals the power of infant attachment to predict subsequent development.
Some researchers stress that genetic and temperament characteristics play more important roles in a child’s social competence.
Cultural variations in attachment have been found.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

35. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Social Contexts
The Family
Day Care
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

36. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
The Family
The Transition to Parenthood
Reciprocal Socialization
The Family as a System
Maternal and Paternal Infant Caregiving
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

37. The Transition to Parenthood
When people become parents they face disequilibrium and must adapt.
Parents want to develop a strong attachment with their infant, but they still want to maintain strong attachments to their spouse and friends and possibly continue their careers.
In one study, many couples report that being parents enhanced their sense of themselves and gave them a new, more stable identity as a couple.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

38. Reciprocal Socialization
Reciprocal socialization is bidirectional; children socialize parents just as parents socialize children.
The behaviours of mothers and infants involve substantial interconnection, mutual regulation, and synchronization.
Scaffolding is parental behaviour that supports children’s efforts, allowing them to be more skillful than they would be if they were to rely only on their own abilities.
Scaffolding is evidenced when parents time interactions in such a way that the infant experiences turn-taking.
Scaffolding is not confined to parent-infant interaction but can be used to support children’s achievement-related efforts in school.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

39. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
The Family as a System
As a social system, the family can be thought of as a constellation of subsystems defined in terms of generation, gender, and role.
Each family member is a participant in several subsystems:
Dyadic (two people)
Polyadic (more than two people)
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

40. Maternal and Paternal Infant Caregiving
Fathers have the ability to act as sensitively and responsively with their infants as mothers do.
Maternal interactions usually centre around child-care activities.
Paternal interactions are more likely to include play.
Fathers engage in more rough-and-tumble play, while mothers’ play is less physical.
In stressful circumstances, infants show a stronger attachment to their mothers.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

41. ©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.
Day Care
Close to 1/3 of all Canadian children under the age of 12 have received some form of childcare outside their homes.
Canada does not have a nationwide system of childcare. Child care is governed provincially.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

42. Findings of Day Care Research
It has been discovered that children placed in low-quality day care as infants were least likely to be socially competent in early childhood.
Children who come from families with few resources are more likely to experience poor-quality day care than more advantaged children.
Child care in and of itself neither adversely affected or promoted the security of infants’ attachment to their mothers.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.

43. Findings of Day Care Research (cont’d)
Certain child care conditions, in combination with certain home environments, did increase the probability that infants would be insecurely attached to their mothers.
High-quality child care, especially sensitive and responsive attention, was linked with fewer child problems.
©2005 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd.