1. Child Development, 3/e by Robert Feldman
Chapter 7
Social and Personality Development in Infancy
Created by Barbara H. Bratsch

2. What sort of emotional lives do infants have?
What sort of mental lives do infants have?
What is attachment in infancy, and how does it relate to the future social competence of individuals?
What roles do other people play in infants’ social development?
What sorts of individual differences do infants display?
Is day care beneficial or harmful to infants?

3. Universals in Facial Expressions
In every culture, infants show similar facial expressions relating to basic emotions. The degree of emotional expressiveness varies between infants.

4. Differential emotions theory suggests that emotional expressions not only reflect emotional experiences, but also help regulate emotions themselves

5. Stranger anxiety is the caution and wariness that infants display when encountering an unfamiliar person
Separation anxiety is the distress displayed by infants when a customary care provider departs

6. Social smile is the response to other individuals
Social referencing is the intentional search for information about others’ feelings to help explain the meaning of uncertain circumstances and events
Self-awareness is the knowledge that one exists separately from the rest of the world and begins around 12 months old

7. Theory of Mind – children’s knowledge and beliefs about their mental world
Empathy – an emotional response that corresponds to the feelings of another person

8. Forging Relationships
Attachment is the positive emotional bond that develops between a child and particular individual
Konrad Lorenz first labeled imprinting as attachment that occurred between him and newborn goslings
Harry Harlow’s experiments with monkeys indicated attachment to cloth monkeys vs. wire monkeys bearing food
Mary Ainsworth developed the Ainsworth Strange Situation test consisting of a sequence of staged episodes that illustrate the strength of attachment between a child and mother

9. Patterns of Attachment
Secure attachment – children use the mother as home base and become upset when she leaves and seek her instantly when she returns
Avoidant attachment – children do not seek proximity to mother, are not distressed when she leaves and do not usually seek her out when she returns
Ambivalent attachment – a combination of positive and negative reactions to mother
Disorganized-disoriented attachment – inconsistent and often contradictory behavior, such as approaching mother when she returns but not looking at her

10. Mothers vs. Fathers and Attachment
Mothers tend to be more involved in feeding and nurturing and fathers tend to spend more time playing with children

11. Infant Interactions
Mutual regulation model – infants and parents learn to communicate emotional states to one another and respond appropriately
Reciprocal socialization – a process in which infants’ behaviors invite further responses from caregivers or other infants, which in turn brings about further responses from the infants

12. Infant Interactions

13. enduring characteristics
Personality
The assortment of
enduring characteristics
that differentiate
one individual
from another

14. Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development – how individuals come to understand themselves and the meaning of others’ behavior and their own
Trust vs. Mistrust – infants develop a sense of trust and mistrust, largely depending on how well their needs are met by their caregivers
Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt – Toddlers (aged 18 months to 3 years) develop independence and autonomy if they are allowed the freedom to explore or come to feel shame and self-doubt if they are restricted or overprotected

15. Temperament
Patterns of arousal and emotionality that are consistent and enduring characteristics of an individual

16. Categorizing Temperament
Easy babies have a positive disposition. They are curious, have regular bodily functions, are adaptable, and have moderate to high intensity of emotions. About 40% of babies are easy babies.
Difficult babies have more negative moods, slower to adapt, tend to withdraw in new situations and make up about 10% of all infants.
Slow-to-warm babies are inactive and calm in their environment. They generally are negative and withdraw in new situations. Approximately 15% of infants are slow-to warm.
35% of infants are a combination

17. Goodness of Fit
development is dependent upon the degree of match between children’s temperament and the nature and demands of the environment in which they are being raised.

18. Gender – the sense of being male or female
Male infants tend to be fussier and more active than females
Female infants tend to sleep less disturbed than males

19. Infant child care