Transcript Chapter 7
The Developing Person Through the Life Span 8e by Kathleen Stassen Berger Chapter 7 – The First Two Years: Psychosocial Development PowerPoint Slides developed by Martin Wolfger and Michael James Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington Reviewed by Raquel Henry Lone Star College, Kingwood Emotional Development Infants’ Emotions • Smiling and Laughing – Social smile (6 weeks): Evoked by viewing human faces – Laughter (3 to 4 months): Often associated with curiosity • Anger – First expressions at around 6 months – Healthy response to frustration • Sadness – Indicates withdrawal and is accompanied by increased production of cortisol – Stressful experience for infants Emotional Development • Fear: Emerges at about 9 months in response to people, things, or situations Emotional Development • Stranger wariness: – Infant no longer smiles at any friendly face but cries or looks frightened when an unfamiliar person moves too close • Separation anxiety: – Tears, dismay, or anger when a familiar caregiver leaves. – If it remains strong after age 3, it may be considered an emotional disorder. Emotional Development Toddlers’ Emotions • Anger and fear become less frequent and more focused • Laughing and crying become louder and more discriminating • New emotions appear: pride, shame, embarrassment, guilt • Require an awareness of other people • Emerge from family interactions, influenced by the culture Emotional Development • Self-awareness – The realization that one’s body, mind, and actions are separate from those of other people. • First 4 months: Infants have no sense of self; may see themselves as part of their mothers. • 5 months: Begin to develop an awareness of themselves as separate from their mothers. Emotional Development Mirror Recognition • Classic experiment (M. Lewis & Brooks, 1978) – Babies aged 9–24 months looked into a mirror after a dot of rouge had been put on their noses. – None of those younger than 12 months old reacted as if they knew the mark was on them. – 15- to 24-month-olds showed selfawareness by touching their own noses with curiosity. Social Impulses • Emotional Self-regulation – Directly connected to maturation of the anterior cingulate gyrus • Particular people begin to arouse specific emotions – Toddlers get angry when teased by an older sibling or react with fear when entering the doctor’s office. – Memory triggers specific emotions based on previous experiences. Stress • Hypothalamus – Regulates various bodily functions and hormone production – May grow more slowly if an infant is often stressed • Abuse (form of chronic stress) – Potential long-term effects on a child’s emotional development – Excessive stress in infants must be prevented Stress Stress can be avoided by: • supporting new mothers • involving new fathers in the care of the infant • strengthening the parents’ relationship Brain Maturation and the Emotions • Synesthesia – When one sense triggers another in the brain – Common in infants because boundaries between sensory parts of the cortex are less distinct. • Cross-modal perception – Infant associates textures with vision, sounds with smells, own body with the bodies of others – Basis for early social understanding • Synesthesia of emotions – Infant’s cry can be triggered by pain, fear, tiredness, or excitement; laughter can turn to tears. – Emotions are difficult to predict because of the way infants’ brains are activated. Brain Maturation and the Emotions Temperament • Inborn differences between one person and another in emotions, activity, and selfregulation • Temperament is epigenetic, originating in the genes but affected by child-rearing practices The N.Y. Longitudinal Study Findings • Found 4 categories of temperament – – – – Easy (40%) Difficult (10%) Slow to warm up (15%) Hard to classify (35%) Additional findings: • Parenting practices are crucial, temperament can change or be changed Goodness of Fit • A similarity of temperament and values that produces a smooth interaction between an individual and his or her social context – includes family, school, and community. • With a good fit – parents of difficult babies build a close relationship – parents of exuberant, curious infants learn to protect them from harm – parents of slow-to-warm-up toddlers give them time to adjust Theories of Infant Psychosocial Development Psychoanalytic Theory Freud: Oral and Anal Stages • Oral stage (first year): The mouth is the young infant’s primary source of gratification • Anal stage (second year): Infant’s main pleasure comes from the anus (e.g. sensual pleasure of bowel movements and the psychological pleasure of controlling them) Potential conflicts: • Oral fixation: If denied the infant urge to suck, may become an adult who is stuck (fixated) at the oral stage (e.g. eats, drinks, chews, bites, or talks excessively) • Anal personality: Overly strict or premature toilet training may result in an adult with an unusually strong need for control, regularity and cleanliness Theories of Infant Psychosocial Development Erikson: Trust and Autonomy • Trust versus mistrust – Infants learn basic trust if the world is a secure place where their basic needs are met • Autonomy versus shame and doubt – Toddlers either succeed or fail in gaining a sense of self-rule over their actions and bodies • Early problems can create an adult who is suspicious and pessimistic (mistrusting) or who is easily shamed (insufficient autonomy) Theories of Infant Psychosocial Development Behaviorism • Parents mold an infant’s emotions and personality through reinforcement and punishment • Social learning – The acquisition of behavior patterns by observing the behavior of others – Demonstrated in the classic Bobo Doll study by Albert Bandura Theories of Infant Psychosocial Development Cognitive Theory • Working model: a set of assumptions used to organize perceptions and experiences – A person might assume that other people are trustworthy and be surprised by evidence that this working model of human behavior is erroneous. – The child’s interpretation of early experiences is more important than the experiences themselves. – New working models can be developed based on new experiences or reinterpretation of previous experiences. Theories of Infant Psychosocial Development Ethnotheory • A theory that underlies the values and practices of a culture but is not usually apparent to the people within the culture. • Example: – Culture’s ethnotheory includes the belief in reincarnation – Children are not expected to show respect for adults, but adults must show respect for their reborn ancestors indulgent child-rearing – Perceived as extremely lenient by Western cultures Proximal and Distal Parenting • Proximal parenting – Caregiving practices that involve being physically close to the baby, with frequent holding and touching • Distal parenting – Caregiving practices that involve remaining distant from the baby, providing toys, food, and face-to-face communication with minimal holding and touching Proximal and Distal Parenting Synchrony • A coordinated, rapid, and smooth exchange of responses between a caregiver and an infant • Synchrony in the first few months – Becomes more frequent and more elaborate – Helps infants learn to read others’ emotions and to develop the skills of social interaction – Synchrony usually begins with parents imitating infants When Synchrony Disappears • Experiments using the still-face technique – An experimental practice in which an adult keeps his or her face unmoving and expressionless in face-toface interaction with an infant – Babies are very upset by the still face and show signs of stress • Conclusions: – A parent’s responsiveness to an infant aids psychological and biological development – Infants’ brains need social interaction to develop to their fullest Attachment • Attachment is a lasting emotional bond that one person has with another. – Attachments begin to form in early infancy and influence a person’s close relationships throughout life – Infants show attachment through proximityseeking (i.e. approaching caregiver) and contact-maintaining (i.e. touching, holding) Attachment Secure and Insecure Attachment 1. Secure attachment: An infant obtains both comfort and confidence from the presence of his or her caregiver. 2. Insecure-avoidant attachment: An infant avoids connection with the caregiver, as when the infant seems not to care about the caregiver’s presence, departure, or return. Secure and Insecure Attachment 3. Insecure-resistant/ambivalent attachment: An infant’s anxiety and uncertainty are evident, as when the infant becomes very upset at separation from the caregiver and both resists and seeks contact on reunion. 4. Disorganized attachment: A type of attachment that is marked by an infant’s inconsistent reactions to the caregiver’s departure and return. Secure and Insecure Attachment Measuring Attachment • Strange Situation – A laboratory procedure for measuring attachment by evoking infants’ reactions to the stress of various adults’ comings and goings in an unfamiliar playroom. • Key behaviors to observe: – Exploration of the toys. A secure toddler plays happily. – Reaction to the caregiver’s departure. A secure toddler misses the caregiver. – Reaction to the caregiver’s return. A secure toddler welcomes the caregiver’s reappearance. Measuring Attachment Measuring Attachment Social Referencing • Social referencing – Seeking information about how to react to an unfamiliar or ambiguous object or event by observing someone else’s expressions and reactions. • Mothers use a variety of expressions, vocalizations, and gestures to convey social information to their infants. Fathers as Social Partners • Fathers usually spend less time with infants than mothers do and are less involved parents • Reasons: – Fathers’ own ideas of appropriate male behavior – Mothers often limit fathers’ interactions with their children • Quality of marital relationship is best predictor – Happier husbands tend to be more involved fathers Comparing Fathers and Mothers • Selected research findings: – Teenagers are less likely to lash out at friends and authorities if they experienced a warm, responsive relationship with their fathers as infants (TrautmannVillalba et al., 2006). – Close father–infant relationships can teach infants (especially boys) appropriate expressions of emotion (Boyce et al., 2006). – Close relationships with their infants reduce fathers’ risk of depression (Borke et al., 2007; Bronte-Tinkew et al., 2007). – Mothers tend to engage in more caregiving and comforting, and fathers tend to engage in more highintensity play (Kochanska et al., 2008). Infant Day Care • Family day care – Child care that includes several children of various ages and usually occurs in the home of a woman who is paid to provide it. • Center day care – Child care that occurs in a place especially designed for the purpose, where several paid adults care for many children. – Usually the children are grouped by age, the day-care center is licensed, and providers are trained and certified in child development. Infant Day Care The Effects of Infant Day Care • The impact of nonmaternal care depends on many factors. • Psychosocial characteristics, including secure attachment, are influenced more by the mother’s warmth than by the number of hours spent in nonmaternal care. • Quality of care is crucial, no matter who provides that care.