• Forming the Roots of Sociability
  • Emotions in Infancy: Do Infants Experience Emotional Highs and Lows?
  • Across every culture, infants show similar facial expressions relating to basic emotions.
    • Nonverbal encoding – nonverbal expressions of emotional state
    • Consistent across ages – born with ability

Maximally Discriminative Facial Movement Coding System (MAX) ­

  • Experiencing Emotions
  • a) The fact that children display nonverbal expressions in a manner similar to that of adults does not necessarily mean that their actual experience is identical.
    • Expressions may be emotionless – most developmentalists don’t agree
    • Most developmental researchers argue that the nonverbal expressions of infants represent actual emotional experiences.
    • Expressions may help regulate emotions
    • Degree of expressivity variable, and there are cultural differences.
  • Stranger Anxiety and Separation Anxiety
    • Stranger anxiety­ begins at around 6 months of age; caution and wariness displayed by infants when encountering a strange person.

     Due to the increased cognitive abilities of infants, allowing them to separate whom they know from whom they don’t.

       Can’t predict actions of strangers ­ anxiety

        Although common, significant differences exist between children.       Less afraid of females/less afraid of strange kids

  • Separation anxiety is the distress displayed by infants when a customary care provider departs. 8­9 months.
  • Smiling
    • Early smiles – 6­9 weeks – usually directed at things they like.
    • The social smile – smiling in reference to other individuals. Smiles become more directed toward by 18 months.
  • Decoding Others’ Facial and Vocal Expressions
    • Infants are able to use nonverbal decoding ­ discriminate facial and vocal expressions of emotion early in infancy.
      • Their ability to tell emotions from vocalizations start first – hearing better than sight
      • After about 8 weeks, infants can begin to discriminate among facial expressions of emotions and respond to differences in types and intensity of emotions conveyed by facial expressions.
      • By the age of 4 months, infants may be able to understand the emotions that lie behind facial and vocal expressions of others.

Infants will respond with distress to mother’s unusual facial expressions(blank, unresponsive, neutral)

  • Unusual facial expression – mothers showed blank faces.
  • Social Referencing: Feeling What Others Feel
    • Social referencing is the intentional search for information about others’ feelings to help explain the meaning of uncertain circumstances and events.
    • a) 8­9 months. Key on facial expressions; give an infant a new toy, if primary caregiver looks horrified when infant approaches, they will stop – use mom’s reaction to react themselves.
    • Two Explanations of Social Referencing –
      • Observing facial expressions brings about emotion in self.
      • Facial expression provide information
    • The Development of Self: Do Infants Know Who They Are?
      • When we are first born, we don’t recognize that we exist as an individual, separate from the world around us.
      • Self­awareness – knowledge about themselves; begins at around 12 months.
      • Self­awareness is assessed by the mirror and rouge

*Primary caregivers wipes rouge on infant’s nose and place them in front of mirror. Before 15 months, babies do not realize that the reflection is them. 17­24 months, the babies try t wire the rouge away from their face.

In an experiment known as the “rouge test,” mothers wiped a bit of rouge on the noses of their children and placed them in front of a mirror. Before 15 months, children look at the reflection and see a red spot on the nose in the mirror, but they don’t realize that the red spot is on their own nose.

  • Theory of Mind: Infants’ Perspectives on the Mental Lives of Others—and Themselves 1. Theory of mind­ knowledge/beliefs about how mind functions, influences behaviors
  • a) Infants see others as compliant agents­ similar beings who behave under own power; respond to infant.
  • By age 2, infants demonstrate empathy, an emotional response that corresponds to the feelings of another person. They will often try to comfort others who seem to be in pain or sad.
  • Forming Relationships
  • Attachment: Forming Social Bonds Attachment – emotional bond with another person

infants seek physical closeness; distress when PC leaves. Why? PC feeds infant, transfers good feelings of being fed to PC. Bowlby­want to be close for protection.

Theorists used to believe that infants became attached to primary caregiver because primary caregiver fed them.  Over time, infant transfers good feelings of being fed/cared for to attachment figure.

However, in a series of controversial experiments conducted in 1960s, Harlow demonstrated the powerful effects of physical contact. By showing the devastating effects of deprivation on young rhesus monkeys, Harlow revealed the importance of a mother’s love for healthy childhood development. His experiments were often unethical and shockingly cruel, yet they uncovered fundamental truths that have heavily influenced our understanding of child development.

The Wire Mother Experiment: Harlow’s most famous experiment involved giving young rhesus monkeys a choice between two different “mothers.” One was made of soft terrycloth, but provided no food. The other was made of wire, but provided food from an attached baby bottle. These rhesus monkeys were separated from their own mother and “raised” with one of the two fake mothers.

In a later experiment, Harlow demonstrated that young monkeys would also turn to their cloth surrogate mother for comfort and security, but would feed from the wire mother. Security and comfort – would explore strange room in her presence. Mother removed – infants froze up, crouched, rocked, screamed, and cried.

Attachment Differences

Ainsworth’s “Strange Situation” ­ In the study, researchers observed children between the ages of 12 and 18 months as they responded to a situation in which they were briefly left alone and then reunited with their mothers.

  • Mother and baby are alone in an unfamiliar room with toys.
  • Mother sits down and baby is free to explore and play with the toys.
  • An unfamiliar adult enters the room.
  • Mother leaves the room; the baby stays with the unfamiliar adult.
  • Mother comes back into the room; the stranger leaves.
  • Mother leaves baby alone in the room.
  • Stranger comes back instead of mother.
  • Stranger leaves and mother comes back into the room.

Patterns of Attachment (Parenting style doesn’t always predict/cause attachment style)

  • Secure Attachment – distress upon separation; joy upon return­ Knows PC will return, seek PC when frightened.
  • Ambivalent Attachment – very distressed when PC leaves; may seek proximity while twisting away.
  • Avoidant Attachment – no distress when PC leaves; no proximity seeking upon return; abusive and neglectful PC
  • Disorganized Attachment – confusing mix of behaviors; inconsistent behavior from PC.

Problems with Attachment

The monkeys in Harlow’s study showed grave social deficits as adults. Aggressive or fearful around other monkeys. Females that he was able to breed either abused or abandoned her offspring. The males did not have the socialization that was expected of their mating behavior, instead they raped.

What happens to children who do not form secure attachments? Research suggests that failure to form secure attachments early in life can have a negative impact on behavior in later childhood and throughout the life. Kids with oppositional­defiant disorder, conduct disorder, and post­traumatic distress disorder often show attachment problems.

reactive attachment disorder – extreme difficulties forming attachments. Attach to no one or they attach to anyone.

While attachment styles displayed in adulthood are not necessarily the same as those seen in infancy, research indicates that early attachments can have a serious impact on later relationships. E. Infant Interactions: Developing a Working Relationship 1. Infants may develop multiple attachment relationships.

  • The development of relationships occurs according to the mutual regulation model– infants/parents learn to communicate emotional states, response properly. Turn taking games/ cues from facial expressions.
  • Attachment is further increased by the process of reciprocal socialization­ infant’s behaviors invite further responses; same for caregivers.
  • Infants’ Sociability with Their Peers: Infant­Infant Interaction o Infants react positively to the presence of other infants. o More interest in babies than objects o 1 year – share toys o 14 moths – imitate each other o Learn new skills and behaviors.

III.            Differences Among Infants

  • Personality Development: The Characteristics That Make Infants Unique
    • The origins of personality, the sum total of the enduring characteristics that differentiate one individual from another, begin in infancy.
    • Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development considers how individuals come to understand themselves and the meaning of others—and their own—behavior.
      • Infancy marks the time of the trust­versus­mistrust stage (birth to 18 months) – depends largely on how well and promptly the primary care provider meets infants needs
      • In late infancy (1½ to 3 years) children enter the autonomy­versus­shame­anddoubt stage­ doubtful of own abilities if overprotected/inhibited.
    • Erikson – personality largely shaped by infant experiences.
    • A lot of personality present at birth, before social interactions.
  • Temperament: Stabilities in Infant Behavior
    • Temperament­ patterns of emotionality/arousal. How kids behave, not what they do or why.
    • Temperament is not fixed and unchangeable.
    • Child­rearing practices can modify temperament significantly.
    • Temperament shows stability from infancy through adolescence.
    • There are several dimensions to temperament.
      • Activity level –overall movement
      • Irritability – easy going or easily disturbed
      • Adaptability – how well they react to changes in environment
      • Approach/withdrawal – how they handle new people/objects
      • Rhythmicity – regularity of biological cycles
  • Categorizing Temperament: Easy, Difficult, and Slow­to­Warm Babies
  • a) Thomas, and Chess (1980) describe three profiles of temperament.
    • Easy babies – positive, regular, adaptable, curious, moderate to low emotionality. About 40% of all babies
    • Difficult babies – fairly negative, slow to adapt, withdrawal, 10%
    • Slow­to­warm babies – calm, slightly negative, slow to adapt, withdrawal. 15%
  • The consequences of Temperament: Does Temperament Matter?
  • a) No temperament is inherently good or bad.
    • Long­term adjustment depends on the goodness­of­fit­ between the temperament of baby and the environment PC provides.
    • A key determinant is the way parents react to the infant’s behavior.
    • Easy to lose your cool with difficult baby.
  • Gender: Boys in Blue, Girls in Pink
    • An infant’s gender, the sense of being male or female, has effects throughout life.
      • The term “gender” does not mean the same thing as “sex.” Gender is actually a social construct. Sex – sexual anatomy.
      • We project those roles onto infant
      • Fathers spend more time with sons – rough play
      • Mothers spend more time with daughters – traditional baby games
      • Differing social experiences.
    • Gender Differences
      • There is a considerable amount of disagreement about extent and causes of gender difference, but some differences are clear from the time of birth.
      • Males – more active, fussier; more disturbed sleep; more irritable; more variability within the males?

Boys are encouraged more to explore/Girls are protected(prenatal hormones)

  • Gender Roles
    • Gender differences emerge more clearly as children age, and become increasingly influenced by the gender roles that society sets out for them.
    • Prefer different toys. Is that innate, or socially determined?

Society tends to be more concerned with a male preferring a “female toy” or activity than a female choosing a “male toy” or activity

  • By age of 2, boys are more independent, less compliant
  • Boys encouraged to explore, girls protected. Prenatal hormones

Family Life in the 21st Century

Statistics about family life show that today infants are being raised in stressful environments.

More single parent households

Over ½ of infants have mothers who work outside the home.

  • in 3 children live in poverty.
  • How Does Infant Child Care Affect Later Development?
  • Many children are cared for outside the home for a portion of the day.
    • Thirty percent of preschool children whose mothers work outside the home spend their days in day care centers.
    • Overall, more than 80 percent of infants are cared for by people other than their mothers during the first year of life.
    • Majority start day care before 4 months; 30 hours a week.
    • High quality day care only slightly different from home care; can be beneficial
    • More social interactions; more money.
    • Low quality day care – may mean kids are less securely attached
    • Especially if multiple caregivers, unresponsive moms

Longer hours are problematic as well – ideally, less than 40 hours a week.