Chapter 6: Emotional Development in Infancy …s3.amazonaws.com/prealliance_oneclass_sample/z01b7O1WRP.pdfChapter 6: Emotional Development in Infancy Emotional Development Defining

Chapter 6: Emotional Development in Infancy

Emotional Development

Defining Emotion

-an emotion is defined as a feeling, or affect, that occurs when a person is in a state or an

interaction that is important to him or her, especially to his or her well-being

-almost all emotions are classified as either positive or negative

-positive emotions include enthusiasm, joy, and love

-negative emotions include anxiety, anger, guilt, and sadness

Biological and Environmental Influences

-emotions are influenced both by biological foundations and by a person's experience

-biological influences can be seen in the changes in a baby's emotional capacities

-certain regions of the brain develop early in life (i.e.: brain stem, hippocampus, and

amygdala) and play a role in distress, excitement, and rage

-maturation of the frontal regions of the cerebral cortex is tied to the ability to regulate

their emotions; frontal cortex can exert control over other areas in the brain

-environmental influences are found through our relationships, attachment and culture

-social relationships provide the setting for the development of emotions

-culture provides diversity in emotional experiences

-e.g.: East Asian infants display less frequent and less positive and negative emotions

than non-Latino infants because Asian parents encourage their children to show

emotional reserve rather than emotional expressivity

Early Emotions

-primary emotions are emotions that are present in humans and other animals

-these emotions appear in the first 6 months of the human infant's development

-e.g.: surprise, interest, joy, anger, sadness, fear, and disgust

-self-conscious emotions require self-awareness that involves consciousness and a sense of "me"

-e.g.: jealousy, empathy, embarrassment, pride, shame, and guilt

-other-conscious emotions involve embarrassment, shame, and guilt because they

involve the emotional reactions of others when they are generated

-e.g.: when parents show approval, toddlers show pride

-it is difficult to determine when infants develop self-conscious emotions because it is

hard to index early emotions

Emotional Expression and Social Relationships

-interactions between infants and people are mutually regulated

-parents change their emotional expressions in response to infants' emotional expressions

-infants modify their emotional expressions in response to their parent's emotional

expressions

-the interactions are described as reciprocal / synchronous when everything is going

well

-the babies' first forms of emotional communication:

1) Crying

-crying is the most important mechanism of communication in newborns

-there are at least 3 types of cry:

a) Basic Cry

-a rhythmic pattern that usually consists of a cry, followed by a briefer silence, then a

shorter inspiratory whistle that is somewhat higher in pitch than the main cry, then

another brief rest before the next cry

-e.g.: a hunger cry

b) Anger Cry

-a variation of the basic cry

-more excess air is forced through the vocal chords

c) Pain Cry

-stimulated by high-intensity stimuli

-a sudden appearance of loud crying without preliminary moaning and a long initial cry

followed by an extended period of breath holding

-developmentalists argue that an infant cannot be spoiled in the first year of life and by soothing

a crying an infant (rather than being unresponsive) there is a sense of trust and secure attachment

2) Smiling

-there are 2 types of smiling

a) Reflexive Smiling

-does not occur in response to external stimuli

-appears during the 1st month after birth and during irregular patterns of sleep

b) Social Smiling

-occurs in response to an external stimulus, which is typically a face

-occurs more as infant grows

-toddlers become aware of the social meaning of smiles as they grow older

3) Fear

-appears at about 6 months

-infant fear is linked to guilt, empathy, and low aggression

a) Stranger Anxiety

-an infant shows fear and wariness of strangers

-emerges gradually

-infants show less stranger anxiety when they are in familiar settings (a sense of security)

b) Separation Protest

-infants experience fear of being separated from their caregivers

-involves crying when the caregiver leaves

Emotion Regulation and Coping

-emotion regulation consists of effectively managing arousal to adapt to and reach a goal

-the infant gradually develops the ability to inhibit or minimize the intensity and duration of

emotional reactions

-caregivers' actions influence the infant's neurobiological regulation of emotions; caregivers help

infants modulate their emotion and reduce the level of stress hormones

-contexts can influence emotional regulation

-infants are affected by fatigue, hunger, time of day, and the people around them

-infants learn to adapt to different contexts that require emotional regulation

-it is important to teach toddlers to verbally express and resolve negative emotional states or they

will develop poor interpersonal skills and more likely to be victim of bullying

Temperament and Personality Development

Temperament

-is defined as an individual's behavioural style and characteristic way of emotionally responding

Chess and Thomas' Classification of Temperament

-classification of the 3 basic types of temperament:

1) Easy Child (40%)

-generally in a positive mood

-quickly establishes regular routines in infancy

-adapts easily to new experiences

2) Difficult Child (10%)

-tends to react negatively and cry frequently

-engages in irregular daily routines

-slow to accept new experiences

3) Slow-to-Warm-Up Child (15%)

-has a low activity level

-somewhat negative

-shows low adaptability

-displays a low intensity of mood

Kagan's Behavioural Inhibition

-another way of classifying temperament that focuses on the differences between a shy, subdued,

timid child and a sociable, extraverted, and bold child

-inhibition to the unfamiliar is characterized by shyness with strangers

-inhibited children react to many aspects of unfamiliarity with initial avoidance, distress,

or subdued affect

Rothbart and Bates' Classification

1) Extraversion / Surgency

-includes positive anticipation, impulsivity, activity level, and sensation seeking

-Kagan's uninhibited children fit into this category

2) Negative Affectivity

-includes fear, frustration, sadness, and discomfort

-children are easily distressed

-they may fret and cry often

-Kagan's inhibited children fit into this category

3) Effortful Control (Self-Regulation)

-includes attentional focusing and shifting, inhibitory control, perceptual sensitivity, and

low-intensity pleasure

-these infants show an ability to keep their arousal from getting too high and have

strategies for soothing themselves

-children low on effortful control become easily agitated and intensely emotional

Biological Foundations and Experience

-children inherit a physiology that biases them to have a particular type of temperament

-through experience, they may learn to modify their temperament to some degree

Biological Influences

-physiological characteristics have been linked with different temperaments

-an inhibited temperament is associated with a unique physiological patterns that include high

and stable heart rate, high level of cortisol, and high activity in the right frontal lobe of the brain

-the amygdala (involved in fear and inhibition) is easily excitable

-may be linked to low levels of serotonin which may increase vulnerability to fear and

frustration

-twin and adoption studies suggest that heredity has a moderate influence on differences in

temperament within a group of people

-temperament is a biologically-based but evolving aspect of behaviour

-it evolves as the child's experiences are incorporated into a network of self-perceptions

and behavioural preferences that characterize the child's personality

Gender, Culture, and Temperament

-gender is an important factor in shaping the context that influences the fate of temperament

-parents might react differently to an infant's temperament depending on whether the baby is a

boy or girl

-the reaction to an infant's temperament may depend on culture

-an active temperament may be valued in some cultures but not in other cultures (like

China)

-overall, many aspects of the child's temperament can discourage the persistence of temperament

characteristics

Goodness of Fit and Parenting

-goodness of fit refers to the match between a child's temperament and the environmental

demands the child must cope with; lack of fit between the child's temperament and

environmental demands can produce adjustment problems for the child

-some implications of temperamental variations for parenting include:

a) Attention to and Respect for Individuality

-parents need to be sensitive to the infant's signals and needs

-a goal of parenting might be accomplished in one way with one child and in another way

with another child, depending on the child's development

b) Structuring the Child's Environment

-crowded, noisy environments can pose greater problems for a 'difficult' child than an

'easygoing' child

-some children may benefit from slower entry into new contexts

c) The 'Difficult Child' and Packaged Parenting Programs

-acknowledgement that some children are harder to parent is often helpful and advice on

how to handle particular difficult temperament characteristics can also be useful

-the label 'difficult' should be used with care

-parental behaviour may have implications for infants' cognitive development in addition to their

social environment

Personality Development

Trust

-the trust versus mistrust stage of development characterizes the first year after birth (Erikson)

-infants learn trust when they are cared for in a consistent, warm manner; otherwise, mistrust

develops

-trust versus mistrust is not resolved once and for all in the 1st year of life

-e.g.: children who enter school with a sense of mistrust may regain a sense of trust

because of a responsive teacher; children who leave infancy with a sense of trust can still

have their sense of mistrust activated layer if their parents get divorced for example

Self

-individuals carry a sense of who they are and what makes them difference from everyone else

-this sense of self (real or imagined) is a strong motivating force in life

-infants find and construct their self

-signs of self-recognition and self-understanding began to appear among some infants when they

were 15-18 months old

-toddlers show other emerging forms of self-awareness that reflect a sense of "me"

-blind children have a sense of self at a young age but may develop slower than other infants

Independence

-a child goes through a separation and then an individuation process (Mahler)

-separation involves the infant's movement away from the mother

-individuation involves the development of self

-independence is an important issue in the second year of life (Erikson)

-the 2nd stage is the stage of autonomy versus shame / doubt

-autonomy builds on the infant's developing mental and motor abilities

-it is important for parents to recognize the motivation of toddlers to do what they

are capable of doing at their own pace

-shame and doubt develops when parents are impatient and do for toddlers what

they are capable of doing themselves

-the development of autonomy during the toddler years gives adolescents the courage to

be independent individuals who can choose and guide their own future

Social Orientation / Understanding and Attachment

Social Orientation / Understanding

Social Orientation

-face-to-face play often begins to characterize caregiver-infant interactions when the infant is

about to 2-3 months old of age

-the focused social interaction of face-to-face play may include vocalizations, touch,

gestures

-this creates a positive emotional state in their infants

-interaction with peers increases

-children increase their imitative and reciprocal play such as imitating non-verbal actions

like jumping and running

Locomotion

-as infants develop the ability to move, they are able to explore and expand their social world

-self-produced locomotor skills allow the infant to independently initiate social interchanges on a

more frequent basis

-locomotion is important for its motivational implications

-when infants have the ability to move in goal-directed pursuits, the reward from the

pursuits leads to further efforts to explore and develop skills

Intention, Goal-Directed Behaviour, and Cooperation

-perceiving people as engaging in intentional and goal-directed behaviour is an important social-

cognitive accomplishment

-joint attention occurs when the caregiver and infant focus on the same object or event

-in social understanding tasks, those with more social understanding were more likely to

cooperate

-to cooperate, children have to connect their own intentions with the peers' intentions and

put understanding to use in interacting with the peer to reach a goal

-social competence involves not being aggressive or defiant, showing empathy, and

engaging in sustained attention

Social Referencing

-involves "reading" emotional cues in others to determine how to act in a particular situation

more accurately (e.g.: when they encounter a stranger and need to know whether to fear the

person)

-helps children interpret ambiguous situations more accurately

Attachment and Its Development

-attachment is a relationship between 2 individuals who feel strongly about each other and do a

number of things to continue the relationship

-attachment is a close emotional bond between 2 people

-infant attachment is usually with 1 or more adult caregivers and involves a close emotional bond

-FREUD: infants become attached to the person or object that provides oral satisfaction (i.e.: the

mother)

-HARLOW: feeding is not as important as Freud thought

-Harlow evaluated whether feeding or contact comfort was more important to infant

attachment

-infant monkeys were removed from their mothers at birth and raised for 6 months by

surrogate mothers made of wire OR cloth

-half of the infants were fed by the wire mother and the other half were fed by the cloth

-the infant monkeys spent far more time with the cloth mother and therefore, CONTACT

COMFORT is important while feeding was not a crucial element in the attachment

process

-ERIKSON: the trust versus mistrust stage in the first year of infancy is the key time frame for

the development of attachment

-trust requires physical comfort and minimal amounts of fear

-BOWLBY: stressed the importance of attachment and the responsiveness of the caregiver early

in life

-an infant and the primary caregiver form an attachment

-the newborn is biologically equipped to elicit attachment behaviour

-attachment develops in 4 phases:

Phase 1:

-birth to 2 months

-infants instinctively direct their attachment to human figures

-strangers, siblings, and parents are equally likely to elicit smiling or crying from the

infant

Phase 2:

-2 to 7 months

-attachment becomes focused on one figure (i.e.: the primary caregiver)

-the baby gradually learns to distinguish familiar people from unfamiliar ones

Phase 3:

-7 to 24 months

-specific attachments develop

-baby actively seeks contact with regular caregivers

Phase 4:

-24 months +

-a goal-directed partnership is formed in which children become aware of others' feelings,

goals, and plans and begins to take these into account in forming their own actions

-attachment focuses on specific individuals and is reflected by the infant's behaviour in

the second half of the first year after birth

-infants visually recognize the differences between the caregiver and the stranger and has

some knowledge of causality of his or her own action

-physical, cognitive, and social developments are interrelated

Individual Differences in Attachment

-Ainsworth created the Strange Situation which is an observational measure of infant

attachment that requires the infant to move through a series of introductions, separations, and

reunions with the caregiver and an adult stranger in a prescribed order

-the goal is that their observations will provide information about the infant's motivation

to be near the caregiver and the degree to which the caregiver's presence provides the

infant with security and confidence

-based on how the baby responds, they are described as being securely attached or insecurely

attached in 1 of 3 ways:

1) Securely Attached Babies

-use the caregiver as a secure base from which to explore the environment

-in the presence of their caregiver, securely attached infants explore the room and examine toys

that have been placed in it

-when the caregiver departs, securely attached infants mildly protest, and when the caregiver

returns, the infants re-establish positive interaction; infants often resume play

2) Insecure Avoidant Babies

-show insecurity by avoiding the caregiver

-these babies engage in little interaction with the caregiver and display distress by crying when

the adult leaves the room

-babies usually do not re-establish contact upon reunion and may turn their back on the caregiver

at this point; if contact is established, the infants may lean or look away

3) Insecure Resistant Babies

-often cling to the caregivers and then resist them by fighting against the closeness, perhaps by

kicking or pushing away

-in the Strange Situation, these babies often cling anxiously to the caregivers and do not explore

the play room

-when the caregiver leaves, they often cry loudly and push away if they try to comfort them on

their return

4) Insecure Disorganized Babies

-show insecurity by being disorganized and disoriented

-in the Strange Situation, these babies might appear dazed, confused, and fearful

-strong patters of avoidance and resistance must be shown or extreme fearfulness around the

caregiver is present

-the Self-Determination Theory could add to our understanding of how attachment occurs

-it states that children are active agents, naturally inclined to explore their world through

interaction with various elements

-this inclination does not assure exploration, but influences the child's exploration activity

as social forces (i.e.: through the parents)

-since secure attachment involves a balance between attachment and exploration,

examination of how mothers and fathers promote or limit self-determined exploratory

behaviour is required

Caregiving Styles and Attachment Classifications

-securely-attached babies have caregivers who are sensitive to their needs and are consistently

available to respond to their infant's needs; these caregivers often let their babies have an active

part in determining the onset and pacing of interaction in the first year of life

-caregivers of avoidant babies tend to be unavailable or rejecting

-they often do not respond to their babies' signals and have little physical contact with

them

-when they do interact with their babies, they may behave in an angry and irritable way

toward them

-caregivers of insecure-resistant babies tend to be inconsistently available to their babies

-they sometimes respond to their babies' needs and sometimes do not

-they tend not to be very affectionate and show little synchrony when interacting with

them

-caregivers of disorganized babies often neglect or physically abuse their babies

-in some cases, caregivers might have depression

-the mother's state of mind and her sensitivity to her infant's needs directly mediates the infant's

level of attachment

-changes in the caregiving relationship over time may affect the stability of attachment patterns

-intense changes in the quality of mother-child interaction, low marital satisfaction, and

significant family events (i.e.: death, hospitalization, etc.) were related to a shift from

secure to insecure attachment patterns

Attachment, Temperament, and the Wider Social World

-early attachments seem to foreshadow later functioning

-early secure attachment was linked with positive emotional health, high self-esteem,

self-confidence, and socially competent interaction with peers, teachers, camp

counsellors, and romantic partners through adolescence

-being classified as insecure resistant in infancy was a negative predictor of cognitive

development in elementary school

-not all research reveals the power of infant attachment to predict subsequent development

-early secure attachment AND subsequent experiences, especially maternal care and life

stresses, are linked with children's later behaviour and adjustment

-CRITICISMS:

-too much emphasis on the attachment bond in infancy

-genetic characteristics and temperament play more important roles in a child's social

competence

-the attachment theory ignores the diversity of socializing agents and contexts that exists

in an infant's world; a culture's value system can influence the nature of attachment

Social Contexts

The Family

-the family can be thought of as a constellation of subsystems -a complex whole made up of

interrelated, interacting parts- defined in terms of generation, gender, and role

-each family member participates in several subsystems

-e.g.: father and child, mother and father, mother-father-child, etc.

-each system has reciprocal influences on each other

-e.g.: marital relations, parenting, and infant behaviour and development can have both

direct and indirect effects on each other

-direct influence may involve the influence of the parents' behaviour on the child

-indirect influence may involve how the relationship between the spouses mediates the

way a parent acts toward the child

The Transition to Parenthood

-parents want to develop a strong attachment to their infant, but they still want to maintain strong

attachments to each other and to friends and possibly continue their careers

-in an investigation, some couples said that they had enjoyed more positive martial relations

before the baby was born than after, some said that the baby had brought them closer together

-babies opened men up to a concern with intimate relationships, and the demands of juggling

work and family roles stimulated women to manage family tasks more efficiently and pay

attention to their personal growth

Reciprocal Socialization

-socialization between parents and children was viewed as a one way process: children were

considered to be the product of their parents' socialization techniques

-parent-child interaction is actually reciprocal

-reciprocal socialization is socialization that is bi-directional; children socialize parents just as

parents socialize children

-e.g.: the interaction of mothers and their infants is symbolized as a dance or a dialogue in

which the successive actions of the partners are closely coordinated

-each person's behaviours depends on the partner's previous behaviour

-mutual gaze / eye contact is important in early social interaction

-the behaviours of mothers and infants involve substantial interconnection, mutual

regulation, and synchronization

-parent-infant synchrony is the temporal coordination of social behaviour

-it plays an important role in children's development

-parent-infant synchrony was linked to children's self-regulation

-scaffolding is an important form of reciprocal socialization in which parents time interactions in

such a way that the infant experiences turn-taking with the parents

-it involves parental behaviour that supports children's efforts, allowing them to be more

skilful than they would be if they were to rely on their own abilities

-e.g.: in the game peek-a-boo, the mother initially covers the baby, then she removes the

cover and registers "surprise" at the infant's reappearance

Maternal and Paternal Caregiving

-mothers have traditionally been the ones to stay at home and raise the children, but this has

changed as a result of their increased involvement in the labour market

-fathers began staying home with their children for a number of reasons, including

unemployment, post-secondary school attendance, and choice to be more involved in the raising

of their children

-studies reveal that stay-at-home fathers were satisfied with their marriage as traditional parents,

although they indicated that they missed their daily life in the workplace

-observations of fathers and their infants suggest that fathers have the ability to act as sensitively

and responsively as mothers with their infants

-maternal interactions usually centre on child care activities (i.e.: feeding, changing

diapers, bathing, etc.)

-paternal interactions are more likely to include play and engage in more rough-and-

tumble play

-fathers were more involved in caregiving when they worked fewer hours and mothers worked

more hours, when mothers and fathers were younger, when mothers reported greater marital

intimacy, and when the children were boys

Parental Leaves

-regardless of parental styles, taking care of children requires a substantial amount of time

-in Canada, both the federal and provincial/territorial governments have parental leave policies

-Employment Insurance helps parents during their leave

-for maternal and paternal leave, a couple can split 35 weeks of partially-paid parental

leave, in addition to 15 weeks of maternity leave after birth or adoption of a child

-because parental benefits only cover 55% of weekly earnings, Canadian fathers outside of

Quebec are very unlikely to take advantage of the parental leave benefits

-the number of men taking parental leaves has still risen

Child Care

-there are various forms of non-parental care:

-care can be provided in a regulated facility where provincial standards are maintained

and checked

-care can be given by a relative or non-relative at our outside the child's home

-nearly 70% of children with both parents working or a working single parent were cared for by

a relative, an in-home caregiver, or an unregulated child care provider

-child care quality makes a difference

-stress levels went up for children in low quality daycare and for those children with

difficult temperaments

-in high quality child care:

-caregivers encourage the children to be actively engaged in a variety of activities, have

frequent, positive interactions that include smiling, touching, holding, and speaking at the

child's eye level, respond properly to the child's questions or requests, and encourage

children to talk about their experiences, feelings, and ideas

-also involves providing children with safe environments, access to age-appropriate toys

and participation in age-appropriate activities, and a low caregiver-child ration

-children are more likely to experience poor quality child care if they come from families with

few resources

-Canada placed 21 out of 29 countries for over-all child well being

-Canada has initiated efforts to revitalize its commitment to early childhood development