Life Span Development The First Two Years: Psychosocial Development – Chapter 7

1. Life Span DevelopmentThe First Two Years:Psychosocial Development – Chapter 7 June 22, 2004 Class #5

2. Theories About Early Psychosocial Development Psychoanalytic Theory Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development Behavioral Theory Cognitive Theory Epigenetic Theory Sociocultural Theory

3. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): Background Information • 1881: At age 25, earned MD and went into private practice specializing in neurological disorders • Became interested in hidden aspects of personality when he found himself confronted with patients whose apparent disorders made no neurological sense

4. Classic Freudian Setting • What is the classic setting? • Why this set-up? • He used hypnosis and then free association • Iceberg Theory of the Mind • Our access to what goes on in our mind is very limited • The majority is in our unawareness • Freud felt nothing was accidental – dreams, slips of tongue, slips of pen, etc.

5. Freud’s Life • 1884: Began to experiment with cocaine • Felt that this “magical substance” relieved depression • Deeply scarred by this “cocaine episode” • 1885: He bounces back and gets grant to study hysteria and hypnosis under Jean Charcot in Paris • Major break in his career • All of psychology might be different today • These five months changed his life and maybe ours forever

6. Freud’s Life • 1902: Vienna Wednesday Psychoanalytic Society • Initially took place in Freud’s apartment • Founded officially in 1910 and Alfred Adler became first president • After a dispute with Freud, Adler resigned and Freud took over as president of the Society until 1938

7. Agree or be uninvited next week… • Freud saw himself as the leader, teacher, and prophet of this group of intellectuals

8. Freud’s Life • 1906 • Begins correspondence with Carl Jung • From “crown prince” to traitor • Freud couldn’t deal with Jung’s belief in mythology and the collective unconscious and ghosts • 1913 • Breaks all ties with Jung and his followers • 1918 • Loses entire fortune which was tied up in Austrian State Bonds

9. Freud’s Life • 1923 • The first signs of Freud’s oral cancer are detected • 1920’s • Honors, honors, and more honors • 1930 • A heart attack forces him to give up smoking (for awhile anyway) • 1930’s • More honors • 1939 • Freud dies

10. The Psychosexual Stages • Oral • Anal • Phallic • Latency • Genital

11. Freud’s Oral Stage • About first 12-18 months of life • Focus: sucking, biting, etc. • According to Freud, a fixation here causes which problems as an adult?

12. Freud’s Anal Stage • Approx. 18 months to three years of age • Anal region is focus • Toilet-training, etc. • Fixation causes???

13. Erik Erikson (1902-1994) • Erikson was a follower of Sigmund Freud who broke with his teacher over the fundamental point of what motivates or drives human behavior… • For Freud it was biology or more specifically the biological instincts of life and aggression • For Erikson, who was not trained in biology and/or the medical sciences the most important force driving human behavior and the development of personality was social interaction

14. Erik Erikson (1902-1994) • Felt we developed in psychosocial stages… • Emphasized developmental change throughout the human life span • In Erikson’s theory, eight stages of development unfold as we go through the life span • Each stage consists of a crisis that must be faced • According to Erikson, this crisis is not a catastrophe but a turning point of increased vulnerability and enhanced potential • The more an individual resolves the crises successfully, the healthier development will be

15. Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development • Trust vs. Mistrust • Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt • Initiative vs. Guilt • Industry vs. Inferiority • Identity vs. Role Confusion • Intimacy vs. Isolation • Generativity vs. Stagnation • Integrity vs. Despair

16. Trust vs. Mistrust • Experienced in the first year of life… • A sense of trust requires a feeling of physical comfort and a minimal amount of fear and apprehension about the future • Trust in infancy sets the stage for a lifelong expectation that the world will be a good and pleasant place to live

17. Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt • Occurs in late infancy and toddlerhood (1-3 years)… • They start to assert their sense of independence, or autonomy • They realize their will • Parents need to allow them to do things for themselves • If infants are restrained too much or punished too harshly, they are likely to develop a sense of shame and doubt

18. Behavioral Theory Infant’s emotions and personality are molded as parents reinforce or punish child’s spontaneous behavior social learning adds to personality formation social referencing strengthens learning by observation

19. Cognitive Theory Individual’s thoughts and values determine perspective on the world Working model—set of assumptions used to organize perceptions and experiences

20. Epigenetic Theory Each child is born with a genetic predisposition to develop certain traits that affect emotional development Temperament—“constitutionally based individual differences in emotion, motor, and attentional reactivity and self-regulation.” inhibited uninhibited epigenetic—though personality traits not learned, environment affects their expression

21. Temperament and Caregiving Inhibited vs. Uninhibited responsive care and encouragement can help inhibited children become less so Match between parent and child goodness of fit

22. Sociocultural Theory Emphasizes the many ways social context can have impact on infant-caregiver relationship If social context changes, child can change

23. Emotional Development in Infancy In the first 2 years of emotional development, infants progress from simple reactions to complex patterns of social awareness

24. The First Year Newborns’ first discernable emotions distress contentment Later emotions (after first weeks) anger fear, expressed clearly by stranger warinessandseparation anxiety

25. The Second Year Fear and anger typically decrease Laughing, crying: more discriminating New emotions appear pride shame embarrassment guilt

26. Self-Awareness Foundation for emotional growth realization of individual distinctions At about 5 months begin developing a sense of self apart from mother 15-18 months the “Me-self” rouge experiment

27. Pride and Shame Self-awareness becomes linked with self-concept early on Negative comments more likely to lead to less pride or shame Own pride can be more compelling than parental approval

28. Synchrony Synchrony—coordinated interaction; attunement Helps infants learn to express own feelings Imitation is pivotal Becomes more elaborate and more frequent with time Learning through play playful interactions by both partners important for both to be responsive

29. Attachment • A deep, affectionate, close, and enduring relationship that an infant has to his or her caregivers during their first year of life is of utmost importance • This is illustrated in Harry Harlow’s experiments with monkeys at the Primate Laboratory of the University of Wisconsin

30. Harlow (1959) • In Harlow's initial experiments infant monkeys were separated from their mothers at six to twelve hours after birth and were raised instead with substitute or 'surrogate' mothers made either of heavy wire or of wood covered with soft terry cloth • In one experiment both types of surrogates were present in the cage, but only one was equipped with a nipple from which the infant could nurse • Some infants received nourishment from the wire mother, and others were fed from the cloth mother • Even when the wire mother was the only source of nourishment, the infant monkey spent a greater amount of time clinging to the cloth surrogate

31. Harlow’s Surrogate Mothers

32. Unfortunately… • The actions of surrogate-raised monkeys became bizarre later in life… • They engaged in stereotyped behavior patterns such as clutching themselves and rocking constantly back and forth • They exhibited excessive and misdirected aggression

33. To make matters worse… • Sex behavior was for all practical purposes destroyed… • Sexual posturing was commonly stereotyped and infantile • Frequently when surrogate-raised female monkey was approached by a normal male monkey, she would sit unmoved, squatting upon the floor… • Harlow referred to this as a posture in which “only her heart was in the right place”

34. And worse… • When a typical surrogate-raised male approached an in-estrus female he would clasp the head instead of the hind legs, and then engage in pelvic thrusts • Other surrogate-raised males would grasp the female's body laterally, whereby all sexual efforts were futile

35. And still worse… • Later in life, the behavior of these monkeys as mothers themselves – the 'motherless mothers' as Harlow called them – proved to be very inadequate ... • These mothers tended to be either indifferent or abusive toward their babies • The indifferent mothers did not nurse, comfort, or protect their young, but they did not harm them • The abusive mothers violently bit or otherwise injured their infants, to the point that many of them died

36. Fortunately… • Most infants do have a consistent caregiver… • Usually this is the mother to whom they can form an attachment • By the age of six or seven months infants show signs of preferring their mother to anyone else • Once this attachment has been formed, even a 30 minute separation can be very stressful to the infant • Later on, infants develop attachments to their fathers as well

37. Variations in attachment • The amount of closeness and contact the infant seeks with either parent depends on: • The infant • Those who are ill or tired may require more closeness • The parent • If a parent is absent or unresponsive then the infant is likely to need more contact when the parent is around

38. Secure Attachment • Sroufe et al. (1983) • Studied securely attached infants (12-18 months of age) and then again when were 2-3 years of age… • They found they were more outgoing, responsive, enthusiastic and persistent • Functioning much better than insecurely attached toddlers • The infant’s urge to be close to mother is balanced by urge to explore the environment

39. Types of Insecure Attachment • Avoidant • Infant tends to avoid or ignore mother when she approaches or returns after a brief separation • Ambivalent • Infant is upset when mother leaves, but acts angry and rejects mother’s efforts at contact after a brief separation • Disorganized • Infant’s behavior is inconsistent, disturbed, and disturbing

40. Measuring Attachment Strange Situation—lab procedure to measure attachment; observed are exploration of the toys (caregiver present) reaction to caregiver’s departure reaction to caregiver’s return disorganized behavior—neither secure nor insecure attachment—marked by inconsistent behavior of caregiver and infant toward each other

41. Insecure Attachment as a Warning Sign Stressed mother (although not always an indicator) Mother too withdrawn Inconsistent behavior of mother (conflicting messages sent by her) Insecure attachments repairable

42. Social Referencing Looking to others for cues

43. Referencing Mom Look to mother for comfort Mother’s tone and expression can become guide to how to react to unfamiliar or ambiguous event

44. Fathers play more than mothers Infants look to fathers for fun and physical play Physically active play with fathers may contribute to development of social skills and emotional expression Physically active play with fathers helps children master motor skills and develop muscle control Referencing Dad

45. Cultural Differences Fathers, single mothers, grandparents, and cultures with other family structures still provide needed referencing Father’s involvement can benefit later development of child raise mother’s self-confidence and two parents working together are better able to meet infant’s needs than either alone

46. Infant Day Care Almost all infants cared for by people other than parents part of the time Specifics vary from culture to culture The older the child and the more money the family has, the more likely possibility of day care

47. Family day care Center care Day care generally beneficial High-quality programs include adequate attention to each infant encouragement of sensorimotor exploration and language development attention to health and safety well-trained professional caregivers Infant Day-Care

48. Infant Day-Care Cognitive and biosocial development are more advanced by day care than at home Poor day care has detrimental effects