Infancy & Childhood

1. Infancy & Childhood Module 48: Social Development

2. Attachment • An emotional tie with another person resulting in seeking closeness & showing distress when separated • Body contact, familiarity, and responsiveness all contribute to attachment. • Children develop strong attachments to their parents and caregivers. • Stranger Anxiety – Develops around 8 months when children have schemas for familiar faces & can’t assimilate new faces to these remembered schemas.

3. Stranger Anxiety • Play “Stranger Anxiety” Video • #16 from Worth’s Digital Media Archive DVD

4. Attachment:Harry Harlow’s Monkey Experiments

5. 1905-1981 Harlow’s Monkeys The monkeys spent most of their time by the cloth mother.

6. Harry Harlow’s Study ofAttachment • Many thought that attachment was the result of baby associating food with parents • Harlow noticed monkey’s raised alone became upset when their blankets where taken away for washing. • Experiment: Infant rhesus monkeys were placed with two surrogate mothers: • Wire “Mother” with milk-producing bottle • Soft cloth “Mother” – No bottle • Attachment was based on “contact comfort” rather than feeding • Monkey’s routinely returned to Cloth Mother and used her as a secure base when exploring.

7. How Important was Body Contact?See Harlow’s Experiment (4 min)

8. Familiarity & Imprinting in Animals

9. Imprinting and Critical Period • A process by which certain animals, early in life, form attachments • Imprinting develops within a critical period - an optimal period when certain events must happen for that animal to develop properly. • Konrad Lorenz studied imprinting.

10. Konrad Lorenz and Imprinting • Goslings are imprinted to follow the first large moving object they see. (see an example HERE) • Human children have a sensitive period where they become fond of familiar people/things (exposure effect)

11. Familiarity • Sense of contentment with that which is already known • Infants are familiar with their parents and caregivers. • Mere Exposure Effect – being around an object long enough will cause one to develop an affection for the object

12. Infant Attachment Intense emotional bond between infant and caregiver (mother) • An infant’s ability to thrive physically and psychologically depends in part on the quality of attachment. • Infants can form multiple attachments.

13. 1913-1989 Ainsworth’s Strange SituationSee Experiment Here (4 min) • Mother-child interactions observed in a playroom under four conditions: • initial mother-child interaction • mother leaves infant alone in playroom • friendly stranger enters playroom • mother returns and greets child • Study done with infants between 1 and 2 years old

14. Forms of Attachment • Securely attached - explores the room when mother is present, becomes upset and explores less when mother is not present, shows pleasure when mother returns • Created when caregivers are consistently responsive to the child’s needs

15. Forms of Attachment • Insecure Attachment - become extremely distressed when the mother leaves the room and, when reunited, are hard to soothe 2 Types of Insecure Attachment: • Avoidantly attached - a form of insecure attachment in which child avoids mother and acts coldly to her • Anxious resistant attachment - a form of insecure attachment where the child remains close to mother and remains distressed despite her attempts to comfort

16. Ainsworth’s Types of Attachment

17. Effects of Attachment • Secure Attachment creates a sense of basic trust – the world is predictable & reliable • Secure attachment predicts social competence, less fear of failure, greater drive to achieve • Insecure attachment – tend to be anxious & looking out for potential threats • Deprivation of attachment is linked to negative outcome. • A responsive environment helps most infants recover from attachment disruption.

18. Attachment & Day Care

19. Deprivation of Attachment • Responsive parents are aware of what their children are doing. • Unresponsive parents ignore their children - helping only when they want to. • Children without healthy attachment: • had lower IQ • more anxiety • tend to be more abusive parents themselves

20. Temperament&Parenting

21. Baumrind’s Parenting Styles • Authoritarian – impose rules & expect obedience • Authoritative - both demanding & responsive, enforces rules but explains reasons for them • Give & Take more with kids • Permissive – submit to child’s desires, few demands & punishments • Neglectful - completely uninvolved

22. Parenting Styles

23. Effects on Children • Authoritarian correlates with children who are: • unhappy, fearful, withdrawn, unspontaneous, and irritable • this style promotes resentment and rebellion. • Permissive correlates with children who are: • immature, impulsive, and aggressive • struggle with self-control • Authoritative correlates with children who are: • cheerful, socially competent, energetic, and friendly. • show high levels of self-esteem, self-reliance, and self-control • 2 Possible Reasons for Correlation • Children’s traits may influence parenting • Shared genes for social competence between parents and their children

24. Suggestions for Being an Authoritative Parent • Let your children know that you love them. • Listen to your children. • Use induction to teach as you discipline. • Work with your child’s temperamental qualities. • Understand your child’s age-related cognitive abilities and limitations. • Don’t expect perfection, and learn to go with the flow.

25. Culture & Child Rearing • Western Individualist Cultures stress INDEPENDENCE: • Be True to Yourself! • Be all YOU can be! • Asian & African Collectivist Cultures stress FAMILY SELF: • What you do either shames or honors the family • Children can thrive under either cultural system

26. Temperament • A person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity • A child might be: • “easy” • “slow to warm” • “difficult” baby • Temperament shown in infancy appears to carry through a person’s life. • Temperament has a genetic and biological basis, but that environmental experiences can modify a child’s basic temperament.

27. Temperament • Easy—adaptable, positive mood, regular habits • Slow to Warm Up—low activity, somewhat slow to adapt, generally withdraw from new situations • Difficult—intense emotions, irritable, cry frequently • Average—unable to classify • (1/3 of all children)

28. Temperament • Play “Bringing Up Monkeys” (9:40) • Segment #23 from Scientific American Frontiers DVD • Consider these questions as you watch: • Is monkey personality genetic or learned from their parents? • Can we change your personality by changing parenting styles? • In extreme situations what wins out? Genes or Parenting Style?

29. Development of Self-Concept • After attachment in infancy, Children form a self-concept – an understanding of who they are • Self-Awareness – The Mirror Test See Website for links to see how this works!