Infant Social DevelopmentReciprocitySocial SmilingDevelopment of EmotionsEmotional RegulationBases of AttachmentHarlow’s Monkey StudiesAttachment and the Strange SituationAttachment and later developmentSensitive PeriodCultural Differences in AttachmentTemperament

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The Newborn as Preadapted to Social Exchanges

Predispositions of newborns: Built-in ability to signal needs in

ways adults can interpret and respond to.

Capacity to detect contingencies in the environment.

Built-in attraction to social stimuli. Inclination to fall in step with the

caregiver’s behavior.

The Origins of Reciprocity

Reciprocity in social interaction develops gradually. At first caregivers orchestrate social dialogues, ideally

providing sensitive care. Infants’ involvement in social encounters becomes increasingly

complex until they are full partners in social interactions. Remember circular reactions.

Reciprocity:True social interactions involving mutual exchanges between partners.

Sensitive care:A caregiving style in which the caregiver attends to the infant ’s needs and responds to them promptly and effectively.

Attunement:Caregivers’ adjustment of the stimulation they provide in response to signs from the infant.

Development of social smiling follows a predictable timetable:

Newborns smile because of activity in lower brain regions.

By 8-10 weeks, babies smile as a result of recognitory assimilation.

By 4-5 months, babies produce truly social smiles in response to people they know.

Recognitory assimilation: A form of visual mastery in which the infant recognizes a familiar stimulus and assimilates it to an established scheme.

Recognitory assimilation: A form of visual mastery in which the infant recognizes a familiar stimulus and assimilates it to an established scheme.

Newborns’ physiological responses to stimulation develop into forerunners of specific basic emotions, but differ from these emotions in several ways:

Emotion: A state of feeling that arises when a person evaluates an event in a particular way.

They often require time to build up. Meanings attached to events involved are

very general. They are not well differentiated. Infants differ in their ability to moderate

their arrousal

Capacity to cope with emotionally arousing situations begins to develop in first 6 months.Early techniques are global and involuntary andinterrupt contact with the environment.

Development from 6 mo. To 1 yearDuring this time, emotional responses change in

several fundamental ways: Clearly differentiated specific emotions emerge. Emotional responses become increasingly

immediate. All the classic facial expressions of emotion

begin to appear regularly.

Emotional Reactions to the UnfamiliarStranger Anxiety

A stranger staring can cause a 5-month-old infant to cry after about 30 seconds.

At 7-10 months, babies begin to react negatively to strangers even without prolonged stares.

This stranger distress usually continues for 2-3 months.

Degree of stranger distress varies greatly from baby to baby.

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Emotional Reactions to the Unfamiliar At the same time they show stranger distress,

infants show fear in other situations, such as high places or impending collisions.

This is not just wariness toward unfamiliarity in general, though.

Novel stimuli can make babies squeal with delight, if the baby feels secure in the particular context.

Mother putting on mask can amuse baby, while stranger with a mask can invoke fear.

Photo copyright © 2003 www.arttoday.com. Used with permission.

Emotional Regulation and Coping

In the second 6 months, babies develop more flexible skills for coping with emotionally arousing situations, such as:

signaling the caregiver moving near the caregiver

 Pestisides in the Salinas Valley and Brain developmentAttachment and the Strange SituationAttachment and later developmentSensitive PeriodCultural Differences in AttachmentTemperamentInner Working Models

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“Salinas and Watsonville … had higher yearly average (pesticide) concentrations in 2013 compared to both 2011 and 2012.” One of the monitoring sites was Ohlone Elementary in Watsonville. 

More on how pesticides affect children's developing brains from the CHAMACOS study in Salinas:  http://www.thenation.com/article/178804/warning-signs-how-pesticides-harm-young-brain#

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Attachments: An enduring emotional tie between

infant and caregiver.A major development in the second 6 months is

the formation of specific infant-caregiver attachments.

Hallmarks of Attachment

Separation distress: Negative reactions of infants when the caregiver temporarily leaves.Greeting reactions: Positive reactions of infants when the caregiver appears.Secure-base behavior: Behavior in which the infant uses the caregiver as a base for exploration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTsewNrHUHU

The Bases of Attachment Attachment is 2-way

between parent & child.

Bonding is 1-way, parent toward child.

Infants adopted in the 1st year are just as likely as other infants to develop healthy attachments.

Infants often become attached to more than one person.

Harlow & Harlow 1966 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

OrNBEhzjg8I

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Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

The Attachment Framework

John Bowlby All that is required

for an attachment to form is that an adult be present to engage the infant; food need not be involved.

Harlow Baby monkeys

preferred a soft, terry cloth “mother” over a wire “mother” who fed the monkey.

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The Attachment Framework In all but the most extreme cases, infants

become attached to a caregiver. When infants experience sensitive care,

they become confident the caregiver will be responsive, giving the infant a secure base for exploration.

This is what Erikson meant by trust and Bowlby meant by secure attachment.

The negative result is mistrust (Erikson) or insecure/anxious attachment (Bowlby).

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Patterns of AttachmentThe Strange Situation Test:Mary Ainsworth’s technique for assessing attachments.

Secure Infant is confident of caregiver’s availability and responsiveness, and can use caregiver as secure base for exploration. Most (60-70%) infants show this.

Anxious-resistant

Infant separates form the caregiver reluctantly but shows ambivalence toward caregiver after a separation.

Anxious-avoidant

Infant readily separates from caregiver and avoids contact after a brief separation.

Main added another attachment style:

Disorganized-disoriented

Infant shows contradictory features of several patterns of anxious attachment or appears dazed and disoriented.

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Quality of Care & Security of Attachment

Attachment Pattern

Associated Caregiver Behavior

secure sensitive care

anxious-resistant inconsistent care exaggerated maternal behaviors ineffective soothing

anxious-avoidant indifference emotional unavailability or active rejection

disorganized-disoriented

maltreatment or frightening or confusing behavior

Sensitive care & encouragement of Exploration

Bernier, A., et al. (2014). Taking stock of two decades of attachment transmission gap: Broadening the assessment of maternal behavior. Child Development, Vol. 85 (5), 1771-2105.

Sensitive care explains less than half of the explained variance.

Encouragement of exploration explains more.

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Infant Attachment and Later DevelopmentInternal working model = An infant’s generalized expectations about the social world, including

• caregiver responsiveness• infant’s own ability to obtain care• the nature of social relationships

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The Temperament FrameworkTemperament:An individual infant’s general style of behavior across contexts.

• activity• rhythmicity• approach-withdrawal• adaptability• intensity• threshold• mood• distractibility• persistence of attention

Infant Temperament Characteristics

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The Stability of Temperament Newborn behavior does not predict

later temperament very well. But by the end of the 1st year,

temperament becomes more stable and predictive of later behavior.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGjO1KwltOw

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The Biology of Temperament Infants wary in new situations have

higher or more variable heart rates and blood pressure.

They show less symmetrical brain activity.

Associations have been found between hormone levels and baby’s emotions.

Whether these factors influence the emotions or the emotions influence these factors is unclear.

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The Genetics of Temperament Some characteristics, like reactivity

to stimulation, seem to have a genetic component.

Others, like tendency to be nurturant, appear to be based more on experience.

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Temperament and Attachment

How Temperament May Relate to Attachment:

1. Temperament may help determine sensitive care.

2. Characteristics of a particular infant may be at odds with those of a particular caregiver (match-mismatch hypothesis).

3. Early infant characteristics may feed into the quality of care parents provide.

4. An infant’s characteristics may tax caregivers’ ability to cope.

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The Sensitive Period Hypothesis:The idea that certain kinds of

experience are especially important at particular points in development.

• The quality of attachments in infancy sets the stage for later relationships.

• Later attachment formation may be more difficult.

Although cultures around the world vary in specific child-rearing goals and practices, there is a consistent recognition of the need to provide responsive care.

Early experience has special significance for development because basic expectations about oneself and the social world are laid down in infancy.

However, it does not determine the rest of development, and later change is generally possible.