Psychosocial Development during

the First Three Years

Chapter 6

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Guideposts for Study

When and how do emotions develop, and

how do babies show them?
How do infants show temperamental
differences, and how enduring are those
differences?
What roles do mothers and fathers play in
early personality development?
When and how do gender differences
appear?
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Guideposts for Study

How do infants gain trust in their world and

form attachments, and how do infants and
caregivers read each others nonverbal
signals?
When and how does the sense of self arise,
and how do toddlers develop autonomy and
standards for socially acceptable behavior?
How do infants and toddlers interact with
siblings and other children?
How do parental employment and early child
care affect infants and toddlers development?
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Emotions

Subjective responses to experience

Sadness, joy, fear
Associated with

Physiological changes
Behavioral changes

Expressions depend upon culture

and personality
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First Signs of Emotion: Crying!

It is obvious when newborns are upset!

Types of cries:

Piercing cries, flailing of limbs, stiff body

Hunger
Pain
Frustration

More difficult to tell when

the newborn is happy
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Emotions: First Month

Baby becomes quiet at:

Sound of human voice
Being picked up

Baby smiles when gently moved

Pattycake

Smiling and cooing

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Smiling & Laughing

Involuntary smiles

Appear at birth
Result of subcortical brain activity

Waking smiles after one month

Considered more social

Elicited through gentle jiggling,
tickling, or kissing

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Self Emotions

Self-Awareness
A realization that ones existence is separate
from others

Self-Consciousness

Depends on having self-awareness

Embarrassment and empathy

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Self-Evaluative Emotions

Pride, shame, and guilt

Require self-awareness and

knowledge of socially accepted
behaviors

Children compare their own

thoughts and behaviors against
what is socially OK
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Empathy

Ability to put oneself in anothers place

Requires social cognition

Understanding

that others have thoughts and

feelings

Ideas about others feelings are used to

gauge own behavior

Egocentrismabsence of empathy
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Brain Growth and

Emotional Development
Four major shifts:

Cerebral cortex becomes functional

Frontal lobes interact with the limbic system
Infant develops self-awareness and
consciousness
Hormonal changes coincide with evaluative
emotions
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Temperament
A biological predisposition of
reactivity
Highly heritable and stable
Generally, how mellow are you from
situation to situation?

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Three Temperaments

Easy

Slow to Warm Up

Generally happy
Responds well to change and novelty
Generally mild reactions
Hesitant about new experiences

Difficult

Irritable
Intense emotional responses
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Goodness of Fit

Adjustment is easiest when the childs

temperament matches the situation

Physically
Socially
Culturally

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Emotions During First Three Years

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The Mothers Role:

Harry Harlow
Research with rhesus monkeys
Newborns placed with foster mother

Cloth mother offered no food

Wire mother provided food

Babies preferred cloth mother

The importance of contact comfort

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The Fathers Role

Entails emotional commitment and
direct involvement
Amount of involvement can vary greatly
In the U.S., father involvement has
increased dramatically since 1970s

More women work outside the home

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Gender Differences

Gender
What it means to be male or female

Gender-typing

Socialization by which children learn

gender roles
Parents important in socialization

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Gender differences

Measurable differences are few

Behavioral differences between 1 and 2
years

Boys play more aggressively

Word choices
Perceptions of gender

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Basic Trust vs. Basic Mistrust

Newborns and infants develop a sense of

reliability of people and objects
Erikson Stage 1: Basic Trust

Sensitive, responsive and consistent care

Can I count on you to feed me when Im
hungry?

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Attachment

Reciprocal and enduring bond between

child and caregiver

Studied by Mary Ainsworth

Strange situation experiments

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Attachment in Strange Situation

Attachment
Secure
InsecureResistant

Childs Behavior
Plays freely when mother is near
Happy when mother returns
Hovers around mother
Angry when mother returns

Inconsistent and erratic

Disorganized
Seems overwhelmed by stress
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Influences on Attachment

Parental

Level of warmth and responsiveness

Employment and amount of separation
Own memories about their attachment

Babys temperament

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Long-Term Effects
of Attachment
More securely attached children develop
good relationships with others
Larger vocabularies
Higher levels of curiosity and selfconfidence
Preparation for adult intimacy

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Box 1: Postpartum Depression

Detrimental effects
Babies may become depressed
themselves
Unusual patterns of brain activity
Insecurely attached
Treatment strategies
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Mutual Regulation
of Emotions
Infant and caregiver responding to each
others emotional states
Social Referencing

Babys attempt to understand an

ambiguous situation by seeking out cues
from caregiver
What would baby do if you said YECH! to a toy?

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Emergence of Self Concept

Self-concept: The image of ourselves

Personal agency
I can make that move!

Self-efficacy
Im GREAT at making it move!

Self-awareness

Knowledge of the self as a distinct being

Rouge test
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Box 2: Toddler Struggles

Are terrible 2s universal?

Methods of handling sibling conflict
Individual needs vs. group needs

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Autonomy vs. Shame

Autonomy

A shift from external control to self-control

Emerges from trust and self-awareness
The Terrible 2s

Shame and doubt

Help toddler recognize need for limits

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Moral Development

Socialization

How children develop habits and values that

make them productive members of society

Internalization

Making the standards of society your own

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Developing Self-Regulation

Having control over own behavior

Conforming with caregivers standards
even if caregiver is not present
Depends on attentional processes
Ability to monitor negative emotions

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Origins of Conscience

Emotional discomfort about doing

something wrong
The ability to refrain from doing something
wrong
Refraining because they believe it is the
right thing to do not just self-regulation

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Committed and
Situational Compliance

Committed Compliance

Willingly follows orders without lapses

Shows internalization of household rules

Situational Compliance

Follows orders with prompting and

reminders
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Factors in the
Success of Socialization
Security of attachment
Receptive cooperation
Mutual responsiveness of
parent and child

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Sociabililty with Siblings

Becomes a vehicle for
understanding social
relationships outside the
home
Constructive conflict helps
children with empathy

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Sociability with Non-Siblings

Babies who spend more time
with other babies tend to be
more sociable
Toddlers can learn by imitating
each other

Playing follow-the-leader
Paves the way for more complex
games
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Effects of
Parental Employment
NLSY found little or no effect of maternal
employment on childrens:
Compliance
Behavioral problems
Self-esteem
Cognitive development
Academic achievement
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Factors in Impact of Child Care

Structural characteristics

Staff training
Ratio of children to staff

Process characteristics

Warmth and sensitivity of workers

Appropriateness of activities

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Types of Child Abuse

Physical
Neglect
Sexual
Emotional Maltreatment

Causes behavioral, cognitive, or mental

disorders
May include rejection
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Research in Action:
Shaken Baby Syndrome

A form of maltreatment of children

under two years of age

20% of babies with head trauma die

within a few days

Usually a result of caregiver frustration

and stress
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Traits of Abusive &

Neglectful Families

Perpetrator usually mother

Aggravated by:
Marital problems
Stressful events (getting laid off)
Lack of parental education
Poverty
Alcoholism
Depression

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Community & Cultural

Factors in Child Abuse
Abuse is more likely if:
Criminal activity is rampant in community
There are few community programs
Violent crime is frequent in that country

United States vs. Japan

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Abuse-Prevention Programs
Teach parenting skills
Offer respite homes and relief
parents
Investigate reports of maltreatment
Provide shelters and therapy
Facilitate foster care

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Long-Term Effects
of Maltreatment

One-third of adults abused as children

victimize own children
Sexually abused children grow up with:

Lower self-esteem
Greater risk of depression and anxiety
Risk of precocious sexual behavior

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