Key Terms:

 Attachment theory: the view that infants are biologically predisposed to form emotional

bonds with caregivers and that the characteristics of those bonds shape later social and

personality development

 Attachment: the emotional tie to a parent experienced by an infant, from which the child

derives security

 Synchrony: a mutual, interlocking pattern of attachment behaviors shared by a parent

and child

 Stranger anxiety: expressions of discomfort, such as clinging to the mother, in the

presence of strangers

 Separation anxiety: expressions of discomfort, such as crying, when separated from an

attachment figure

 Social referencing: an infant’s use of others’ facial expressions as a guide to his or her

own emotions

 Secure attachment: a pattern of attachment in which an infant readily separates from the

parent, seeks proximity when stressed, and uses the parent as a safe base for exploration

 Insecure/avoidant attachment: a pattern of attachment in which an infant avoids

contact with the parent and shows no preference for the parent over other people

 Insecure/ambivalent attachment: a pattern of attachment in which the infant shows

little exploratory behavior, is greatly upset when separated from the mother, and is not

reassured by her return or efforts to comfort him

 insecure/disorganized attachment: a pattern of attachment in which an infant seems

confused or apprehensive and shows contradictory behavior, such as moving toward the

mother while looking away from her

 Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) : a group of disorders that impair an individual’s

ability to understand and engage in the give-andtake of social relationships

 Personality: a pattern of responding to people and objects in the environment

 Temperament: inborn predispositions, such as activity level, that form the foundations

of personality

 Niche picking: the process of selecting experiences on the basis of temperament

 Goodness-of-fit: the degree to which an infant’s temperament is adaptable to his or her

environment and vice versa

 Subjective self: an infant’s awareness that she or he is a separate person who endures

through time and space and can act on the environment

 Objective (categorical) self: a toddler’s understanding that she or he is defined by

various categories such as gender or qualities such as shyness

I) Theories of Social and Personality Development

a) Ethological Perspectives

 Attachment theory: the view that infants are biologically predisposed to form

emotional bonds with caregivers and that the characteristics of those bonds shape

later social and personality development.

II) Attachment
  Attachment: the emotional tie to a parent experienced by an infant, from which the

child derives security.

b) The Parents’ Attachment to the Infant

 Synchrony: a mutual, interlocking pattern of attachment behaviors shared by a parent

and child.

c) The Infant’s Attachment to Parents

 Bowlby’s 4 phases of the development of the infant’s attachment:

(a) Phase 1: Nonfocused orienting and signaling (birth to 3 months)

(b) Phase 2: Focus on one or more figures (3 to 6 months)

(c) Phase 3: Secure base behavior (6 to 24 months)

(d) Phase 4: Internal model (24 months and beyond)

 Stranger anxiety: expressions of discomfort, such as clinging to the mother, in the

presence of strangers.

 Separation anxiety: expressions of discomfort, such as crying, when separated from

an attachment figure.

 Social referencing: an infant’s use of others’ facial expressions as a guide to his or

her own emotions.

d) Variations in Attachment Quality

 Psychologists assess a child’s attachment using a procedure called the Strange

Situation. This consists of a series of eight episodes played out in a laboratory setting,

typically with children between 12 and 18 months of age. The child is observed in

each of the following situations:

 (1) With the mother, with the mother and a stranger, alone with the stranger,

completely alone for a few minutes, reunited with the mother, alone again, with

the stranger again, reunited with the mother.

 Secure attachment: a pattern of attachment in which an infant readily separates from

the parent, seeks proximity when stressed, and uses the parent as a safe base for

exploration.

 Insecure/avoid attachment: a pattern of attachment in which an infant avoids

contact with the parent and shows no preference for the parent over other people.

 Insecure/ambivalent attachment: a pattern of attachment in which the infant shows

little exploratory behavior, is greatly upset when separated from the mother, and is

not reassured by her return or efforts to comfort him.

 Insecure/disorganized attachment: a pattern of attachment in which an infant seems

confused or apprehensive and show contradictory behavior, such as moving toward

the mother while looking away from her.

 Mary Ainsworth’s 4 phases of attachment.

 Autism spectrum disorders (ASD): a group of disorders that impair an individual’s

ability to understand and engage in the give-and-take of social relationships.

e) Caregiver Characteristics and Attachment

 Several characteristics of caregivers influence the attachment process: the caregivers’

emotional response to the infant, their marital and socioeconomic status, and their

mental health.
  A key component of developing secure attachment on the part of the primary

caregiver. An emotionally available caregiver is one who is able and willing to form

an emotional attachment to the infant.

 Contingent responsiveness is another key component of developing secure

attachment. Parents who demonstrate contingent responsiveness are sensitive to the

child’s cues and respond appropriately. They smile when the baby smiles, talk to the

baby when they vocalize, pick them up when they cry, and so on.

 Infants whose parents are married are more likely to be securely attached than babies

whose parents are either cohabiting or single. This might also be due to the fact that

married parents typically have more education and are less likely to be poor.

 Mental illness in the parents can also affect attachment quality in the infant.

f) Long-Term Consequences of Attachment Quality

 Attachment theory proposes that early emotional relationships shape later ones.

 Dozens of studies show that children rated as securely attached to their mothers in

infancy are more sociable, more positive in their behavior toward friends and siblings,

less clinging and dependent on teachers, less aggressive and disruptive, more

empathetic, and more emotionally mature in their interactions in school and other

settings outside the home.

g) Cross-Cultural Research on Attachment

 Studies in a variety of countries support Ainsworth’s contention that some form of

“secure base behavior” occurs in every child, in every culture. But there is also some

evidence suggesting that secure attachments may be more likely in certain cultures

than in others.
III) Personality, Temperament, and Self-Concept

a) Introduction

 Personality: a pattern of responding to people and objects in the environment.

 Temperament: inborn predispositions, such as activity level, that form the

foundations of personality.

b) Dimensions of Temperament

 Alexander Thomas and his wife Stella Chess offered the New York Longitudinal

Study. This study proposed that three temperament classifications apply to about 75%

of infants. The remaining 25% of infants exhibit combinations of two or three of the

main types of temperament.

 Easy children (40% of infants). These children approach new events positively,

display predictable sleeping and eating cycles, are generally happy, and adjust easily

to change.

 Difficult children (10% of infants). Patterns that include irregular sleeping and eating

cycles, emotional negativity and irritability, and resistance to change characterize

children in this category.

 Slow-to-warm-up children (15% of infants). Children in this group display few

intense reactions, either positive or negative, and appear nonresponsive to unfamiliar

people.

 Other researchers have examined temperament from a trait perspective rather than a

categorical perspective. They view an individual infant’s temperament as a function

of how much or how little of various characteristics she possesses .

  Many theorists are now emphasizing the following five key dimensions of

temperament:

(1) Activity level. A tendency to move often and vigorously rather than to remain

passive or immobile.

(2) Approach/positive emotionality/sociability. A tendency to move toward rather

than away from new people, situations, or objects, usually accompanied by

positive emotion.

(3) Inhibition and anxiety. The flip side of approach/positive emotionality/sociability

is a tendency to respond with fear or to withdraw from new people, situations, or

objects.

(4) Negative emotionality/irritability/anger/emotionality. A tendency to respond

with anger, fussiness, loudness, or irritability; a low threshold of frustration. This

dimension appears to be what Thomas and Chess (1977) are tapping with their

concept of the “difficult” child.

(5) Effortful control/task persistence. An ability to stay focused, to manage attention

and effort.

c) Origins and Stability of Temperament:

 Studies of twins in many countries show that identical twins are more alike in their

temperament than are fraternal twins.

 Niche picking: the process of selecting experiences on the basis of temperament.

 Goodness-of-fit: the degree to which an infant’s temperament is adaptable to his or

her environment and vice versa.

d) Self-Concept
 Subjective self: an infant’s awareness that she or he is a separate person who endures

through time and space and can act on the environment.

 Object permanence has been constructed by about 8-12 months. By this time, the

subjective self has also fully emerged.

 Objective (categorical) self: a toddler’s understanding that she or he is defined by

various categories such as gender or qualities such as shyness. Most children achieve

this by 21 months.

 Development of the emotional self begins when babies learn to identify changes in

emotion expressed in others’ faces, at 2 to 3 months of age.