AHS 1053/AHBS 1316 Developmental Psychology for

Health Sciences
AHSC 1314 Developmental Psychology in Health
Sciences

Muhamad Ariff Ibrahim, PhD

 Discuss social, emotional and personality
development in infancy.
 Describe how attachment develops in
infancy.
 Explain how social contexts influence an
infant’s development.

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 SOCIO-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
 Social development is the process of learning to
interact and to express oneself to others
 Healthy social development leads to a person who:
 Shows tolerance for others
 Can communicate well with others

 Emotional development is the process of learning to

recognize and express one’s feelings
 Healthy emotional development leads to a person who:
 Can handle stress
 Shows empathy towards others
 Has self-confidence

 Both social and emotional development are

connected
 2 TYPES OF EMOTION

1 Primary Emotions
3 months Joy, sadness, disgust
2 to 6 months Anger
First 6 months Surprise
6 to 8 months Fear (peaks at 18 months)

2 Self-Conscious Emotions
1 ½ years Empathy, jealousy, embarrassment
2 ½ years Pride, shame, guilt
Example of primary emotions
CRYING
 Crying is the most important mechanism newborns
have for communicating with their world.

 Babies have 3 types of cries :

Types Description
Basic A rhythmic pattern that usually consists of a cry,
cry followed by a briefer silence, then a shorter
whistle that is somewhat higher in pitch than main
cry, then another brief rest before the next cry.
Anger A variation of the basic cry in which more excess
cry air is forced through the vocal cords.
Pain cry A sudden long, initial loud cry followed by breath
holding.
A BABY WHO CRIES NEEDS ATTENTION
AND CARE

Please check on me:

* Is there a physical
problem?
* Diaper change or
hungry?
* Too cold or too hot?

If the baby does not need any of these,

the baby needs
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SMILING
 Smiling is another important
communicative behavior of an
infant.

 2 types of smile can be

distinguished :
i) Reflexive smile
- It is spontaneous and not in
response to any stimulus.
- It appears during the first month
after birth, usually during sleep.
 SMILING

ii) Social smile:

- It occurs in response to an external
stimulus, usually a face.
- It occur at 2-3 months of age in
response to a caregiver’s voice.
 STRANGER ANXIETY
 STRANGER ANXIETY is presented when an infant shows a
fear and wariness of strangers.

 It shows that the infant’s memory is improving because

he/she is able to recognize people who are unfamiliar.

 Infants with more experience with strangers tend to show less

anxiety.

 Stranger anxiety is influenced by:

 Who the stranger is?
 How the stranger behaves?
 SEPARATION ANXIETY
 SEPARATION ANXIETY is the
distress displayed by infants
when parent or caregiver
departs.
 Usually begins about 8-9
months and peaks at 14
months
 Starts slightly later than
stranger anxiety.
** Both stranger and
separation anxiety
represent important
social progress! They
reflect cognitive
advances in the infant,
and growing emotional
and social bonds!
TEMPERAMENT
 Temperament is an individual’s behavioral style,
emotions and characteristic ways of responding.

 Based on an interaction of genetics and interactions

with the environment.

 Many scholars consider that temperament is a stable

characteristic of newborns, which comes to be
shaped and modified by later experiences.

 https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/211-
temperament
TEMPERAMENT CLASSIFICATIONS
 There are 3 basic types of temperament that include:
Types of Description
Temperament
An easy A child who is generally in a positive mood
child and quickly establishes regular routines in
infancy and adapts easily to new experiences.

A difficult A child who tends to react negatively and cry

child frequently and is slow to accept change.

A slow-to- A child who has a low activity level, is

warm-up somewhat negative, and displays a low
child intensity of mood.
GOODNESS OF FIT AND PARENTING
 Goodness of fit refers to the match between a
child’s temperament and the environmental
demands that the child must cope with.

 For example:
 Amir is an active toddler who is made to sit still for long
period of time
 Hakim is a slow-to-warm-up toddler who is frequently
being exposed into new situations.

*** Both Amir and Hakim face a lack of fit

between their temperament and environmental
demands, and this may produce adjustment
problems.
PARENTING AND THE CHILD’S TEMPERAMENT

 Parents should improve the fit between

the child and the temperament by using
these strategies:
i) Attention to and respect for individuality.
ii)Structuring the child’s environment.
I) Attention to and Respect for Individuality
 Parents need to be sensitive to the child’s
individual characteristics.

 A goal might be accomplished in one way with

one child and in another way with another
child, depending on the child’s temperament.

 Parent’s should respect each child’s

temperament rather try to fit all children into
the same mold.
II) Structuring the Child’s Environment
 Crowded and noisy environments can cause
greater problems for some children (e.g
“difficult child”) than others (e.g “easy child”).

 We also might expect that a fearful and

withdrawing child would benefit from slower
entry into new contexts.
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
 Emotions and temperament form key aspects of
personality.

 According to Erik Erikson, the first two years of

life is characterized by:
 TRUST VERSUS MISTRUST

 Children who leave infancy with a sense of trust can still have
their sense of mistrust activated at a later stage, perhaps if the
parents are under conflicting circumstances (e.g: divorced).
AUTONOMY VERSUS SHAME AND DOUBT

 It occurs between the ages of 18 months to around age

2 or 3 years.

 Kids at this stage often feel the need to do things

independently, such as:
* Picking out what they will wear each day
* Putting on their own clothes
* Deciding what they will eat

 It is an important part of developing a sense of self-

control and personal autonomy or else it may lead to
shame and doubt if adults put too much restrictions.
THE DEVELOPING SENSE OF SELF

 Infants are not “given” a self by their parents or the

culture, rather than they find and construct
themselves.

 The sense of self develops when a kid age about 18

months old. Before this age, children show no
embarrassment when seeing themselves in a mirror
with rouge on their face.

 To determine whether infants can recognize

themselves, psychologists employ the “rouge test” .
ROUGE TEST
 WHAT IS ATTACHMENT?
 Attachment is a close emotional bond
between the infant and the caregiver.

 Erikson believed that the first year of

life is the key time frame for the
development of attachment.

 Attachment does not emerge

suddenly but rather develops in a
series of phases.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF ATTACHMENT
ATTACHMENT CLASSIFICATION
1. The Family
2. Day Care Centre
THE FAMILY
1. Reciprocal Socialization.
2. Maternal and Paternal Infant Care-
giving.
RECIPROCAL SOCIALIZATION

 Reciprocal socialization is two way interaction

process whereby children socialize parents just as
parents socialize children.

 For example:
 When baby makes a sound, the mother may
respond in kind or even say certain words to
calm the baby. Eventually, the child starts
mimicking those words, which the mother
encourages even further.

 Thus, the behaviors of mother and infants involve

substantial interconnection and synchronization.
 MATERNAL AND PATERNAL INFANT CARE-GIVING

 Fathers have the ability to act

sensitively and responsively
with their infants as mother
do:
 Maternal interactions usually
center around child-care
activities.
 Father engage in more rough-
and-tumble play, while mother’s
play is less physical.

 In stressful circumstances,
infants show a stronger
attachment to their mother.
DAY CARE CENTRE
More babies are placed in day
care centre now than ever
before.

Questions about quality High-quality care results

of child care: in:

• Develop good language
• Security concern
and cognitive skills
• Licensed/unlicensed
• Being more cooperative
• Qualified staff?
and positive in
interactions.
 Day Care Centre or
Baby-Sitter or Helper at
Home?
End of Chapter
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