Chapter 1: Introduction to Human Development

The Life-Span Perspective

•Development: the pattern of movement or change that begins at conception and continues through the human life span

PERIOD LIFE APPROXIMATE AGE RANGE

1. PRENATAL Conception to birth
PERIOD
2. INFANCY birth to 18 months old
3. 18 months old to 3 years old
TODDLERHOOD
4. PRESCHOOL 3 to 5 years of age
PERIOD
5. MIDDLE 5 to 12 or so years of age (until the onset of puberty)
CHILDHOOD
6. ADOLESCENCE 12 or so to 20 years of age (many developments define the end of
adolescence as the point at watch the individual begins to work and is
reasonably independent of parental sanctions)
7. YOUNG 20 to 40 years of age
ADULTHOOD
8. MIDDLE AGE 40 to 65 years of age
9. OLD AGE 65 years of age or older

• Life-Span Perspective views development as:

- Lifelong – no age period is dominant

- Multidimensional – biological, cognitive, and socioemotional dimensions
- Multidirectional – dimensions expand and shrink (involves both losses and gains)
- Plastic – capable of change
- Multidisciplinary – shared by psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, neuroscientists, and medical researchers
- Contextual – occurs within a setting
 Three types of contextual influences:
+ Normative age-graded influences: similar for individuals in a particular age group
+ Normative history-graded influences: common to people of a particular generation because of historical
circumstances
+ Non-normative life events: unusual occurrences that have a major impact on the individual’s life

• SOME CONTEMPORARY CONCERNS

- Health and Well-Being – lifestyles and psychological states

- Parenting and Education – same sex family; OFW parents
- Sociocultural Contexts and Diversity
 Culture, Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status, and Gender
- Social Policy – governments course of action

THE NATURE OF DEVELOPMENT

- Biological Processes
+ Physical nature
- Cognitive Processes
+ Thought, intelligence, language
- Socioemotional Processes
+ Relationships, emotions, personality

Research Strategies: Basic Methods and Designs

The Scientific Method - the use of objective and replicable methods to gather data for the purpose of testing a theory or
hypothesis.

- It is not a subjective opinion

- It results in the same data and conclusion

- The scientific method involves a process of generating ideas and testing them by making research observations.

Theory is a set of concepts and propositions designed to organize, describe, and explain an existing set of observations

Hypothesis is a theoretical prediction about some aspect of experience

• The heart of scientific method is a persistent effort to put ideas to the test, to retain ideas that carefully gathered facts support,
and to abandon those that carefully gathered facts contradict.
• Theories generate hypotheses that are tested through observations of behavior, and new observations indicate which theories
are worth keeping.

• METHODS FOR COLLECTING DATA:

– Observation – must be systematic and controlled

 Laboratory
 Naturalistic

– Survey and Interviews

 Standard sets of questions are used to obtain people’s attitudes or beliefs about a particular topic
- Standardized Test
- Case Study
- Physiological Measures
 e.g Hormone levels and neuroimaging such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

• RESEARCH DESIGNS

- Descriptive
- Correlational
- Experiment

• TIME SPAN RESEARCH:

- Longitudinal Approach: studies the same individuals over a period of time, usually several years or more
- Cross-Sectional: simultaneously compares individuals of different ages

Ethical Considerations in Developmental Research

- Informed Consent: all participants must know what their research participation will involve and what risks might develop
- Benefits-to-risks ratio: a comparison of the possible benefits of a study for advancing knowledge and optimizing life
conditions versus its costs to participants in terms of inconvenience and possible harm.
- Confidentiality: researchers are responsible for keeping the data completely confidential and, if possible, anonymous
- Protection from harm: the right of research participants to be protected from physical or psychological harm.

Research Strategies: Basic Methods and Designs

- Debriefing: after the study, participants should be informed of the study’s purpose and methods that were used
- Deception: researchers must ensure that deception will not harm participants, and that participants are fully debriefed

Chapter 2: Theories of Development

Theory is a set of concepts and propositions designed to organize, describe, and explain an existing set of observations

 Child Development Theories

+ Psychoanalytic
+ Cognitive
+ Behavioral and Social Cognitive
+ Attachment Theory
+ Sociocultural Theory

Psychoanalytic (Freud’s Psychosexual Stages)

Oral Stage: birth to 1 year

Erogenous Zone: Mouth

Anal Stage: 1 to 3 year

Erogenous Zone: bowel and bladder control

Phallic Stage: 3 to 6 year

Erogenous Zone: Genitals

Latent Stage: 6 to puberty

Libido inactive

Examples of Psychological Fixation

Oral Fixation:

- Smoking
- Gum-chewing
- Nail-biting
Anal Fixations:

- Orderliness
- Obsessiveness
- Rigidity

Phallic Fixation:

- Vanity
- Exhibitionism
- Pride

STAGES OF PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Early Childhood: autonomy vs shame and doubt

Preschool: initiative vs guilt

School Age: industry vs inferiority

Adolescence: identity vs role confusion

Young Adulthood: intimacy vs isolation

Middle Adulthood: generativity vs stagnation

Maturity: ego integrity vs despair

Infancy: trust vs mistrust

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Sensorimotor stage: birth to 2 yrs

- Coordination of senses with motor responses, sensory curiosity about the world. Language used for demands and
cataloguing. Object permanence is developed.

Preoperational stage: 2 to 7 yrs

- Symbolic thinking, use of proper syntax and grammar to express concepts. Imagination and intuition are strong, but
complex abstract thoughts are still difficult. Conservation is developed.

Concrete Operational stage: 7 to 11 yrs

- Concepts attached to concrete situations. Time, space, and quantity are understood and can be applied, but not as
independent concepts.

Formal Operational stage: 12 and up

- Theoretical, hypothetical, and counterfactual thinking. Abstract logic and reasoning. Strategy and planning become
possible. Concepts learned in one context can be applied to another.

FEATURES OF BEHAVIORAL PSYCHOLOGY

- Learning through association

- Rewards and punishments
- Aversion therapy

What to know about social learning theory

1. People can learn through observation

2. Mental states are important to learning
3. Leaning does not necessarily lead to behavior change

Stages of attachment

Pre-attachment: birth to 6 weeks baby shows no particular attachment to specific caregiver

Indiscriminate: 6 weeks to 7 months infant begins to show preference for primary and secondary caregivers

Discriminate: 7+ months infant shows strong attachment to one specific caregiver

Multiple: 10+ months growing bonds with other caregivers

CHAPTER 3: Biological Beginnings

The Evolutionary Perspective

• Evolution is the notion that species change over time.

• Natural selection

– best adapted in a species survive and reproduce

• Darwin: On the Origin of Species (1859)

How does evolution apply to Developmental Psychology?

Even psychological and behavioral traits can be passed on.

- Traits are heritable

 Behavioral or mental traits are heritable
- There is variation in the trait
 Behavioral or mental traits vary.
- There is differential reproductive success
 Variation in behavioral or mental traits results in differential reproduction

• Evolutionary psychology

– attempts to use evolutionary theory to explain patterns of behavior in humans

– emphasizes adaptation, reproduction, and survival of the fittest in shaping behavior

– Evolution explains human physical features and behaviors

• Favors behaviors that increase reproductive success—the ability to pass your genes to the next generation

• Natural selection and adaptive behavior

– All organisms must adapt to particular places, climates, food sources, and ways of life

• Infants attachment

• Eagle’s claws

Genetic Foundations of Development

• Nucleus of a human cell:

– Chromosomes - thread-like structures within cells that contain a person's genes.

– DNA - double helix-shaped molecule that contains the code, or blueprint; cell’s genetic material

– Genes - are segments of DNA; contained in chromosomes, which are in the cell nucleus.

Cells, Chromosomes, Genes, and DNA

Nucleus (center of cell) contains chromosomes and genes

Chromosomes are threadlike structures composed of DNA molecules

Gene: a segment of DNA (spiraled double chain) containing the hereditary code

 A trait is any gene- determined characteristic and is often determined by more than one gene.
 Some traits are caused by mutated genes that are inherited or that are the result of a new gene mutation.

• Genes and chromosomes

– Mitosis — cell nucleus duplicates

– Meiosis — cell division forms gametes (eggs, sperms)

– Fertilization — egg and sperm form zygote

– X and Y chromosomes determine sex

• Genetic principles

– Dominant-recessive genes principle

– Dominant – one gene of a pair always exert its effect and overrides the potential influence of the other gene— called the
recessive gene

• Side Note: Inbreeding in Royal families

• Sources of variability

– Each zygote is unique

 • Identical – monozygotic twins; a single zygote splits into 2 identical replicas

• Fraternal – dizygotic twins; 2 eggs are fertilized by different sperm creating 2 zygotes

• Muted genes due to environmental agent –radiation

• Chromosomal and gene-linked abnormalities

– Down syndrome: 2 copies of chromosome 21

• Sex-linked abnormalities

• Klinefelter syndrome: XXY instead of XY

• Fragile X syndrome: X in boys is fragile, breaks

• Turner syndrome: girl is XO instead of XX

• XYY syndrome: link to criminal males unproven

KLINEFELTER SYNDROME

- Breast enlargement
- Less body hair
- Extra x chromosome

TRISOMY

- 21

FRAGILE X SYNDROME

- Large ears and forehead intellectual disability

TURNER SYNDROME

- X
- X0

• Chromosomal and gene-linked abnormalities

– Gene-linked abnormalities

• Phenylketonuria (PKU) – cannot utilize phenylalanine; treated by diet

• Sickle-cell anemia – red blood cells affected

• Cystic fibrosis, diabetes, hemophilia, spina bifida

• Can sometimes be compensated for by other genes or events

CHAPTER 4: Prenatal Development and Birth

• Typical prenatal development, which begins with fertilization and ends with birth, takes between 266 and 280 days (38 to 40
weeks).

• It can be divided into three periods: germinal, embryonic, and fetal.

• Course of prenatal development

1. Germinal period:

– This takes place in the first two weeks after conception.

– It includes the creation of the zygote, continued cell division, and the attachment of the zygote to the uterine wall.

2. Embryonic period:

– During this stage, the rate of cell differentiation (specialization of cells to perform various tasks) intensifies, support systems for
the cells form, and organs appear.

• Endoderm – digestive/respiratory systems

• Ectoderm – nervous system, sensory receptors

• Mesoderm – circulatory, bones, muscles, excretory and reproductive systems

• Organogenesis: organ formation

3. Fetal period: Lasting about seven months, the prenatal period between two months after conception and birth in typical
pregnancies.

– By the time babies are born, it has been estimated that they have as many as 20 to 100 billion neurons

The Three Trimesters of Prenatal Development

FIRST TRIMESTER (3MONTHS)

Conception to 4 weeks

- Is less than 1/10 inch long

- Beginning development of spinal cord, nervous system gastrointestinal system, heart, and lungs
- Amniotic sac envelops the preliminary tissues of entire body
- Is called a “zygote”

8 weeks

- Is about 0.6 inch long

- Face is forming with rudimentary eyes, ears, mouth, and tooth buds
- Arms and legs are moving
- Brain is forming
- Fetal heartbeat is detectable with ultrasound
- Is called an “embryo”

12 weeks

- Is about 2 inches long and weighs about 0.5 ounce

- Can move arms, fingers, and toes
- Fingerprints are present
- Can smile, frown, suck, and swallow
- Sex is distinguishable
- Can urinate
- Is called a “fetus”

SECOND TRIMESTER (MIDDLE 3 MONTHS)

16 weeks

- Is about 5 inches long and weighs about 3.5 ounces

- Heartbeat is strong
- Skin is thin, transparent
- Downy hair (lanugo) covers body
- Fingernails and toenails are forming
- Has coordinated movements is able to roll over in amniotic fluid

20 weeks

- Is about 6.5 inches long and weighs about 11 ounces

- Heartbeat is audible with ordinary stethoscope
- Sucks thumb
- Hiccups
- Hair, eyelashes, eyebrows are present

24 weeks

- Is about 12 inches long and weighs about 1.3 pounds

- Skin is wrinkled and covered with protective coating (vernix caseosa)
- Eyes are open
- Waste matter is collected in bowel
- Has strong grip

THIRD TRIMESTER (LAST 3 MONTHS)

28 weeks

- Is about 15 inches long and weighs about 2.5 pounds

- Is adding body fat
- Is very active
- Rudimentary breathing movements are present

32 weeks

- Is about 17 inches long and weighs about 4 pounds

- Has periods of sleep and wakefulness
- Responds to sounds
- May assume the birth position
 - Bones of head are soft and flexible
- Iron is being stored in liver

36 to 38 weeks

- Is about 10 to 20 inches long and weighs about 6 to 7 ½ pounds

- Skin is less wrinkled
- Vernix caseosa is thick
- Lanugo is mostly gone
- Is less active
- Is gaining immunities from mother

Prenatal Diagnostic Tests

• Tests for abnormality

– Ultrasound sonography

– Fetal MRI: better than ultrasound

– Chorionic villus sampling: samples placenta

– Amniocentesis: samples amniotic fluid

– Maternal blood screening (triple screen test)

– Noninvasive prenatal diagnosis (NIPD): tests fetal cells (DNA) in mother’s blood

Hazards to Prenatal Development

• Teratogen is any agent that can potentially cause a birth defect or negatively alter cognitive and behavioral outcomes

– Severity of damage affected by:

• Dose

• Genetic susceptibility

• Time of exposure

• Teratogens

– Prescription, nonprescription drugs

– Psychoactive drugs

• Caffeine, cocaine, methamphetamines, marijuana, and heroin

– Alcohol’s link to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD)

– Nicotine’s link to SIDS, ADHD, low birth weight

– Paternal smoking during pregnancy

• Other prenatal factors

– Incompatible blood types (Rh factor )

• If a pregnant woman is Rh-negative and her partner is Rh-positive, the fetus may be Rh- positive. If the fetus’ blood is Rh-positive
and the mother’s is Rh-negative, the mother’s immune system may produce antibodies that will attack the fetus

– Maternal diseases

• STDs, HIV and AIDS; Rubella measles

– Maternal Diet and nutrition (vitamins, folic acid); weight

• Toxins in foods, mercury in fish

– Maternal age, emotional states, and stress

– Environmental hazards (toxins, waste, radiation)

– Paternal Factors

• Men’s exposure to lead, radiation, certain pesticides, and petrochemicals may cause abnormalities in sperm that lead to
miscarriage or to diseases such as childhood cancer (Cordier, 2008)

• Smoking during the mother’s pregnancy

• Paternal age and relationship with the mother

Prenatal Care

• Prenatal care varies around the world

– Quality of medical care visits, education

– Low-birth weight and infant mortality rates

– Outside the United States: free/low cost prenatal care, liberal maternity leave

– Impact of cultural/ethnic beliefs about pregnancy

Birth

The Birth Process

- Stages of birth:
 Stage 1: uterine contractions 15 to 20 minutes apart and last up to 1 minute
 Stage 2: begins when the baby’s head starts to move through the cervix and birth canal and ends when the baby
completely emerges from the mother’s body
 Stage 3: afterbirth – umbilical cord, placenta, and other membranes are detached and expelled

Childbirth Setting and Attendants:

 In the U.S. 99% of deliveries take place in hospitals

 In the U.S. 8% of births are attended by a midwife
 In some countries, doulas provide continuous physical, emotional, and educational support for mothers before,
during, and after childbirth

Methods of Childbirth

- Natural childbirth
 Medications:
 Analgesia – pain killer
 Demerol
 Anesthesia
 Epidural block
 Oxytocin
 Synthetic hormones used to stimulate contractions

Other Methods of Childbirth

 Waterbirth
 Cesarean Delivery
 Massage
 Acupuncture
 Hypnosis
 Music therapy

Assessing the Newborn

 Measuring neonatal health and responsiveness:

 Apgar Scale: assessed at 1 minute and 5 minutes after birth
 A score of 0, 1, or 2 is given for each of the following: heart rate, body color, muscle tone, respiratory effort, and
reflex irritability
 10 is highest, 3 or below indicates an emergency

Preterm and Low Birth Weight Infants

 Preterm and Small for Date Infants:

 Low birth weight infants weigh less than 5 ½ lbs. at birth
 Preterm infants are those born three weeks or more before full term
 Small for date infants are those whose birth weight is below normal when the length of the pregnancy is considered

Preterm and Low Birth Weight Infants

 Consequences of Preterm and Low Birth Weight Infants

 Language development delays
 Learning disabilities
 ADHD
 Asthma
 Enrollment in special education programs
 Kangaroo care and massage therapy
 Kangaroo Care: treatment for preterm infants that involves skin to skin contact
 Massage Therapy
The Postpartum Period

 Postpartum period lasts about six weeks or until the mother’s body has completed its adjustment and has returned to
a nearly pre-pregnant state

Physical Adjustments:

 Fatigue
 Loss of Sleep
 Hormone changes
 Involution: the uterus returns to its pre-pregnant size

Emotional and Psychological Adjustments

 Emotional fluctuations are common

 70% of new mothers in the U.S. experience postpartum blues usually for 1-2 weeks
 Postpartum Depression
 Sadness, anxiety, and despair that lasts for two or more weeks
 Antidepressants, psychotherapy, and exercise are used as treatments
 Support by fathers is related to a lower incidence of postpartum depression in women

Bonding: the formation of a connection, especially a physical bond, between parents and the newborn in the period shortly after
birth

 Isolation of premature babies and use of drugs in birth process may harm bonding process
 Research does challenge the significance of the first few days of life as a critical period

Chapter 5: Infancy: Physical, Cognitive, and Socioemotional Development

It is very important for infants to get a healthy start. When they do, their first two years of life are likely to be a time of amazing
development.

Physical Growth and Development in Infancy

Patterns of Growth:

 Cephalocaudal Pattern: sequence in which the earliest growth always occurs from the top downward

• Eyes and brain before the jaw

 Proximodistal Pattern: sequence in which growth starts in the center of the body and moves toward the extremities

• Infants control their trunk first before they can control their hands and fingers

Height and Weight

 Newborns lose 5-7% of their body weight in the first several days of life
 Should have tripled their weight by their 1 st birthday
 At 2 years of age, infants weigh 12 to 14.5 kg

The Brain:

 Contains approximately 100 billion neurons at birth

 Extensive brain development continues after birth, through infancy, and later
 Head should be protected
 Shaken Baby Syndrome: brain swelling and hemorrhaging from child abuse trauma
 Early Experience and the Brain
 Depressed brain activity has been found in children who grow up in a deprived environment
 Repeated experience wires (and rewires) the brain
 Brain is both flexible and resilient

Frontal – Voluntary movement, thinking, personality, and intentionality or purpose

Temporal – hearing, language processing and memory

Occipital - vision

Parietal– registering spatial location, attention, and motor control

Sleep

 Typical newborn sleeps 18 hours per day

 Infants vary in their preferred times for sleeping
 Most common infant sleep-related problem is night waking
 Shared Sleeping
 Varies from culture to culture
  American Academy of Pediatrics discourages shared sleeping
 Potential benefits:
 Promotes breast feeding and a quicker response to crying
 Allows mother to detect potentially dangerous breathing pauses in baby
- SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome): infants stop breathing and die without apparent cause
 Highest cause of infant death in U.S. annually
 Highest risk is 2-4 months of age

Nutrition

 Nutritional Needs and Eating Behavior

 50 calories per day for each pound they weigh
 Fruits and vegetables by end of 1st year
 Poor dietary patterns lead to increasing rates of overweight and obese infants
 Breast feeding reduces risk of obesity
- Breast Versus Bottle Feeding
 Consensus: Breast feeding is better
 American Academy of Pediatrics strongly endorses breast feeding throughout the first year
 Numerous outcomes for child and mother
- Malnutrition in Infancy
 Marasmus: a severe protein-calorie deficiency resulting in a wasting away of body tissues
 Kwashiorkor: a severe protein deficiency that causes the abdomen and feet to swell with water
 Severe and lengthy malnutrition is detrimental to physical, cognitive, and social development

Motor Development

- Reflexes: built-in reactions to stimuli; automatic and inborn

 Rooting Reflex
 Sucking Reflex
 Moro Reflex
 Grasping Reflex
- Some reflexes continue throughout life; others disappear several months after birth

Gross Motor Skills: large-muscle activities

- The First Year: Motor Development Milestones and Variations

 Some milestones vary by as much as two to four months
 Experience can modify the onset of motor accomplishments
 Some infants do not follow the standard sequence of motor development

Fine Motor Skills: finely tuned movements

 Using a spoon, buttoning a shirt, reaching and grasping

 Palmer grasp: grasping with the whole hand
 Pincer grip: grasping with the thumb and forefinger

Sensory and Perceptual Development

Sensation and Perception

Sensation - The product of the interaction between information and the sensory receptors —the eyes, ears, tongue, nostrils, and
skin.

Perception - The interpretation of what is sensed

Visual Perception

Infants show an interest in human faces soon after birth.

Hearing

 Fetuses can hear and learn sounds during the last two months of pregnancy and can recognize their mother’s voice at
birth

Touch and Pain

 Newborns do respond to touch and can also feel pain

Smell

Newborns can differentiate odors

Taste

 Sensitivity to taste may be present before birth

Piaget’s Theory of Infant Development

Cognitive Processes

- Schemas: actions or mental representations that organize knowledge

 Behavioral schemes (physical activities) characterize infancy
 Consist of simple actions that can be performed on objects such as sucking and grasping
- Mental schemes (cognitive activities) develop in childhood
 Include strategies and plans for solving problems
- Assimilation: occurs when children use their existing schemas to deal with new information or experiences
 Seeing something you already know, a dog for example
- Accommodation: occurs when children adjust their schemas to take new information and experiences into account
 Seeing another furry four legged animal, a cat for example for the first time

The Sensorimotor Stage: infant cognitive development lasting from birth to 2 years

 Infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with physical, motoric actions
 reflexes, thumb sucking, cooing, hand eye coordination, imitating people they’ve seen
 Object Permanence: the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, heard, or
touched

•Developed by the end of the sensorimotor period (2 years)

Language Development

- Language: a form of communication – whether spoken, written, or signed – that is based on a system of symbols. Consists
of words used by a community and the rules for varying and combining them
 Child-Directed Speech: language spoken in a higher pitch than normal with simple words and sentences
 Captures infant’s attention and maintains communication

How Language Develops

- Recognizing language sounds

 Infants can make fine distinctions among the sounds of the language
- Babbling and other vocalizations
 Sequence of sounds
 Crying
 Cooing
 Babbling
- Gestures are used by about 8 to 12 months
 Pointing is considered an important index of the social aspect of language
 Lack of pointing is a significant indicator in the infants communication system

Biological and Environmental Influences

- Biological Influences:
 Evolution of nervous system and vocal apparatus
 Particular brain regions used for language:
 Broca’s area: language production
 Wernicke’s area: language comprehension
- Environmental Influences:
 Behaviorists claim language is a complex learned skill acquired through responses and reinforcements
 Children’s vocabulary is linked to family socioeconomic status and the type of talk parents direct toward their children

Socioemotional Development in Infancy

Emotional and Personality Development

 Aside from developing cognitively, infants are socioemotional beings too. They are capable of displaying emotions,
and initiating social interaction with people close to them.
- Emotional Development
- What Are Emotions?
 Emotion: feeling or affect, that occurs when a person is in a state or an interaction that is important to him or her,
especially to his or her well-being.
 Infants communicate through emotions
- Biological and Environmental Influences: nature/nurture
 Certain brain regions plays a role in emotions – brain stem, hippocampus, amygdala
 Gradual maturation of the frontal regions of the brain
 Relationships and culture provide diversity in emotional experiences
 Caregiver: maltreated, neglected, depressed

- Early Emotions:
 Self-Conscious Emotions: require self-awareness that involves consciousness and a sense of “me”
  Second half of the first year through second year
 e.g., jealousy, empathy, embarrassment, pride, shame and guilt
- Emotional Expression and Social Relationships
 Emotions permit coordinated interactions with caregivers
 Mutually regulated
 Reciprocal
 A recent study on how babies pick up stress from their mothers
- Emotional Development
 Crying is the most important mechanism newborns have for communicating with their world
 Attend to the crying baby right away

Smiling – a key social signal and a very important aspect of positive social interaction in developing a new social skill

Fear is one of a baby’s earliest emotions; occurs at 6 months and peaks at 18 months

Stranger Anxiety: infant shows a fear and wariness of strangers

 First appears at about 6 months of age, intensifies at about 9 months of age

 Nangingilala in Filipino context
 When infants feel secure, they are less likely to show stranger anxiety

Separation Protest: an infant’s distressed crying when the caregiver leaves.

– --Due to anxiety about being separated from their caregivers

--Typically peaks at about 15 months for U.S. infants

--Cultural variations

Emotional Regulation and Coping

 Caregivers’ actions influence the infant’s neurobiological regulation of emotions

 Soothing reduces the level of stress hormones
 Swaddling
 Infant gradually learns how to minimize the intensity of emotional reactions

Personality Development

 Stages of Psychosocial Development

Erikson: trust vs. mistrust (1st year) – TRUST

 Infants learn to trust when they are cared for in a consistent warm manner
 If the infant is not well fed and kept warm on a consistent basis, mistrust develops
 Not completely resolved in the first year of life
 Arises again at each successive stage of development

Erikson: autonomy vs. shame and doubt – INDEPENDENCE

 Autonomy - It’s important for parents to recognize the motivation of toddlers to do what they arecapable of doing at
their own pace
 Infants feel pride in new accomplishments and want to do everything themselves.
 Shame and doubt – consistently overprotecting children or criticizing small accidents (wetting, soiling, spilling,
breaking) that children develop an excessive shame and doubt about their ability to control themselves and their
world

Social Orientation/Understanding

- Social Orientation
- Face-to-face play
 Infants respond more positively to people than objects at 2 to 3 months of age
 Increases in imitative and reciprocal play between 18-24 months
- Locomotion
 Increased locomotion skills allow infants to explore and expand their social world
- Social Referencing: “reading” emotional cues in others to determine how to act in a particular situation
 Mother’s facial expression influences infant’s behavior
 Tend to check with their mother before they act

Attachment and Its Development

 Attachment: a close emotional bond between two people

 Freud: infants become attached to the person that provides oral satisfaction
 Harlow: contact comfort preferred over food; monkey experiment on attachment
 Erikson: trust arises from physical comfort and sensitive care
 Bowlby: infants and their caregivers are biologically predisposed to form attachments
Individual Differences in Attachment

 Strange Situation is an observational measure of infant attachment that requires the infant to move through a series
of introductions, separations and reunions with the caregiver and an adult stranger in a prescribed order (Ainsworth
 Securely Attached babies – babies who use the caregiver as a secure base from which to explore the environment
 Insecure Avoidant babies – babies who show insecurity by avoiding the caregiver. Leaning away or looking away
 Insecure Resistant babies – babies who often cling to the caregiver, then resist the caregiver by fighting against the
closeness, perhaps by kicking or pushing away
 Insecure Disorganized babies – babies who show insecurity by being disorganized and disoriented. Confused and
fearful
 Secure attachment in the first year of life provides an important foundation for psychological development later in life
 Secure attachment was linked to positive emotional health, high self esteem, self confidence, social competence with
peers
 Linked to lower rates of peer conflict at 3 years of age