Emotional and Social

Development of Infants
Objective 4.02
Similarities
 Both follow predictable patterns.
Developmental milestones can be anticipated.
 Affection and harmony are key elements
needed for both emotional and social
development.
 Both occur according to individual timing and
vary from one individual to another.
 As they build trust and healthy attachments,
people learn to handle their emotions and form
healthy relationships. These are essential for
both emotional and social development.
 Similarities
 Infants develop individual personalities as
they develop emotionally and socially.
Personalities are the result of healthy emotional
and social development.
 A person’s relationships and behaviors are
both influenced by their emotional and social
development.
 Both emotional and social development occur
over the span of a lifetime---from infancy to
old age.
 Definition
 Emotional  Social
A process of learning A process of learning
to recognize and to show self-
express feelings and expression and how to
establish a unique interact with others
personal identity
 Result
 Emotional : Healthy  Social: Healthy social
emotional development development helps a
helps a child become a child become a tolerant
self-confident adult, able adult who interacts
to handle stress, and peacefully with others
empathetic to feelings and listens to different
and concerns of others. points of view before
acting.
 Influences
 Emotional development  Social development is
is influenced by: influenced by:
A child’s Actions of parents
individuality and and caregivers
temperament Type of care
Type of care received
received Atmosphere at
Atmosphere at home
home
Emotional Trust and mistrust
 Infants who are frequently held and cuddled
develop feelings of safety, love, and trust and
feel that the world is a safe place.
 Infants who are not as well-loved feel confused
and not trusting.
 This often leads to behavior and relationship
problems later in life.
Social Trust and mistrust
 Eric Erickson’s first stage is where infants
learn whether to trust or mistrust others
around them.
 This trust is the basis of good
relationships with others.
 Two ways to build trust in
infants are:
(1) to provide a consistent
environment
(2) to provide their basic needs consistently.
Interference
 Emotional:  Social: Lack of love
Bitterness and and attention may
mistrust in an infant’s cause failure to grow
environment and develop
interferes with healthy optimally.
emotional
development.
Imitation
 Emotional : Infants  Social: Infants learn
catch the tone of to imitate and adjust
adults’ moods and to the actions of
respond with similar people around them.
moods.
 Early signs
 Emotional  Social development:
development: Responding to a voice
Crying Enjoying being picked
Muscle tension up
Smiling Responding to
Cooing cuddling, comforting
Wiggling the body Smiling when a
face/person appears
Crying when a
face/person leaves
 At birth
 Emotional : Emotional  Social: Newborns are
development begins at passive, not social, but
birth and continues within weeks they begin
throughout life. to interact with others
Newborns are able to around them. Social
feel two basic interaction continues
emotions---contentment throughout life.
and distress.
 First weeks
 Emotional : Infants’  Social: Newborns
emotions become more improve their social
varied. They learn to interactions as they
associate emotions with listen to voices, begin to
causes---hunger, pain, see faces, try to make
lack of attention, etc. eye contact, and smile
at faces and voices.
Three months
 Emotional : Show  Social: Make cooing
pleasure/delight with sounds to catch
smiles and laughter; attention, fuss until
show uncertainty with parents come, arch
puzzled looks and their backs and reach
questioning sounds out to be held
 Three to six months
 Emotional : Show  Social: Begin to recognize
excitement when caregivers
appear and distress when
they leave. Only when
babies feel loved and
secure can they extend
their interests beyond
themselves.
and trust their caregivers;
around six months, form an
attachment, or strong bond,
with parents/caregivers. This
is their first real social
relationship. Many infants
also form attachments with
special objects.
 Six to ten months
 Emotional : Begin to  Social: Many
show fear as they learn demonstrate fear of
to recognize situations unfamiliar people, or
they perceive as stranger anxiety, and cry
threatening. At ten to express their fears.
months, show more They often seek
specific emotions--- approval from parents by
anger, sadness, “showing off” what
happiness, etc. they’ve learned to do.
Eleven to twelve months
 Emotional : Infants’  Social: Infants who
fear of being apart cry when parents
from parents is at its leave them are not
peak. Many trying to be
experience separation unreasonable. They
anxiety when parents are still unable to see
leave. anyone else’s point of
view.
Search for independence
 Emotional : As  Social: The loving
children learn new care of parents helps
physical skills, such children find their own
as walking, they are sense of identity and
developing independence.
independence.
 Ways to promote healthy development
 Emotional
 Hug, kiss, cuddle, rock, and
smile
 Use a comforting voice
 Keep up with attachment
objects
 Set good examples of ways
to express emotions
 Social
 Encourage baby to use
gestures
 Provide positive
examples---“hello,” “thank
you,” and “bye-bye”
 Talk to infants in a pleasant
voice
 Smile, show positive facial
expressions
 Provide opportunities for
other family members to
interact with infant
Role of play
 Emotional : Play  Social: Play helps
helps children learn to children learn to
express emotions. interact with adults
and other children.
 Terms
 Emotional development- The process of
learning to recognize and express feelings and
establish a unique personal identity
 Social development- The process of learning to
show self-expression and interact with others
 Predictable patterns- Happening or turning out
in the way that might have been expected
 Affection- Tender feelings toward someone or
something
 Terms
 Harmony- A situation in which there is friendly
agreement or accord
 Timing- The ability to choose or the choice of
the best moment to do or say something
 Trust- Reliance on good qualities, especially
fairness, honor, and ability
 Healthy attachments- A good bond between a
child and a parent or other primary caregivers
 Individual personality- A specific person,
distinct from others in a group
 Terms
 Relationships- A significant connection or
similarity between two or more things, or the
state of being related to something else
 Behaviors- The way a person acts
 Self-concepts- The way a person looks at
himself/herself
 Mistrust- Lack of confidence in a person or
thing
 Interference- A hindrance that prevents a
desired outcome
 Terms
 Imitation- The act of mimicking somebody, or
an impression of somebody
 Independence- Freedom from being controlled
by another person
 Emotions- A strong feeling about someone or
something
 Personality- The totality of someone’s attitudes,
interests, behavioral patterns, emotional
responses, social roles, and other traits that
endure over long periods of time