EMOTIONAL

DEVELOPMENT IN
INFANCY
EARLY DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES IN EMOTIONS

Two types of emotions can be seen in infancy

1. PRIMARY EMOTIONS
2. SELF CONSCIOUS EMOTIONS
PRIMARY EMOTIONS which appears in humans and animals. They are present in first 6 months of life eg: joy, anger,
sadness, fear, disgust, surprise, interest
SELF CONSCIOUS EMOTIONS which require cognition, especially consciousness
Eg: empathy, jealousy, embarrassment (appear around 11/2years)
Pride, shame , guilt (appears around 2 1/2years)
There are three types of crying
Basic cry
Anger cry
Pain cry
There are two types of smiling
Reflexive smile
Social smile
STRANGER ANXIETY
• Stranger anxiety is a form of distress that children experience when exposed to people
unfamiliar to them. Symptoms may include: getting quiet and staring at the stranger, verbally
protesting by cries or other vocalizations, and hiding behind a parent. Stranger anxiety is a
typical part of the developmental sequence that most children experience. It can occur even if
the child is with a caregiver or another person they trust. It peaks from 6 to 12 months but may
recur afterwards until the age of 24 months. As a child gets older, stranger anxiety can be a
problem as they begin to socialize. Children may become hesitant to play with unfamiliar
children. Foster children are especially at risk, particularly if they experienced neglect early in
their life.
• Stranger anxiety develops slowly, it does not just appear suddenly. It typically first starts to
appear around 4 months of age with infants behaving differently with caregivers than with
strangers. They become cautious when strangers are around. Around 7-8 months infants
become more aware of their surroundings, so stranger anxiety is more frequent and clearly
displayed. As a child’s cognitive skills develop and improve, typically around 12 months, their
stranger anxiety can become more intense. They display behaviors like running to their
caregiver, grabbing at the caregiver’s legs, or demanding to be picked up.
DEALING WITH STRANGER ANXIETY

• Stranger anxiety is a normal, common part of a child’s development. It is not a problem to be treated. There
are, however, steps a caregiver can take to help it become less intense.
• Address the issue to the stranger ahead of time, so that they can learn to approach the child slowly, giving
him or her time to warm up. The stranger should be informed of the child’s fear, so they are not hurt when
the child reacts negatively to them.
• The caregiver can hold the child while introducing him or her to new people.
• Frequently introduce the child to new people. Take them to places where they might interact with strangers.
• Gradually bring new babysitters or child-care workers into the child’s life.
• Above all, the child’s feelings should always be valued more than the strangers'. Patience and respect are
very important when dealing with stranger anxiety. A child should never be labeled or ridiculed for being
frightened.
• While stranger anxiety is a normal part of child development, if it becomes so severe that it restricts normal
life professional help might be necessary. Extreme anxiety can affect development, especially if a child is
so terrified that they will not explore new environments and hinder themselves from learning.
SEPARATION ANXIETY
• Separation anxiety disorder (SAD), is a psychological condition in which an individual
experiences excessive anxiety regarding separation from home or from people to whom the
individual has a strong emotional attachment (e.g. a parent, caregiver, significant other or siblings).
It is most common in infants and small children, typically between the ages of 6–7 months to 3
years. Separation anxiety is a natural part of the developmental process. Unlike SAD (indicated by
excessive anxiety), normal separation anxiety indicates healthy advancements in a child’s cognitive
maturation and should not be considered a developing behavioral problem.
• According to the American Psychology Association , separation anxiety disorder is an excessive
display of fear and distress when faced with situations of separation from the home or from a
specific attachment figure. The anxiety that is expressed is categorized as being atypical of the
expected developmental level and age. The severity of the symptoms ranges from anticipatory
uneasiness to full-blown anxiety about separation.
• SAD may cause significant negative effects within areas of social and emotional functioning, family
life, and physical health of the disordered individual. The duration of this problem must persist for
at least four weeks and must present itself before a child is 18 months of age to be diagnosed as
SAD in children, but can now be diagnosed in adults with a duration typically lasting 6 months in
adults as specified by the DSM-5.
SEPARATION ANXIETY
• Separation anxiety is common for infants between the ages of eight and fourteen months and
occurs as infants begin to understand their own selfhood—or understand that they are separate
persons from their primary caregiver. Infants oftentimes look for their caregivers to give them a
sense of comfort and familiarity, which causes separation to become challenging. Subsequently,
the concept of object permanence emerges—which is when children learn that something still
exists when it cannot be seen or heard, thus increasing their awareness of being separated from
their caregiver. Consequently, during the developmental period where an infant’s sense self,
incorporating object permanence as well, the child also begins to understand that they can in
fact be separated from their primary caregiver. They see this separation as something final
though, and don’t yet understand that their caregiver will return causing fear and distress for
the infant. It is when an individual (infant, child, or otherwise) consistently reacts to separation
with excessive anxiety and distress and experiences a great deal of interference from their
anxiety that a diagnosis of separation anxiety disorder (SAD) can be warranted.
TEMPERAMENT
Temperament is closely linked with PERSONALITY , the enduring personal characteristics of an
individual. Temperament can b thought of as the biological and emotional foundations of
personality. A baby’s temperament inclines the baby towards a particular style of feeling and
reacting, which makes it more likely that the baby's personality will take shape in future.

Stella Chess and Alexander Thomas, both Professors at the New York University School of
Medicine, along with Howard Birth, started the New York Longitudinal Study in 1956. This
classic long-term study looked at children from across cultural and economic strata and classified
temperament according to nine criteria: sensory threshold; activity level; intensity; rhythmicity;
adaptability; mood; approach/withdrawal; persistence; and distractibility. The children's "score"
on these traits classify them as "easy," "slow to warm up," and "difficult." The children in the
study were observed at ages 2 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 5 years, and 10 years. Parental
observations and input were also considered for the study.
CHESS AND THOMAS CLASSIFICATION
• In this study, and in works that followed, Chess and Thomas defined the following nine characteristics of temperament: 
• Sensory Threshold: the level of stimulation needed to evoke a response in the child.
• Activity Level: general motor activity level during wakefulness and sleep.
• Intensity: how expressive a child is, whether acting out of happiness, anger, sadness, or other emotions.
• Rhythmicity: how predictable bodily functions are (appetite, elimination, sleeping cycles, etc.).
• Adaptability: how easily a child adjusts to change/transition.
• Mood: describes the child's basic disposition (happy, serious, etc).
• Approach/Withdrawal: how a child reacts to new places or situations.
• Persistence: how well the child handles obstacles.
• Distractibility: how easily a child can be distracted or can concentrate.
• The three patterns of temperament characteristics that Thomas and Chess described are
• Easy: typically adaptable children with a positive mood who are - Moderate in activity and intensity and are interested
in new things, adapt easily to new experiences.
• Difficult: Children with a negative mood who are intense and low in adaptability, cries frequently, engages in irregular
daily routine, slow to accept change.
• slow to warm up : children who do not adapt well to change, withdraw in new settings, and are shy, although they adapt
well if given time. Has low level activity, is somewhat negative, shows low intensity of mood.
BOWLBY'S THEORY
• John Bowlby (1907 - 1990) was a psychoanalyst (like Freud) and believed that mental health and
behavioral problems could be attributed to early childhood.
• Bowlby’s evolutionary theory of attachment suggests that children come into the world
biologically pre-programmed to form attachments with others, because this will help them to
survive.
• Bowlby was very much influenced by ethological theory in general, but especially by
Lorenz’s (1935) study of imprinting.  Lorenz showed that attachment was innate (in young
ducklings) and therefore has a survival value.
• Bowlby believed that attachment behaviors are instinctive and will be activated by any conditions
that seem to threaten the achievement of proximity, such as separation, insecurity and fear.
• Bowlby (1969, 1988) also postulated that the fear of strangers represents an important survival
mechanism, built in by nature.  Babies are born with the tendency to display certain innate
behaviors (called social releasers) which help ensure proximity and contact with the mother or
attachment figure (e.g. crying, smiling, crawling, etc.) – these are species-specific behaviors.
BOWLBY’S THEORY
• During the evolution of the human species, it would have been the babies who stayed close to
their mothers that would have survived to have children of their own.  Bowlby hypothesized
that both infants and mothers have evolved a biological need to stay in contact with each other.
• These attachment behaviors initially function like fixed action patterns and all share the same
function. The infant produces innate ‘social releaser’ behaviors such as crying and smiling that
stimulate caregiving from adults.  The determinant of attachment is not food but care and
responsiveness.
• Bowlby suggested that a child would initially form only one attachment and that the attachment
figure acted as a secure base for exploring the world.  The attachment relationship acts as a
prototype for all future social relationships so disrupting it can have severe consequences.
4 PHASES BASED ON BOWLBY‘S CONCEPTUALISATION OF
ATTACHMENT
• Phase 1: from birth to 2 months Infants instinctively direct their attachment to human figures.
strangers, siblings, and parents are equally likely to elicit smiling or crying from the infant.
• Phase 2: from 2 to 7 months Attachment becomes focused on one figure, usually the primary
caregiver, as the baby gradually learns to distinguish familiar from unfamiliar people.
• Phase 3: from 7months to 24 months Specific attachments develop. With increased locomotor
skills , babies actively seek contact with regular caregivers, such as the mother or father.
• Phase 4: from 24 months onwards Children become aware of others feelings, goals, and plans
and begin to take these into account in forming their own actions.
1. The child has an innate (i.e. inborn) need to attach to one main attachment figure (i.e. monotropy).
• Although Bowlby did not rule out the possibility of other attachment figures for a child, he did believe
that there should be a primary bond which was much more important than any other (usually the
mother).
• Bowlby believes that this attachment is different in kind (qualitatively different) from any subsequent
attachments.  Bowlby argues that the relationship with the mother is somehow different altogether from
other relationships.
• Essentially, Bowlby (1988) suggested that the nature of monotropy (attachment conceptualized as
being a vital and close bond with just one attachment figure) meant that a failure to initiate, or a
breakdown of, the maternal attachment would lead to serious negative consequences, possibly
including affectionless psychopathy.  Bowlby’s theory of monotropy led to the formulation of his
maternal deprivation hypothesis.
• The child behaves in ways that elicits contact or proximity to the caregiver.  When a child experiences
heightened arousal, he/she signals their caregiver.  Crying, smiling, and, locomotion, are examples of
these signaling behaviors.  Instinctively, caregivers respond to their children’s behavior creating a
reciprocal pattern of interaction.
2. A child should receive the continuous care of this single most important attachment figure for
approximately the first two years of life.
• Bowlby (1951) claimed that mothering is almost useless if delayed until after two and a half to
three years and, for most children, if delayed till after 12 months, i.e. there is a critical period.
• If the attachment figure is broken or disrupted during the critical two year period the child will
suffer irreversible long-term consequences of this maternal deprivation.  This risk continues
until the age of five.
• Bowlby used the term maternal deprivation to refer to the separation or loss of the mother as
well as failure to develop an attachment.
• The underlying assumption of Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis is that continual
disruption of the attachment between infant and primary caregiver (i.e. mother) could result in
long term cognitive, social, and emotional difficulties for that infant.  The implications of this
are vast – if this is true, should the primary caregiver leave their child in day care, whilst they
continue to work?
• 3. The long term consequences of maternal deprivation might include the following:
• • delinquency,
• • reduced intelligence,
• • increased aggression,
• • depression,
• • affectionless psychopathy
• Affectionless psychopathy is an inability to show affection or concern for others.  Such
individuals act on impulse with little regard for the consequences of their actions.  For
example, showing no guilt for antisocial behavior.
• 4. Robertson and Bowlby (1952) believe that short term separation from an attachment figure
leads to distress (i.e. the PDD model).
• They found 3 progressive stages of distress:
• Protest: The child cries, screams and protests angrily when the parent leaves. They will try to
cling on to the parent to stop them leaving.
• Despair: The child’s protesting begins to stop and they appear to be calmer although still upset.
The child refuses others’ attempts for comfort and often seems withdrawn and uninterested in
anything.
• Detachment: If separation continues the child will start to engage with other people again.
They will reject the caregiver on their return and show strong signs of anger.
• 5. The child’s attachment relationship with their primary caregiver leads to the development of
an internal working model (Bowlby, 1969).
• This internal working model is a cognitive framework comprising mental representations for
understanding the world, self and others.  A person’s interaction with others is guided by
memories and expectations from their internal model which influence and help evaluate their
contact with others (Bretherton, & Munholland, 1999).
• Around the age of three these seem to become part of a child’s personality and thus affects their
understanding of the world and future interactions with others (Schore, 2000).  According to
Bowlby (1969) the primary caregiver acts as a prototype for future relationships via the internal
working model.
• There are three main features of the internal working model: (1) a model of others as being
trustworthy, (2) a model of the self as valuable, and (3) a model of the self as effective when
interacting with others.
• It is this mental representation that guides future social and emotional behavior as the child’s
internal working model guides their responsiveness to others in general.