Chapter Five

Entering the Social World:

Socioemotional Development in Infancy and Early
Childhood
5.1 Beginnings: Trust & Attachment
Learning Objectives

What are Erikson’s first three stages of psychosocial development?

How do infants form emotional attachments to mother, father, and other
significant people in their lives?
What are the different varieties of attachment relationships, how do they
arise, and what are their consequences?
Is attachment jeopardized when parents of infants and young children are
employed outside of the home?
Erikson’s Stages of Early Psychosocial
Development

Basic Trust vs. Mistrust (Infancy)

◦ Infants are dependent on caregivers to meet their needs and provide comfort
◦ The responsiveness and consistency with which caregivers meet these needs
helps to develop a basic sense of trust and openness in the child
◦ If these needs are not met, the child develops wariness and a lack of comfort
Erikson’s Stages
(Cont)

Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (1-3 years)

◦ Children develop a sense of control over their own actions
◦ If autonomy is not achieved, children are shameful and doubt their own
capabilities
Erikson’s Stages
(Cont)

Initiative vs. Guilt (3-5 years)

◦ Children develop imagination for possibilities for themselves
◦ Play becomes purposeful and includes paying the roles of mother, father,
teacher, or athlete
◦ With proper encouragement and balance, initiative and cooperation are
developed
The Growth of Attachment
Evolutionary Psychology views many human behaviors as successful
adaptations to the environment
The Growth of Attachment
Security in the presence of another, along with need for physical closeness
is attachment
Bowlby noticed that children who form attachments to an adult are more
likely to survive
Attachments are usually formed with the mother but may be any
responsive and caring person
Steps Toward Attachment

Preattachment stage (Birth to 6-8 weeks)

Attachment in the making (6-8 weeks to 6-8 months)
True Attachment (6-8 months to 18 months)
Reciprocal Relationships (18 months on)
Father-Infant Relationships
Attachment for fathers tends to follow that with mothers
Fathers tend to spend more time playing with children than taking care of
them
Fathers play with children differently than mothers (more rough-and-
tumble)
Children tend to seek out the father for a playmate. Mothers are preferred
for comfort
Forms of Attachment
The strange situation experiment
◦ Ainsworth introduced children and mothers to a room from which the mother
then left. Upon her return, the nature of the child’s reaction was studied
◦ Four types of reactions were observed
The Four Reactions to the Strange
Situation:
Secure Attachment - on the mother’s return, the child is comforted, crying
stops, and the child begins to explore again
Avoidant Attachment - on the mother’s return the child ignores or turns
away
Resistant Attachment - the baby is upset and remains upset when mother
returns and is difficult to console
Disorganized Attachment - the child seems confused and is unsure of
reaction
The Four Reactions to the Strange Situation:
(Cont)

Percentage of children in categories of reaction to the Strange Situation:

◦ Secure Attachment: 60-65% of U.S. babies
◦ Avoidant Attachment: 20% of U.S. babies
◦ Resistant Attachment: 15% of U.S. babies
◦ Disorganized Attachment: 5-10% of U.S. babies
Consequences of Attachment
Children with secure attachments are more confident and successful with
peers
Securely attached children have fewer conflicts with friendships with
peers
The conclusion is that children use early attachments as prototypes for
later relationships and interactions
Attachment, Work, & Alternate
Caregiving
NICHD research suggested:
◦ No relationship between quality of the daycare and mother-child attachment
◦ No relationship between length of stays or changes in daycare and parent
attachment
◦ Quality of attachment was found to be more related to the sensitivity of the
mother to the child’s needs and care
Characteristics of High-Quality Daycare

Low ratio of children to caregivers

Well-trained and experienced staff
Low staff turnover
Ample educational and social stimulation
Good communication between parents and daycare workers
5.2 Emerging Emotions
Learning Objectives
At what ages do children begin to express basic emotions?
What are complex emotions and when do they develop?
When do children begin to understand other people’s emotions? How do
they use this information to guide their own behavior?
Experiencing and Expressing Emotions
Joy, anger, and fear are considered basic emotions
Basic emotions consist of:
◦ A subjective feeling
◦ A physiological change
◦ An overt behavior
Measuring Emotions
Facial expressions indicate emotional state
◦ Infants all over the world express emotions similarly, suggesting biological
programming
◦ By 5-6 months, infants’ facial expressions change in reaction to events
◦ Close resemblance between adult and infant smiles suggest facial expressions
have similar meaning
Development of Basic Emotions
At 2-3 months, children begin smiling in response to human faces. These
are called social smiles
Around 6 months, children show stranger wariness in the presence of an
unfamiliar adult
Emergence of Complex Emotions
Complex emotions emerge around 18-24 months
Complex emotions include:
◦ Guilt
◦ Embarrassment
◦ Pride
Cultural Differences in Emotional
Expression
Many emotions are expressed similarly around the world
Some differences have been observed
◦ African and and Asian children are encouraged to show emotional restraint
◦ European American 11-month-olds cried and smiled more than Chinese infants
of same age
Recognizing & Using Others’ Emotions
At 4-6 months, infants can distinguish facial expression and the emotions
they portray
Infants look to parents’ face for cues to help interpret a situation in social
referencing
A positive and rewarding relationship with parents and siblings improves
children’s understanding of emotions
Regulating Emotions
By 4-6 months, children can use simple strategies to regulate their
emotions
Older children and adolescents
◦ Become less dependent upon others to control their emotions
◦ Begin to use mental strategies to regulate emotions
◦ Look for ways to regulate emotions that work. They adapt the method to the
situation
5.3 Interacting With Others
Learning Objectives
When do youngsters first begin to play with each other? How does play
change during infancy and the preschool years?
What determines whether children help one another?
The Joys of Play
Around 1 year, children begin engaging in parallel play, or playing
alongside each other without much interaction
At 15-18 months, children do similar activities and smile at each other in
simple social play
At about 2 years, children engage in cooperative play. They play roles and
interact
Make-Believe
Play roles that reflect values and traditions
Is entertaining and promotes cognitive development
May help children to explore topics that frighten them
Imaginary playmates promote imagination and sociability
Pretend play is a regular part of preschooler’s play but may be understood
by 16-18 months
Solitary Play

Usually not an indicator of problems

Wandering aimlessly or hovering over others playing may be reason to
seek professional consultation
Gender Differences in Play
Between 2-3, children prefer to play with peers of their own gender
Children resist playing with members of the opposite sex
Children prefer like-sexed playmates for all types of activities
◦ Girls tend to support girl peers in enabling
◦ Boys tend to contradict, threaten, and compete with boy peers in activity
known as constricting
Parental Influence
Parents tend to help in activities and pretend along with young children
Parents may play mediator in settling disputes
Parents may also play a coaching role in diffusing aggression and
competition
Children whose parents engage in these activities are often more socially
skillful
Helping Others
Prosocial behavior is any behavior that benefits others
Altruism is behavior that does not benefit oneself but does benefit others,
such as helping and sharing
Children as young as 18 months are observed to engage in altruistic
behaviors, such as comforting or hugging peers in pain
Skills Underlying Altruistic Behavior
Being able to take the perspective of others is called empathy
Empathy is more likely when a child reaches school age
Children who empathize are more likely to help
Factors Influencing Children’s Altruism
Feelings of responsibility for the child in need
Feelings of competence
◦ Do they have the skills necessary to help?

Mood: Children who are happy or feeling successful are more likely to
help
Costs of altruism
◦ Will helping require sacrifice?
Socialization of Altruism
Parents may foster altruism by:
◦ Modeling
◦ Disciplinary practices that include reasoning, warmth, and feedback
◦ Providing opportunities to behave prosocially
5.4 Gender Roles & Gender Identity
Learning Objectives
What are our stereotypes about males and females? How well do they
correspond to actual differences between boys and girls?
How do young children learn gender roles?
How are gender roles changing? What further changes might the future
hold?
Images of Men & Women:
Facts & Fantasy
Learning Gender Stereotypes
◦ Belief and images about males and females that may or may not be true
◦ 5-year-olds tend to believe that boys are strong and dominant and girls are
emotional and gentle
◦ After preschool, children achieve more flexibility in their beliefs about gender
stereotypes
Gender-related Differences
Girls have larger vocabularies and read, write, and spell better. They also
have fewer language problems
Boys perform better on math achievement tests but girls get better grades
in math courses
Boys are more accurate and rapid in visual-spatial tasks
Gender Differences
(Cont)

Girls tend to be more compliant with the directions of adults. They also
are more likely to be influenced by others
Boys are more physically aggressive in situations in which they are
provoked. Girls are higher in relational aggression, or hurting others by
damaging their relationships with peers
Girls are better able to express and interpret emotions
Gender Typing
Parents tend to be equally warm and encouraging to boys and girls
Parents tend to encourage playing with dolls and dressing up more with
daughters than with sons. Rough and tumble play is tolerated more in
boys
Parents assign different household chores to boys and girls
Gender Typing
(Cont)

The difference in treatment between boys and girls tends to be greater for
fathers
Fathers punish their sons more, and are more accepting of dependence in
girls
Early like-sex play may also reflect peer influence of gender roles
Gender Identity
By age 2-3 children identify themselves as either a boy or a girl
By preschool age, children know that gender is stable, but may believe
that boys who play with dolls will become a girl
Between 4 and 7 years-of-age, children understand gender constancy –
that gender does not change
Biological Inflences
Studies of children with Congenital Adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) show the
effect of large amounts of androgen
◦ Girls with CAH, even with hormone therapy tend to prefer more masculine
activities and may enlarge the clitoris to resemble a penis
◦ CAH seems to affect the area of the brain involved in development of gender-
role behavior
Evolving Gender Roles
Family values and practices influence gender roles in children
Historical influences and lifestyles of families may play a role
Some gender roles do not seem as affected by these influences as others,
possibly due to women giving birth and the necessity for caring and
nurturing as part of the female gender role
QUESTIONS?