EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Four Basic Components of Emotions:
1. Stimuli that provoke a reaction
2. Feelings – Pos. or neg. conscious
experiences of which we become
aware
3. Physiological arousal
4. Behavioral response
Example:
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Sequence of Emotional Development:
Newborn
3 months
2 ½ - 6 months
8 – 10 months
Second year
Third year
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Functions of Emotions:
1. Adaptive function
2. Communication
3. Social relationships
4. Sociomoral development
5. Source of pleasure or pain
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Temperament: a person’s
characteristic modes of responding
emotionally and behaviorally to
environmental events, including
such attributes as activity level,
irritability, fearfulness, and
sociability.
Moderately heritable! Non-shared
experiences
affect later
temperament.
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
New York Longitudinal Study: 40%
Easy, 10% Difficult, 15% Slow-toWarm-Up, rest showed unique patterns
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Attachment: a close emotional
relationship between two persons
characterized by….
1. Mutual affection
2. Frequent interaction and close
proximity
3. Selectivity
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Infant characteristics promoting
attachment:
1. “kewpie doll” appearance
2. Rooting, sucking, grasping reflexes
3. Smiling
4. Cooing, babbling
5. Crying
6. Synchronous movement
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Infant characteristics making
attachments more difficult:
1. Physically unattractive
2. Weak reflexes
3. Irritable
4. Little pleasant vocalization
5. Irritating, shrill cry
6. Easily over stimulated
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Caregiver characteristics hindering
attachment:
1. Maternal depression
2. Abused mother
3. Mother doesn’t want baby
4. Mother unable to take lead
5. Mother insensitive to infant
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Ecological Constraints on Attachment:
1. Several children
2. Poor marital relationship
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Theories of Attachment
Psychoanalytic Theory
Learning Theory
Cognitive-Developmental Theory
Ethological Theory
Summary of Evidence
1. Feeding not as critical as once
believed.
2. Contact comfort & responsive
interaction are important.
3. Timing is related to obj. perm.
4. Infants are active participants.
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Stranger Anxiety – Wary reaction to
a stranger which occurs shortly
after attachment to a primary
caregiver.
Separation Anxiety – Wary or fretful
reaction that infants and toddlers
often display when separated
from the person(s) to whom they
are attached.
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Separation Anxiety
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Why Infants Fear Separation and
Strangers
“Conditioned Anxiety” Hypothesis
- Separation
- Strangers
- Comments
Ethological Viewpoint
- Separation
- Strangers
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Why Infants Fear Separation and
Strangers
Cognitive-Developmental Viewpoint
- Separation
- Strangers
Conclusion:
1. Child’s fear of losing
warmth/security of caregiver
2. Apprehension of unfamiliar
3. Inability to fit into existing
schemes.
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Types of Attachment
Secure Attachment
• Explores
• Distressed when separated
• Warmly greets mom
• Outgoing to strangers when mom is
there
Insecure Attachment (Anxious/Resistant)
• Anxious
• Very distressed when separated
• Ambivalent on mom’s return
• Wary of strangers when mom is there
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Types of Attachment
Insecure Attachment (Anxious/Avoidant)
• Not interested in exploring
• Little distress when separated
• Avoids contact on return
• Not wary of stranger
Insecure Attachment
(Disorganized/disoriented)
• Show mixture of other two types of
insecure attachment
• Show approach/avoidance conflict
when mom returns
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Explanations of Attachment
Differences
Ainsworth’s Caregiving Hypothesis:
quality of an infant’s attachment
depends largely on the kind of
attention the infant has received.
Secure attachment:
Insecure attachment
(anxious/resistant):
Insecure attachment
(anxious/avoidant):
Insecure attachment
(disorganized/disoriented):
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Explanations of Attachment
Differences
Ainsworth’s Strange Situation
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Explanations of Attachment
Differences
Kagan’s Temperament Hypothesis: quality
of an infant’s attachment reflects
individual differences in infant
temperament. All other factors being
equal, then:
Easy temperament:
Difficult temperament:
Slow-to-warm-up temperament:
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Explanations of Attachment
Differences
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Explanations of Attachment
Differences
Kagan’s Temperament Hypothesis: quality
of an infant’s attachment reflects
individual differences in infant
temperament. All other factors being
equal, then:
Easy temperament:
Difficult temperament:
Slow-to-warm-up temperament:
Who is correct? What is the evidence?
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Long-term Correlates of
Attachment Quality
Securely attached toddlers and
preschoolers tend to be:
1. Better problem solvers at age 2
2. More creative
3. More attractive playmates
4. Initiate play activities
5. Sensitive to others
6. Curious
7. Self-directed
8. Eager to learn
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Important Factors in
Daycare & Attachment
• Quality of care
• Parental attitudes
• Two-parent or Single parent?
• Socioeconomic status (SES)
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Important Factors in
Daycare & Attachment
Characteristics of High Quality
Day Care:
1. Child-to-caregiver ratio
2. Caregivers
warm/expressive/responsive
3. Little staff turnover
4. Age-appropriate curriculum
5. Administration willing/eager
to confer with parents about
child
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Daycare & Attachment
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The “Unattached” Infant
A. Harlow’s Studies of SociallyDeprived Monkeys
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The “Unattached” Infant
A. Harlow’s Studies of SociallyDeprived Monkeys
1. Three months of Isolation
a. Characteristics displayed
b. Recovery?
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The “Unattached” Infant
A. Harlow’s Studies of SociallyDeprived Monkeys
1. Three months of Isolation
2. Six months of Isolation
a. Characteristics displayed
b. Recovery?
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The “Unattached” Infant
A. Harlow’s Studies of SociallyDeprived Monkeys
1. Three months of Isolation
2. Six months of Isolation
3. Twelve months of Isolation
a. Characteristics displayed
b. Recovery?
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The “Unattached” Infant
A. Harlow’s Studies of SociallyDeprived Monkeys
1. Three months of Isolation
2. Six months of Isolation
3. Twelve months of Isolation
4. Summary of this work
5. Later recovery
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The “Unattached” Infant
A. Harlow’s Studies of SociallyDeprived Monkeys
B. Early Social Deprivation in
children
1. Characteristics of
Infants
2. Characteristics of
Toddlers/Older
Children
3. How to Aid Recovery from
Early Social Deprivation