What Have You Learned?

1. Question 7.1

   What are the first emotions to appear in infants?

   Crying and contentment are present from birth. The social smile appears around 6 weeks of age. Infants express social joy and laughter between 2 and 4 months.

2. Question 7.2

   What experiences trigger anger and sadness in infants?

   Anger is evident at 6 months, usually triggered by frustration. Sadness usually indicates withdrawal and is accompanied by an increase in the body’s production of cortisol, the primary stress hormone.

3. Question 7.3

   What do typical 1-year-olds fear?

   Typical 1-year-old children fear strangers and separation from their caregivers. Many also fear anything unexpected, from the flush of the toilet to the pop of a jack-in-the-box.

4. Question 7.4

   How do emotions differ between the first and second year of life?

   Emotions take on new strength during toddlerhood. For example, anger and fear become less frequent but more focused, targeted toward especially infuriating or terrifying experiences. Similarly, laughing and crying are louder and more discriminating. Social awareness develops, ushering in the new emotions of pride, shame, embarrassment, disgust, and guilt.

5. Question 7.5

   How do family interactions and culture shape a toddler’s emotions?

   The expression of pride, shame, embarrassment, disgust, and guilt require social awareness and self- awareness. Social awareness and self-awareness emerge from family interactions and are shaped by the culture. For example, North American parents encourage toddlers to feel proud of their accomplishments, but Asian families typically discourage pride and instead cultivate modesty and shame.

6. Question 7.6

   What is known and unknown about the impact of brain maturation on emotions?

   The social smile, laughter, fear, self-awareness, and anger appear as the cortex matures. The maturation of the anterior cingulate gyrus (a part of the cortex) is directly connected to emotional self-regulation, allowing a child to hide or express his or her feelings. What is unknown is how infant brains are molded by their environment and culture and how this affects their expression of emotions.

7. Question 7.7

   How are memory and emotion connected?

   All emotional reactions, particularly those connected to self-awareness, depend partly on memory. Memory is fragile at first and gradually improves over the first year. This explains why toddlers are more quickly angered than younger babies when teased by an older sibling. Unlike young infants, toddlers have vivid memories of the previous time a sibling frustrated them.

8. Question 7.8

   How does stress affect early brain development?

   Excessive stress harms the developing brain. The hypothalamus, in particular, grows more slowly if an infant is often frightened.

9. Question 7.9

   Why are temperamental traits more apparent in some people than in others?

   Although temperament originates with genes, the expression of emotions over the life span is modified by experience—the result of child-rearing methods, culture, and learning. This means that in some people temperament is more apparent.

10. Question 7.10

    How might synchrony affect early emotional development?

    Parental responsiveness during synchrony aids psychosocial and biological development by providing powerful learning experiences. In every episode, infants learn to read another’s facial expression, body language, and emotions, thereby laying the foundation for the development of social skills.

11. Question 7.11

    Give examples of how infants and caregivers demonstrate proximity-seeking and contact-maintaining behaviors.

    Examples of proximity-seeking behavior include a baby crying when the mother leaves the room (if only for a moment) or if a back-facing car seat prevents the baby from seeing the parent. Examples of contact-maintaining behaviors include caregivers absentmindedly smoothing their toddler’s hair or caressing their child’s hands.

12. Question 7.12

    Describe the four types of attachment. How might each affect later life?

    A) Secure attachment: The infant feels comfortable and confident. The caregiver is a base for exploration, providing assurance and enabling exploration.B) Insecure-avoidant attachment: The infant feels fear, anxiety, anger, or indifference. Infants play independently without maintaining contact with the caregiver.C) Insecure-resistant/ambivalent attachment: The infant feels fear, anxiety, anger, or indifference. Infants may be unwilling to leave the caregiver’s lap or are angry at being left.D) Disorganized attachment: The infant may shift suddenly from hitting to kissing the caregiver, from staring blankly to crying hysterically, from pinching himself or herself to freezing in place.Securely attached infants are more likely to become secure toddlers, socially competent preschoolers, high-achieving schoolchildren, and capable adult partners and parents. Insecure attachment correlates with many problems in later relationships.

13. Question 7.13

    What can be done to improve the parent–child bond for high-risk parents?

    High-risk parents (particularly those who were abused as children, are socially isolated, or are very young) can benefit from early support offered by skilled professionals. This may include counseling, parenting classes, and one-on-one education about childcare.

14. Question 7.14

    How is social referencing important in infancy?

    After age 1, when infants can walk and can act like “little scientists,” their need to consult others becomes urgent for safety reasons. Toddlers use social referencing for clues in the faces and body position of trusted others, paying close attention to emotions and intentions in order to learn how to interpret the world. If the trusted other looks calm, then the child knows the situation is not dangerous.

15. Question 7.15

    How does father involvement affect infants?

    Fathers enhance their children’s social and emotional development in many ways, and synchrony, attachment, and social referencing are all apparent with fathers. Close father–infant relationships can teach infants appropriate expressions of emotion, particularly anger. Fathers also elicit more smiles and laughter from infants than mothers do, engaging more often in exciting and active play.

16. Question 7.16

    What might happen if a person is stuck in the oral or anal stage of development?

    According to Freud, a person who is stuck in the oral stage may eat or drink to excess, chew tobacco, bite their nails, or talk excessively. A person who is stuck in the anal stage would develop an anal personality, seeking self-control and regularity in all aspects of life.

17. Question 7.17

    How might the crisis of “trust versus mistrust” affect later life?

    If positive social interactions in infancy inspire trust, later in life the child or adult confidently explores the social world. The inverse would be true for infants who develop mistrust at this stage; they would lack confidence in their engagement with the world and assume that their basic needs cannot be met.

18. Question 7.18

    How might the crisis of “autonomy versus shame and doubt” affect later life?

    Toddlers want autonomy, or self-rule, over their own actions and bodies. If this does not develop, then they feel ashamed and doubtful, and this may result in an adult who is suspicious and pessimistic or easily shamed. Children who develop autonomy will likely develop into confident adults, secure in their own efficacy.

19. Question 7.19

    How do behaviorists explain the development of emotions and personality?

    Behaviorists believe a child’s emotions and personality are molded as parents reinforce or punish a child. In addition, behaviorists believe that infants absorb information from the people around them through social learning.

20. Question 7.20

    Why does the concept of a “working model” arise from cognitive theory?

    A working model is formed from early experiences, and it is a set of assumptions that become a frame of reference for later life based on beliefs, perceptions, and memories; cognitive theorists believe that these very things—beliefs, perceptions, memories—determine a person’s perspective in life. In contrast, psychoanalytic theory suggests that early events are buried in the unconscious, and behaviorists propose that they simply provide reinforcements or models for behavior.

21. Question 7.21

    According to humanism, how might caregivers’ own needs affect their response to an infant?

    Caregivers clearly have their own needs, and those needs influence how they respond to infants. Self-actualized people no longer have their own unmet needs, so they can nurture an infant well. But most parents are not at the highest level on Maslow’s hierarchy and still seek love or respect. In addition, the early experiences of caregivers often include unmet needs, and these can interfere with their ability to nurture.

22. Question 7.22

    How does evolution explain the parent–child bond?

    Evolutionary theory stresses two needs: survival and reproduction. Newborns are extraordinarily dependent, unable to walk or talk or even sit up and feed themselves for months after birth. Thus, they must attract adult devotion—and they do. The parent–child bond ensures the survival of infants.

23. Question 7.23

    Why is allocare necessary for survival of the human species?

    Evolutionary social scientists note that if mothers were the exclusive caregivers of each child until children were adults, a given woman could rear only one or two offspring—not enough for the species to survive. Allocare, the care of children by people other than the biological mother, is necessary so that mothers can have more children than they can care for on their own.

24. Question 7.24

    What are the advantages and disadvantages of nonmaternal infant care?

    Advantages of nonmaternal care include that it allows mothers to return to work, and provides (in good environments) safe spaces, appropriate learning and playing equipment, and trained providers to interact with children. The advantages appear most obvious around preschool age; debate remains about its value for younger children. Disadvantages vary greatly by type of care, and the range of quality in care is certainly an issue. There is some correlation between later aggression and early nonmaternal care. Family income level, culture, religion, education levels, and even the sex and temperament of the child all play a role in determining what type of care is best for a child.

25. Question 7.25

    Compare the costs and benefits of infant care by relatives versus center day care.

    Care by relatives may help the infant and the budget, but when it is the parents who are splitting the care, the arrangement may interfere with their ability to spend time together. Center day care is more expensive and varies greatly in quality; high-quality programs feature licensed professionals specially educated to care for infants and children, but often at a substantial financial cost. Grandmother care has been beneficial in most times and societies. Overall, consistent caregivers seem to be the most important factor, whether the caregiver is a family member or a professional.

26. Question 7.26

    Why is it difficult to draw conclusions about infant day care?

    Variations in day care arrangements are vast, and not all—particularly those that rely on family assistance—have records that make study and evaluation possible. The quality of infant day care varies a great deal, and some babies seem far more affected than others by the quality of the care they receive. In addition, there continues to be disagreement about the wisdom of nonmaternal child care for the very young.

27. Question 7.27

    What are the benefits and problems for infants if their mothers are employed?

    Research from the United States indicates that children generally benefit if their mothers are employed. The most likely reasons are that maternal income reduces parental depression and increases family wealth, both of which correlate with happier and more successful children. In addition, studies indicate that preschool education benefits children. That said, debate continues about the value of nonmaternal care for the very young, with some studies indicating that young children in day care may develop aggression issues and that nonmaternal care may pose particular problems for boys.