2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

All Rights Reserved

Chapter Six
Emotional Development
and Attachment
2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Early Emotional Development
Emotions are
Subjective reactions
Usually experienced cognitively
Generally has a form of physiological arousal
Communicated to others through behavior
Functions of emotions
Communicates feelings, social interactions
Affects mental and physical health
Helps develop emotional intelligence
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Early Emotional Development
Perspectives on emotional development
Genetic-maturational perspective
Emotions have biological underpinnings
Individual differences in temperament
Identical and fraternal twin research
Learning perspective
Individual emotional expressions result from
individual experiences
Experiences elicit and reinforce responses
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Early Emotional Development
Perspectives on emotional development
Functionalist perspective
Help in achieving goals and adapting to the
environment
Emphasizes roles in social relationships
Emotional signals (social cues) guide
behaviors
Emotions attached to memories
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Early Emotional Development
Developing emotional expressions
Infants have a wide range of emotions at a very
early age
Newborns have specific emotions
Facial expressions emerge
Two types of emotions:
Primary emotions (i.e., startle)
Secondary emotions (i.e., shame)
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Emotions
Primary
emotions
Emerge early in life
no introspection or
self-reflection is
required
Secondary
emotions
Emerge later in
development self-
conscious emotions
Emotional
development
influenced by
Genetics
Environment
Experiences
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Primary Emotions Development
Smiling and laughter are the first
expressions of pleasure
Newborn infants display reflex smiles
Infants show preferences for human faces
Special smiles for mothers Duchenne smiles
Not all babies smile with equal frequency;
individual, cultural, and sex differences exist
A wide array of stimuli can make baby laugh

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Primary Emotions Development
Primary emotions
Spontaneous, origins unknown
Smiles signal pleasure, encourage social
interactions with caregiver and others
Wide range of stimuli has effects later,
responses to visual stimuli increase
More selective with smiles at 3 months
Some gender differences in interactions
between parents/caregivers and infant
Consistent ethnicity differences seen
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Primary Emotions Development
Primary emotions
Increased laughing at 7 months
Response to social games at end of first year
Negative emotions
Wariness develops at about 3 months
Unfamiliar events cause distress in most
Stranger distress at 7 to 9 months,
reactions vary by previous experiences
Social referencing
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10-12 4-6 7-9
Age (in months)
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Social
Tactile
Auditory
Visual
What Makes Children Laugh?
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Primary Emotions Development
Fear is one of the first negative emotions
Fear of strangers emerges as wariness at 3
months, and true fear around 9 months
As babies age, more distressing behaviors
and discrimination toward the unfamiliar
shown
Stranger distress appears not to be
universal, infant reactions vary among some
cultures, and individual differences may be
linked to temperament
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Primary Emotions Development
Individual differences in emotions
Are related to ones social adjustment
Contextual factors can affect infant reactions
to strangers
Infants use social referencing to know how to
act in uncertain situations
The degree of control a child has over a
situation affects her or his reactions
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The Onset of Stranger Distress
4
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Shows
distress
Compares
faces
Looks
sober
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Primary Emotions Development
Characteristics of a stranger affect
babies emotional reactions
Separation protest a fear that appears
to be universal and peaks in Western
infants at about 15 months
Separation anxiety sometimes
reappears in other forms at later ages
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Separation Protest
Age (in months)
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African Bushman
Guatemalan
Indian
Israeli
(kibbutzim)
Antiguan
(Guatemala)
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Secondary Emotions Development
Pride, shame, guilt, and jealousy are
complex emotions, related to adjustments
Differentiating between pride and shame is
linked to task performance and responses
from others
easy and difficult
success and failure
joy and sadness
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Pride, Shame, and Task Difficulty
Difficult Easy
Task difficulty
1
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2.5
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Secondary Emotions Development
Guilt emotions are linked to personal
responsibility; influenced by degree of
control one has over a given situation
Jealousy is a common emotion that all
experience; a social emotion occurring
among established social relationships
How jealousy is expressed by children
changes across development
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Recognizing Emotions in Others
Facial expressions communicate
feelings and wishes to children who do
not yet understand speech joy is
recognized earlier than anger (a
functional value)
Quality and quantity of interactions
between parents and infants affects
childrens ability to recognize emotions
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Emotional Regulation
Learning to regulate expressions of
emotions is difficult for infants and
children
Prenatal: unintentional (thumb sucking)
Deliberate regulation (i.e., use of distraction)
Methods of emotional control change as
children grow older
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Emotional Regulation
Social pressure requires more self-control
over emotions as children age
Children learn emotional display rules as a
way of conforming to social norms
Earliest efforts are based on imitation
Later efforts include appraising situations
Culture influences how appraisals are made
Understanding may occur as young as 2 years
of age
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Age (in months)
21-24 9-12 15-18
Amsterdams
study
Lewis &
Brooks-Gunns
study
Whats That On My Nose?
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How Children Think About Emotions
Children learn to match emotional reactions
to specific events through emotional scripts
Emotional scripts get more complex as children
mature
Children realize complex scripts include desires,
goals, and intentions of others
Children realize conflicting feelings
can be experienced at the same time
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How Children Think About Emotions
Families play a major role in childrens
emotional development
Children learn by watching emotional
reactions of family members
Type of home and parenting styles makes a
difference in what is learned
Socialization is a two-way process and
temperaments affect interactions

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The Development of Attachment
Attachment is closely related to
emotional development
Forms in second half of first year
Evidenced by separation protests
Enhances parents effectiveness in later
socialization of their children
Evolves over first 2 years of life
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The Development of Attachment
Theories of attachment
Psychoanalytic theory: attachment is linked
to gratification of innate drives
Learning theory:
Traditionally, primary drive of hunger is
reduced by primary reinforcer (food) and
secondary reinforcer is one who feeds
Harlow: attachment comforts in stress
Currently, attachment not dependent
upon childs feeding
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The Development of Attachment
Theories of attachment
Cognitive developmental theory:
Specific attachment based on object
permanence
Physical proximity to attachment figures
lessens in importance as children grow
Psychological contact maintained
through words, smiles, and looks

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The Development of Attachment
Theories of attachment
Bowlbys ethological theory:
Infant attachment has roots in instinctual
infant responses important for survival and
protection
Based partly on animals imprinting
process
Infants early social signaling systems
(i.e., smiling and crying) play active role
in formation of attachment

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The Development of Attachment
Attachment
Evolves in stages or steps
Develops for those regularly interacted with
such as mothers, siblings, and peers
Father-child interaction affected by culture
and type of society one lives in
Mothers and fathers differences in play
modes or styles continue as children grow
fathers more physical
mothers more verbal
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The Nature and Quality of Attachment
Early attachment formation is not uniform
Many seem to form highly secure attachments
Assessment is based on the Strange Situation
and Ainsworths classifications
Styles of caregiving are linked to attachment;
sensitive care linked to secure attachments,
and unavailable or rejecting linked to insecurity
Deficient forms of parenting often result in
approach/avoidance behavior in children
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Ainsworth Classifications
Insecure-avoidant
Secure
Insecure-resistant
Insecure-disorganized
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The Nature and Quality of Attachment
New assessment method:
Attachment Q Sort (AQS)
Other assessment instruments exist
Questions of usefulness of
Ainsworths model


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The Nature and Quality of Attachment
Parents role in attachment
Attachment is relationship
Styles of parent-child interaction patterns have
impact sensitive care seems best
Attachment studies show interesting
comparisons between cultures
Parents transmit internal working models of
attachment (intergenerational effect);
unsatisfying effects can be overcome

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The Nature and Quality of Attachment
Effect of infant temperament
Influence on attachment is probably mediated
by many other factors
Stability in quality of attachment exists
from one period to another
Some cross-cultural support was found
This stability does not preclude change
Quality of infant-parent attachment
affects the childs development
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The Nature and Quality of Attachment
Cognitive development
Quality of caregiver relationships important
to childs cognitive development; findings
are supported cross-culturally
Securely attached children are seen as
More socially competent; increases with age
Less dependent on adults

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The Nature and Quality of Attachment
Emotions:
Affect links between attachment and social
competence
Sense of self is crucial to childs development
There is no evidence that being in child care
prevents infant-parent attachments; the
amount of time spent in daycare and type of
care can affect infant-parent relationships
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The Nature and Quality of Attachment
Stability of staff in child-care facilities
Affects quality of relationship between care
providers and children in daycare
High training level of staff promotes secure
attachments with children
Children in high-quality programs have more
positive effects on child development
Quality of child care appears linked to social
class of families using the services

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(b)
(a)
Low-income
Affluent
Neighborhoods Families
Are Child Care and Enrichment
Programs Only for the Affluent?
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The End