©2001 Allyn & Bacon
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Chapter 7: Emotional and Social Development in Infancy and
Toddlerhood
Erikson's psychoanalytic theories provide an overview of the emotional and social tasks of infancy and toddlerhood. For Erikson, trust and autonomy grow out of warm, supportive parenting and reasonable expectations for impulse control during the second year.
Emotions play an important role in the organization of relationships with caregivers, exploration of the environment, and discovery of the self. Infants' ability to express basic emotions, such as happiness, anger, sadness, and fear, and respond to the emotions of others expands over the first year. As toddlers become more self-aware, self-conscious emotions, such as shame, embarrassment, and pride, begin to emerge. Emotional self-regulation improves with brain maturation, gains in cognition and language, and sensitive child rearing.
Children's unique temperamental styles are apparent in early infancy. Heredity influences early temperament, but child-rearing experiences determine whether a child's temperament is sustained or modified over time.
Ethological theory is the most widely accepted view of the development of the infant-caregiver relationship. According to this perspective, attachment evolved over the history of our species to promote survival. Research shows that responding promptly, consistently, and appropriately to infant signals supports secure attachment, whereas insensitive caregiving is linked to attachment insecurity. Because children and parents are embedded in larger contexts, family circumstances influence attachment quality. Cultural factors also affect attachment patterns. Infants form attachment bonds with a variety of familiar people, including mothers, fathers, and siblings. Although quite limited, peer sociability is present in the first 2 years, and it is fostered by the early caregiver-child bond. Continuity of caregiving seems to be involved in the relationship of attachment security to later development.
Once self-awareness develops over the first and second year, it supports a diverse array of social and emotional achievements. Empathy, the ability to categorize the self, compliance, and self-control are by-products of toddlers' emerging sense of self.
©2001 Allyn & Bacon |