Infant Development and Reflexes

Infant Reflexes

• Infants are born with many reflexes, which disappear as they mature.

Physical Development in Infancy and Childhood

• Infants achieve many motor skills within 12 months, including sitting upright, standing, stooping, climbing, and walking.
• In the second year, infants improve their running and climbing abilities.
• Motor skills and perceptual skills depend on each other and environment.
• "Perceptual looking" involves giving an infant a choice of what object to look at.
• Infants prefer faces shortly after birth.
• "Sticky mittens" enhance young infant exploration skills.

The Brain

• Myelination continues after birth.
• Synaptic connections increase dramatically in the first two years of life.
• Unused connections are "pruned."
• Brain development is a result of nature and nurture, meaning experiences in the world stimulate change.
• Keeping the brain actively engaged can reduce the effects of aging.

The Brains of the Mankato Nuns

• The Mankato Nun Study demonstrated the positive relationship between cognitive activity and brain health by following nuns over decades.

Cognitive Development

• Cognitive development is how thought, intelligence, and language processes change as people mature.
• Cognition refers to the operation of thinking.
• Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development had significant impact.

Cognitive Development from Childhood into Adulthood

• Humans use "schemas" to understand experiences.
• Schema: a mental concept or framework that organizes information.
• Assimilation involves incorporating new information into preexisting schemas.
• Accommodation is adjusting one's schemas to new information.

Cognitive Development: Piaget's Stages

• Sensorimotor Stage: From birth to 2 years old.
  • Infants coordinate sensations with movements.
  • They develop "object permanence," understanding that objects continue to exist even when not directly visible, heard, or touched.
  • Infants begin to use symbols or words in their thinking.
• Preoperational Stage: From 2 to 7 years of age.
  • Children develop more advanced symbolic thinking.

Socioemotional Development in Infancy

• Infant attachment: a close emotional bond between an infant and caregiver.
• Bowlby theorized that early attachment sets the stage for future relationships.
• Ainsworth developed the "strange situation test" to assess children's attachment.
• Secure attachment: infants use their caregiver as a secure base to explore.
• Attachment theory does not fully account for cultural variations or temperamental differences.

Contact Time with Wire and Cloth Surrogate Mothers

• Harry Harlow's research in 1958 demonstrated the importance of warm contact in social bonding.
• Regardless of which surrogate mother provided feeding, infant monkeys overwhelmingly preferred to spend time with the cloth mother.

Erikson's Theory of Socioemotional Development

• Erikson proposed a theory of psychosocial development with eight stages, each representing a developmental task with two potential outcomes.

Socioemotional Development in Childhood: From Trust to Industry

• Trust Versus Mistrust: From birth to 18 months.
  • This stage involves the development of trust based on caregivers meeting the baby's needs.
• Autonomy Versus Shame and Doubt: Toddlerhood, 18 months to 3 years.
  • Toddlers assert their will and independence.
• Initiative Versus Guilt: Early childhood, 3 to 5 years.
  • Children are challenged to assume responsibility.
• Industry Versus Inferiority: Age 6 to puberty.
  • Children master knowledge and intellectual skills.

Parenting and Childhood Socioemotional Development

• Baumrind identified four parenting styles.
  • Authoritarian: Restrictive and punitive, with little verbal exchange.
  • Authoritative: Encourages independence while setting limits.
  • Neglectful: Lacking in parental involvement.
  • Permissive: Few limits on the child's behavior.
• The authoritative style is associated with the most positive child outcomes.
• Cultural variations can impact parenting styles and their effectiveness.

Socioemotional Development in Adolescence: The Emergence of Identity

• Erikson's stage of identity versus identity confusion: Adolescents confront new roles and adult statuses.
• Marcia identified four identity statuses.
  • Identity diffusion: No exploration or commitment.
  • Identity foreclosure: Commitment without exploration.
  • Identity moratorium: Exploration without commitment.
  • Identity achievement: Commitment after exploration.

Identity within a Larger Culture

• Cultural messages influence identity formation.
• Forming an identity can be particularly challenging for marginalized groups.
• Biculturalism presents another set of challenges.

Parents and Peers in Adolescence

• Parents play a key role as effective managers.
• Peer relationships are particularly important in adolescence and can have both positive and negative influences.

Socioemotional Development in Emerging Adulthood

• Emerging adulthood: Transitional period from adolescence to adulthood.
• Key features of emerging adulthood:
  • Identity exploration (especially in love and work).
  • Instability.
  • Self-focus.
  • Feeling "in between."
  • An age of possibilities.
  • Lasts from around 18 to 25 years of age.

Socioemotional Development in Early Adulthood

• Erikson's stage of intimacy versus isolation: Focuses on forming intimate relationships, often with a romantic partner.
• Marriage and Families:
  • Adult attachments take on various forms, with cohabitation increasing significantly.
  • Marriage often occurs later than it historically did.

Gottman's Principles of Successful Marriages

• Gottman identified four principles that promote successful marriages:
  • Nurturing fondness and admiration.
  • Turning towards each other as friends.
  • Giving up some power.
  • Solving conflicts together.

Socioemotional Development in Middle Adulthood

• Erikson's seventh stage: generativity versus stagnation, occurs in middle adulthood.
• Generativity: Creating something of value for future generations.
• Stagnation: The feeling of having done nothing of value.

Socioemotional Development and Aging

• Erikson's eighth and final stage: integrity versus despair.
  • Individuals seek to perceive life as meaningful and coherent.
• Socioemotional selectivity theory: As time becomes more limited, older adults focus on meaningful relationships and activities.
• Socioemotional factors influence physical health and vice versa.

Evaluating Erikson's Theory

• Strengths:
  • Emphasizes development as a lifelong process.
  • Offers valuable insights into central themes across different life stages.
• Criticisms:
  • Relies heavily on case studies.
  • Omits some important developmental tasks, such as those related to career.
  • Lacks exploration of emerging adulthood.

Gender Development

• Gender: The social and psychological aspects of one's experience with being male, female, both, or neither.
• Gender Identity: A person's internal sense of self in relation to male, female, both, or neither.
  • This is a continuum, not a binary.
• Sexual orientation: Distinct from gender identity.
• Gender expression: The ways people present themselves through appearance, voice, and behavior.