PSYC100 Week 14 Social and Emotional Development PDF

Week 14: Social and Emotional Development Vanessa E. Martin (she/her), MSc, PhD Candidate Department of Psychology [email protected]  Models Recall Bandura’s Social Learning Theory – Week 5!! We learn a lot about how to act by watching a...

Week 14: Social and Emotional Development Vanessa E. Martin (she/her), MSc, PhD Candidate Department of Psychology [email protected]  Models Recall Bandura’s Social Learning Theory – Week 5!! We learn a lot about how to act by watching and imitating others: models Caregivers are key early in life Then more people are added (teachers, friends, etc.) until adolescence when friends are most influential Attachment, temperament, and parenting style are also important in social learning  Early Socio-Emotional Processes Infants express the following emotions from birth: Interest, distress, disgust, happiness As early as 2 mos, infants express more emotions: Anger, sadness, surprise, fear Social smiles  ~2-3 mos Prefer mom’s voice  3 mos Laughter (!)  ~4 mos  Developing a sense of others Intersubjectivity: The sharing of subjective states (e.g., goals, intentions, emotions) between two or more individuals Newborns (as young as 1 day old!) copy facial expressions of their parents Meltzoff & Moore, 1977  Developing a sense of others Joint attention: ability to share attention towards something with others Emerges at 3-6 months Social Referencing: taking cues from others when dealing with an unfamiliar situation  Social referencing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p 6cqNhHrMJA  Attachment Harlow’s work (1950’s) Infant rhesus monkeys raised without mothers Food versus physical comfort: What drives the formation of attachment?  Harlow’s monkeys https://youtu.be/OrNBEhzjg8I?t=22  Attachment CLOTH “mother” – regardless of food – won each and every time Maybe attachment is more than just about food Feeling secure, based on physical comfort The cloth mother was not responsive and none of the monkeys were well socially or sexually developed These experiments would not pass ethics today Necessitated separating baby rhesus monkey from mother; other experiments induced fearful situations  Attachment Attachment: A strong emotional connection, such as the bond between a child and caregiver. At first, it was believed to be all about being fed Initial bond between infant and caregiver develops from the basic needs of safety and survival Later evidence shows attachment is a foundation for seeking others for physical and psychological comfort (especially when stressed/insecure) People develop internal working models of attachment that guide our expectations and behaviours in close relationships  Attachment Development Stage Characteristics Stage 1 Infants are in close contact with caregivers Pre-attachment and rely on them for all needs 0-6 weeks Not distressed when caregivers leave them with someone else Stage 2 Infants prefer familiar people (expectations Attachment in the may develop at this time), but will eventually making calm with unfamiliar people 6 weeks to 8 months Stage 3 Infants actively seek comfort from caregivers Clear-cut attachment (they act as a secure base) 8 months to 18 months May show signs of separation anxiety (extreme distress) when separated from caregivers Stage 4 Become more comfortable spending time Reciprocal away from caregivers, but will occasionally relationship check in. Secure Base and Safe Haven  Attachment Stranger Anxiety: Signs of distress that infants start to show towards strangers Develops at around 8 months of age (Start of Stage 3) Ainsworth: “Strange Situation” paradigm How do infants behave when faced with different situations involving anxiety and comfort? Noted 4 patterns of behaviour Secure Insecure: Anxious/Resistant Insecure: Avoidant Disorganized (Added later)  “Strange Situation” https://www.youtube.com/watch ?v=m_6rQk7jlrc  “Strange Situation” Paradigm PARADIGM SECURE INSECURE DISORGANIZE STAGE D Anxious/ Avoidant (Instability) resistant Explore Checks in Child clings Oblivious Inconsistent and with parent to parent to parent likely abusive experiences: Stranger Shows some Very upset Not upset comes, distress Parents = parent when parent source of fear leaves leaves and comfort Stranger Avoids Quite fearful Unconcern stranger ed Child wavers between Reunion: Seeks Seeks Does not wanting to be Parent comfort comfort but seek close vs. far returns as then pushes contact away stranger parent away leaves  Attachment over the lifespan Those who are securely attached are better able to recover from interpersonal conflict later in life Textbook – better peer relationships, favorably evaluated by teachers, greater diligence on tough tasks But, the stability of attachment is approximately 0.39 (medium effect). Experiences play a major role. Insecure attachment is associated with parental psychopathology Textbook – more likely to be viewed as “bullies”; problems building / maintaining friendships.  Temperament Temperament: Each infant's individual pattern of behaviours and emotional reactions Describes the way in which they approach and react to the world It is their personal “style” It influences a child's behaviour and the way they interact with others There are 3 basic temperament types Easy, difficult, and slow to warm up (Thomas & Chess, 1987, 1991)  Nine Traits are Activity Level Considered amount of movement Rhythmicity Predictability of biological rhythms (i.e., sleep, elimination) Approach/ response to unfamiliar stimuli Withdrawal Threshold of intensity of stimulus needed to produce a response Responsiveness Intensity of Response to stimuli Reaction Attention Span time spent on activity once begun Distractibility how much new stimulus interrupts or alters behaviour Adaptability how easily child adapts to changing environment Quality of Mood relative amounts of happy versus unhappy behaviours exhibited  Temperament Type Activity Bio Adaptabil Mood Level Rhythms ity “Easy” Playful Regular Adaptable Calm “Difficult” High Irregular Slow to Negative adjust “Slow to Low Fairly Slow at (Inconsiste warm up” regular first nt) Not all babies fit well into these categories.  Influences on Temperament Biologically-based, but interacts with experience from birth. Association is bi-directional. Parental sensitivity: Being tuned into the infant’s communication, and responding appropriately (moderate coordination is key) Goodness of fit between temperament and environment (e.g., Chess & Thomas, 1999)  Parenting Styles (Baumrind) High Low Warmth / Responsiveness Warmth / Responsiveness Authoritative Authoritarian Explain the reasons behind rules Discipline using threats Expectations / (physical punishment unlikely). and punishment Reason with their children, (physical punishment Control hearing their arguments but not less unlikely) High always giving in to them. May praise obedience as Grant children a high degree of a virtue and expect their freedom within firm and children to follow rules consistent boundaries. without explanation. Permissive (Indulgent) Rejecting-Neglectful Believe children learn best on Do not set limits or ctations / their own. monitor the activities of Allow children a great deal of their children (may ontrol freedom in regulating their own discourage activities) Low lives and place few demands on Place own needs above  Parenting Styles (Baumrind) High Low Warmth / Responsiveness Warmth / Responsiveness Expectations / Control High ctations / ontrol Low  Parenting Styles (Baumrind) High Low Warmth / Warmth / Responsiveness Responsiveness Authoritative Authoritarian Socially competent Unhappy Expectations / Self-confident Poor social competence Strong academics Poor self-confidence Control Feel supported by Conform to expectations of High parents adults (will look to authority for Strong impulse control moral guidance) Quick to adapt to new Physical discipline increases situations anxiety & aggression Permissive (Indulgent Rejecting-Neglectful ) Poor impulse control tations / Poor impulse control Poor self-confidence Poor responsibility Poor competence ntrol High self-confidence Antisocial & Social difficulties ow Poor Academics Substance abuse  Family Stress Model Outcomes linked to economic pressures in this model include: Externalizing (e.g., drug/alcohol abuse) and internalizing (e.g., depression) problems, academic and physical health difficulties, and strain in interpersonal relationships  Parenting In Diverse Cultural Contexts Different cultural expectations of a parent’s role in the child’s life i.e., mothers vs fathers vs grandparents or other family members (alloparenting; Bakaraki et al., 2024) Culturally Salient “Care/warmth” Behaviours Saying “I Love You” vs. other care behaviours Cultural Expectations of Control/Discipline & Warmth  Summary Infants learn from their caregivers Intersubjectivity & Social referencing Learning about others and looking to them for information about emotions Attachment Responsivity to expression (starting at birth) provides comfort and a secure base Learn to manage emotions through the hep of caregivers Temperament = what the child brings to the table Parenting Styles = what the parents bring to the table (beyond just responsivity) Both parenting and child behaviour are influenced by external elements Family stress model Cultural contexts