Infancyand

Childhood

What are ourbasic needs fordevelopment?

SocialDevelopment

Harry Harlow:Discovering Love

Attachment: an emotional tie with another person

Contact comfort: in primates,the innate pleasure derivedfrom close physical contact

Origins of Attachment

SocialDevelopment

Stranger anxiety: the fear of strangersthat infants commonly display, beginningabout 8 months of age

Attachment DifferencesStrange Situation

Focus is on the “reunion” with mother

Securely Attached:seeks contact upon reunion

Insecurely Attached:anxious or avoidant upon reunion

Mothers were sensitive and responsive

Mothers were insensitive and unresponsive

Graph on pg 79

Basic trust:A sense that the world is predictableand trustworthy (Erikson)

Deprivation of Attachment

Infancyand

Childhood

Adolescence

ParentsAs we mature, our secure base and safe haven shift –from parents to peers to partners.

Parenting Styles Authoritarian: impose rules and expect

obedience

Permissive: submit to their child’s desires, make

few demands, and use little punishment

Authoritative: both demanding and responsive;set rules, but also explain them

Children tend to have high self-esteem, self-reliance, and social competence

Children tend to have less social skills and self-esteem

Children tend to be more aggressive and immature

Culture and Child-RearingIndividualist vs. Collectivist

Individualist – values independence; focus on individual goals

Collectivist – Group harmony is more important than the individual

Culture: the enduring behaviors, values, and

traditions shared by a group of people andtransmitted from one generation to the

next

Does Parenting Matter?Yes….and no.

Environmental influences account for only about 10% of a child’s personality

However…parents influence their child’sattitudes, values, manners, faith, and

politics

The power of parenting is clearest at the extremes (abusive, neglectful)

Peers

Do Peers Matter?True or False?

Preschoolers who reject a certain food despite parents’ urgings often will eat the food if put at a table with a

group of children who like it.

A child who hears English spoken with one accent at home and another in the neighborhood and at school will

adopt the accent of the parents, not the peers.

Teens who start smoking typically have friends who model smoking, suggest its pleasures, and offer

cigarettes.

TRUE

FALSE

TRUE

peers

When researchers used a beeper to sample the daily experiences of American teens, they found them unhappiest when alone

and happiest when with friends.

As Aristotle said, we humans are “the social animal”