Chapter 4

• Separation anxiety

  Crying when caregiver leaves, typically around 13-15 months
• Stranger anxiety


  Infants show fear and wariness of strangers, onset at 6 months
• Types of cries babies have

  • Basic cry - rhythmic pattern that usually consists of a cry, followed by brief silence
  • Anger cry - a variation of the basic cry with more excess air forced through the vocal cords
  • Pain cry - a sudden, long, initial cry followed by the holding of the breath; no preliminary moaning is present
• Temperament


  Main features of three different theories: Chess & Thomas, Kagan, Rothbart & Bates
• Reflexive and social smile

  1. Reflexive smile - occurs during the first month after birth, usually during sleep

  2. Social smile - occurs in response to an external stimulus, typically a face, as early as 2 months of age
• Kagan temperament types

  • Shy, subdued, timid child
  • Sociable, extroverted, bold child
• Rothbart and Bates temperament


  Describing temperament in terms of predisposition toward emotional reactivity and self-regulation
• Goodness of fit model refers to the match between the infant's temperament and the environmental demands
• Chess and Thomas temperament types

  • Easy child
  • Difficult child
  • Slow-to-warm-up child
• Personality Development


  Development of the sense of self in infancy
• Emotional Development

  Early emotions infants express: Surprise, interest, joy, anger, sadness, fear, and disgust
• Strategies for temperament-sensitive parenting

  • Pay attention to and respect the child's individuality
  • Structure the child's environment
  • Avoid applying negative labels to the child
• Match between the infant's temperament and the environmental demands

  Infant must cope with
• Social referencing
• Self recognition in the mirror (15-23 months)


  Indications for infants developing a new sense of self in the second half of the second year of life
• Temperament-sensitive parenting

  • Pay attention to and respect the child's individuality
  • Structure the child's environment
  • Avoid applying negative labels to the child
• Functions of pointing

  1. Proto-imperative

  2. Proto-declarative
• Main findings of Harlow's experiments with rhesus monkeys
• Bowlby's theory of attachment

  • Secure base
  • Internal working model
  • Attachment as a system of behavioral adaptation
• Social Orientation and Attachment

  1. Understand definitions of dyadic and triadic interaction

  2. Identify different examples of triadic interaction
• Lack of Proto-declarative pointing as an early sign of autism
• Phases in the development of attachment

  1. Preattachment

  2. Attachment in the making

  3. Clear cut attachment

  4. Formation of a reciprocal relationship
• Personality Development


  How the sense of self develops in infancy
• Drive reduction theory (Freud)
• 65% of North American Middle class exhibit Secure Attachment
• 20% of North American Middle class exhibit Anxious-Avoidant Attachment
• Secure Attachment

  • Uses caregiver as a secure base to explore the environment
  • Child plays comfortably as long as mother is present
  • Positive reaction to strangers
  • Becomes visibly upset when mother leaves, seeks contact and interaction upon return, then quickly calms down and resumes playing
• 10% of North American Middle class exhibit Resistant Attachment
• Anxious-Avoidant Attachment

  • Shows insecurity by avoiding the caregiver
  • Infant is indifferent to mother when together
  • Little distress when mother leaves, may avoid contact upon reunion
  • Seeks distance from parent, often interested in toys instead
• Disorganized Attachment

  • Infants show disorganized and disoriented behaviors
  • Behave in contradictory, unpredictable ways conveying extreme fear or confusion
  • Appear dazed and disoriented
• Resistant Attachment


  • Often clings to caregiver and then resists them by fighting against closeness
  • Infants stay close to mother and appear anxious, little exploration
  • Becomes very upset when mother leaves, not comforted by mother's return
  • Do not readily resume playing after mother's return, keep a wary eye on mother
• 1. 10% of North American Middle class exhibit Disorganized Attachment
• Model Attachment classification around the world
• Factors influencing attachment patterns include quality of caregiving (sensitivity), infant characteristics (temperament), family circumstances (stress), parents' internal working models, and childcare
• Internal working model and/or continuity of caregiving may link infant attachment and late development
• Later outcomes of different patterns of infant attachment affect dependency, self-reliance, efforts at mastering tasks, emotional regulation, anxiety, anger, empathy, social competence, and psychopathology. Better adjustment for secure children, worst outcomes for disorganized children