Socioemotional Development

lecture eighteen

1.! How do we learn to feel? 2.! How do we bond? 3.! How do we control our feelings?

Mammals:
! Nurse ! Vocalize ! Play

MacLean PD (1975)

Socioemotional Development

lecture eighteen

1.! How do we learn to feel? 2.! How do we bond? 3.! How do we control our feelings?

Emotional expression

Izard: Interested Distressed Disgusted -- Contented

Social Imitation

Controlling emotional expression

Controlling emotional expression

Social Referencing

Social referencing
Effect of Mothers Facial Expressions on Infant Behavior

An infant on the visual cliff: The infant is placed on the center board laid across a heavy sheet of glass and his mother calls to him. If she is on the deep side, he pats the glass but despite this tactual information that all is safe, he refuses to crawl across the apparent cliff.

Sorce et al. (1985)

Socioemotional Development

lecture eighteen

1.! How do we learn to feel? 2.! How do we bond? 3.! How do we control our feelings?

Attachment
! Development ! Individual differences ! Implications

Konrad Lorenz (1903-1989)

Ethology: scientific study of animal behavior

John Bowlby
(1907-1990)

Attachment defined
"... the strong, affectional tie we feel for special people in our lives that leads us to feel pleasure and joy when we interact with them and to be comforted by their nearness in time of stress." (Berk, 1998)

Attachment
! Peaks between 8 months and 3 years ! Evoked by frightening situations ! Signs of attachment:
! Distress when object of attachment leaves ! Pleasure when reunited ! Distress when approached by a stranger, unless reassured by object of attachment ! Exploration of new situations if object of attachment is present

Development of attachment
1.! Pre-attachment (0-2 months) ! indiscriminate social responsiveness 2.! Attachment in the making (1-6 months and over) ! recognition of familiar people 3.! Clear-cut attachment (6-30 months and over) ! separation protest, stranger anxiety 4.! Goal-corrected partnership (24-48 months and over) ! mutual relationships (children understand parents needs and goals)

Cross-cultural similarity in peak separation anxiety

Attachment strengthens when children learn to crawl and walk

Attachment is a two-way street

Attachment is a two-way street

! Mothers (n=28) view photos of their own infant s face or an unknown infant s face. ! Faces are happy, sad, or neutral.

Strathearn et al. (2008), Pediatrics

Moms reward circuitry activates for own versus other infants faces
(i.e., (A) putamen and (B) substantia nigra)

Behaviorist cupboard theory

Harry Harlow
(1905 1981)

Ethics of isolation?

The only thing I care about is whether the monkeys will show characteristics that I can publish. I never feel affection for them. I don t like animals at all. I despise cats. I hate dogs. How can you like monkeys?

Attachment
! Development ! Individual differences ! Implications

Mary Ainsworth
(1913-1999)

How to measure attachment?

1. The Strange Situation 2. Elicits typical attachment behaviors 2. Reveals individual differences

Attachment styles
! Securely attached (70% of babies):
Treat the attachment figure as a source of security and safety So: ! Explore when mother is present ! Outgoing with stranger when mother is present ! Upset when mother leaves ! Greets and contacts mother when she returns

Attachment styles
! Insecurely attached: Avoidant (20% of babies):
Treat the attachment figure as irrelevant So: ! uninterested in exploring the strange environment ! not wary of strangers, ignores them ! little distress when mother leaves ! avoid contacts when mother returns

Attachment styles
! Insecurely attached: Resistant (10% of babies):
Treat the attachment figure as unreliable So: ! reluctant to explore, anxious ! wary of stranger, even when mother is present ! very upset when mother leaves ! continues to be upset when mother returnsm but does not seek contact ! simultaneously seeks and resists the mother

Attachment
! Development ! Individual differences ! Implications

Why attachment matters

! Adult relationships
! cognitive models about relationships

! Emotional health ! Physical health

Nature or nurture?
! Changing irritable infants
! 100 mother-infant pairs with irritable infants ! At 6 months, random assignment of half the mothers to training program ! At 12 months, all infants tested in Strange Situation ! Results: 62% of infants in training program were securely attached; 28% in control

Van den Boom et al. (2008), Pediatrics

Implications for adults

Mental models of close relationships

I can trust mom.

Mental models of close relationships

I can trust my friends and romantic partner.

Two Dimensions of Adult Attachment

! Avoidance: Comfort vs. discomfort being close to others, relying on close others, and expressing emotions and needs to close others ! Anxiety: Worry vs. security about how trustworthy and committed close others are, and sensitivity to signs of rejection or betrayal

Is childhood attachment style a life sentence ?

! Attachment is just one of many influences on relationships and wellbeing. ! Attachment style isnt fixed: mental models can change with new relationships and new experiences.

Socioemotional Development

lecture eighteen

1.! How do we learn to feel? 2.! How do we bond? 3.! How do we control our feelings?

Self-regulation
Modulating affect, cognition, and behavior in order to attain a goal. Useful for: Making plans Managing impulses

THINGS YOU SHOULD DO THINGS YOU WANT TO DO THINGS YOU DON T WANT TO DO

THINGS YOU SHOULDN T DO

? ?

? ?

THINGS YOU SHOULD DO THINGS YOU WANT TO DO THINGS YOU DON T WANT TO DO

THINGS YOU SHOULDN T DO

SELFREGULATION

SELFREGULATION

Automatic processes (system(s) 1) Deliberative processes (system(s) 2)

Frontal lobe matures slower

THINGS YOU SHOULD DO THINGS YOU WANT TO DO THINGS YOU DON T WANT TO DO

THINGS YOU SHOULDN T DO

SELFREGULATION

Social scaffolding (Vygotsky)

! Cognitive, emotional, and behavioral development requires social interaction and conversation. ! Zone of proximal development is what a child is capable of with guidance and feedback.

Scaffolding self-regulation
! Make the should dos automatic
! Start simple, gradually increase demands

! Make should dos part of identity ! Make should dos FUN!

THINGS YOU SHOULD DO THINGS YOU WANT TO DO THINGS YOU DON T WANT TO DO

THINGS YOU SHOULDN T DO

SELFREGULATION

Delay of Gratification

Walter Mischel (1930-)

Delay of gratification

! Determine child s relative preference for each of two valued things (e.g., 1 vs. 2 cookies). ! Explain that child can have less valued thing any time, but must wait to get the more valued thing. ! Leave the room for 15 minutes.

Predictive validity?

(Shoda, Mischel & Peake, 1990)

Predicting test scores 10 years later

Minutes of delay and SAT-Verbal score: Correlation = .42 Minutes of delay and SAT-Quant score: Correlation = .57

Predictive validity?

(Shoda, Mischel & Peake, 1990)

Socioemotional Development

lecture eighteen

1.! How do we learn to feel? 2.! How do we bond? 3.! How do we control our feelings?

Summary
! We come into the world prepared to emote and interact, but continually learn how do do these better ! We can also learn to control our emotions and interactions ! The development of emotion and its control may have important and lasting consequences

announcements
Staged reading of Proof by David Auburn Monday, March 4th 7:00pm, here (room 041)
Attendance is considered mandatory and content from the play will be on the final exam. Co-Sponsored by: