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1. Socio-emotional
Development of
Toddlers
by: MS. TANYA SUE D.
BARAYUGA

2. The Formative Years
The first three years in human development is called as the formative years
of human development.
As the poem “Children Learn What They Live” expresses, the kind of home
and school environment that parents and teachers produce determines to a
very great extent the quality of the development of children.
Attachment
• The infant needs to establish an enduring emotional bond characterized
by a tendency to seek and maintain closeness to a specific figure,
particularly during stressful situation.
• According to the attachment theory (Dr. John Bowly), the beginnings of
attachment occur within the first 6 months of a baby’s life with a variety of
built-in signals that baby uses to keep her caregiver engaged.
• The baby cries, gazes into her mother’s eyes, smiles, etc. In the next few
months, the baby develops in her degree of attachment to her parents. She
smiles more freely at them at any stranger whom she seldom sees.

3. The Formative Years
• The key to a good start in the social development of the baby is a lot of responsive interaction
with the baby
• Babies thrive on social interaction when it is in response to their social birds. Babies seem
to let us know when they want to interact or not. The timing of the caregiver’s response to the
baby is important.
Other significant findings in this section were:
• What is absolutely central to babies’ emotional well-being is not so much feeding but the
consistent involvement of caregivers. Being fed by your mother is not what attached you to
her. It is consistent, close nurturing that matters in early relationships.
• Children who have good attachment relationships as infants make better adjustments in a
number of areas in future life. But remember, having a good attachment in infancy gives you
a great start but cannot carry you through your life. That is, children must be treated sensibly
for them to develop favorably.
• Infants attach to more than one caregiver and they are developing emotional
relationships with multiple caregivers at once.
• Even when children are in child care for more than 30 hours per week, the family contributes
more to child’s social and cognitive well-being than does the child care arrangement.
• Parents and caregivers help children regulate their emotions by working with them and by
serving as their models.

4. Temperament
Another factor that is related to the infant’s socio-emotional
development is temperament.
• Temperament is a word that “captures the ways that people
differ, even at birth, in such things as their emotional
reactions, activity level, attention span, persistence, and ability
to regulate their emotions.”
• In other words, temperament is how a child responds
emotionally to objects, events, and people.

5. Nine different temperament
categories
• Activity level----Some babies are placid or inactive. Other
babies thrash about a lot, and, as toddlers, are always on the
move.
• The mood---Some babies are very smiley and cheerful.
Although securely attached emotionally to their teachers,
others have a low-key mood and look more solemn or
unhappy.
• Child’s threshold for distress---Some babies are very
sensitive and become upset very easily when stressed.
Other babies can more comfortably wait when they need a
feeding or some attention.
• The rhythmicity of children--- Some babies get hungry or
sleepy fairly regularly and predictably. Other babies sleep
at varying times, urinate or have bowel movements at

6. Nine different temperament
categories
• The intensity of response in each baby---When a baby’s
threshold for distress has been reached, some babies act
restless. Others act cranky or fret just a little. Still others cry
with terrific intensity or howl with despair when they are
stressed. They shriek with delight and respond with high
energy when reacting to happy or challenging situations.
• Approach to new situations--- Some infants are very
cautious. They are wary and fearful of new teachers, being
placed in a different crib, or being taken to visit a new
setting. Other infants approach new persons, new activities,
or new play possibilities with zest and enjoyment.
• Distraction---Some children can concentrate on a toy
regardless of the surrounding bustle or noise in a room.
Others are easily distracted.

7. Nine different temperament categories
• Adaptability of each child---Some children react to strange or difficult
situations with distress, but recover fairly rapidly. Others adjust to new
situations with difficulty or after a very long period.
• Child’s attention span---Some children have a long attention span. They
continue with an activity for a fairly long time. Others flit from one activity
to another.
The development of emotions
Early infancy
• Between 6-10 weeks, a social smile emerges, usually accompanied by
other pleasure-indicative actions and sounds, including cooing and
mouthing. This social smile occurs in response to adult smiles and
interactions.
• Moreover, during 3-4 months, laughter requires a level of cognitive
development. This is because it demonstrates that the child can recognize
incongruity. That is, laughter is stimulated by actions that do not go along
with the norm, such as a caregiver playing peek-a-boo.

8. Later infancy months (7-12)
• During the last half of the first year, infants begin expressing
fear, disgust, and anger because of the maturation of cognitive
abilities. Anger, often expressed by crying, is a frequent emotion
expressed by infants. Although some infants respond to
distressing events with sadness, anger is more common.
• Fear also emerges during this stage as children become able to
compare an unfamiliar event with what they know. Unfamiliar
situations or objects often stimulate fear responses in infants.
• One of the most common is the presence of an adult stranger, a
fear that begins to appear at about seven months. A second
fear in this stage is called separation anxiety. Infants seven to
twelve months old may cry in fear if the mother or caregiver
leaves them in an unfamiliar place.
• Aside from the negative emotions, social referencing occurs in
this stage. Infants begin to recognize the emotions of others,
and use this information when reacting to novel situations and

9. Toddlerhood years (1-2)
During the second year, infants' express emotions of shame or
embarrassment and pride. These emotions mature in all children and
adults contribute to their development.
• During this stage of development, toddlers acquire language and are
learning to verbally express their feelings. This ability, elementary as it is
during early toddlerhood, is the first step in the development of emotional
self-regulation skills.
• In infancy, children largely rely on adults to help them regulate their
emotional states. If they are uncomfortable, they may be able to
communicate by crying, but have little hope of alleviating the discomfort
on their own.
• In toddlerhood, however, children begin to develop skills to regulate
their emotions with the emergence of language providing an
important tool to assist in the process. To articulate an emotional state
in itself has a regulatory effect in that it enables children to communicate
their feelings to a person capable of helping them manage their emotional
state. Speech also enables children to self-regulate, using soothing

10. Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory
• The first two stages (of the 8 stages of person’s psychosocial development)
apply at the periods of infancy and toddlerhood. This is expressed below:
Hope: Trust vs Mistrust (Infants, 0 to 1 year)
• Psychosocial crisis: Trust vs. Mistrust; Virtue: Hope
• This first stage should be met by the parents. This is because the infant
depends on the parents, particularly the mother, for food, sustenance,
and comfort. The child’s relative understanding of the world and society
come from the parents and their interaction with the child. If the parents
expose the child to warmth, regularity, and dependable affection, the
infant’s view of the world will be one of trust.
• Should the parents’ infant’s view of the world not be met, then a sense of
mistrust will result. That is, the major developmental task in infancy is to
learn whether or not other people, especially caregivers, regularly satisfy
the basic needs. That is, if caregivers are consistent sources of food,
comfort, and affection, then infants learn trust- others are dependable.

11. Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory
Will: Autonomy vs Shame/Doubt (Toddlers, 2 to 3 years)
• Psychosocial crisis: Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt;
• Main Question: Can I do things myself, or must I always rely on others?
• Virtue: Will
• As the child gains control over eliminative functions and motor abilities, they begin to
explore their surroundings. The parents still provide a strong base of security from
which the child can venture out to assert their will. The parents’ patience and
encouragement help foster autonomy in the child. Highly restrictive parents, however,
are more likely to instill in the child a sense of doubt and reluctance to attempt new
challenges.
• As they gain increased muscular coordination and mobility, toddlers become
capable of satisfying some of their own needs. They begin to feed themselves, wash
and dress themselves, and use the bathroom.
• If caregivers encourage self-sufficient behavior, toddlers develop a sense of
autonomy- a sense of being able to handle many problems on their own.
• If caregivers demand too much, refuse to let children perform tasks of which they
are capable, or mock them early on, children may develop shame and doubt about
their inability to handle problems.

12. Thank you once
again for
listening to this
fruitful
discussion!
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