This document discusses theories and research on social and emotional development across the lifespan. It covers topics like attachment theory, temperament, emotional development from infancy through adulthood, and the role of caregivers and environment in shaping development. Key findings include that secure attachment in infancy is important for later functioning, temperament is influenced by both biology and experience, and emotional regulation abilities increase with age.

1. PSY 375:
LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT
Theories of Social Development /
Emotional Development
and Attachment
Week 10

2. How do children change socially and
emotionally?

3. 3
Psychoanalytic/Freudian Theories
Theories of Development

4. 4
Freudian Stages
Fig. 1.10

5. 5
Erikson’s psychosocial theory

6. 6

7. 7
John Bowlby Harry Harlow
Theories of Development

8. 8
Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological
Theory

10. Social Understanding
Relationships Are Essential
Early Forms of Social Understanding
 Social Referencing
 Theory of Mind
Observation & Explanation

11. Compare to Cognitive Developmental
Theories
Theories of how cognitive abilities develop:
• Piaget’s assimilation, accommodation,
equilibration & stage theory
• Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development
• Continuous developing/ enriching “computer
system” (information processing)
How is social development similar? Different?

12. WHAT ARE EMOTIONS?
Emotion: feeling, or affect, that occurs in a state
or an interaction that is important to a person,
especially to his or her well-being
Emotions are influenced by biological
foundations, cognitive processes, and a person’s
experience
 Social relationships provide the setting for development
 Cultural variations characterize emotional development

13. EMOTIONAL REGULATION
Ability to control one’s emotions is a key
dimension of development
Emotional regulation consists of effectively
managing arousal to adapt to circumstances and
to reach a goal
 Arousal involves a state of alertness or activation
Regulation of emotion gradually shifts from
external sources to self-initiated, internal sources

14. EMOTIONAL REGULATION
Emotion-coaching parents
VS
Emotion-dismissing parents

15. EMOTIONAL COMPETENCE
Emotional competence is linked to management
of emotions, resilience, and positive relationships
 Involves developing a number of skills
 Having awareness of one’s emotional states
 Detecting others’ emotions
 Using the vocabulary of emotion in socially and culturally
appropriate ways
 Having empathetic and sympathetic sensitivity to others’
emotional experiences
 Adaptively coping with negative emotions
 Having awareness that emotional expression plays a role in
relationships
 Viewing oneself overall as feeling the way one wants to feel

16. DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTION:
INFANCY
Primary emotions are present in humans and
other animals and in humans appear in the first 6
months
 Surprise, interest, joy, anger, sadness, fear, disgust
Self-conscious emotions require self-awareness,
consciousness, and a sense of “me”
 Jealousy, empathy, embarrassment, pride, shame, guilt
 Emerge after 18 months, when a sense of self becomes
consolidated

17. DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTION:
INFANCY
Emotional expression is involved in infants’ first
social relationships
 Cries and smiles are among babies’ first form of
emotional communication
 Basic cry, often prompted by hunger
 Anger cry and pain cry
 Parents can distinguish various cries of their own infant
better than those of other babies
 Reflexive smile does not occur in response to external
stimuli
 Social smile occurs in response to external stimuli

18. DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTION:
INFANCY
One of a baby’s earliest emotions is fear
Typically first appears at about 6 months and peaks
at about 18 months
Stranger anxiety: fear and wariness of strangers
 Emerges gradually, appearing at about 6 months of age
 Most frequent expression of infant fear
Separation protest: crying when the caregiver leaves
 Typically displayed by 7 to 8 months
 Peaks at about 13 to 15 months

19. DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTION:
INFANCY
How do infants develop emotion regulation and
coping skills?
During the first year, the infant gradually develops
an ability to inhibit, or minimize, the intensity and
duration of emotional reactions
 Thumbs in mouths to self-soothe
 Primary reliance on caregivers
Contexts can influence emotional regulation,
including fatigue, hunger, time of day, the people
who are around them, and where they are

20. DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTION:
INFANCY

22. DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTION:
EARLY CHILDHOOD
Pride, shame, embarrassment, and guilt are
self-conscious emotions that appear in the
second half of the second year of life
Accompany the development of self-awareness
During early childhood, expressions of pride and
guilt become more common
Especially influenced by parents’ responses to
children’s behavior

23. DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTION:
EARLY CHILDHOOD
Among the most important changes is an
increased understanding of emotion
 Between 2 and 4 years old, children increase the
number of terms they use to describe emotions
 Also learn about causes and consequences of emotions
 Between 4 and 5 years old, children show an increased
ability to reflect on emotions
 Begin to understand that the same event can elicit different
emotions in different people; and show a growing awareness
of the need to manage emotions to meet social standards
 By 5 years old, most can accurately identify emotions
produced by challenging circumstances and ways to
cope

24. DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTION:
EARLY CHILDHOOD
Emotional regulation is fundamental to the
development of social competence
Understanding others’ emotions is closely linked
Emotional regulation is an important
component of self-regulation or of executive
function
Executive function is thought to be a key concept in
the young child’s higher-level cognitive functioning

25. DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTION:
MIDDLE AND LATE CHILDHOOD
Developmental changes in emotion during
middle and late childhood:
Improved emotional understanding
Marked improvements in the ability to suppress or
conceal negative emotional reactions
Use of self-initiated strategies for redirecting
feelings
Increased tendency to take into fuller account the
events leading to emotional reactions
Development of a capacity for genuine empathy

26. DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTION:
MIDDLE AND LATE CHILDHOOD
Learning how to cope with stress is an important
aspect of children’s lives
 With age, children are able to more accurately appraise a
stressful situation and how much control they have over it
Older children generate more coping alternatives to
stressful conditions and make greater use of
cognitive coping strategies
 By age 10, most children are able to use cognitive strategies
to cope with stress
 In families that have not been supportive and are
characterized by turmoil, children may be unable to do so

27. DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTION:
MIDDLE AND LATE CHILDHOOD
Acute stress reactions can occur if a child
experiences a disaster
 Research supports the idea that the more severe the
disaster/trauma, the worse the adaptation and
adjustment—referred to as a dose-response effect
 Some recommendations:
 Reassure children of their safety and security
 Allow them to retell events and be patient in listening
 Encourage children to talk about disturbing or confusing
feelings
 Help children make sense of what happened
 Protect children from reexposure to frightening situations and
reminders of the trauma

28. DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTION:
ADOLESCENCE
Adolescents are not constantly in a state of
emotional turmoil, or “storm or stress”
Emotional highs and lows do increase during early
adolescence
 Intensity of emotions may seem out of proportion to the
events that elicit them
 Emotional mood swings may be due to not knowing how
to adequately express their feelings
Girls are especially vulnerable to depression in
adolescence

29. DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTION:
ADULT DEVELOPMENT AND AGING
Adults adapt more effectively when they are
emotionally intelligent
Skilled at perceiving and expressing emotions,
understanding emotion, using feelings to facilitate
thought, and managing emotion effectively
Developmental changes continue through the
adult years

30. ADULT DEVELOPMENT AND AGING:
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EMOTIONS
Older adults report experiencing more positive
and less negative emotion than younger adults
 Positive emotion increases with age at an accelerating
rate
Older adults’ feelings tend to mellow
 May experience less extreme joy, but have more
contentment when connected in positive ways with
friends and family
 React less strongly to negative circumstances, are better
at ignoring irrelevant negative information, and
remember more positive than negative information

31. ADULT DEVELOPMENT AND AGING:
CHANGES IN THE AGING BRAIN
Older adults experience decreased
physiological arousal of emotion due to aging
in the amygdala and autonomic nervous
system
More effective emotion regulation may be related to
this reduction in subcortical activation and also to
increased activation in the prefrontal cortex

32. ADULT DEVELOPMENT AND AGING:
SOCIOEMOTIONAL SELECTIVITY
THEORY
Socioemotional selectivity theory suggests older
adults become more selective about their
activities and social relationships in order to
maintain social and emotional well-being
 Deliberately spend more time with familiar individuals
with whom they have rewarding relationships
 Motivation for knowledge-related goals declines in
middle and late adulthood
 Motivation for emotion-related goals increases in middle
and late adulthood

33. TEMPERAMENT
Temperament: individual differences in behavioral
styles, emotions, and characteristic ways of
responding
 How quickly emotion is shown, how strong it is, how long
it lasts, and how soon it fades away
Temperament is also described in terms of
emotional reactivity and self-regulation
 Reactivity involves variations in the speed and intensity
of responding with positive or negative emotions
 Self-regulation involves variations in the extent or
effectiveness of emotional control

34. TEMPERAMENT
QUESTIONNAIRE
Complete the questionnaire on your own (from
the next slide)
• Do you think this accurately reflects your
temperament? Why or why not?
• Would be a good thing to make a post about on
the Discussion Board! (wink wink)

36. CLASSIFYING TEMPERAMENT
Psychiatrists Chess and Thomas identified three
basic types, or clusters:
 Easy child: generally positive mood; quickly establishes
regular routines; adapts easily to new experiences
 Difficult child: reacts negatively and cries frequently;
irregular daily routines; slow to accept change
 Slow-to-warm-up child: low activity level; somewhat
negative; low intensity of mood
Chess and Thomas found 40% of children are
easy, 10% are difficult, and 15% are slow-to-
warm-up

37. CLASSIFYING TEMPERAMENT
Kagan looked at differences between a shy, subdued,
timid child and a sociable, extraverted, bold child
 He regards shyness with strangers as a feature of a broad
temperament category called inhibition to the unfamiliar
 Beginning at 7 to 9 months, uninhibited children show initial
avoidance, distress, or subdued affect
 Inhibition generally shows some continuity, but a substantial
number of inhibited infants become less so by age 7
Recent research links early inhibition to later social
phobia symptoms and risk for social anxiety

38. CLASSIFYING TEMPERAMENT
Rothbart and Bates argue for three broad
dimensions to the structure of temperament:
 Extraversion/surgency: approach, pleasure, activity,
smiling, and laughter
 Kagan’s uninhibited children
 Negative affectivity: fear, frustration, sadness, and
discomfort; easily distressed
 Kagan’s inhibited children
 Effortful control: self-regulation; attentional focusing
and shifting, inhibitory control, perceptual sensitivity,
and low-intensity pleasure
 Self-regulation is linked to school readiness

39. BIOLOGICAL INFLUENCES ON
TEMPERAMENT
Physiological characteristics have been linked
with different temperaments
 In particular, an inhibited temperament is associated
with a high and stable heart rate, high level of hormone
cortisol, and high activity in the right frontal lobe
Heredity may play a moderate role in influencing
temperament
Self-regulatory dimensions of temperament
develop and change with the growth of the
neurobiological foundations of self-regulation

40. EXPERIENCE AND
TEMPERAMENT
Caregivers’ responses may differ depending on
the gender of the baby
Certain temperamental characteristics are valued
in different cultures
Research has revealed a degree of continuity
between certain aspects of temperament in
childhood and adjustment in early adulthood
Aspects of a child’s environment can influence
the persistence of temperament characteristics

41. TEMPERAMENT:
GOODNESS OF FIT AND PARENTING
Goodness of fit: the match between a child’s
temperament and the environmental demands the
child must cope with
Some temperamental characteristics pose more
parenting challenges than others
Both the differential susceptibility model and the
biological sensitivity to context model propose
that characteristics that make children vulnerable
to difficulty also make optimal growth possible
when the conditions are very supportive

42. ATTACHMENT AND LOVE:
INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD
Babies are socially oriented
 Face-to-face play often begins to characterize caregiver-
infant interactions at 2 to 3 months, including
vocalization, touch, and gestures
 Infants also learn about the social world through the
ability to crawl, walk, and run
 Awareness of intentional and goal-directed behavior
initially emerges near the end of the first year
 Cooperating with others is another key development
 Social referencing: “reading” emotional cues in others to
determine how to act

43. ATTACHMENT AND LOVE:
INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD
Attachment: a close emotional bond between
two people
Freud: infants attach to a person or object that
provides oral satisfaction
Harlow: contact comfort is a crucial element in
developing attachment
Erikson: the trust versus mistrust stage emphasizes
the role of physical comfort and sensitive care

44. ATTACHMENT AND LOVE:
INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD
Bowlby’s phases of attachment:
 Phase 1, from birth to 2 months: infants attach to
human figures—strangers, siblings, and parents alike
 Phase 2, from 2 to 7 months: attachment is focused on
one figure, usually the primary caregiver, as the baby
learns to distinguish familiar from unfamiliar people
 Phase 3, from 7 to 24 months: specific attachments
develop and, with increased locomotion, infants seek
out contact
 Phase 4, from 24 months on: children become aware of
others’ feelings, goals, and plans, and begin to take
these into account when forming actions

45. ATTACHMENT AND LOVE:
INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD
Recent findings suggest some characteristics
of Bowlby’s phase 4 develop in phase 3 as
attachment security is taking shape
Bowlby argued infants develop an internal
working model of attachment—of the caregiver,
their relationship, and the self as deserving of
care
Influences subsequent responses to others

46. INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD:
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN
ATTACHMENT
Strange Situation: an observational measure of
infant attachment, created by Mary Ainsworth
 Infant experiences a series of introductions, separations,
and reunions with the caregiver and an adult stranger
 Securely attached children use the caregiver as a secure
base from which to explore the environment
 Insecure avoidant children show insecurity by avoiding
the caregiver
 Insecure resistant children cling to the caregiver and
then resist the closeness
 Insecure disorganized children are disorganized and
disoriented, perhaps fearful

47. INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD:
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN
ATTACHMENT
As a measure of attachment, the Strange
Situation may be culturally biased
 Some critics also suggest behavior in the laboratory
might not be mirrored in a natural environment
Criticisms of attachment theory:
 Too much emphasis has been placed on the attachment
bond in infancy
 Diversity of socializing agents and contexts is often
ignored
 Is secure attachment, especially to a single caregiver,
critical?

48. INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD:
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN
ATTACHMENT
Whether critical or not, there is ample evidence
that security of attachment is important to
development
 Few studies have assessed attachment to mother and
father separately; but infants who are “double-insecure”
may exhibit more externalizing problems
 Consistently positive caregiving over a number of years
is important in connecting early attachment with a
child’s functioning later in life
 Developmental cascade model: connections across
domains over time influence developmental outcomes

49. INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD:
CAREGIVING STYLES AND
ATTACHMENT
Securely attached babies have caregivers who are
sensitive to their signals and consistently
available to respond to their infants’ needs
Caregivers of avoidant or insecurely attached
babies tend to be unavailable or rejecting
 Do not respond to baby’s signals and have little physical
contact with them
Caregivers of disorganized babies often neglect or
physically abuse them

50. DEVELOPMENTAL SOCIAL
NEUROSCIENCE AND ATTACHMENT
Emerging field of developmental social neuroscience
examines connections between socioemotional
processes, development, and the brain
 Prefrontal cortex likely has an important role in maternal
attachment behavior
 Subcortical regions of the amygdala and the hypothalamus
 Hormone oxytocin and the neurotransmitter dopamine are
important to the formation of the maternal-infant bond
 Oxytocin is released in the mother during breast feeding and by
contact and warmth; and can also be released in the father
 Mothers’ experience of pleasure and reward influences the brain’s
dopamine circuits when caring for an infant

51. INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD:
MOTHERS AND FATHERS
Fathers are able to care for infants as
sensitively and responsively as mothers
Interactions often differ
Maternal interactions with infants tend to center on
child-care activities
Paternal interactions are more likely to include play

52. INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD:
CHILD CARE
Many U.S. children experience multiple caregivers
 About 2 million receive formal, licensed child care
 Uncounted millions are cared for by unlicensed
babysitters
Around the world, child-care policies vary in
eligibility criteria, duration of parental leave,
benefit level, and the extent to which parents take
advantage of the policies
 United States allows workers to take up to 12 weeks of
unpaid leave to care for a newborn baby

53. INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD:
CHILD CARE
Child-care settings in the U.S. vary extensively
Large centers with elaborate facilities
Private homes
Approximately 15% of children 5 years or
younger attend more than one child-care
arrangement
Increase in the number of child-care arrangements
is linked to an increase in behavioral problems and
a decrease in prosocial behavior

54. HIGH QUALITY CHILD CARE?
How to design high quality child care?
• What elements would you include?
• Think about ALL we have learned so far
about development!
• Draw your ideal child care situation and give
us details!

55. INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD:
CHILD CARE
High-quality child care involves:
Safe environment
Access to age-appropriate toys
Participation in age-appropriate activities
Low caregiver-to-child ratio
Quality of child care matters in development
According to UNICEF, only 3 out of 10 child-care
arrangements in the U.S. meet or exceed quality
benchmarks

56. INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD:
CHILD CARE
According to an ongoing study by the National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development:
 Many infants are placed in child care soon after birth,
with low-income families more likely than more affluent
families to use child care
 Majority of care is of unacceptably low quality; and
infants of low-income families experience a lower
quality
 High-quality child care is linked to higher cognitive
academic achievement
 More time in child care negatively affects development
 Family and parenting influences remain significant
regardless of child care arrangements

57. INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD:
CHILD CARE
Worst outcomes for children occur when both
home and child-care settings are of poor quality
Advice for parents:
 Recognize the quality of your parenting is a key factor in
your child’s development
 Make decisions that will improve the likelihood that you
will be good parents
 Monitor your child’s development
 Take some time to find the best child care

58. ATTACHMENT IN
MIDDLE AND LATE CHILDHOOD
Attachment continues to be important to
children’s development in later years
 In middle and late childhood, attachment becomes more
sophisticated and includes peers, teachers, and others
as children spend less time with their parents
Secure attachment is linked to lower levels of
internalized symptoms, anxiety, and depression in
children
 Higher level of emotional regulation and less difficulty in
identifying emotions

59. ATTACHMENT AND LOVE:
ADOLESCENCE
Secure attachment in adolescence facilitates
social competence and well-being
Reflected in self-esteem, emotional adjustment, and
physical health
Most consistent outcomes of secure attachment
include positive peer relations and emotional
regulation

60. ADOLESCENCE:
DATING AND ROMANTIC
RELATIONSHIPS
In the development of romantic involvement,
three stages are common:
 Entry into romantic attractions and affiliations at about
11 to 13 years of age
 Intensely interested in romance; develop a crush
 Dating takes place in group settings
 Exploring romantic relationships, 14 to 16 years
 Casual dating and group dating
 Consolidating dyadic romantic bonds, 17 to 19 years
 More serious romantic relationships develop
 Strong emotional bonds resemble adult relationships

61. ADOLESCENCE:
DATING AND ROMANTIC
RELATIONSHIPS
Early bloomers:
 15% to 20% of 11- to 13-year-olds who say they are
currently in a relationship
 35% who indicate some relationship experience
Late bloomers:
 10% of 17- to 19-year-olds who have no experience with
romantic relationships
 Another 15% who report not engaging in romantic
relationships that lasted more than 4 months
Early dating and relationships can be problematic

62. ADOLESCENCE:
DATING AND ROMANTIC
RELATIONSHIPS
Values and religious beliefs dictate when dating
begins, how much freedom is allowed, whether
dates must be chaperoned, and the roles of males
and females
 Latino and Asian American cultures have more
conservative standards regarding adolescent dating
Dating may be a source of cultural conflict for
adolescents whose families come from cultures in
which dating begins at a later age
 Parents place strict boundaries on dating

63. ATTACHMENT AND LOVE:
ADULTHOOD
Romantic partners fulfill some of the same needs
for adults as parents do for their children
 Adults count on romantic partners to be a secure base to
return to and obtain comfort and security from them in
stressful times
Young adults who are securely attached in
romantic relationships are more likely to describe
early relationships with parents as securely
attached

64. ATTACHMENT AND LOVE:
ADULTHOOD
Adult attachment styles:
 Secure attachment style: a positive view of
relationships; easy to get close to others; not overly
concerned with or stressed out about romantic
relationships
 Avoidant attachment style: hesitant about getting
involved in romantic relationships; and once in a
relationship, distance themselves from partners
 Anxious attachment style: demand closeness; less
trusting; more emotional, jealous, and possessive
Most adults see themselves as securely attached
and prefer having a securely attached partner

65. ATTACHMENT AND LOVE:
ADULTHOOD
Securely attached individuals:
 Have a well-integrated sense of self-acceptance, self-
esteem, and self-efficacy
 Are able to control their emotions, and are optimistic
and resilient
 When facing stress and adversity, activate cognitive
representations of security, are mindful about what is
happening around them, and mobilize effective coping
strategies
 Have better relationships with their partners than do
individuals with avoidant or anxious attachment styles

66. ATTACHMENT AND LOVE:
ADULTHOOD
Research on attachment in older adults found:
Older adults have fewer attachment relationships
than younger adults
With increasing age, attachment anxiety decreases
In late adulthood, attachment security is associated
with psychological and physical well-being
Insecure attachment is linked to more perceived
negative caregiver burden in caring for patients with
Alzheimer disease

67. ROMANTIC LOVE AND
AFFECTIONATE LOVE
Romantic love, also known as passionate love
or eros, has strong components of sexuality
and infatuation
Often predominates in the early part of a love
relationship
Today romantic attraction takes place not only
in person but also over the Internet
Increases in interracial dating?

68. ROMANTIC LOVE AND
AFFECTIONATE LOVE
Affectionate love, also called compassionate love,
involves a desire to have the other person near
and a deep, caring affection for the person
There is a growing belief that as love matures,
passion gives way to affection
Communication and sexual intimacy are more
important in early adulthood, and feelings of
emotional security and loyalty become more
important in later-life love relationships

69. ROMANTIC LOVE AND
AFFECTIONATE LOVE
Sternberg’s triangular theory of love suggests
love has three components or dimensions:
Passion: physical and sexual attraction
Intimacy: emotional feelings of warmth, closeness,
and sharing
Commitment: cognitive appraisal of the relationship
and an intent to maintain the relationship in the
face of problems

70. ROMANTIC LOVE AND
AFFECTIONATE LOVE
Collapse of a love relationship may feel tragic, but
personal development may benefit from getting over
being in love and ending a relationship
Falling out of love may be wise in some cases
 Obsession with someone who betrays trust
 Involvement with someone who is draining emotionally or
financially; or someone who doesn’t feel the same way
Detecting being taken advantage of is an important
step in reconstructing or ending a relationship