Deck 7: Seciton 1: the First Two Years: Psychosocial Development

Question 1

Examine the social bonds between infants whose mothers work outside the home and infants whose mothers stay at home. What does the research indicate in comparing attachment, amount of time spent interacting, and the quality of the respective home environments?

Answer 1

Secure attachment can result in either scenario. Research indicates that children can benefit from maternal employment. This is likely due to lower parental depression, higher family income, and potentially the mother finding worthwhile employment. Additionally, research indicates that father involvement is related to child happiness and success therefore various family arrangement can lead to similar outcomes for child quality.

Question 2

Why does a child use social referencing?

Answer 2

Social referencing offers visual and verbal cues to the child on how to act or react to what is occurring. At times when the child is unfamiliar with or does not understand what is happening, a look to the adult for some clue helps a child to interpret the situation. The cue may be a facial expression or a verbal expression-anything that helps a child to interpret the unfamiliar situation that he or she is experiencing. Social referencing strengthens learning by observation.

Question 3

What is a working model, and how does a 1-year-old child develop one? Give an example of how a working model could change from negative to positive over time.

Answer 3

A working model is a set of assumptions a child makes that becomes a frame of reference for later life. It is called "working" because although it is used as the lens through which the child views the world, it can be modified based on one's life experiences. A 1-year-old child will develop a working model based on responses from parents and other significant people in her life. She will apply this model to other situations. For example, if a child initially developed a model that is negative-such as that people are unpredictable-based on parents with inconsistent responses, the model can later be reorganized based on subsequent, more positive, experiences.

Question 4

Define proximal and distal parenting practices. What are the outcomes of each type? What motivates parents to engage in one type over the other?

Question 5

Describe synchrony and examine its role in infant development. Give three outcomes that may occur if little or no synchrony is apparent in an infant's life.

Question 6

Name at least four conditions that can result in an insecure attachment between infants and caregivers. What might be done to improve the level of attachment?

Question 7

Describe how evolutionary theory explains how infants' early emotions are essential to their survival.

Question 8

Diana is meeting her friend's 1-year-old daughter for the first time. How should she approach the child? List at least three factors that will determine the child's response.

Question 9

Compare the behaviorist and psychoanalytic perspectives on early childhood personality development.

Question 10

A father is in the living room with his 1-year-old daughter. Suddenly, loud music blares next door. What would be a typical child's response and what is it based upon?

Question 11

Briefly discuss three predictors of secure attachment in infants.

Question 12

Explain the role that self-awareness plays in the development of pride and shame. What role does culture play in the development of pride and shame?

Question 13

Develop a timeline for achieving the following psychosocial developmental milestones. Give the approximate age at which infants typically:
1) recognize familiar people
2) babble and respond to others with facial expressions
3) exhibit strong attachment to caregivers
4) recognize themselves in a mirror
5) exhibit strong interest in new experiences and new children