Early Childhood:

Neurological and
Social Development
• Brain Development
– Neuron growth
– Nature vs. nurture
• Attachment
• Temperament

Features of Neurons
Terminal
buttons

Soma Synapse

Neuron Growth
• At birth 100 billion
neurons
– Few synapes
• 15,000 new connections
per neuron by two years
• Transient Exuberance
– Pruning

At birth 3 months 15 months

Cortical Neurons

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 Critical Periods in
Development
• Vision
• Language

What about
environment?

What about environment?

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 What about the
environment?
• Does increased stimulation lead to
smarter rats?
– Or kids?
– Is there such a thing as too much?
• Which is more like the rat’s natural
environment?
– Does this demonstrate neglect rather
than stimulation?

Nature vs. Nurture

Resolved

NATURE
Nurture

Nature vs. Nurture

Resolved

NATURE
Nurture

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 Parenting Styles:
Baumrind
• Warmth/ Emotional responsiveness
– Parents talk & reason with child
– Less punitive discipline
– Encourage strong bond with child
• maintain approval
– Less warmth
• More punitive discipline
• Little communication

Parenting Styles:
Baumrind
• Control
– High: demanding, controlling,
restrictive
– Low: permissive, no limits
– Helps develop self-control
– Provides structured, predictable
environment

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 Authoritarian
Low warmth/ High control
• Parents:
– Controlling, demanding, stress obedience
– Not sensitive to child’s needs
– Consequences not clearly explained
• Child:
– Irritable, insecure, anxious
– Aggressive
– Low achievement

Permissive
High warmth/ Low control

• Very nurturing, responsive to child’s

needs
• Few limits set
• Children:
– Impulsive
– Immature (assume little responsibility)
– Poor attention span
– Disobedient

Authoritative
High warmth/ High control

• Parents:
– Demanding, high expectations
– Clear and consistent consequences
– Warm, nurturing, democratic
• Children:
– Happy, cooperative, energetic, friendly
– Self-reliant, independent, self-
controlled
– High achievement oriented

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 Neglectful
Low warmth/ Low control
• Parents:
– Uninvolved with children
– May have own personal problems/
stressors
– Parenting low priority
• Child:
– Demanding, low frustration
– Lack self-control, delinquent behavior
– Emotionally needy

Application of Parenting
Styles
• Parents with no consistent parenting
style
– Children especially impulsive, aggressive
– Poor school performance
• Cross-cultural studies support model
• Social class differences
– Working class: authoritative
– “White collar”: authoritarian

Attachment

Strong affectional tie we feel for

special people in our lives that leads
us to feel pleasure when we interact
with them and to be comforted by
their nearness during times of stress

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 Attachment
• Proximity maintenance
– Secure base
• Potential for protection
• Safe haven
– Relief from distress
• Emotional bond

Attachment
• Attachment in early years provides
framework for later relationships
– Erikson
• Trust vs. Mistrust
– Bowlby

Bowlby: Ethological
Theory
• Biological basis for attachment
• Behaviors:
– sucking, crying, clinging, smiling
• Develops in stages
– Complete by 7-8 months
• Separation anxiety/ Stranger anxiety

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 Attachment Quality
• Ainsworth
– Strange Situation
– 12 mo old

Avoidantly attached
• During separation:
– Little distress
– React to stranger same as parent
• At reunion:
– Avoid mother
– Fail to cling
– Do not resist physical contact
• 20-25%

Ambivalently attached
• Separation:
– Before separation seek proximity
• Reunion:
– Seek proximity
• No further exploration
– Display resistive, angry behavior
• 15%

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 Securely attached
• Separation: • 65%
– May or may not cry
– Show preference
for mother over
stranger
• Reunion:
– Seek contact with
mother
– Decrease crying

Parenting and
Attachment
• Securely attached infants:
– Responded promptly to crying
– Careful handling
– Paced interaction to fit with baby’s
tempo
• Insecurely attached infants:
– Responded to them in routine manner
– Inept handling
– High stress, instability in family

Long-term effects of
attachment
• Window of opportunity
• Secure attachments:
– Flexibility and persistent problem solving
– More enthusiasm & positive affect
– High self-esteem
• Insecure attachment:
– Disruptive, attention-seeking
– Dependent, withdrawn
• Reactive Attachment Disorder

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 Remember:

Relationships are reciprocal

Temperament

Stable individual differences among

people in the quality and intensity of
emotional reaction

Infant Temperament
Traits
• Fearfulness or reactivity
– Pull away from new stimuli
• Irritability or negative emotionality
• Activity level
• Positive affect
• Attention-persistence
• Rhythmicity

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 Thomas & Chess (1956)
Classification
• Easy Child (40%)
– Establish regular routines
– Cheerful
– Easily adaptable
• Difficult Child (10%)
– Irregular routines
– Negative reaction
– Poor adapting

Thomas & Chess (1956)

Classification (cont’d)
• Slow-to-warm-up Child (10%):
– Inactive
– Some negativity
– Exhibits mild, low-key reactions
– More fearful than easy babies

• 35% not classified

Long-term Effects of
Temperament
• Difficult babies
– 70% had adjustment problems in
childhood
• Learning difficulties
• Socioemotional problems
– Moderated by “goodness of fit”

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 Goodness of Fit
• Child’s temperament fits with
parenting style
• Parent responses in tempo with child
• Poor fit may lead to maladaptive
functioning
– Overly authoritarian parent & shy, timid
child
– Difficult child & permissive parent

Teaching Goodness of Fit

• Van den Boom (1994)
• 100 1-2 week old low SES, irritable
infants
• Mothers taught to be more
responsive
• At 12 months
– 72% “no training” Æ insecurely attached
– 68% “training” Æ securely attached

Cultural Variations in
Attachment
• Socioeconomic status
– Stress
– Lack of resources/ support
– Lack of education
• Interdependence/ Independence
• Similar across caregivers (moms &
dads)

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 Case Study
• Comment on the attachment
relationships:
– Angela & Adam
– Angela & Sarah
• Conceptualize this case in terms of
intergenerational transmission.
• What interventions might your
suggest to help this family?

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