Module 14

Socio-Emotional Development of
Infants and Toddlers
Learning Outcomes
In this module, challenge yourself to:
 Describe the socio-emotional development of infants and toddlers.
 Identify factors that enhance/impede the socio-emotional development of
infants and toddlers.
 Present an abstract of others’ or your own research related to the socio-
emotional development of infants and toddlers.
 Draw implications of socio-emotional development concepts to child care,
education and parenting.

Formative years – the first three years in human development

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 a
stressful situation
Dr. John Bowly – father of attachment theory
Attachment Theory - 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
Responsive reaction with the baby – the key to a good start in
the social development of the baby

Temperament
- 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.”
- Every baby expresses personality traits

9 Different Temperament Categories:

1. Activity Level
2. Mood
3. Threshold for Distress
4. Rhythmicity

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 5. Intensity of response
6. Approach-Withdrawal
7. Distractibility
8. Adaptability
9. Persistence

 Activity Level - some babies are placid or inactive, thrash about a lot, and as toddlers, are
always on the move
 Mood - some babies are very smiley and cheerful, others have low-key mood and look
more solemn or unhappy
 Children Threshold for Distress – some babies are very sensitive which become very
upset very easily when stressed, others can more comfortably wait when they need a
feeding or some attention
 Rhythmicity for children – some babies get hungry or sleepy on a fairly regular and
predictable basis, others sleep at varying times, urinate or have bowel movements at
unpredictable times, and get hungry at different times
 Intensity of Response in Each Baby – some babies act restless, others act cranky or fret
just a little, cry with terrific intensity or howl with despair when they are stressed, or shriek
with delight and respond with high energy when reacting to happy or challenging situations
 Approach to new situations – some infants are very cautious, are wary and fearful of
new teachers, being placed in different crib, or being taken to visit a new setting, others
approach new persons, new activities, or new play possibilities with zest and enjoyment
 Distraction – some children can concentrate on a toy regardless of surrounding bustle or
noise in a room, others are easily distracted
 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
 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.

3 Basic Types of Temperament

1. The Easy Child
- Easily readily establishes regular routines
- Generally cheerful
- Adapts readily to new experiences
2. The Difficult Child
- Irregular in daily routines
- Slow to accept new experiences
- Tends to react negatively and intensely to
new things
3. The Slow-To-Warm-Up Child
- Shows mild, low-key reactions to environmental changes
- Negative in mood
- Adjusts to slowly new experiences

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The Development of Emotions
Early Infancy
 6-10 weeks – social smile emerges accompanied by other pleasure-indicative actions
and sounds including cooing and mouthing; occurs in response to adult smiles and
interactions
 3-4 months – laughter occurs; demonstrates that the child can recognize incongruity
- Laughter is elicited by actions that deviate from the norm and promotes social
development
Later Infancy Months (7-12)
 Infants begin expressing fear, disgust and anger
 Anger – expressed by crying; a frequent emotion expressed by infants
 Fear also emerges during this stage as children become able to compare an unfamiliar
event with what they know
o Presence of an Adult Stranger – a fear that begins to appear at about 7 months
o Separation Anxiety – infants (7-12months old) may cry in fear if the mother or
caregiver leaves them in an unfamiliar place
 Social Referencing – infants begin to recognize the emotions of others, and use this
information when reacting to novel situations and people

Toddlerhood Years (1-2)

 Toddlers acquire language and are learning to verbally express their feelings – the 1 st
step in the development of emotional self-regulation skills
 Children begin to develop skills to regulate their emotions with the emergence of
language providing an important tool to assist in this process.
 Speech also enables children to self-regulate, using soothing language to talk
themselves through difficult situations.
 Empathy – also appears in toddlerhood by age of 2; children read other’s emotional
cues, understand that other people are entities distinct from themselves, and take the
perspective of another person (put themselves in the position of another)

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