Thursday, January 7, 2010

Chapter 4: Infancy: Socioemotional Development

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  1. Janet BelskyMarch 4, 2012 at 1:20 PM

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    1) discusses new research suggesting that a caregiver's attachment working model correlates with her baby's attachment style (ie when caregivers have an insecure style,they may implicitly train their babies to be insecure )..although, as in the last edition, I also suggest other possibilities for this correlation!

    3) Highlights research suggesting the disorganized attachment style is most apt to predict later problems....but also

    4) Explores other studies bringing home the message that with highly sensitive caregiving attachment can change.......

    This leads into a new focus topic

    "Experiencing Early Life's Greatest deprivation: No Caregiving". Here I survey the fascinating (ongoing) research tracking the lives of babies who spent their early years in the horrific Romanian orphanages.... When could these infants recover and develop secure attachments and was there a zone or age that might be too late? What other symptoms did these children show as they traveled into elementary school and their teens?

    Poverty: Discusses a fascinating study suggesting that (at the low to medium end of the economic spectrum), the quality of neighborhood where a child lives makes a clear INDEPENDENT impact on school readiness...

    Also thoroughly surveys new research on preschool and cognitive performance

    Childcare:

    1) continues to report on the latest NICHD findings relating day care experiences to later development now that the original sample is moving into their teens.

    2) looks in more depth at issues related to day care-- child/provider ratios; staff turnover and pay, and especially discusses the incredible cost of day care in the U.S.

    Toddler temperaments.

    1) explores early infant precursors of inhibited temperament (being unable to ignore distracting stimuli), and
    discusses childrearing strategies for these toddlers in more depth


    NEW TOPIC: explores emerging research suggesting that we may inherit a "plasticity gene" (linked to serotonin production) that makes us either highly responsive or relatively immune to environmental events. Babies with the immunity long gene forms are extremely resilient in the face of stress while those with the short gene form easily break down (and are often labeled as difficult). But in a calm environment, these high maintenance, short form, babies do better than their so called resilient counterparts!: The bottom line message here is that labeling kids as either "difficult or "easy" may not be right. What looks like a genetic liability, can sometimes turn out to be a gift..... (I'm trying to bring home this message--that it all depends on the context-- in several chapters)

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