Lecture 1: Early social life
The beginnings of social relationships: Are infants truly social?
Classical theories
Infants are not capable of true social interaction
Later relationships (e.g. with peers) are derived from relationships with primary caregivers
(or “the mother”)
Peers start to matter later in development
- Some say about 4 years old or seven years old
BUT.. at a very young age already children are focussed on specific human beings
Modern theories
Children are biologically wired to pay attention to others besides primary care-givers
The entire social system influences a child
- Not just mother as sender and child as a receiver but a reciprocal relationship
Early peer relations can be important for development as well.
The beginnings of social relationships: Focus on other humans
Scrambled faces paradigm
A study was done with children very close after they were born (half an hour after).
A child is shown four different boards with faces on them. One is an actual face, a little bit
scrambled, scrambled, and one empty face.
Measure the extent to which these babies follow the boards with
their eyes or turn their heads.
The actual face gets the most attention and the less realistic the
less attention.
This study has been replicated in different ways with different
results.
After one month of birth, these results disappear.
Dyadic peer-relationships: Contingency
Relationships between two people.
Contingent responses = responses that build on what the other person did
Starts already at 6 months
Example: dyadic differences in touching. One child touches a toy and the other child
touches the toy in the same way.
Different pairs of babies respond differently. They all adapt their behavior to the other.
,Dyadic peer-relationships: Prosocial exchanges
Voluntary actions that are intended to help or benefit another individual or group of
individuals
Responses to distress
Attempt to intervene on behalf of a victim, to change the situation or lessen the distress
Newborns: Cry in response to other cries
A study found that crying came in waves. One starts crying and the others started crying
as well.
8 month old
- Respond with: Gaze (most common), Affect (second most common), Physical
response (third most common), Self-distress (fourth most common)
2 years old
- Individual differences start
- Problem-solving, aggression, amusement
Sharing
12 months old
- Affiliative sharing > sharing to both benefit from it (e.g. playing together)
- The focus of non-sharing (self-focused or refuse to share)
18 months old
- Share when it is requested
- Understanding of ownership > e.g. difference between “a coat” and “mommy’s coat”
From 24 months old
- Children share spontaneously and start to reciprocate sharing
- Sharing is predicted by sensitivity to distress and empathic abilities
- But: non-sharing is very frequent as well
At 48 months old
- Sharing increases even further and is related to Theory Of Mind (TOM) >
understanding of the mental states of others
Cooperating
1 year old can already cooperate
After 2 years of age, cooperation becomes more complex
- Related to language development
- Monitoring (adjust behavior to what the other is doing)
- Cooperation also depends on the partner that they are with
Cooperation vs. competition
Dyadic peer-relationships: Conflict
Development of conflict
Conflict is functional!
- Part of normal development and leads to skill development
,1 year old: Resolves conflict by physical force
- Mainly tugging and conflict over toys
2 years old: Also use verbal means
- Kids avoid conflict, especially hard hits. Also, retaliation in a conflict occurs
Gender differences start around age 3
- Girls less likely to use physical force
The subject of conflict changes
- The extent to which conflict occurs does however not change
Underlying skills
There are HUGE individual differences in underlying skills
- If a child at year one does not imitate much, then that does not have to be a
problem
The social system matters
There might be some evidence for continuity (but lack of studies)
Underlying skills: Joint attention
The ability to coordinate attention with another person
Starting at 6 months and around this age children also start using gaze and gestures (e.g.,
pointing at objects)
Individual differences occur
One of the basics for Theory of Mind
- Understanding that the other has attention and that you can share that attention
Underlying skills: Emotion regulation
Differences between adult and peer situations.
Contact with peers is important for emotion regulation development
“Safe haven” to practice at home > regulation of fear
Focussing on attention. Do you remain in the negative emotion space or do you turn
away?
Underlying skills: Inhibitory control
Being able to inhibit your tendencies. E.g. exploring your environment > Important in play
situations
Development of personal space. Conflict occurs when other children come into the
personal space when they don’t want it.
Inhibit feeling to take toys from other kids.
Balanced inhibition is needed. Not the more is better. Do not avoid all types of conflict.
Underlying skills: Imitation
Needed for harmonious play with peers.
Imitation depends on the context.
, Learning tool for social skills. Most games are not learned by explaining the rules but by
observing other children doing it and joining.
Relevant for bonding. In a group of strangers, even adults, tend to imitate others.
Includes imitation of peers. 14 months old children can be learned to play a new game
through imitation. At the age of 2 years, children are more likely to imitate peers than
parents in games.
Underlying skills: Causal understanding
The other is an intentional social agent > they can respond positively or negatively to you
One’s own actions affect others. Others can do things by accident.
Underlying skills: Language
Verbal ability is related to higher prosociality and lower aggression > the better the
language skills the better they can use language to resolve conflict. Also predicts more
relational aggression.
Related to Theory of Mind development. The more the language is developed the better
children can differentiate between different types of emotions.
Conversations become important. A delay in language development has a more difficult
position in the peer group.
Pretend play. A very important form of play. You need language skills.
Summary
-> Children’s focus on other humans and social development starts at birth
-> After a few months, meaningful differences between dyads occur (contingency). In the
first months of life, important aspects of social development emerge, both positive (e.g.,
sharing, cooperation) and negative (conflict and aggression)
-> The prerequisites for successful social development include joint attention, emotion
regulation, inhibitory control, imitation, causal understanding, and language development
The beginnings of social relationships: Are infants truly social?
Classical theories
Infants are not capable of true social interaction
Later relationships (e.g. with peers) are derived from relationships with primary caregivers
(or “the mother”)
Peers start to matter later in development
- Some say about 4 years old or seven years old
BUT.. at a very young age already children are focussed on specific human beings
Modern theories
Children are biologically wired to pay attention to others besides primary care-givers
The entire social system influences a child
- Not just mother as sender and child as a receiver but a reciprocal relationship
Early peer relations can be important for development as well.
The beginnings of social relationships: Focus on other humans
Scrambled faces paradigm
A study was done with children very close after they were born (half an hour after).
A child is shown four different boards with faces on them. One is an actual face, a little bit
scrambled, scrambled, and one empty face.
Measure the extent to which these babies follow the boards with
their eyes or turn their heads.
The actual face gets the most attention and the less realistic the
less attention.
This study has been replicated in different ways with different
results.
After one month of birth, these results disappear.
Dyadic peer-relationships: Contingency
Relationships between two people.
Contingent responses = responses that build on what the other person did
Starts already at 6 months
Example: dyadic differences in touching. One child touches a toy and the other child
touches the toy in the same way.
Different pairs of babies respond differently. They all adapt their behavior to the other.
,Dyadic peer-relationships: Prosocial exchanges
Voluntary actions that are intended to help or benefit another individual or group of
individuals
Responses to distress
Attempt to intervene on behalf of a victim, to change the situation or lessen the distress
Newborns: Cry in response to other cries
A study found that crying came in waves. One starts crying and the others started crying
as well.
8 month old
- Respond with: Gaze (most common), Affect (second most common), Physical
response (third most common), Self-distress (fourth most common)
2 years old
- Individual differences start
- Problem-solving, aggression, amusement
Sharing
12 months old
- Affiliative sharing > sharing to both benefit from it (e.g. playing together)
- The focus of non-sharing (self-focused or refuse to share)
18 months old
- Share when it is requested
- Understanding of ownership > e.g. difference between “a coat” and “mommy’s coat”
From 24 months old
- Children share spontaneously and start to reciprocate sharing
- Sharing is predicted by sensitivity to distress and empathic abilities
- But: non-sharing is very frequent as well
At 48 months old
- Sharing increases even further and is related to Theory Of Mind (TOM) >
understanding of the mental states of others
Cooperating
1 year old can already cooperate
After 2 years of age, cooperation becomes more complex
- Related to language development
- Monitoring (adjust behavior to what the other is doing)
- Cooperation also depends on the partner that they are with
Cooperation vs. competition
Dyadic peer-relationships: Conflict
Development of conflict
Conflict is functional!
- Part of normal development and leads to skill development
,1 year old: Resolves conflict by physical force
- Mainly tugging and conflict over toys
2 years old: Also use verbal means
- Kids avoid conflict, especially hard hits. Also, retaliation in a conflict occurs
Gender differences start around age 3
- Girls less likely to use physical force
The subject of conflict changes
- The extent to which conflict occurs does however not change
Underlying skills
There are HUGE individual differences in underlying skills
- If a child at year one does not imitate much, then that does not have to be a
problem
The social system matters
There might be some evidence for continuity (but lack of studies)
Underlying skills: Joint attention
The ability to coordinate attention with another person
Starting at 6 months and around this age children also start using gaze and gestures (e.g.,
pointing at objects)
Individual differences occur
One of the basics for Theory of Mind
- Understanding that the other has attention and that you can share that attention
Underlying skills: Emotion regulation
Differences between adult and peer situations.
Contact with peers is important for emotion regulation development
“Safe haven” to practice at home > regulation of fear
Focussing on attention. Do you remain in the negative emotion space or do you turn
away?
Underlying skills: Inhibitory control
Being able to inhibit your tendencies. E.g. exploring your environment > Important in play
situations
Development of personal space. Conflict occurs when other children come into the
personal space when they don’t want it.
Inhibit feeling to take toys from other kids.
Balanced inhibition is needed. Not the more is better. Do not avoid all types of conflict.
Underlying skills: Imitation
Needed for harmonious play with peers.
Imitation depends on the context.
, Learning tool for social skills. Most games are not learned by explaining the rules but by
observing other children doing it and joining.
Relevant for bonding. In a group of strangers, even adults, tend to imitate others.
Includes imitation of peers. 14 months old children can be learned to play a new game
through imitation. At the age of 2 years, children are more likely to imitate peers than
parents in games.
Underlying skills: Causal understanding
The other is an intentional social agent > they can respond positively or negatively to you
One’s own actions affect others. Others can do things by accident.
Underlying skills: Language
Verbal ability is related to higher prosociality and lower aggression > the better the
language skills the better they can use language to resolve conflict. Also predicts more
relational aggression.
Related to Theory of Mind development. The more the language is developed the better
children can differentiate between different types of emotions.
Conversations become important. A delay in language development has a more difficult
position in the peer group.
Pretend play. A very important form of play. You need language skills.
Summary
-> Children’s focus on other humans and social development starts at birth
-> After a few months, meaningful differences between dyads occur (contingency). In the
first months of life, important aspects of social development emerge, both positive (e.g.,
sharing, cooperation) and negative (conflict and aggression)
-> The prerequisites for successful social development include joint attention, emotion
regulation, inhibitory control, imitation, causal understanding, and language development
