Lifespan Development. Tara L. Kuther

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      As a newborn, Terrence expressed distress by spreading his arms, kicking his legs, and crying. When he did this, his mother or father would scoop him up and hold him, trying to comfort him. Terrence quickly began to prefer interacting with attentive adults who cared for him. Soon Baby Terrence began to smile and gurgle when held. In turn, Terrence’s parents played with him and were delighted to see his animated, excited responses. As a toddler, his emerging language skills enabled Terrence to express his needs in words. He quickly learned that words are powerful tools that can convey emotions (“I love you, Mommy”). Without realizing it, Terrence used words to help him manage strong emotions and difficult situations. For example, he distracted himself from stressful stimuli, like the neighbor’s scary dog, by singing to himself. Terrence could express his ideas and feelings to everyone around him, making for new and more complex relationships with his parents and siblings.

      As Terrence illustrates, in the first 2 years of life, babies learn new ways of expressing their emotions. They become capable of new and more complex emotions and develop a greater sense of self-understanding, social awareness, and self-management. These abilities influence their interactions with others and their emerging social relationships. These processes collectively are referred to as socioemotional development. In this chapter, we examine the processes of socioemotional development in infancy and toddlerhood.

      Learning Objectives

      Psychosocial Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood

      According to Erik Erikson (1950), as we travel through the lifespan, we proceed through a series of psychosocial crises, or developmental tasks. As discussed in Chapter 1, how well each crisis is resolved influences psychological development and how the individual approaches the next crisis or developmental task. Erikson believed that infants and toddlers progress through two psychosocial stages that influence their personality development: trust versus mistrust and autonomy versus shame and doubt.

      Trust Versus Mistrust

      From the day she was born, each time Erin cried, her mother or father would come to her bassinet and hold her, check her diaper, and feed her if necessary. Soon, Erin developed the basic expectation that her parents would meet her needs. According to Erikson (1950), developing a sense of trust versus mistrust is the first developmental task of life. Infants must develop a view of the world as a safe place where their basic needs will be met. Throughout the first year of life, infants depend on their caregivers for food, warmth, and affection. If parents and caregivers attend to the infant’s physical and emotional needs and consistently fulfill them, the infant will develop a basic sense of trust in her caregivers and, by extension, in the world in general.

      However, if caregivers are neglectful or inconsistent in meeting the infant’s needs, he will develop a sense of mistrust, feeling that he cannot count on others for love, affection, or the fulfillment of other basic human needs. The sense of trust or mistrust developed in infancy influences how people approach the subsequent stages of development. Specifically, when interaction with adults around them inspires trust and security, babies are more likely to feel comfortable exploring the world, which enhances their learning, social development, and emotional development.