CHAPTER 6: Psychosocial Development during the First Three Years Flashcards
The relatively consistent blend of
emotions, temperament, thought, and
behavior that makes a person unique.
personality
Subjective reactions to experience that
are associated with physiological and
behavioral changes
emotions
Beginning in the 2nd month, newborn
infants gaze at their parents and smile
at them, signaling positive participation
in the relationship.
social smiling
Infant smiles at an object and then
gazes at an adult while still smiling.
anticipatory smiling
Emotions, such as pride, shame, and
guilt, that depend on both self- awareness
and knowledge of socially accepted
standards of behavior.
self-evaluative emotions
Emotions, such as embarrassment,
empathy, and envy, that depend on
self-awareness.
self-conscious emotions
Realization that one’s existence and
functioning are separate from those of
other people and things.
self-awareness
Activity intended to help another
person with no expectation of reward.
altruistic behavior
Ability to put oneself in another
person’s place and feel what the other
person feels.
empathy
Neurons that fi re when a person does
something or observes someone else
doing the same thing.
mirror neurons
The ability to understand that others
have mental states and to gauge their
feelings and actions.
social cognition
Characteristic disposition or style of
approaching and reacting to situations.
temperament
Children whose temperament is
generally mild but who are hesitant
about accepting new experiences.
“slow-to-warm-up” children
Children with a generally happy
temperament, regular biological
rhythms, and a readiness to accept
new experiences.
“easy” children
Appropriateness of environmental
demands and constraints to a child’s
temperament.
goodness of fit
Children with irritable temperament,
irregular biological rhythms, and intense
emotional responses.
“difficult” children
Socialization process by which children,
at an early age, learn appropriate
gender roles.
gender-typing
Significance of being male or female.
gender
Erikson’s fi rst stage in psychosocial
development, in which infants develop
a sense of the reliability of people and
objects.
basic sense of trust versus mistrust
Reciprocal, enduring tie between two
people—especially between infant and
caregiver—each of whom contributes to
the quality of the relationship.
attachment
Laboratory technique used to study
infant attachment.
Strange Situation
Pattern in which an infant cries or
protests when the primary caregiver
leaves and actively seeks out the
caregiver on his or her return.
secure attachment
Pattern in which an infant rarely cries
when separated from the primary
caregiver and avoids contact on his or
her return.
avoidant attachment
Pattern in which an infant becomes
anxious before the primary caregiver
leaves, is extremely upset during his or
her absence, and both seeks and
resists contact on his or her return.
ambivalent (resistant) attachment
