First Annotated Bibliography:. The Role Maternal Interaction

It has been shown that babies who are held, coddled, and kissed develop a healthier emotional life than those who are left alone for long periods of time. Hugging induces oxytocin, the “bonding hormone,” that’s renowned for reducing stress, lowering cortisol levels and increasing a sense of trust and security (Suval, 2014). Touch can even have economic effects, promoting trust and generosity. When psychologist Robert Kurzban had participants play the “prisoner’s dilemma” game, in which they could choose either to cooperate or compete with a partner for a limited amount of money, an experimenter gently touched some of the participants as they were starting to play the game with just a quick pat on the back. This made a big difference. Those who were touched were much more likely to cooperate and share with their partner (Kaltner, 2010). Human touch, hugging, hand holding, and cuddling can be beneficial health wise, physically, emotionally, and even

Feminine characteristics are thought to be intrinsic to the female facility for childbirth and breast-feeding. Hence, it is popularly believed that the social position of females is biologically mandated to be intertwined with the care of children and a 'natural' dependency on men for the maintenance of mother-child units."

In the research done on “Sex Roles, Pink or Blue: Environmental Gender Stereotypes in the First Two Years of Life,” by Andree Pomerleau, Daniel Bolduc, Gerard Malcuit, and Louise Cossette at the University of Montreal stated that the physical environment of girls and boys will have an impact on the development of specific abilities and activities in children. In the research, three age groups were investigated and given types and colors of toys and have determined that boys prefer sports and large and small vehicles while girls had more dolls and fictional characters. The research proves that boys are more active and aggressive than girls. The research shows that as early as 18 months of age, children are already predisposed by sex stereotypes by their parents.

The first hour of life for an infant doing skin to skin contact with their mother provides warmth, protection, and nutrition. The closeness of being on the mother’s chest provides a continuation of hearing the mother’s heartbeat and voice. This is the one place an infant feels most content knowing all their needs are met.

Gender role expectations are inescapable in our society as we naturally tend to sort humans into categories, the easiest one being gender. Upon first meeting a person, most people automatically classify the other’s gender. With this classification come the inevitable gender role expectations. Even for those who consciously try their hardest not to cloud their perceptions of others based on “traditional” gender role expectations, it is almost impossible not to subconsciously succumb to these expectations that are ingrained in our minds virtually since the day we are born. These expectations often influence how one interacts with another. This is especially important when taking into consideration the effects that gender socialization of children through gendered toys, media, and parental affects child development.

In 1976 Marshall H. Klaus and John H. Kennell came out with a book called “Parent Infant Bonding”. It discussed their hypothesis that like other animals, there is a brief moment directly following the birth of a child where skin-to-skin contact between mother and offspring creates a strong bond. Although this theory continues to be

I have always felt that the simple action of human touch is an underrated aspect of our lives. Only now, with the advances in neuroscience, we are finally able to prove the science behind why touch is so important in our lives. For the purposes of this paper, I will be focusing on the benefits of touch for infants and small children. I think that a lot of people don’t realize how important it is to have touch in our lives. I have always been interested in the ways the simplest of human contact like a hand on a shoulder or a hug can change people’s lives for the better. It is easy for those of us who have lots of physical touch in our lives to imagine that there are people out there who don’t get any

Lindsey, Eric W., Penny R. Cremeens, and Yvonne M. Caldera. "Gender Differences in Mother-toddler and Father-toddler Verbal Initiations and Responses during a Caregiving and Play Context." ProQuest Research Library [ProQuest]. Springer Science & Business Media, Sept. 2010. Web. 17 May 2016.

(2000). Gender bias in mothers' expectations about infant crawling. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 77(4), 304-316.

However, Infant learns social and emotional in multiple ways mainly through every day interactions with their parent, siblings having infant’s feeling the sense of belonging. Supporting infant’s development by interacting with the baby, comforting the child by exchanging hugs and kisses along with singing lullabies and rocking the infant when he is upset. Therefore, these interactions will begin to establish a trusting relationship with infant’s and their parent’s.

The concept of infant-mother attachment is as important to the child as the birth itself. The effect this relationship has on a child shall affect that child for its entire life. A secure attachment to the mother or a primary caregiver is imperative for a child’s development. Ainsworth’s study shows that a mother is responsive to her infant’s behavioral cues which will develop into a strong infant-mother attachment. This will result in a child who can easily, without stress, be separated from his mother and without any anxiety. Of course the study shows a child with a weak infant-mother relationship will lead to mistrust, anxiety, and will never really be that close with the mother. Without the

Bowlby distinguishes four main levels in the development of attachment behavior. Phase (1) orientation and signals without discrimination of figure; Phase (2) orientation and signals directed toward one or more discriminated figures; Phase (3) maintenance of proximity to a discriminated figure by means of locomotion; Phase (4) formation of a reciprocal relation (Ainsworth, 1969, p. 30). Phase (1) during the first few weeks of infancy, demonstrates ways to discriminate from one another, by responding with grasping, smiling, and crying by responding to tactile functions and stimuli. Phase (2) infant behaves in the same way as phase one, but in a discrete fashion by displaying behaviors by mothers voice, such as crying, smiling, and by touch. Phase (3) infant shows behaviors when mother approaches, using signals such as, climbing, exploring, clinging to mother, and using the mother or caregiver as a secure base. Phase (4) infant predicts mother’s movement and adopting mother’s behaviors as his/her own (Ainsworth, 1969).

The moment a baby is brought into the world there is an automatic maternal power to have an overwhelming power of closeness to your baby. Over centuries women have been evolving domestically when it comes to caring for their child. Any child brought into this world by their mother is naturally cared for. This instinct has been evolving for centuries, the act of putting your child before yourself. The moment a mother holds their child for the first time there is an automatic bond.

Experimental data suggest that the past experiences of the mother are a major determinant in molding her care-giving role. Children use adults, especially loved and powerful adults, as models for their own behaviour. Children development literature, states that the powerful process of imitation or modelling socially inclines children. Kennell and Klaus explain that unless adults consciously and painstakingly reexamine these learned behaviours, they will unconsciously repeat them when they become parents (Kennell and Klaus 11). Thus the way a woman was raised, which includes the practices of her culture and the individual idiosyncrasies of her own mother's child raising practices greatly influences her behaviour toward her own infant. Bob Brazelton in The Early Mother-Infant Adjustment says that, "It may seem to many that attachment to a small baby will come naturally and to make too much of it could be a mistake... but there are many, many women who have a difficult time making this adjustment...(Brazelton 10). He points out that we must understand the ingredients of attachment in order to help, because each mother-child dyad is unique and has individual needs of it's own (Brazelton 12).

This research paper is set to inform the reader of the gender differences through social development. Depending on a child’s gender, things such as gender identity and social acceptance have a great impact in their development. The first thing parents learned about their children before birth is the sex of the baby. This highlights the importance of sex and gender. Sex differences have long been a very important topic in psychology and in understanding why gender differences affect social development. Social learning theory helps to explain gender development.