Skip to ContentGo to accessibility page
OpenStax Logo
Lifespan Development

Summary

Lifespan DevelopmentSummary

Summary

4.1 Autonomy and Sense of Self in Infants and Toddlers

  • Infants start to develop a sense of self as separate from others through understanding what they can and cannot control in their environment.
  • Infants do not recognize their reflection in mirrors until approximately eighteen months of age.
  • Infants further develop self-awareness through understanding their body as an obstacle.
  • Infants experience gender socialization through interactions with caregivers, social and cultural experiences, and perceived expectations of their behavior. They learn how to label their gender by age three years.

4.2 Temperament and Personality in Infants and Toddlers

  • Infants are born with biologically based components of individuality known as temperament.
  • Temperament can be shaped and modified by parents and culture and can predict personality traits in childhood and adolescence.
  • Personality begins to form in infancy and is shaped by biology, environment, and temperament. Personality theories include trait theories like the Big Five theory.
  • According to Erikson’s theory, during the first few years of life, individuals face the challenges of trust versus mistrust and autonomy versus doubt, which help develop trust in others and autonomy and self-confidence.

4.3 Emotional Development in Infants and Toddlers

  • Moods are long-lasting levels of arousal and pleasure, in contrast to emotions, which are temporary states.
  • Primary emotions are biologically based and appear in the first year of life, whereas secondary emotions are situational and emerge in the second year of life.
  • Self-conscious emotions involve an infant being aware of how others view them.
  • Infants often depend on their caregivers to help with emotion regulation, but basic skills do emerge in infancy and toddlerhood.
  • Emotional intelligence and awareness of others’ emotions also develop at this time.

4.4 Social Development in Infants and Toddlers

  • Imitation—first involuntary and later voluntary—fosters an emotional bond between infants and their caregivers.
  • Infants learn how to process emotions by watching their caregiver and by practicing social referencing.
  • The emotional attachment between an infant and a primary caregiver has been theorized to have biological, evolutionary, and cognitive components.
  • The Strange Situation is an experiment in which different behavioral patterns are identified as characteristic of different attachment styles.
  • Attachment is also influenced by cultural and ecological processes; types of attachment at twelve months of age can vary between cultures.

4.5 Social Contexts and Influences in Infants and Toddlers

  • There are many types of families, but what most strongly influences infant outcomes is the number of caregivers, which affects the level of financial and time strains.
  • Families are embedded within layers of cultural and community influences that affect infant development.
  • Childcare options are varied, but high-quality childcare does not harm the emotional and social well-being of toddlers and children.
  • Childrearing practices vary across cultures and can influence which skills are fostered and when.
PreviousNext
Order a print copy
Citation/Attribution
Reuse and redistribution of this content in digital or print format:
  • This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's prior written permission.
  • This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License, which means that you can reuse and modify the material only for noncommercial purposes, must attribute OpenStax, and must distribute any derivative works under the same license.
  • Any commercial printing of this textbook, including using a local or custom printer, must be approved by OpenStax, and proper citation provided.
  • OpenStax-copyrighted images, activities, assessments, and similar components of this book are subject to the same licensing – CC-BY-NC-SA. They can be used for noncommercial purposes with attribution. Commercial use requires permission.
  • Permission requests: Anyone who intends to incorporate this content (including text, images, and other components) into large language models, use it in AI offerings, use it commercially (including in print), and/or has questions about another use case is welcome to complete our reuse request form.
Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a noncommercial print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/lifespan-development/pages/1-what-does-psychology-say

  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a noncommercial digital format, then for every page that includes OpenStax content, you must license the derivative work under the same CC-BY-NC-SA license as the original, and include on every digital page view the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/lifespan-development/pages/1-what-does-psychology-say

Citation information

The information below includes the information needed to generate citations in most major styles (APA, MLA, etc.); you must reformat and organize the information as needed to fit the requirements of the style. Use the information below to generate a citation. We recommend using a citation tool such as this one.

© Apr 23, 2026 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo, and Rice University name, and Rice University logo trademarks, or wordmarks are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.