CFDL 550
DEVELOPMENT I:
INFANCY AND TODDLERHOOD
FALL 2009: DISTANCE COHORT
Anne R. Gearity, PhD
2904 Humboldt Ave S., Minneapolis, MN 55408
612.824.4142 (home)
612.825.7200 (office)
geari002@umn.edu
Course Description:
This course is the first of the development sequence that traces normative developmental processes over the lifespan. In this first course, students will focus on how babies and young children learn, adapt and grow up.
Development starts relationally – babies’ brains are preferential to human stimulation and seek care, as much as they need care to survive and thrive. D.W. Winnicott stated: (1942):”There is no such thing as a baby…meaning that if you set out to describe a baby, you will find you are describing a baby and someone. A baby cannot exist alone, but is essentially a part of a relationship”; contemporary research in attachment, emotion regulation and social cognition confirm the importance of the earliest relationships as the pathway to learning. Clinicians must appreciate the complexity of primary relationships ties, and how these ties influence children’s adaptation and subsequent capacities to move towards other social engagement
This course will describe how babies and young children use their relationship partners, how they borrow developmental functions from their caregivers until these emerge and become self functions. We will consider how development becomes increasingly organized and complex, and how the gradual capacity for self regulation is the result of reliable experiences of mutually regulation over time. Similarly, self awareness begins as a shared awareness about self and other and the larger social world; as the parent can consider the baby’s mind, so can the baby experience a sense of having a mind. We will examine the relational dynamics that facilitate and support optimal early development, subsequent exploration and social learning, and relational expansion to include other adults and peers.
While this is not an intervention class, we will use developmental knowledge to consider how children grow and repair when care is not optimal, how development informs and frames clinical conceptualizations and strategies, and what contributes to therapeutic change.
Goals: Students will:
- Acquire understanding of the concepts of normative development and developmental processes;
- Acquire descriptive knowledge of the sequential unfolding of growth and development, and the dynamic reliance all children feel with adult caregivers;
- Acquire an appreciation for the interface between physical growth and emotional/social development;
- Be able to critically read professional research regarding early development and family life.
- Become introduced to psychodynamic theories that describe the emergence of self as a developmental construct.
Required readings
Fonagy, P. (2001) Attachment theory and psychoanalysis NY: Other Press.
Articles identified in the syllabus that will be available online, and through the ICSW website and PEP archive.
Course Outline
Class 1: Chicago: What is development?
Shonkoff, J. et.al. Working Paper #1 (2004) Young children develop in an environment of relationships. National Scientific Council of the Developing Child. Available as a publication at www.developingchild.net
Winnicott, D. (1964/1987). What do we mean by a normal child? In D. Winnicott, The child, the family, and the outside world (pp. 124-130). Reading MA: Addison-Wesley.
*Sroufe , L. Alan (2000) Early relationships and the development of children, Infant Mental Health Journal 21(1-2), 67-74
Class 2: Parenthood
Mayes, L. (2002). Parental preoccupation and perinatal mental health. Zero to Three, 22(6), 4-9.
Stern, Daniel (1995) The motherhood constellation. In The motherhood constellation. (171-185). London: Karnac
*Hesse, E. (2008) .The adult attachment interview: protocol, methods f analysis, and empirical studies. In J. Cassidy & P.R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 880-905). New York, NY:Guilford Press.
Class 3: Attachment
van IJzendoorn, M.H., and Sagi-Schwartz, A. (2008). Cross-cultural patterns of attachment: Universal and contextual dimensions. In J.
*Cassidy & P.R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 880-905). New York, NY:Guilford Press.
Fonagy, Peter. .Attachment theory and psychoanalysis, ch. 1.2.
*Finn, C. D. (2003). Cultural models for early caregiving. Zero to Three, 23, (5), 40-46.
Gopnik, Alison. Your baby is smarter than you think, NY Times, 8-16-09
Class 4: Developmental movement and developmental risk
Shonkoff et.al, Working Paper #2: (2004) Children’s emotional development is built into the architecture of their brains. National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, www.developingchild.net
Sameroff, A. & Fiese, B. (2000). Models of development and developmental risk. In C. Zeanah (Ed.) Handbook of infant mental health (pp. 3-19). NY: Guilford Press.
*Tronick, E. Z. (1989). Emotions and emotional communication in infants. American/Psychologist, 44, 112-119.
Sturm, L. (2004). Temperament in early childhood: A primer for the perplexed. Zero to Three, 24, (4), 4-11
Shonkoff et.al, Working Paper #3: (2004) Excessive stress disrupts the architecture of the developing brain. National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, www.developingchild.net
Class 5: Comparing and connection theories
Fonagy, P. Attachment theory and psychoanalysis, ch. 11, 12, 13.
Class 6: The baby’s emerging mind
*Mackenzie, M. J., & McDonough, S. C. (2009). Transactions between perception and reality: Maternal beliefs and infant regulatory behavior. In
Sameroff, A. (Ed.) The transactional model of development: How children and contexts shape each other (pp. 35-54). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Thompson, R. (2008) The psychologist in the baby, Zero to three, 28:5, pp. 5-12
Slade, A. (2002) Keeping the baby in mind: a critical factor in perinatal mental health. Zero to Three (June/July), 10-16.
Class 7: Mutual regulation as support for self regulation
Beebe, B. and Lachmann, F. (1994). Representation and internalization in infancy: three principles of salience, Psychoanalytic Psychology, 11 (2) 127-165. Pep Archive
Schore, J. and Schore A. (2008) Modern attachment theory: the central role of affect regulation in development and treatment, Clinical Social Work Journal, 36, 9-20.
Lyons-Ruth, K. (2008) Contributions of the mother-infant relationship to dissociative, borderline and conduct symptoms in young adults. Infant Mental Health Journal, 29, 3, 203-218.
Winnicott, D.W. (1949). The ordinary devoted mother. In Winnicott on the child. (2002), Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing.
Class 8: Toddlers move forward
Lieberman, A. (1991). Attachment and exploration: The toddler’s dilemma. Zero to Three, 12: 6-11.
Lieberman, A. & Slade. S. (2000). Parenting toddlers: Developmental and clinical considerations, In J. Osofsky & H. Fitzgerald (Eds.) WAIMH Handbook of infant mental health Vol 3; Parenting and child care. (pp. 27-56) New York: John Wiley & Sons
Nelson, K. (2007). Entering the symbolic world. Young minds in social worlds: Experience, meaning, and memory. (pp. 149-178). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Lewis, M. (1992). Shame, the exposed self. Zero to Three, 13: 6-10.
Goodman, and Tomasello (May, 2008) Baby steps on the road to society, Zero to three, 28:5, pp. 21-25.
Assignments
- Observation or interview. Observe an infant and parent for an hour, or interview a prospective parent about this experience of waiting for baby’s arrival. This is not a clinical interview, but rather an opportunity to watch and become interested in developmental experiences. Write a brief (2 page) description of what you observed.. Do not use theoretical constructs but write about what you saw and heard and experienced. Be prepared to discuss these observations in class. Due class 5.
- Research paper review: Select one research paper about infant/ toddler development and report on the content and applicability to clinical work. Due class 7.
- Final Exam: Take-home exam. Prior to the end of the semester, students will be given several essay questions. These essays will reflect critical issues addressed in the course. Please mail the papers with a return envelope (stamped) to my office address: 2904 Humboldt Ave S., Minneapolis, MN 55408. . Due two weeks after the last class meeting.
Grading
A work demonstrates not only mastery of the material but fluency with the material and the capacity to use the ideas creatively.
B work presents an overall understanding of the material and a well-written, well-organized presentation.
C work represents a basic grasp of the material but has some significant deficits or distortions in the use of ideas and/or written presentation.
Failing means there is little evidence of comprehension of the material and/or the presentation is in unacceptable form.