Developing Trust and Autonomy in Infancy
In class we learned that infants gain a sense of self-awareness at around eighteen months of age. They become more aware of their impact upon their environment and develop secondary emotions such as shame, guilt, pride, and embarrassment. This ties in with Erik Erikson’s second main stage of infancy, the autonomy versus shame and doubt, during their second year of life. In this stage the infant develops a sense of themselves as either competent or not competent to solve problems and to accomplish tasks on their own. During this stage babies want to do everything for themselves often resisting attempts to assist or control them. When parents structure the environment in ways that foster success in the
In class we learned that infants gain a sense of self-awareness at around eighteen months of age. They become more aware of their impact upon their environment and develop secondary emotions such as shame, guilt, pride, and embarrassment. This ties in with Erik Erikson’s second main stage of infancy, the autonomy versus shame and doubt, during their second year of life. In this stage the infant develops a sense of themselves as either competent or not competent to solve problems and to accomplish tasks on their own. During this stage babies want to do everything for themselves often resisting attempts to assist or control them. When parents structure the environment in ways that foster success in the