Social-Emotional Milestones,
Responsive Caregiving, and Identity
Developed by Pat Mullings Franco. © 2017, WestEd, The Program for Infant/Toddler Care.
This document may be reproduced for educational purposes.
Culture in Social and Emotional Development
 Culture affects everything
 Culture is powerful
 Cultural consistency in care
 Dependence, Interdependence, & Independence
Young Infant
Birth to 8 months
Mobile Infant
6 to 18 months
Older Infant
16 to 36 months
Young Infant
Mobile Infant
Older Infant
DVD: First Moves
Clip: Introduction and Key Concepts
Variables Affecting the Establishment of a Trusting/Non-trusting
Interaction Between a Child and an Unfamiliar Person
Distance
1. Of unfamiliar person from child
2. Of child from parent
3. Of unfamiliar person from parent
Time
1. Before first verbal
interaction with unfamiliar
person
2. Before first object
oriented interaction with
unfamiliar person
CHILD
1) Background or experience of various
combinations of Time, Distance, Direction
of Focus and Degree of Unfamiliarity
2) Biological and Physical State
3. Before first touch by
unfamiliar person
Direction of
Focus
1. Directly on the
unfamiliar person
2. Indirectly on the
unfamiliar person
through the focus of an
object, game, food, etc.
4. Before being held by
unfamiliar person
Degree of Unfamiliarity
1. Appearance of unfamiliar person
2. Type of affect displayed by unfamiliar person
3. Cultural style of unfamiliar person
4. Approach style of the unfamiliar person: Is the combination
of Time, Distance, and Direction of Focus used by the
unfamiliar person familiar or strange to the child?
Developed by J. Ronald Lally. © University of Florida. Reprinted with permission.
This document may be reproduced for educational purposes.
Handout I.2B
The Responsive Process
Step One: Watch
Begin by just watching, not rushing, to do things for the baby.
Watch for both verbal and nonverbal cues.
Step Two: Ask
Ask yourself: What messages is the child sending? What are the emotional, social, intellectual, and
physical parts to the message? Does the child want something from me at this moment? If so, ask
the child (through actions as well as words): What is it that you want?
Step Three: Adapt
Adapt your actions according to what you believe to be the child’s desires.
Watch how the child responds to your actions.
Modify your actions according to the child’s response, and watch, ask, and adapt again.
Excerpted from: WestEd. (2014). The Program for Infant/Toddler Care Trainer's Manual, Module I: Social-Emotional Growth
and Socialization, 2nd edition (p. 27). Sacramento, CA: California Department of Education.
This document may be reproduced for educational purposes.