What is Social Cognition?

Social cognition in developmental psychology refers to how children come to understand themselves, others, and social situations. It covers the development of self-awareness, understanding intentions, emotions, mental states, and predicting others’ behaviour.

The Rouge / Mirror Self-Recognition Test

Self-awareness emerges around 18 months of age.
In the Rouge test, a red mark is placed on a child’s forehead; when the child touches their own forehead upon seeing the mirror image, it indicates self-recognition. Before 18 months, infants typically treat their reflection as another baby.

Theory of Mind (ToM)

Theory of Mind is the ability to understand that others have thoughts, beliefs, preferences, and feelings that differ from one’s own, and that these mental states guide behaviour.

ToM typically develops between ages 4–5, often demonstrated by successful performance on false-belief tasks.

Key Experiments

• Broccoli vs Goldfish Study
  18-month-olds can recognise and respect another person’s preference (e.g., giving broccoli even if they prefer crackers), while 14-month-olds assume everyone likes what they like.
  → Suggests early emergence of understanding others’ desires.
• Sally-Anne Task
  Children who understand that Sally will search for her marble where she left it — not where it was moved — demonstrate false belief understanding, developing around age 4.

Nature and Nurture Influences on ToM

• Nature:
  Universal maturation sequences, biological readiness for mental-state reasoning.
• Nurture:
  • Advanced language exposure
  • Pretend play
  • Mental-state talk (parents discussing thoughts/feelings/desires)
  • Secure attachment
  • Having older siblings who introduce diverse experiences and perspectives

Attachment Theory

Attachment refers to the lasting emotional bond formed between infants and caregivers.

Foundational Research

• Harlow’s Monkey Studies
  Infant monkeys preferred soft, comforting “cloth mothers” over wire mothers providing food.
  → Comfort and emotional security outweigh nourishment in attachment formation.
• Lorenz and Imprinting
  Baby goslings attach to the first moving object seen during a critical period, demonstrating the biological basis of attachment.

Bowlby’s Attachment Theory

Bowlby argued that attachment is biologically programmed and essential for survival.
Children are evolutionarily driven to seek proximity to a caregiver who provides safety, comfort, and protection.

Attachment serves two major functions:

• A safe haven during distress
• A secure base for exploration

Ainsworth’s Strange Situation

Mary Ainsworth identified different attachment styles through a structured observation involving separations and reunions between infant and caregiver.

Attachment Styles

Style	%	Description
Secure (B)	50–60%	Seek comfort when distressed, easily soothed, return to play.
Insecure-Avoidant (A)	15–20%	Minimise closeness; avoid caregiver even when distressed.
Insecure-Anxious/Ambivalent (C)	15–20%	Maximise closeness; clingy, resistant, difficult to soothe.

Disorganised attachment is characterised by contradictory or fearful behaviour and is often associated with trauma or inconsistent caregiving.

Key Principles of Attachment

• Attachment is not a fixed trait — it varies across relationships (e.g., mother vs father vs grandparents).
• Attachment can change over time in response to environment, parental behaviour, trauma, or intervention.
• The Strange Situation is most valid for infants, not older children.

Sensitive Parenting (Ainsworth)

Sensitive parenting involves:

1. Noticing the child’s cues
2. Interpreting those cues accurately
3. Responding promptly and appropriately

The Still-Face Procedure

When a caregiver suddenly becomes unresponsive, infants quickly become distressed, showing how essential emotional attunement is to regulation and attachment security.

Parenting Styles (Baumrind, 1971)

1. Authoritative – High warmth, high structure → best outcomes
2. Authoritarian – Low warmth, high control → harsh, can lead to rebellion
3. Permissive – High warmth, low control → lack of boundaries
4. Uninvolved – Low warmth, low control → neglectful, poorest outcomes

Authoritative parenting best supports secure attachment because it balances responsiveness and appropriate expectations.

Emotion Coaching (Gottman)

A parenting approach that builds emotional intelligence through:

• Labelling emotions
• Validating feelings
• Viewing emotions as opportunities for teaching
• Supporting problem-solving while maintaining boundaries

Limitations of Baumrind’s Framework

• Overly simplistic — doesn’t capture nuance of real families
• Culturally biased (Western, middle-class sample)
• Underrepresents role of fathers, siblings, extended family
• Ignores situational factors (stress, mental health, SES)

Role of Fathers and Same-Sex Parents

Fathers

Often contribute through:

• Rough-and-tumble play
• Encouraging safe risk-taking
• Providing sensitive, attuned care

Same-Sex Parents

Research consistently shows no differences in emotional, social, or academic outcomes for children raised by same-sex vs heterosexual parents.