**3. Emotional development and social interactions in early stages**

Diverse eco-cultural contexts with its specificity of possibilities and challenges, as discussed, provide differences in terms of parental systems and developmental trajectories for children. As the same time, human development is conceived as a process in which human beings are born as cultural beings that look for interpersonal interaction. In the familiar niche they start social interactions with their parents. This way, family constitutes the centre of their lives in the early stages and can be considered as mediating the relation between child and environ‐ ment. This notion is contemplated in some important conceptions of developmental context as that of Harkness and Super (1994) and Bronfenbrenner (1996), in which the family is part of development microcontext. This is the context in which children begin to deal with their emotions and those of others.

The importance of interpersonal relations in the lives of children, in particular the emotional and affective exchanges with their mothers, has been highlighted since Bowlby (1969) and the attachment theory. Besides his work, Harlow (1958), studying chimpanzee infants, demon‐ strated that contact comfort (with a wire mother that was covered with cloth over a wire) was more important for the infant than the hunger drive. Even well before, in an evolutionary perspective, Darwin devoted a book to the emotions and their adaptive role in the life of man and animals.

In more recent publications, authors as Reddy and Trevarthen (2004) suggest that emotions are the key to psychological engagement, since they are part of us as individuals in our active and assertive relationships and it´s part of their nature to be intensely shared. As they said "For all who deal with infants, emotional engagements with them provide the most informative as well as the most helpful route to understanding them." (Reddy & Trevarthen, 2004, p. 3)

tion directed to the baby drew attention for being the only one that elicited responses in

Emotion, Affection and Maternal Speech in Parental Care

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/57337

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Although displaying a variety of facial expressions and body postures to express emotions, the set of distinct emotions the newborns show can still be considered as limited forward to the diversity of human emotions. The changes observed over the early years, however, are such that after a few months of born, babies exhibit a wide range of emotions. In fact, at around three years of age, one can consider that is present in a child almost any variety of adult emotions (Lewis, 2010). For three years, approximately, the changes observed in this set of human emotions and in their view forms are such that more than a few emotions and their manifestations for many and highly differentiated, with a vast repertoire of demonstrations,

Based on an evolutionary and socio-cultural approach to understand human development, all this behavioral and emotional expressions repertoire which diversifies in a few years, seeks to account for developmental needs and requirements. In addition, to meet the requirements and challenges of a cultural context in which the child develop is adaptive in that it seems to have evolved according to our phylogeny, to promote the survival and future reproductive success of individuals. In this sense, we can consider the sensitivity to social stimuli and social relations with co-regulation of affection, feelings and emotions as the basis of socio-emotional devel‐ opment. Parent´s beliefs and goals about emotional experiences and expressions shape the

**4. The socialization of emotion: parental goals and expectations of children**

The interactional characteristic that human development has, as already commented, is especially evident in the emotional development. Emotions are powerful resources that humans have to deal with situations experienced and with interpersonal communication. They can also be understand as a mental system of self-regulation, responsible for the regulation of the concern-relevant aspects of an individual's actions, what means that they have a complex

Emotions are fundamental to children learn to understand themselves and the other in the social world they live. Since before the language acquisition, emotional communications are fundamental in the social interactions. The socio-cultural context constitutes the meaning and the ways to express emotions. In all the cultural groups, parents want to pass on strategies that promote the survival of their children and their cultural competence. As primary socialization agents, parents can guide their children in how to express their emotions and how to "read" the other's emotions, while culture provides guidelines of how to raise children and general

Theoretical models that focus on understanding of the emotional socialization process emphasize how ideas about emotions and values of parents influence their choices of practices

function in human action regulation (Holodynsky & Friedlmeier, 2010).

patterns of emotion decodification and expression.

contingent smiling babies up to two months of life.

of more direct to that denote certain subtleties.

process of socialization of emotion.

**caregivers**

Capacities required for the perception and expression of emotions have been considered fundamental for the quality of early interactions, which in turn are a rich context to promote affective and social development. This early emotional involvement indicates an increase in "awareness" by babies, in relation to their ability of attention and intentions, and to other people's expectations.

Authors from different areas as psychologists, psychoanalysts, and neonatologists raised important questions in relation to the potential for emotional experiences in early life of babies in the womb and their impact in the fetus development (Cunha, 2002; Piontelli, 1992). Ac‐ cording to them, positive and negative emotional experiences *intra utero* make a difference in an infant's development. Our brain develops in direct response to our mother´s experience of the world. This way, if a fetus is continually exposed to mother´s stress (with the release of cortisol in her bloodstream) it´s observed an accelerated fetal heartbeat and hyperactivity. It is still considered certain continuity between intrauterine and earliest infancy, since some children´s behaviors seems to maintain associative links with favorite moves and postures showed in the womb.

Recent advances of Neurosciences indicate that since 20 to 24 weeks of prenatal life, when the neuronal migration is complete, the infant can perceive the surrounding environment and construct proto-representations arising from experiences and emotions that will "sculpt" his/ her neural networks. Therefore, it can be thought that it is possible the registration of positive affects sensations that will generate feelings of security and welcomed, and if continuous and strong enough can "sculpt" long-lasting neural circuits. The counterpoint of this can be thought of in relation to negative affects sensations.

After birth, infants and their parents regulate their interactions through the baby's emotional expressions and the parent's behaviors and reactions. The context of affective interchanges in the early stages is considered crucial to the main primary achievements that a baby must make. Since the first moments of life, human being show different emotional expressions, and from a very early age they seem oriented to other person, as a social partner.

Even newborns, when observed, show a variety of emotional behavior. If they are upset, when they feel alone, or in need of food and attention, they cry and express discomfort. They look carefully for people and objects around them, and when they are looked at by someone with joy and treated with care they seem to manifest wellness and positive emotions. At this moment, they show relaxed and often smile. In fact, they smile from birth or before, and with a few weeks of life they begin to smile the "social smiles" (Mendes, Seidl-de-Moura, & Siqueira, 2009; Messinger et al, 2002). Before long, they begin to react contingently with smiles to affective behaviors of their mothers (Mendes & Seidl-de-Moura, submitted; Mendes et al., 2009). Maternal smiles proved to be powerful elicitors of smiles on baby, but also other affective behaviors. Among them, mother speech/vocaliza‐ tion directed to the baby drew attention for being the only one that elicited responses in contingent smiling babies up to two months of life.

In more recent publications, authors as Reddy and Trevarthen (2004) suggest that emotions are the key to psychological engagement, since they are part of us as individuals in our active and assertive relationships and it´s part of their nature to be intensely shared. As they said "For all who deal with infants, emotional engagements with them provide the most informative as well

Capacities required for the perception and expression of emotions have been considered fundamental for the quality of early interactions, which in turn are a rich context to promote affective and social development. This early emotional involvement indicates an increase in "awareness" by babies, in relation to their ability of attention and intentions, and to other

Authors from different areas as psychologists, psychoanalysts, and neonatologists raised important questions in relation to the potential for emotional experiences in early life of babies in the womb and their impact in the fetus development (Cunha, 2002; Piontelli, 1992). Ac‐ cording to them, positive and negative emotional experiences *intra utero* make a difference in an infant's development. Our brain develops in direct response to our mother´s experience of the world. This way, if a fetus is continually exposed to mother´s stress (with the release of cortisol in her bloodstream) it´s observed an accelerated fetal heartbeat and hyperactivity. It is still considered certain continuity between intrauterine and earliest infancy, since some children´s behaviors seems to maintain associative links with favorite moves and postures

Recent advances of Neurosciences indicate that since 20 to 24 weeks of prenatal life, when the neuronal migration is complete, the infant can perceive the surrounding environment and construct proto-representations arising from experiences and emotions that will "sculpt" his/ her neural networks. Therefore, it can be thought that it is possible the registration of positive affects sensations that will generate feelings of security and welcomed, and if continuous and strong enough can "sculpt" long-lasting neural circuits. The counterpoint of this can be thought

After birth, infants and their parents regulate their interactions through the baby's emotional expressions and the parent's behaviors and reactions. The context of affective interchanges in the early stages is considered crucial to the main primary achievements that a baby must make. Since the first moments of life, human being show different emotional expressions, and from

Even newborns, when observed, show a variety of emotional behavior. If they are upset, when they feel alone, or in need of food and attention, they cry and express discomfort. They look carefully for people and objects around them, and when they are looked at by someone with joy and treated with care they seem to manifest wellness and positive emotions. At this moment, they show relaxed and often smile. In fact, they smile from birth or before, and with a few weeks of life they begin to smile the "social smiles" (Mendes, Seidl-de-Moura, & Siqueira, 2009; Messinger et al, 2002). Before long, they begin to react contingently with smiles to affective behaviors of their mothers (Mendes & Seidl-de-Moura, submitted; Mendes et al., 2009). Maternal smiles proved to be powerful elicitors of smiles on baby, but also other affective behaviors. Among them, mother speech/vocaliza‐

a very early age they seem oriented to other person, as a social partner.

as the most helpful route to understanding them." (Reddy & Trevarthen, 2004, p. 3)

people's expectations.

132 Parenting in South American and African Contexts

showed in the womb.

of in relation to negative affects sensations.

Although displaying a variety of facial expressions and body postures to express emotions, the set of distinct emotions the newborns show can still be considered as limited forward to the diversity of human emotions. The changes observed over the early years, however, are such that after a few months of born, babies exhibit a wide range of emotions. In fact, at around three years of age, one can consider that is present in a child almost any variety of adult emotions (Lewis, 2010). For three years, approximately, the changes observed in this set of human emotions and in their view forms are such that more than a few emotions and their manifestations for many and highly differentiated, with a vast repertoire of demonstrations, of more direct to that denote certain subtleties.

Based on an evolutionary and socio-cultural approach to understand human development, all this behavioral and emotional expressions repertoire which diversifies in a few years, seeks to account for developmental needs and requirements. In addition, to meet the requirements and challenges of a cultural context in which the child develop is adaptive in that it seems to have evolved according to our phylogeny, to promote the survival and future reproductive success of individuals. In this sense, we can consider the sensitivity to social stimuli and social relations with co-regulation of affection, feelings and emotions as the basis of socio-emotional devel‐ opment. Parent´s beliefs and goals about emotional experiences and expressions shape the process of socialization of emotion.
