Development of social and emotional skills

The development of social and emotional skills in infants is closely linked to:

• Quality of the parent-infant dyad including goodness of fit and ability to read and respond to infant cues = development of trust.
• Cognitive development (e.g. emerging awareness of self as separate person, understanding of cause and effect relationships).
• Visual development (what the infant can see around them)
• Self-regulatory ability (for example, in early months; development of mutual gaze is dependent upon periods of quiet alert state.

Infants communicate and engage with their world in many ways. They look to caregivers to regulate their experiences.