The role of learning in social development: Illustrations from neglected children

Children who experience early caregiving neglect are very likely to have problems developing and maintaining relationships and regulating their social behavior. One of the earliest manifestations of this problem is reflected in indiscriminate behavior, a phenomenon where young children do not show normative wariness of strangers or use familiar adults as sources of security. To better understand the developmental mechanisms underlying the emergence of these problems, this study examined whether institutionally reared children, who experienced early social neglect, had difficulty associating motivational significance to visual stimuli. Pairing stimuli with motivational significance is presumably one of the associative learning processes involved in establishing discriminate or selective relationships with others. We found that early experiences of neglectful caregiving were associated with difficulties in acquiring such associations, and that delays in this developmental skill were related to children's social difficulties. These data suggest a way in which early social learning experiences may impact the development of processes underlying emotional development.