282 Unit 3 Infancy Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Love As parents care for their babies and meet their needs, babies become attached to them and begin to feel and show love and affection. Babies show love not only to important adults, but also to children who keep them company. Besides people, babies also become attached to objects, such as pacifi ers or stuffed toys (Figure 10.6). Babies seem to need these objects even more when they are upset or afraid, or when routines change. Sometimes adults worry about children’s love for these objects. Such attachments, however, tend to give babies security and are important to them. Children give up these objects in time. Fear The true emotion of fear is not present at birth. Instead, newborns react with the startle refl ex when they hear loud sounds or do not have support for their bodies. The stimulus of a loud sound or bodily Expressing Emotions After disposition and social relations, the third aspect of social-emotional development involves expressing feelings. Long before babies express feelings, the emotion center of the brain becomes active. Because feelings are complex and tied to thinking, memory, and even language, wiring for emotions takes four years to complete. Brain development research shows that by two months of age, infants begin constructing emotions. Infants fi rst get visual cues of emotions in others at this age. During the fi rst three or four months, infants have two basic responses to their world. The fi rst is distress, shown by crying and muscle tension. The second is excitement, shown by smiling, cooing, and wiggling the body. By the end of the fi rst year, infants can express love, fear, anxiety, anger, jealousy, joy, and sadness. Infants who express a range of emotions, from happy to unhappy, show healthy development. Figure 10.6 Babies may express love by becoming attached to objects, such as pacifi ers. How do you think babies’ attachments to objects encourage the development of love?