2 Types of Attributions

Parents, siblings and caregivers are the people who infants and toddlers spend the majority of their day with and they have the biggest impact on their attitudes and values. Children who are exposed to encouraging, positive people are more likely to take on those attitudes as they grow up. It's because of developments in cognitive functioning those later attitudes and beliefs are formed.

The people children spend the  majority of their day with can intentionally or unintentionally teach infants and toddlers behaviors or beliefs about what they can or can't accomplish. For example, if a parent continues to feed their child after the age they should be able to feed themselves, they're teaching the child that feeding themselves is something they can't accomplish. If a parent lets a child feed themselves when they're developmentally ready, the child will learn that feeding themselves is something they can accomplish.

Attributions are explanations for one's performance or causes of events. External attributions happen when individuals place the blame for behavior or performance on someone or something other than themselves. For example, if a child throws a ball in the house and it breaks something, and the child says a sibling mad them do it, this is an external attribution. Internal attributions happen when individuals place the blame for behavior or performance on themselves. For example, if a child throws a ball in the house and it breaks something and the child says, I did it," this is an internal attribution. The infant and toddler years are the most important years of teaching attributions. The behaviors and beliefs taught at this age through these attributions will stick with the child their whole life.