Virginia F. Cutler Lecture
“All you Need is Love?” How Infants Learn to Form Human Connections
TALKING POINTS:
- Infants are inherently social creatures. Their neurophysiology is primed to help them make social connections.
- Early caregiving environments working in concert with infants’ neurophysiology helps set the stage for establishing human connections.
- The dynamic interplay between relationship dynamic histories and neurophysiology influences children’s developmental trajectories, including later social-emotional functioning.
- This lecture will highlight these several intersections highlighting the power of nurturing relationships on infants’ development.
Dr. Chris Porter
Dr. Chris Porter’s interest in infant development began during his formative years growing up in a family with 11 siblings, 7 of whom were born after him. His childhood was marked by the constant presence of newborns. At that time, however, he had little interest in pursuing a systematic study of infants. After graduating high school, Chris began his undergraduate education at BYU, with an initial interest in medicine. Following missionary service in South Africa, he began exploring a variety of career paths. During this time a young woman in his BYU family home evening group convinced him to take an intro to Child Development class from Dr. Lynn Scoresby. It turned out to be a life changing decision on multiple fronts. First, that same young woman would foolishly agree to marry him a year later and, second, the two of them would then graduate together from BYU with a focus on children’s development--Chris with a degree in human development and Julie in early childhood education. Dr. Porter went on to complete graduate work at Purdue University, with his masters and PhD degrees in Child Development and Family Studies.
During his time at Purdue, Dr. Porter became involved in a small longitudinal study that followed a group of first-time mothers over the first four years of their child’s life. This study examined a number of factors that influence the ways mothers and infants form relationships, including family dynamics, infant temperament, and attachment systems, as well as infants’ maturing polyvagal system--a neurophysiological system believed to help infants regulate the physiological demands of social interactions. This early experience would become one of the major foci of Dr. Porter’s research over the intervening years as a faculty member at BYU. Early in his career he oversaw the development of the Mother-Infant Early Relationship Project and has been a part of several other research programs including Project MEDIA and the PACIFIC Project, all focused on the role of early relationships in children’s development. Dr. Porter’s research has appeared in leading academic journals focused on infant development and psychophysiology including Infancy, Infant Behavior & Development, Developmental Science, and Developmental Psychobiology. Dr. Porter currently serves on the editorial board of Infant Behavior & Development. He and his wife are the proud parents of three wonderful children and one granddaughter.
Students in the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences gain Experience Points for attending this lecture. Learn more about Experience Points.