3a) Developmental Psychology

Question 1

Key concepts
Types of attachment
 Assessment of attachment (Ainsworth’s strange situation test)
 Piaget’s model of cognitive development (basic outline of the stages)
Key Studies
Ainsworth (1978) The Strange Situation

Answer 1

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Question 2

Types of attachment

Answer 2

- secure attachment 
Free exploration and happiness upon mother’s return. 
--> promotes independence 
--> better moods 
--> greater leadership 
--> less mental health problems

• insecure attachment
  Avoidant-insecure children: Little exploration and little emotional response to mother

a) resistant insecure
Little exploration, great separation anxiety and ambivalent response to mother upon her return.

b) disorganized insecure
Little exploration and confused response to mother.

Question 3

Assessment of attachment (Ainsworth’s strange situation test)

Answer 3

• tests how babies / young children respond to temporary absence of their mothers.
• mother and child with toy
• stranger comes in
• interacts with baby
• mother leaves room
• mother re-enters
• stranger leaves

–> baby’s response is observed

Question 4

Piaget’s model of cognitive development (basic outline of the stages

Answer 4

proposed that children thinking changes qualitatively with age

• -> due to interaction of brains biological maturation and personal experiences
• -> assimilation + accommodation LEADS TO adaptation

sensorimotor stage = birth - 2 years
–> infants understand their world primarily through sensory experiences and physical (motor) interactions with objects

preoperational stage = 2 - 7 years
–> no understanding of basic mental operations or rules
Rapid language development

concrete operational stage = 7 to 11 years

• -> children can perform basic mental operations concerning problems that involve tangible (“concrete”) objects and situations
• -> less egocentrism

formal operational stage 12 and up

• -> Abstract thought emerges. Adolescent begins to think more about moral, philosophical, ethical, social and political issues that require theoretical and abstract reasoning.
• -> risk taking

Question 5

define developmental psychology

Answer 5

The scientific study of changes that occur in people over the course of their life.

Question 6

What is reciprocal socialization

• bidirectional
• scaffolding –> children and parents interact

Answer 6

-

Question 7

describe still face experiment

Answer 7

• adult = normal reaction –> then parent puts on still face
• baby tries to get back attention of mother e.g laughing/ clapping etc .
• feel distress –> cry

esp important for depressed mothers

Question 8

What is meant by attachment/?

Answer 8

theory defined by Bowlby
- describes a biological instinct that seeks proximity to an attachment figure (carer) when threat is perceived or discomfort is experienced.

Question 9

types of play:

Answer 9

0-2 years = solitary

Question 10

What are some limitations of piaget’s model?

Answer 10

• Some researchers query whether children respond as they do to please the adult asking the question
• Some argue the (repeated) question is so weird (as the answer is so obvious) the child thinks the adult wants or expects you to change the original answer