Chapter 6: Social & Personality Development

Question 1

In Harry Harlow’s experiment on infant rhesus monkey’s, what did he determine?

Answer 1

-the monkey’s preferred the cloth mother, indicating that affection or comfort or contact comfort was more important than food

Question 2

What is contact comfort, as shown in the Harlow experiment?

Answer 2

-physical and emotional comfort from a caregiver

Question 3

What is attachment?

Answer 3

-the emotional tie to a caregiver experienced by an infant, from which the infant derives security

Question 4

What is the main proponent with attachment theory?

Answer 4

-the need to form an attachment relationship is a genetic characteristic of all human beings

Question 5

What is the ethological perspective on attachment theory?

Answer 5

-we have an innate predisposition to form an emotional bond with a caregiver

Question 6

What are internal models in attachment theory?

Answer 6

-mental representations individuals develop based on their early experience with their caregivers

Question 7

When does the development of internal models start and become increasingly established by? What does it affect? (3)

Answer 7

-in 1st year
-established by age 5
-affects behavior in future relationships

Question 8

When is the sensitive period for internal models and attachment theory?

Answer 8

-first 2 years

Question 9

What did the study of Romanian orphans adopted by Canadian families look at? What did they find? (2)

Answer 9

-what happens if an infant does not form an attachment
-detached and lack of response to social cues

Question 10

What is reactive attachment disorder defined as in the DSM?

Answer 10

-a trauma and stressor related condition of early childhood caused by social neglect and maltreatment, evident before age 5

Question 11

What is the social stimulation hypothesis for attachment?

Answer 11

-infants become detached because they learn not to make social signals as they have learned that no one will respond to their signals

Question 12

What is synchrony? Example? (2)

Answer 12

-mutual pattern of attachment behaviors shared by a parent and child
-if an infant cries, the parent holds them

Question 13

What are Bowlby’s 4 phases in establishing attachment? (4)

Answer 13

1. Non focused signaling (0-3 months)
2. Focus on one or more figures (3-6 months)
3. Secure base behavior (6-24 months)
4. Internal model (24+ months)

Question 14

What is non-focused signaling?

Answer 14

-innate set of behaviors to promote proximity and signal needs

Question 15

What is Bowlby’s second stage which is focus on one or more figures?

Answer 15

-preference for familiar people or things, directs signals to fewer people

Question 16

What is secure base behavior?

Answer 16

-1st true attachment type, typically a primary caregiver and this person is used as a safe base for exploring

Question 17

What is the internal model stage?

Answer 17

-plays a role in later relationships

Question 18

When do attachment related fears show up and what are some? (2)

Answer 18

-appear after 1st attachment which is 6-8 months of age and peak around 12-16 months
-stranger anxiety and separation anxiety

Question 19

What is stranger anxiety?

Answer 19

-wary reaction to unfamiliar people

Question 20

What is separation anxiety?

Answer 20

-fretful reaction when separated from attachment figure

Question 21

What did Mary Ainsworth’s strange situation procedure measure?

Answer 21

-the attachment of infants

Question 22

What three types of responsiveness are important for children’s attachment? (3)

Answer 22

-emotional
-tactile
-contingent

Question 23

What is emotional responsiveness?

Answer 23

-very crucial, the primary caregiver must be able and willing to form a bond

Question 24

What is tactile responsiveness?

Answer 24

-pleasant physical contact during social interactions associated with comfort and safety

Question 25

What is contingent responsiveness?

Answer 25

-being sensitive to the child’s verbal and nonverbal cues and responding appropriately

Question 26

What is personality defined as?

Answer 26

-a pattern of responding to people and objects in the environment

Question 27

What is temperament defined as?

Answer 27

-born with predispositions such as activity level that form the foundations of personality

Question 28

What are the 5 dimensions of temperament? (5)

Answer 28

-activity level
-approach/positive emotionality
-inhibition
-negative emotionality
-effortful control/task persistence

Question 29

What is niche-picking?

Answer 29

-people choose experiences on the basis of temperament, they choose compatible experiences

Question 30

What is goodness-of-fit?

Answer 30

-degree to which an infant’s temperament is adaptable to their environment

Question 31

What is the subjective self?

Answer 31

-awareness that you are a separate person

Question 32

What is the objective self?

Answer 32

-an understanding that we are defined by categories such as big kid or talkative

Question 33

What is the emotional self?

Answer 33

-begins as baby identifies changes in emotional expressions around 2-3 months