Child Development

Question 0

Describe the stages of social development.

Answer 0

Schaffer

1. 6 weeks: newborns prefer human faces to inaminate objects + social smiling
2. 3 months: distinguish strangers from non-strangers & preference for non-strangers + allow caring adults to handle them without becoming distressed
3. 7-8 months: form specific attachments + miss key people and become distressed in their absence + wary of strangers even with key people present

Question 1

Outline the attachment theory of child development. What are the criticisms of this theory?

Answer 1

Attachment is a biological system which maintains proximity to the care-giver (maintained by proximity-seeking & contact-maintaining behaviours)

Critical period = first attachment in 1st year, problems develop if separated during 1-4yrs

Attachment influences brain development & improves social competence, peer relations, self reliance, physical and emotional health

Criticisms: too simplistic, fathers marginalised, does not explore multiple attachment figures, quality of substitute care not considered

Question 2

What is the Strange Situation Test?

Answer 2

Ainsworth

Assess quality of secure attachment between mother & child

Room with one-way mirror -> mother leaves child with stranger -> reaction assessed

Question 3

Describe some insecure attachment styles and what is theorised to cause them.

Answer 3

AMBIVALENT = clingy baby, not quickly calmed by reunion with primary caregiver
(inconsistent response by mother to reactions)

DISORGANISED = difficulty coping when mother returns e.g. rocking
(depressed mother, maltreatment)

AVOIDANT = not bothered by mother leaving, avoids play
(uncaring mother, mother encouraging independence)

Question 4

What are some factors that can predict secure attachment?

Answer 4

• carer sensitive to child’s signals
• rapid, appropriate response emitted consistently
• interactive synchrony with carer
• carer accepts role of parent/carer
• carer has high self-esteem

Question 5

What impact can an absent attachment figure have on a child?

Answer 5

Behavioural: separation anxiety, increased aggression, clingy, bed-wetting, detachment

Physical: depression, slower movement, less play, less sleep, changes in heart rate & body temperature

Similar changes occur in children hospitalised for long periods of time (moreso in the past)

Question 6

What stages do young children go through when an attachment figure is absent?

Answer 6

PROTEST (hrs-days) = distressed, looks for mother, clings to substitutes
(6months-3yrs: lack ability to keep images of carer in mind, limited language, lack ability to understand, feel abandoned, attribute abandonment to their own failures)

DESPAIR = signs of helplessness, withdrawn, cries intermittently

DETACHMENT = more interested in surroundings, smiles, sociable (therefore mistaken for recovery) BUT remote and apathetic when carer returns

Question 7

Outline the stages in childhood cognitive development. What are the criticisms of this theory?

Answer 7

Piaget

1. Sensori-motor (0-2yrs) = experience world through senses, develop motor coordination, no abstract concepts, develop body schema (awareness of body separation from world), understand permanence (objects exist even when out of sight)
2. Pre-operational (2-7yrs) = development of language, symbolic thought, able to imagine things, egocentrism (difficulty empathising), lack concept of conservation (moving objects does not change their properties), classify objects by single feature, do not understand reversibility
3. Concrete operational (7-12 yrs) = thinking is logical & concrete but not abstract (have trouble thinking about hypothetical situations), understand conservation of number, mass, and weight , classify objects by multiple features, able to empathise
4. Formal operational (12yrs+) = abstract logic & hypothetic-deductive reasoning (“what if?”)

Criticisms: focuses on what the child CANNOT do, different ranges of development (under or overestimate child), failure of tasks may be due to instructions/explanation

Question 8

What are the theories and implications of the childhood social development theory?

Answer 8

Vygotsky

Cognitive development requires social interaction as children learn through problem-solving, children increase their understanding with able instruction (zone of proximal development)

Implications to practice:

• assess each child’s level of understanding & zone of proximal development in order to tailor communication
• note children’s difficulty articulating feelings (egocentrism)
• note danger of using metaphors (lack abstract thinking)
• note difficulty thinking about the feature (lack hypothetic-deductive reasoning)