Child Psychology

Question 1

Features of Autism

Answer 1

Social and emotional
Difficulties with: friendships, managing unstructured parts of the day and working cooperatively.

Language and communication
Difficulties understanding: jokes and sarcasm, social use of interpretation, literal interpretation and facial expressions.

Flexibility of thought
Difficulty with: coping with changes in routine, empathy and generlisation.

Question 2

Symptoms of Autism

Answer 2

• Difficulty in developing imagination
• A tendency to focus closely on single details e.g a wheel instead of a whole car.
• Verbal and non-verbal communication can be effected
• Be unable to appreciate uses and pleasures of communication:
• Tend to talk ‘at’ others rather than with them.
• Find it hard to talk about feelings.
• Have difficulty understanding gestures, facial expressions or tone of voices.
• Avoid eye contact.
• Passively accept hugs or contact.

Question 3

Repetitive behaviours of Autistics

Answer 3

• ‘Stimming’ - self stimulation behaviours
  
  • Arm flapping, head slapping, wriggling toes
• Interruption to obsessive re organisation may result in the child becoming agitated and anxious.
• Generally feel more comfortable when surrounded by pattern, predictability and familiarity and any disruption in their routine can result in feelings of panic.

Question 4

Procedure of Baron-Cohen et al (1985)

Answer 4

Tested 21 Autistic children, 11 Down’s Syndrome children and 27 with no signs of developmental difficulties.

Sally and Anne study

1. Sally has a basket and Anne has a box.
2. Sally puts her marble in the basket and leaves the room.
3. Anne then moves the marble from the basket into the box.
4. Sally then returns.
5. Where will Sally look for the marble? (Belief question)
6. Researcher asks two control question 

	* "Where was the marble in the beginning?" (Memory question) 
	* "Where is the marble really?" (Reality question)

Question 5

Results of Baron Cohen et al (1985)

Answer 5

• The ‘naming’, ‘reality’ and ‘memory’ question were all answered correctly by the children.
  
  • 85% of “normal” children and down syndrome children showed theory of mind
  • Only 25% of children with autism showed theory of mind by giving the correct answer to the belief question.

Question 6

Conclusions of Baron-Cohen et al (1985)

Answer 6

The autistic children who gave the incorrect response in both trials pointed to where the marble really was rather to where Sally would think the marble is. This suggests that children with autism have an under-developed theory of mind.
Baron-Cohen suggests that social difficulties experienced by Autistics may be a result of their lack of Theory of Mind. This prevents the from reading into others intentions thus causing the social world becomes confusing for them, possibly resulting in anxiety. To feel secure they resort to patterns and logic where they feel safe.

Question 7

Weaknesses of Theory of Mind explanation of Autism

Answer 7

This explanation cannot explain all difficulties experienced by people with autism. It fails to explain why lack of theory of mind may contribute to difficulties in the verbalisation of words and in the communication they attempt with others. This skill does not rely on the interpreting the intention of others, as the reciprocal element of communication does, and therefore cannot be easily explained by theory of mind explanation.

Question 8

Procedure of Baron-Cohen and Lutchmaya (2005)

Answer 8

Studied frozen amniotic fluid samples from babies born 1996-7, in Cambridge Hospital.
They measure foetal testosterone levels.
At 1 yr old the babies were observed and tested for visual preferences and social interaction with mother.
At 18-24 months, parents filled out a questionnaire about their child’s vocabulary.

Question 9

Conclusions of Baron-Cohen and Lutchmaya

Answer 9

• The foetal testosterone levels positively correlate with male-brained tendencies and…
  
  • Baron-Cohen was able to predict from FT levels, which 15 children might show autistic tendencies in later life, from their very high levels of FT in the amniotic fluid samples.
  • So far, his predictions have proved accurate.

Question 10

Supporting evidence of Extreme Male Brain explanation of Autism

Answer 10

• Knickmeyer & Baron-Cohen (2006) find that brains wired the female way (low in-utero testosterone at 8 weeks) have superior social and communication skills.
  
  • Falter et al (2008) tested 28 autistic children and 31 “normals” on mental rotation and figure-embedding tasks and found. The autistic children out-performed the “normals”.

Question 11

Features Applied Behavioural Analysis

Answer 11

ABA can be used to improve communication and social skills among children and adults with autism.
Identify desirable changes in behaviour then use appropriate methods to make those changes. It works by demonstrating effective ways to interact with others and rewarding the improved behaviour when it is displayed. These are principles of positive from reinforcement operant conditioning.

It is important that rewards are something which the child or adults values in order to motivate desired behaviour being displayed.
Therapists develop a programme which is tailored to each child’s individual needs and behaviours. Each ABA programme will look different for different children as it is unique for each child.

Question 12

Research evidence of ABA

Cebula (2012)

Answer 12

Interested to see the impact of autism on siblings. He wanted to see how siblings fared when ABA was being used for a child with autism in the family

• Used a total of 132 families, divided into:
• ABA group - 48 families where a child was diagnosed with ASD and was using ABA.
• Post ABA - 26 families who had ABA in the past.
• Control - 61 families where ABA had never been used.
  
  • Data collected by means of questionnaires and scales.
  • Overall found that there was some positive impact as the parents viewed ABA as helping to create more positive interactions between siblings.

Question 13

Research Evidence of ABA

Cohen et al (2006)

Answer 13

replicated Lovass (1987) and compared 21 children on an intensive ABA programme with 21 children in special schools classes.

* The ABA group had a higher IQ and adaptive behaviour scores and 6 were in school without help. 
* 11 others in school with some help compared to 1 child in comparison group.

Question 14

Strengths of ABA

Answer 14

• Programme is individually tailored to the needs of each child.
  
  • Focus is on positive and any negative behaviour is ignored rather than punished which is more ethically acceptable.

Question 15

Weaknesses of ABA

Answer 15

• Since each programme is individual it can be difficult to compare programmes and so difficult to assess how effective this therapy is.
  
  • Most existing research focuses on the short term effects and more information is needed as to whether it is effective long term.
  • Training of therapists is vital to ensure the consistency of rewards are maintained otherwise it is unlikely to be effective. Also they must be able to tailor the programme correctly for each individual child in which training is required.

Question 16

Autism

Features of CBT

Answer 16

Based on premise of faulty thinking patterns in the way we process information can cause certain ways of thinking and to give abnormal behaviours.

Uses CBT to treat anxiety as a symptom. The therapist explores the child’s thoughts and feelings which are causing the anxiety and from this provide the child with skills to manage their anxiety.
CBT places emphasis on repetition and visual cues as many children with autism have difficulty recognizing emotions and working with abstract concepts.

Question 17

Autism
Supporting evidence CBT
Sofronoff et al (2005)

Answer 17

Found that: following a brief CBT intervention, children experienced less anxiety and an in increase in the child’s ability to identify positive strategies to deal with stressful situations that would have previously been problematic for them.
They also noted that if parents were involved with the treatment, this had further positive effects on the effectiveness of the intervention.

Question 18

Autism
Supporting evidnce CBT
Wood et al (2009)

Answer 18

Found improvement in 78.5% of young children with autism who undertook 16 sessions of CBT for their anxiety, compared to an improvement in only 8.7% of those children in the control group, waiting to undertake treatment.
The improvements made by the children were upheld when reassessed 3 months after completing the intervention.

Question 19

Autism

Strengths of CBT

Answer 19

Shown positive impact on behaviour and psychological well-being. It has been adapted to meet the specific requirement of children is positive.

Question 20

Autism

Weaknesses of CBT

Answer 20

• Requires children to talk with the therapist to explain their thoughts, or to respond to the visual cues given. Not all children with autism are verbal therefore this treatment in less accessible to non-verbal children.
  
  • Suitable for dealing with the symptoms of anxiety alone and so does not address many of the other symptoms involved which autistics may display

Question 21

Cross-Cultural Research

Takashi (1990)

Answer 21

Wanted to test whether or not the Strange Situation was a valid procedure for cultures other than America.

* 60 Japanese mothers and their children were observed.
* Found that 68% of the children were securely attached.
* No avoidant-insecure behaviour was observed, although 32% were classified as resistant.

Japanese children were very distressed when left alone, this may result in Japanese culture teaching avoidant behaviour - avoiding interacting with other people is impolite and this is instilled in children from a very young age. It is suggested that the Strange Situation procedure does not measure attachment behaviour effectively on a universal scale.

Question 22

Procedure of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)

Answer 22

• Carried out a meta-analysis combining the findings of 32 studies from a variety of 8 countries and based on the observation of 1990 children, all using the Strange Situation procedure.
  
  • They excluded samples that included children with special educational needs, any overlapping samples and studies where children were over the age 24 months.

Question 23

Findings of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)

Answer 23

• Secure attachment is the norm in the majority of cultures.
  
  • Western - dominant type was avoidant
  • Non-western - dominant type was resistant.
    USA: Secure= 65%, Avoidant= 21% and Resistant= 14%
    Japan: Secure= 68%, Avoidant= 5% and Resistant= 27%

Question 24

Conclusions of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)

Answer 24

• Global pattern across cultures appear to be similar to that in the US. Secure attachment is the norm. This supports the idea that secure attachment is the best for healthy social and emotional development.
  
  • Suggests that cross-cultural similarities might be explained by the effects of mass media, which spreads ideas about parenting so that all children across the world are exposed to similar experiences.

Question 25

Procedure of Cassibba et al (2013)

Answer 25

• Meta analysis: data collected from studies using PsychINFO a psychology database of academic journals
  
  • Used 17 studies with the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP)
  • Used 50 studies with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) . Stats tests used to compare data.
  • Ratios between culture attachment types assessed using SSP were compared with American samples used in Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg’s analysis
  • AAI data compared to American data gathered in Bakermans-Kranenberg and VI’s analysis.
  • Intercultural differences (within Italy ) were assessed in terms of gender , ages and type of population

Question 26

Conclusions of Cassibba et al (2013)

Answer 26

• The majority of non-clinical children were securely attached
  
  • Majority of non-clinical adults were securely attached
  • This means they were similar to American group and would seem to suggest that attachment theory can be applied universally across cultures
  • However, there were important differences:
• both clinical and non clinical Italian children showed high levels of avoidant attachment. This may be due to differences in child rearing practices for example, Italian mothers may display parenting styles that promote early independence and expect high levels social maturity in their children.
  
  • Cassiba et al, speculated that the lower level of unresolved attachments is due to the Italian’s religious faith and their capability in times of hardship

Question 27

Strengths of Cassibba et al (2013)

Answer 27

• Provided the first data from meta analysis into attachment types in Italy so useful as a comparison tool for the scientific community
  
  • To ensure reliability of comparisons between studies they only used studies that used the “ gold standard” of the Strange Situation Procedure for children. For adults they ensured interview studies compared were coded for an inter rated reliability of at least 0.75 to ensure accurate comparisons could be made.

Question 28

Weaknesses of Cassiba et al (2013)

Answer 28

• Comparisons for children were made with 1992 meta analysis which may cast doubt on the temporal validity of the data comparison . It did not address father –child attachment types within Italy and America.
  
  • Potential for experimenter bias as the research team were using a database and making specific searches so they could have missed some relevant studies and so this would make their findings subjective .
  • Overall, meta analysis has no structured format of comparison so it may be that the two pieces of research were not carried out in the same format making the overall results difficult to generalise .

Question 29

Autism

Strengths for CBT

Answer 29

There are several studies which show the effectiveness of CBT for children with autism such as Danial & Wood (2013) found CBT helped reduce the symptoms of anxiety in young people with autism as well as improving their overall functioning.

Question 30

Autism

Weaknesses of CBT

Answer 30

Not all children with autism are able to communicate
effectively so CBT would not be useful for them as they
would not be able to explain their thoughts/emotions.
Applied behavioural analysis may be better as this focuses on improving social skills through the use of token economies.

Question 31

Process of CBT for Autism

Answer 31

Will focus on the child’s thoughts and give them the skills to manage anxiety which may result from their autism.
The child will be taught to recognise their maladaptive thought processes and the effects these have on their autistic behaviour.
Use repetition and visual cues with children with autism as they find it hard working with abstract ideas.
They may use a picture of a thermometer to rate their anxiety and then identify their thoughts at the time they were anxious

Question 32

Bowlby’s theory of the internal working model

Answer 32

• It is thought that adult personality was determined by early attachments.
• If the mother is loving and sensitive mother then this will be stored in memories.
• Memories will then form the basis for romantic relationships with partners and attachment to your own children.
• If mother’s provided a safe base to explore the world the child will be competent and resilient in new situations.

Question 33

Cross-cultural research into attachment types

Answer 33

• Ainsworth’s (1978) Baltimore study found that 65% of children were securely attached.
• Grossman found that in Germany only 33% of children were securely attached whilst 49% were insecurely attached.
• Takahashi (1986) didn’t find any avoidant attachments in Japan, but did find higher levels of insecure-resistant compared to Ainsworth’s study.
• In Japanese families where the mother goes to work and has to leave the child attachment types are similar in % to Ainsworth’s study (Durrett 1984).
• Sagi (1985) studied children who lived in a Kibbutz and slept away from their parents, and found 50% were type C.
• Sagi et al (1991) found kibbutz children who slept with their parents had attachment types similar to those found by Ainsworth.

Question 34

Evaluation of cross-cultural research

Answer 34

• Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988) found that the most common attachment type in all cultures was secure attachment.
• However, it can be argued that attachment is down to nature as all children form an attachment, whether it is secure or insecure.
• One issue with cross cultural studies is it could be socio-economic background that affects attachment type.
• The strange situation reflects the norms of American parenting.
• The strange situation can be argued to be unethical in Japan.
• The strange situation may not be appropriate for some cultures as it focuses on the mother.

Question 35

Naturalistic observations

Answer 35

• Participants observed where their target behaviour normally occurs.
• There is no manipulation of the IV by the experimenter. Gives understanding of real behaviour.
• A child can be observed in a classroom to assess problem behaviours and intervention strategies then developed to improve behaviour.

Robertson and Robertson (1948)
- Used naturalistic observation with infants in hospital setting to gain insight into separation and attachment behaviours.

Question 36

Strengths and weaknesses of naturalistic observations

Answer 36

• Carried out in the child’s natural environment which means their real life behaviour will be displayed.
• If time sampling is used carefully with tallying, prepared categories and more than one observer then inter-rater reliability can be checked.
• Children can be influenced by observer so this lowers validity.
• Lack of control of extraneous variables which means other variables can influence the behaviour of the infant.
• Researchers are not always able to replicate naturalistic observations due to lack of control in the experiment so findings cannot always be tested.
• Ethical issues due to consent has not been given by child’s parent

Question 37

Structured observation

Answer 37

• Carried out in an environment which the researcher has some control over variables. They are used to record behaviours that might be difficult to record using a natural observation

Question 38

Participant observation

Answer 38

• Researcher is involved with the sample.

Question 39

Non participant observation

Answer 39

• Researcher is observing from an outside perspective

Question 40

Overt observation

Answer 40

• Participants are made aware of the observation

Question 41

Covert observation

Answer 41

• Participant are unaware they are being observed.

Question 42

Strengths and weaknesses of overt observation

Answer 42

• No ethical issues as participants give consent.

- Demand characteristics and experimenter effects due to presence of researcher. So behaviour may not be genuine.

Question 43

Strengths and weaknesses of covert observation

Answer 43

• Investigator effects are unlikely. Childs behaviour will be more genuine.
• Ethical issues as children or parents did not give consent to be observed.
• Harder to record results as the researcher may have less insight to childs behaviour

Question 44

Bowlby’s theory

ASCMI

Answer 44

Adaptive
- Attachments give our species as ‘adaptive advantage’ making us more like to survive. This is because the infant has an attachment to a care giver who keeps them safe, warm and are given food.
Social releases
- Babies have social releases, which unlock the innate tendency of adults to care for them
Critical period
- This is between birth and 2 and 1/2 years. If this didn’t happen the child would be damaged for life. Socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically
Monotropy
- Infants form a special attachment to their mother. If the mother isn’t available, the infant could bond with another substitute mother. One special attachment to the mother. Creates a positive internal working model.
Internal working model
- Special mental schema for relationships. All future adult will be based on this.