DSE212 Challenging Psychology - Chapter 1 Flashcards
How do childhood relationships influence development? 3 points
Development of self
Support development of social understanding
Promote cognitive development
What is the difference between a horizontal and a vertical relationship and who is the theorist?
Schaffer
Horizontal - between people of equal status and power
Vertical - one person has more knowledge and power than the other (older siblings may provide complementary reciprocal elements)
Who studied siblings in observational studies?
Abramovitch & Dunn
What did observational sibling studies highlight? 2 points
Developmental significance
Complexities of relationships
What differences in sibling studies were noted between parent-child and sibling relationships?
Mothers focus on child’s feelings
Siblings focus on their own
Who conducted research on ‘pretend play’?
Goncu
What did Goncu argue about pretend play?
Complex activities involving negotiating shared meaning on different planes simultaneously
According to Goncu what do children share and develop through pretend play?
Emotionally significant experiences and they develop social understanding, skills, perspectives and cultural roles
(video study doctor/patient roles, two girls)
What is the experience of being aware of conflicting ideas held by peers enforcing a re-examination of ones own understanding of that idea?
Socio-cognitive conflict
What did Piaget see childen doing with regard to their development and who was inspired?
Constructing their own understanding and identity through peer interactions
(Doise and Mugney were inspired by Piaget)
What is symbolic interactionism?
Symbols or meanings that exist between people when interacting
How did Mead describe the self?
As being divided into two parts, I and Me
What does Mead’s I and Me mean when describing self?
Me consists of what we know, body, clothes and self as object
I is active process of experiencing capacity for conscious awareness
What do Doise and Mugny suggest is required for cognitive development?
Exposure to conflicting perspectives
Recurrent findings - children who worked on tasks with others made greater individual progress
(Azmitia found similar findings in adults)
What sort of study did Dunn do?
Naturalistic observational study of siblings
At what age can children be seen to use social pretend play?
18 months
What is Mead’s view on what children learn through pretend play?
Take perspective of others towards themselves
Ability to reflect on themselves
What is required to work on a challenging task?
Meta-cognitive skills
What can opportunities for interaction with peers promote?
Improve learning
Who studied friendship pairs opposed to acquaintance pairs while working on scientific projects?
Azmitia
What did Azmitia conclude about friendship pairs as opposed to acquaintance pairs in relation to scientific reasoning?
More challenging tasks requiring meta-cognitive skills were better carried out with friends
According to Schaffer what do vertical relationships offer?
Protection, security, potential to gain knowledge and acquire skills
Conclusion:
What should not be underestimated with regard to childhood relationships?
In childhood the importance of relationships with adults
What was neglected in psychology until recently?
Later life and aging
What has aging been seen as?
A stereotypically negative process
What does research in the area of aging suggest?
Aging is a time not only of decline but also of growth
How many stages did Erikson use to describe development through the lifespan?
8
What criticisms are there of Erikson’s narrow view of later life?
Suggestion that later life is about coming to terms with death and dying
Time of stability
How did Peck describe old age?
Crisis in valuing wisdom versus physical powers
What was Peck’s opposing view to Erikson’s regarding middle age?
Time of flexibility and change
Time of coping with loss
What is a criticism of Peck’s claim?
Culturally specific
What do Peck’s and Erikson’s theories have in common?
Both person centred
Both holistic and humanistic approaches
- other psychologists have taken a function-centred approach
How does Baltes define aging?
Maximising gains whilst minimising losses
What is SOC in Baltes definition of aging?
Selection, Optimisation and Compensation to balance gains/losses
Give examples of SOC using a pianist
Selection - places fewer notes
Optimisation - practices more
Compensation - plays slowly prior to playing a fast piece
With regard to episodic memory what is Ribot’s law?
Older people remember past events better than new ones
Memory change in later life is not necessarily about change - what is it about?
Qualitative changes taking place
Who gave an example of qualitative change in age using Mastermind?
Mayor
Performance of semantic memory (general knowledge) improved with age
What can improve with age?
Semantic memory
What did Noice et al find with regard to memory in old age?
Practicing memory tasks appears to improve regardless of age
What did Kensinge & Schacter find in their experiment?
Younger adults recalled more words
How did Kensinge & Schacter conduct their experiment?
45 words in sets of 15
Semantically associated with false target words
Asked to recall
What is crystalised intelligence?
Abilities that are a product of our experience eg vocabulary and general knowledge
What is fluid intelligence?
Ability that reflects efficient information processing ie the speed of processing
Who found that people with high verbal ability, high social class and better education are less likely to experience decline in verbal ability with age?
Deary et al
Conclusion:
What influences aspects of physical functioning in later life?
Individual differences and social contexts
What is Bowlby’s attachment theory based on?
Biological drive to achieve security through primary attachment to mother (internal working model)
What did Bowlby consider was essential in terms of the internal working model?
Essential for later mental health, future relationships and social responsible behaviour
What did Bowlby consider was critical to development?
Early attachment
early and late explanations of attachment theory co-exist
What theory is associated with Ainsworth?
Strange situation therapy (SST)
Widely accepted, valid and used research method
What are the three attachment types associated with Ainsworth’s strange situation therapy?
Type A - insecure, anxious, avoidance
Type B - secure
Type C - insecure, anxious, ambivalent
What type of attachment does a Type A child show?
Troubled attachment
What type of attachment does a Type B child show?
Care-giver is a secure base
What type of attachment does a Type C child show?
Distress at separation
Care-giver presence important
What research did Hazan & Shaver conduct?
Quiz on people’s attachment styles in romantic relationships
What methodological problems were there with Hazan & Shaver’s quiz?
Difficult to relate to one style
How did Main conduct her research?
Standardised form of interview known as the adult attachment interview (AAI)
What do Main’s interview questions cover?
Asked the adult about their relationships with parents as a child
What is earned security?
Gained as an adult and associated with secure adult attachments ie marriage
Whose theory of adult attachment type classifications is similar to ABC classifications of Hazan & Shaver?
Main’s
What does Rutter et al suggest happens to enable secure attachments?
Ability to move on from difficult childhood
Associated with strong and positive relationships
Which study highlighted the importance of lifetime events/experiences on attachment?
Biefield longitudinal study tracing development of children
Who found a strong correspondence between SST and AAT?
Hamilton
Stability related to stable family circumstances
What did Vygotsky study?
Observation of sisters pretending to be sisters
Ideas of self concepts develop through social experience and interaction
(symbolic interactionism)
What did Berndt find in relation to friends working together?
He found that there was no gain at all
in contrast to Azmitia
Piaget and Vygotsky focus on examining stages of development in childhood. What does Bronfenberenner study?
Focus on change in terms of both influences in childhood and throughout adulthood
Piaget, Vygotsky and Bronfenberenner are complementary
What underlies many-function centred approaches?
Decreases in functioning memory etc
What sort of methods do lifespan psychologists use?
Longitudinal and cross-sectional designs
What methods does lifespan research use on development of children and elderly?
Methods appropriate for these populations
ethical concerns
What sort of approach did Piaget favour?
Organismic approach
