Emotional Development Flashcards
What is attachment?
Scientific term for love. Strong emotional bond that develops between children and their primary caregivers.
What is imprinting?
Sudden, biologically primed form of attachment that happens during critical periods. Some animals do this-form an attachment with the first thing they see after being born.
What is the critical period?
Area where it is critical that something happens or else it will never happen
How does human attachment work?
Doesn’t involve imprinting or a critical period. Instead, the first few years of life are a sensitive period where it’s easier to form attachments (not critical)
What did psychoanalysts and behaviourists believe about non-imprinted attachment?
That it comes primarily from the mother providing nourishment
How did behaviourists specifically believe attachments are formed?
Through classical conditioning
What are the 3 stages of classical conditioning?
Stage 1: Before conditioning
Stage 2: During conditioning
Stage 3: After conditioning
What happens during stage 1 (Before conditioning)?
Baseline measures-what happens before learning. UCS is food, UCR is happy baby. No response to mother initially (neutral stimulus)
What happens during stage 2 (during conditioning)?
UCS (milk) is paired with neutral stimulus (mother). Mother becomes the conditioned stimulus. Child is just learning to associate mom with food
What happens during stage 3 (after conditioning)?
Once the association has been learned, CS alone produces the response (CR). No biological reason for the response, it is purely learned.
How did Harry Harlow test the idea that nourishment leads to attachment?
Took Rhesus monkeys separated from mom at birth. Had 2 artificial moms. One with a wire frame body and a milk bottle, and one with a terry cloth body and no milk. Asked who would the monkey bond with?
What were the results of Harry Harlow’s experiment?
Monkey spent 17-18 hours per day with the cloth mother, compared to 1 hour per day with wire. Monkey bonded with cloth mother and went to her when frightened
What is the idea of Contact Comfort (Harlow)
It is important for a baby to have something soft, warm, and safe. Body contact is more important for attachment than nourishment
What happened to the monkeys who only had the wire mother?
Had major adaptation issues-no social skills, bad parents
What are the 4 stages of John Bowlby’s Ethological Theory of Attachment?
1) Indiscriminate attachment
2) Discriminant attachment (attachment in the making)
3) Specific Attachment
4) multiple attachments
When does indiscriminate attachment happen and what is it?
Less than 3 months old. Baby will cry, smile, and vocalize for everyone. Evokes care from anybody, which is adaptive
When does discriminant attachment happen and what is it?
3-6 months. Child directs more of their social behaviour towards familiar caregivers than strangers
When do specific attachments happen and what is it?
7-8 months. First meaningful attachment to specific caregivers; uses them as a secure base for exploration. Clings to parent in unfamiliar environments and looks to parent for guidance. Development of stranger and separation anxiety. Inverted U function
When does stranger and separation anxiety peak?
Age 1-3
When do multiple attachments happen and what is it?
10 months and beyond. Child forms multiple specific attachments to caregivers.
What was Mary Ainsworths strange situation test?
Tests for different types of attachments in kids aged 1-2. Take child into lab, wait in waiting area. Toys are there for the kid to play with. Child can explore. Researcher then enters and chats with parent. Parent leaves room. If baby gets upset, stranger offers comfort. Parents come back, comfort child. Stranger leaves. Parent leaves, kid is alone. Researcher enters and offers comfort. Parent comes back. Asks how does the child respond?
What are the 4 types of attachments that Mary Ainsworth recognized in children?
1) Securely Attached
2) Anxious-Resistant
3) Anxious-Avoidant
4) Disorganized/disoriented
What is the securely attached style?
When mom is around, child expores the new environment. Reacts positively to new person with mom in room. Upset when parent leaves, happy (maybe clingy) upon return. Demonstrates child parent relationship where parent is responsive to childs needs
What is the anxious-resistant attachment style?
Afraid, doesn’t explore room even with parent around. Extremely upset when parent leaves, and remains upset upon return. Resistance includes a combo of clinginess and anger or resistive behaviour towards parents.
What is the anxious-avoidant attachment style?
Similar anxiety at start of the experiment. DOn’t show a lot of attachment. No crying when parent leaves, no contact when they return.
What is the disorganized/disoriented attachment style?
Worst form of attachment. Reflects greatest insecurity. Confused or contradictory behaviour. Approach parent but with a flat or depressed affect. Seek comfort, but looks away from parent. Dazed expression or odd frozen posture. May cry out even after having been calmed.
Do our attachments at age 1-2 predict later attachment?
Yes and no. It depends on the form of attachment.
Which 2 forms of attachment are the most stable across the lifespan?
Secure and disorganized and disoriented (70 percent retain the classification). Other more insecure attachments are fluid
How would someone with a secure attachment style be in later relationships?
Find comfort in emotional relationships, no fear about abandonment, okay depending on others, doesn’t create walls.
How would someone with an anxious resistant attachment style be in later relationships?
Parents being inconsistent in reactions and not always responding to needs creates a child who is clingy and jealous in romantic relationships
How would someone with an anxious-avoidant attachment style be in later relationships?
Cold, distant, rejecting, the unresponsive parent creates a child that feels unwanted. Manifests as nervous of emotional intimacy, distrust, ending relationships when they become too committed, closing selves off for fear of rejection.
What other conditions cause our attachment style to be stable?
Being middle class and being from reasonably favourable life conditions Secure attachment is the most common form
How do the German and Japanese cultures differ in their attachment styles?
Germans: More avoidant children than USA. But Germans encourage independence and non-clingy behaviour
Japanese: More resistive children. Japanese parents rarely leave kids with strangers, child is more likely to become extremely stressed
Why would a child choose their mom over their dad for comfort?
Because moms are typically giving more physical care, snuggles, and gentle play. Dads like to do more physical play, tickling etc. This usually declines in the second year of life.
What did the NICHD Daycare study find from their experiment?
Daycare exposure alone makes little difference in attachment styles. Very long hours, or multiple care situations can lead to an insecure attachment. Larger effect is parental relationship with child. Mostly due to an interaction between daycare quality and parental relationship. A high quality daycare can act as a protective influence for children in high stress homes
What is the function of emotions?
How they interact with cognition, social interactions, and overall health
What is the functionalist approach to emotions?
Emotions exist to energize behaviours aimed at attaining personal goals. Emotions trigger adaptive responses (ex: Happy: Approach the thing. Sad: Withdraw from thing)
How do emotions affect cognition?
Emotions help survival related learning. Excessive emotions can impair thinking and test performance. Fear makes for good memories.
