Exam 2 Flashcards
What are the attachment phases?
- Preattatchment phase
- Attachment-in-the-making
- Clear-cut attachment
- Formation of reciprocal relationship
Pre-attachment phase (phase one of attachment)
- birth to six weeks
- built-in signals (grasping, smiling, crying, gazing into the adult’s eyes) help bring newborns into close contacts with other humans, who comfort them
- “no ‘real’ attachment to the mother
Attachment in the making (phase 2 of attachment)
- 6 weeks to 6-8 months
- infants respond differently to a familiar caregiver than they would a stranger
- infants learn that their own actions affect the caregivers behavior
- begin to develop sense of trust - the expectation that the caregiver will respond when signaled
- still do not protest when separated from caregiver
Clear-cut attachment (phase 3 of attachment)
- 6-8 months to 18 months-2 years
- baby begins to display separation anxiety or become upset when caregiver leaves (does not always occur, this depends on infant temperament and situation)
- toddlers will approach, follow, and climb caregiver in preference to others
- toddlers will use the familiar caregiver as a secure base from which to explore
Formation of reciprocal relationship (phase 4 of attachment)
- 18 months to 2 years and on
- rapid growth in representation and language enables toddlers to understand some of the factors that influence the parent’s coming and going and to predict her return
- as a result, separation protest declines
- children will use persuasion and request to alter her goals child asks mom to read before leaving them with babysitter
In what attachment phase do you see separation anxiety?
The third phase aka clear cut attachment phase exhibited from 6-8 months to 18mths-2yrs
What is an internal working model?
Internal working mode - a set of expectations about the availability of attachment figures and their likelihood of providing support in times of stress. It becomes a vital part of personality, serving as a guide for all future close relationships
* with age, children revise and expand their internal working model as their cognitive, emotional, and social capacities increase and as they interact with parents and form close bonds with adults/siblings/friends
How are self recognition tests done?
- 9-28month olds are placed in front of a mirror with red dye on their nose, those older than 18-20 touched/rubbed nose, indicating self-recognition
- children will point to themselves in photos and refer to themselves by name or as “I” or “Me”, indication self-recognition
- MIGHT BE IN CLASS VIDS
What are Erikson’s Psychosocial stages for each of the periods we have been studying? What are the conflicts associated with each?
- Basic Trust v. Mistrust (birth - 1 year) - from warm, responsive care, infants gains a sense of trust, or confidence, that the world is good. Mistrust occurs if infants are neglects or handled harshly, baby will protect themselves by withdrawing from ppl and things around her
- Autonomy v. Shame and Doubt (1-3 years) - parents can foster autonomy by permitting reasonable free choice and not forcing or shaming the child. Success leads to feelings of autonomy and independence, while failure leads to feelings of shame & doubt, this can happen if parents are too under/over controlling or set the bar too high
- Initiative v. Guilt (3 to 6 years) - Initiative — a sense of ambition and responsibility — develops when parents support their child’s sense of purpose. If parents demand too much self-control, children experience excessive guilt
What is temperament?
Early-appearing, stable individual differences in reactivity (quickness and intensity of emotional arousal, attention, and motor activity) and self-regulation (strategies that modify that reactivity)
* examples of temperament - cheerful, upbeat, active, energetic, calm, prone to angry outbursts, cautious, etc
What are Thomas and Chess’s temperament classifications?
- The easy child (40% of the sample) -
Quickly establishes regular routines in infancy, is generally cheerful, and adapts easily to new experiences - The Difficult Child (10% of the sample) - is irregular in daily routines, is slow to accept new experiences, and tends to react negatively and intensely
- is also at high risk for adjustment problems — both anxious withdrawal and aggressive behavior in early and middle childhood - The slow-to-warm-up child (15% of the sample) is inactive, shows mild/low-key reactions to environment stimuli, is negative in mood, and adjusts slowly to new experiences
- show excessive fearfulness and slow, constricted behavior in the late preschools years when expected to respond actively and quickly
What is meant by goodness of fit?
A model proposed by Thomas and Chess to explain how favorable adjustment depends on an effective match, or good fit, between a child’s temperament and the child rearing environment
- match of a child’s temperament to the demands, expectations, and opportunities of the environment
- it explains how temperament and environment can together produce favorable outcomes
- encourages of an affective match between child rearing and child’s temperament
How are secondary emotions different from primary emotions?
Primary emotions (or basics emotions) - happiness, interest, surprise, fear, anger, sadness, and disgust — are universal in humans and have a long evolutionary history of promoting survival (happiness, anger, sadness, and fear are the four basic emotions)
Secondary emotions (self-consciousness emotions or societal emotions) - appear in month 18-24 months, they involve injury to or enhancement of our sense of self
- shame, embarrassment, guilt, envy, pride
- these emotions are guided by adults, adults let child know when to feel shame, guilt, embarrassment, etc
What are the attachment categories?
- Secure attachment
- Insecure-avoidant attachment
- Insecure-resistant attachment
- Disorganized/Disoriented attachment
Secure attachment
- 60-65%
- infants use parent as a secure base
- may or may not cry when separated from parent, if they do it’s bc the parent parent is absent and they prefer her to the stranger
- convey clear pleasure when parent returns and crying, if any, is reduced immediately
Insecure-avoidant attachment
- child is unresponsive to parent when she is present
- usually not distressed when the parent leaves
- react to stranger the same way as they react to parent
- during reunion, they avoid or are slow to greet parent
- when picked up, they fail to cling
Insecure-resistant attachment
- 10%
- before separation, infant seeks closeness to the parent and fail to explore
- distressed when parent leaves
- when parent return, infant combines clinginess with anger and resistive behavior (struggling when held, hitting and pushing)
- many continue to cry after being picked up and cannot be comforted easily
Disorganized/disoriented attachment
- this pattern reflect the greatest insecurity
- at reunion, these infants show confused, contradictory behaviors
- looking away from parent while being held and approaching parent with flat/depressed emotion
What does emotional regulation refer to?
- the strategies we use to adjust our emotional state to a comfortable level of intensity so we can accomplish our goals
- requires voluntary effortful management of emotions
- improves rapidly during first few years due to brain development and caregiver support
- caregivers teach socially approved ways of expression
What is the most common attachment pattern across all societies that have been studied?
Secure attachment
What does social referencing mean?
- actively seeking emotional information from a trusted person in an uncertain situation
- 8-10 months, infants engage in social referencing
- social referencing is important for the development of secondary emotions
How is attachment typically assessed?
Quality of attachment of infants between ages 1-2 is assessed by the Strange Situation. Designed by Mary Ainsworth, it takes the baby through 8 short episodes in which brief separations from and reunions with a parent occur in an unfamiliar play room
Strange Situation (Epsiodes, Events, Attachment behavior observed)
Episode 1:
Event: researcher introduces parent and baby to playroom and then leaves
Attachment behavior observed:
Episode 2:
Event: Parent is seated while baby plays with toys
Attachment behavior observed: parent as a secure base
Episode 3:
Event: stranger enters, is seated, and talks to parent
Attachment behavior observed: reaction to unfamiliar adult
Episode 4:
Event: parent leave room. stranger responds to baby and offers comfort if baby is upset
Attachment behavior observed: separation anxiety
Episode 5:
Event: parent returns, greets baby, and offers comfort if necessary. stranger leaves room
Attachment behavior observed: reaction to reunion
Episode 6:
Event: parent leaves room again
Attachment behavior observed: separation anxiety
Episode 7:
Event: stranger enters room and offers comfort
Attachment behavior observed: ability to be soothed by stranger
Episode 8:
Event: parent returns, greets baby, offers comfort if necessary, and tries to reinterest baby in toys
Attachment behavior observed: reaction to reunion
Episode one lasts about 30 seconds, the rest last about 3 minutes
How do researchers study self-control in children?
Researcher study self-control by giving children tasks that require delay of gratification (the ability to wait for an appropriate time and place to engage in a tempting act)
Girls are typically more self-controlled than boys bc they are more developed in attention, language, and suppressing negative emotions
How can parents help toddlers develop compliance and self control?
- respond with sensitivity
- give advance notice of change in activities
- offer many prompts and reminders
- positive reinforcement
What theory of attachment recognizes the infant’s emotional tie to caregiver as an evolved response that promotes survival?
The Ethological Theory of Attachment
(Bowlby’s Theory)
The infant’s relationship with the parent begins as a set of innate signals that call the adult to the baby’s side. Over time, a true affectionate bond forms, supported by new cognitive and emotional capacities as well as by a history of warm, sensitive care
What is a scale error?
Toddlers attempt to do things that their body size makes impossible, such as trying to put on dolls’ clothes, sit in a doll-sized chair, or walk through a door too narrow to pass through
* declines between ages 2 and 3 1/2
What happens to appetite in early childhood?
Appetite decline because growth has slowed
* stick to familiar foods and are wary of new foods
* children become picky eaters
What factors are strongly associated with childhood injury?
- high activity level and greater impulsivity in boys
- temperamental and personality characteristics such as inattentivness, overactivity, irritability, defiance, aggression
- poverty
- single parenthood
- low parental education
- lack of high-quality childcare
- weak parental vigilance
What is animistic thinking?
The belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities such as thoughts, wishes, feelings, and intentions
* egocentrism (failure to distinguish others symbolic viewpoints from one’s own) is responsible for this