lecture 2 - recognition of self/attachment theory

Question 1

recognition for the self
evidence for explicit self awareness
mirror test amsterdam

Answer 1

-mirror tests
(‘rouge test’ Amsterdam 1972)
-in this test a small bit of lipstick placed on child’s forehead , child is placed in front of mirror.
-when younger than 15 months child reaches for mirror
-when older than 15 months child tries to wipe lipstick off forehead

Question 2

mirror test like rouge test Amsterdam
-criticisms

Answer 2

-suggested that 15 months is quite late for development
-does the child not recognise themselves or does the child not really understand how the mirror works
-methodological flaw

Question 3

pre test doll cleaning (asendorpf et al 1996)

Answer 3

-showed that id you use a doll and put lipstick on its head and then wipe it off and then go and put lipstick on the childs head they are likely to wipe it off themselves as well
-shows they child may actually have self awareness under 15 months/doesnt understand mirrors

Question 4

experiment at 10 months (Bertenthal and Fischer 1978)(hat)

Answer 4

-around 10 months old will grasp a hat lowered into their head (if you put them in front of a mirror and lower a hat to them)

Question 5

implicit self awareness

Answer 5

child realisation of themselves and influence on others

Question 6

implicit self awareness
‘enfacement’
-filippetti et al 2013, 2014
-whatdid they find out about the cortex

Answer 6

-tricking senses into perceiving another person
-rubber hand (say they can feel the touch even when its on a rubber hand)
-found that the temporal cortex activation is very similar from agesof 5 months to as an adult
-implies how this illusion is implying self awareness

Question 7

implicit self awareness
social agents (still face paradigm; tronick et al 1975)

Answer 7

-initially mnother plays and engages with child
-then is asked by experimenter to look away and then when she turns back she has a stony face etc

-the child does various things to try and get the mothers attention
-idea is that a child can influence the environment in order to get attention and also create a secured base
-showschild is self aware as they know if they shout theyll get attention

Question 8

recognition of others
-object permanence
-whenis the sensorimotor stage

Answer 8

piaget
-object permanence: child’s ability to know that objects continue to exist even if they can no longer be seen or heard
-at 8 months is sensorimotor stage

Question 9

evidence of object permanence below 8 months

Answer 9

-some evidence infants make similar errors with people as with objects
-below 8 months no search for mother
-9-12 months a not b error
(show an object to child and hide it at point A continually again and again and then show the child moving the object to point b, the child will still look at point A
-proves object permanence is maybe a little older than 8 months

Question 10

when do babies recognise their mothers
-Bushnell et al 1989

Answer 10

-done on college colleagues
-at as young as days old
-put baby in a room with stranger and mother, and they tend to look at the mother for longer
-preferred mother face over other
-advantage disappeared with wigs (could be to do with lack of visual development at this stage)

Question 11

Inter modal recognition
-(spelke and owsley 1979)

Answer 11

the perception of unitary objects or events that make information simultaneously available to more than one sense

-played tapes of mother and fathers voice
-child would look longer at the parent who’s voice was playing / look at the parent who’s voice was playing

Question 12

faces- do children prefer faces
-fantz (1965)

Answer 12

-found that new born infants had a preference for face like patterns (a cartoon like face)
-preferred a scrambled face compared to a white background

Question 13

faces
- learning faces-bushnell (1998)
- when do babies learn faces

Answer 13

-study done shows that children learns the mothers face within first few hours of being born - bushnell

Question 14

faces
-twin mechanisms
(Johnson and Morton 1991)
-conspec/conlearn

Answer 14

-CONSPEC- argues that innate knowledge of faces (sub cortical)
-CONLEARN - higher layer which is a learning mechanism (cortical)

Question 15

attachment
ethological input
-konrad lorenz

Answer 15

-argued idea of imprinting
-demonstrated with goslings ,there was an automatic process that happens at a critical period and found that goslings imprinted on his boots

Question 16

ethological input
-pre adapted characteristics
kewpie doll affect

Answer 16

kewpie doll effect
-young members of animal kingdom tend to have disproportionately large head, big eyes, round head etc have a cute factor to them
-describes how physical features motivates the infants caregiver to take care of them
-makes them more potentially vulnerable , have that affect they want to be looked after
-kids smile and cry, elicit different behaviours to get people to interreact with them

Question 17

origins of bowlbys theory
harlow
rhesus monkey experiments

Answer 17

-was thought that infants /youngsters get attached to their mothers for primary needs eg food

-harlow didn’t agree with this and found evidence against primary drive theorists (freud)who argued food was a drive from attachment bond

unethical experiment
-had monkeys in isolation and then presented them to ‘mother monkeys -wire and cloth mother surrogates’ , one who had food and one who was comforting
-found that infants preferred ‘comforting’ mother to feeding one

-monkeys went to cloth mother when frightened as well

Question 18

origins of bowlbys theory: harlow
model of attachment

Answer 18

-organic affection : contact and food
-comfort and attachment
-solace and security
allows infant to be more mobile
so comfort and security the new goal

Question 19

origins of bowlbys theory:
- freuds insights
(waters et al 1991)

Answer 19

1. ‘human infants lead exceeding complex cognitive and emotional lives’
   2.’early attachment relationships are prototypes of later love relationships’
   3.’loss of a loved one is always painful and is a major challenge to an individual adaptive resources’

Question 20

bowlbys theory
key segments

Answer 20

‘lasting psychological connectedness between human beings ‘
-proximity seeing behaviour system focused on key figures
-the development of the secure base
-working models

Question 21

attachment control system (waters et al 1991)

Answer 21

how children can control their environment and match it to what they idealise
-defined set goal
usually is proximity to care giver

-collating information
about environment, caregiver etc

-comparing information
environment to set goal

-activating behaviour patterns
to correct gap between environments and goal

Question 22

developments of the bond: early developments
phase 1
phase 2

Answer 22

phase 1 (0-6 weeks)
-presentation of attachment behaviour
-reflex actions
-indiscriminate
-beginnings of interaction

phase 2 (6 weeks to 6 months)
-the infant begins to discriminate to caregiver
-attachment bond begins to form

Question 23

developments of the bond : secure base
-when does this begin in a childs life
-what is thisand what happens during it

Answer 23

-beginning at 7-9 months
-separation anxiety and wariness of strangers
-attachment to focused on caregiver

‘the provision of a secure base from which the child …can make sorties into the outside world and to which he can return knowing for sure that he will be welcomed when he gets there nourished and physically and emotionally, comforted if distressed, reassured if frightened’

Question 24

development of the bond : reciprocal relationship
-when does this happen ina childs life
-what happens

Answer 24

-beyond two years , starts a reciprocal relationship
-goal corrected partnership
-decline in fear of strangers (proximity also becomes less important)
-beginning of mutual understanding

Question 25

working models

Answer 25

the working model is children’s internalised models of relationship with their primary caregiver
-base for how future relationships are