Lecture 20 - Social and Emotional Development 3: Development within The Family

Question 1

Can the family be seen as a dynamic system?

Answer 1

Yes. The relationships and experiences of a family continue to grow, evolve and change, i.e the family system is not static.

Question 2

Why is the child’s first caregiver-child relationship so important?

Answer 2

The caregiver-child relationship is so important as it is the first meaningful, close relationship a child has, and it is imperative for their survival. It also provides that foundation of how a child will experience attachment later on in life.

Question 3

What are the short-term consequences/benefits of the caregiver-child relationship?

Answer 3

Security.
Safety.
Emotional regulation.

Question 4

Why is the caregiver-child bond required from the caregiver’s perspective?

Answer 4

The caregiver needs to feel bonded or responsible for the child in order to perform the protective, supportive role of caregiver.

Question 5

What are the long-term consequences of the caregiver-child relationship/bond?

Answer 5

Attachment Style.

Question 6

What is John Bowlby’s theory of the development of the caregiver-child bond?

Answer 6

Bowlby suggests that the caregiver-child bonds develops over time from the infant not even having a preference for the caregiver (I don’t agree) to the child becoming aware that the caregiver has their own needs and feelings (around 24months).

Question 7

According to Mary Ainsworth (1970s) what are the four attachment styles?

Answer 7

1. Secure Attachment
2. Anxious-Resistant (insecure attachment)
3. Anxious-Avoidant (insecure attachment)
4. Disorganised or Disoriented (insecure attachment)

Question 8

According to Mary Ainsworth there is one secure attachment and three insecure attachment styles.

True or False?

Answer 8

True.

Question 9

What iconic experiment did Mary Ainsworth employ that formed the basis for her attachment theory?

Answer 9

‘Strange Situation’ scenario with infants and caregivers.

Question 10

What are some findings regarding attachment style and income-to-needs ratio and maternal sensitivity?

Answer 10

Correlations between insecure attachment styles and low income-to-needs ratio and low maternal sensitivity have been found in 3 year olds and vice versa.

Question 11

What has been found regarding the buffering effect of quality childcare on attachment style of children who have low income-to-needs ratios or low maternal sensitivity?

Answer 11

A study has shown that quality childcare can have a buffering effect on the influence of financial insecurity and low maternal responsiveness.
If a child is experiencing these things then it is likely they will develop insecure attachment styles, however, quality childcare has been found to promote secure attachment even when these circumstances are present.

Question 12

What is meant by a primiparous parent?

Answer 12

A first-time parent.

Question 13

What two dimensions are measured when determining a person’s attachment style, such as in Stern et al. (2018)?

Answer 13

Anxiety and Avoidance

Question 14

What is meant by a prototype model of attachment and a revisionist model of attachmet?

Answer 14

A prototype model of attachment says that attachment style does not change over time or with new meaningful relationships.

A revisionist model of attachment says that attachment style can and does change over time with new meaningful relationships.

Question 15

What are the unique qualities of a sibling relationship?

Question 16

What is Bronfrenbrenner’s Bioecological Model of Development?
What are the different layers of influence?

Answer 16

Microsysyem, Mesosystem, Exosystem, Macrosystem, Chronosystem

Question 17

In a dynamic system the relationship between elements defines that element, e.g the relationship of mother and daughter defines that these people are a mother or daughter respectively.

True or false.

Answer 17

True.

Question 18

Why is the caregiver-child attachment so important?

Answer 18

It represents the first meaningful, emotional bond between infant and other.

Question 19

Briefly, what is Attachment Theory?

Answer 19

Attachment theory posits that the caregiver-child relationship forms the foundation for how a child/person will approach future connections/attachments.

Question 20

What are 3 key benefits of the caregiver-infant relationship/bond?

Answer 20

1. Survival
2. Security
3. Co-regulation of emotions

Question 21

What is an example of a long-term consequence of the child-caregiver bond?

Answer 21

The caregiver-child bond provides the child with a model of what “love” or “care” looks like and this then goes on to inform how the person will engage with their future relationships.

Question 22

At what age, according to Bowlby, does an infant show preference for a familiar person, i.e their caregiver?

Answer 22

At around 2 months.

Question 23

At what age does the child recognise that their caregiver has their own needs, according to Bowldby?

Answer 23

Around 24 months.

Question 24

Mary Ainsworth was one of the founders of modern Attachment Theory in the 1970s.
What experiment did she use to study attachment theory?

Answer 24

“Strange Situations”

Question 25

What are the 4 attachment styles according to Mary Ainsworth?

Answer 25

1. Secure Attachment
2. Anxious-Resistant (Cannot trust abandonment is temporary - INSECURE ATTACHMENT
3. Anxious-Avoidant (caregiver not important to their survival - INSECURE ATTACHMENT)
4. Disorganised/Disoriented (tends to emerge when infant is not getting clear messages from their caregiver about their survival - INSECURE ATTACHMENT)

Question 26

In a study done in 2001 by Early Child Care Research Network, what did they find regarding the correlation of Income-Needs Ratio, Maternal Sensitivity, or Childcare on Attachment Style at 3 years of age.

Answer 26

They found that households that had a higher income-needs ratio and high maternal sensitivity had more children with secure attachment.

They found that if children had a lower income-to-needs ratio or low maternal sensitivity, but had good childcare the children were more likely to develop secure attachment.

Question 27

In Psychology, why is looking at attachment style important?

Answer 27

Attachment style can predict/influence how a child will behave.
Attachment style influences a child’s development - from how they engage with the world to the quality of relationships they have to how they will raise their children.e

Question 28

What did the longitudinal study of primiparous mothers’ Attachment Style done by Stern and colleagues in 2018 show about whether attachment styles of these mothers changed during this transition to motherhood?

Answer 28

The two models that they were testing out were the PROTOTYPE MODEL that suggests that Attachment Style is consistent throughout the lifetime and does not change with new relationships.
The other model was the REVISIONIST MODEL which states that Attachment Style can and does change with new, meaningful relationships.

They did not find that attachment style significantly changed across the first two years of motherhood.

They found that perceived care from their own mothers decreased feelings of avoidance and anxiety and depressive symptoms were correlated with increase avoidance and anxiety.

Question 29

What makes a sibling relationship unique?

Answer 29

They endure for the length of the siblings’ lives.
The power balance is more balanced than the child-parent dynamic.
There is a unique level of intimacy/awareness of each others lives.
Shared experiences:
- genetics
- social/cultural heritage
- family values
- family history

Question 30

What are three key unique qualities of sibling relathionships?

Answer 30

Sibling Rivalry - refers to the competing of siblings for parental attention for example and can begin as soon as the other sibling is born
Sibling Conflict - fighting, annoying each other - key for conflict resolution development, role taking and empathy - if parents intervene as mediators rather judges, promotes healthy conflict resolution - however, if the conflict is not mediated it can become prolonged, lead to depression etc
Sibling Coalition - alliance - help each other out - brith order affects the lessons siblings will learn in sibling coaltion

Question 31

Why did Bronfenbrenner develop his Bioecological Model of Development?

Answer 31

He wanted to emphasise the progression of child development is not universal and instead takes place in way that is unique to the biological, environmental, social and chronological landscape of the child. He emphasises that for this reason child development is unique for each child.