lecture 4 Flashcards
Human development 2
what is early social development
Interest in Others: Infants quickly show interest in people, responding to faces and voices from birth.
Stranger Anxiety: Begins around 8-9 months, peaks at 12-15 months—a sign of developing attachment to caregivers.
Temperament: Children’s social styles reflect their temperament, influencing how they interact emotionally with others (e.g., sociable, shy, easygoing).
what is temperament?
Early Theories of Temperament
Thomas & Chess (1977) proposed three major temperament styles:
Easy (40%): These children are generally adaptable, cheerful, and predictable in their behavior.
Difficult (10%): These children are more irritable, intense, and less adaptable to changes.
Slow-to-warm-up (15%): These children are typically shy, less active, and need time to adjust to new situations.
Jerome Kagan et al. (2007) added more insights:
10% of children may show behavioral inhibition, meaning they are more shy, anxious, or fearful in unfamiliar situations.
The flip side: Some children may be uninhibited, showing impulsive or bold behaviors, and may have higher risk for acting out.
New Research on Temperament
Recent studies have expanded the understanding of temperament with more refined dimensions:
Rothbart’s Temperament Scales (for infants and children) measure various aspects of temperament, including:
Fearful distress/inhibition: Tendency to be anxious or fearful in new situations.
Irritable distress: Level of frustration or irritability in response to limitations.
Attention span and persistence: How long a child can focus and stick with tasks.
Activity level: Amount of physical movement and energy.
Positive affect/approach: How sociable and happy a child is in new situations.
Rhythmicity: Consistency in biological functions (e.g., eating, sleeping).
attachment?
-Attachment is the emotional connection we form with those we feel closest to, especially caregivers.
-Konrad Lorenz (1930s) studied imprinting in geese, where baby geese form an attachment to the first moving object they see, often their mother.
What about humans?
-Humans form attachment bonds to caregivers, particularly in early life, which influence later relationships.
Critical Period: A time when attachment must occur for normal development. If attachment doesn’t happen during this period, it may not form properly.
Sensitive Period: A time when attachment is more easily formed, but it can still occur later, although with more difficulty.
contact comfort?
Behaviorists once believed that children bonded with those who provided nourishment, assuming that food was the primary factor in attachment.
Harlow (1958) challenged this idea with his experiment on rhesus monkeys.
He found that monkeys preferred to stay close to a soft, comforting surrogate mother (even when the other mother provided food).
This highlighted the importance of reassuring physical contact in forming strong attachment bonds.
Key finding: Physical comfort and security play a crucial role in attachment development, not just nourishment.
what are the diff attachment styles
How do infants react when separated from primary
caregiver? Strange Situation
* Four categories of behaviour*
1. Secure attachment (60%)
Infants feel comforted and confident in their caregiver’s presence. They may be upset when separated but are easily comforted upon reunion.
Later outcomes: Securely attached children tend to be well-adjusted, empathetic, and socially competent.
- Insecure-avoidant attachment (15%-20%)
Infants are indifferent or avoidant during reunions with the caregiver. They don’t show much distress when separated and may not seek comfort upon return.
Later outcomes: Children may have difficulty forming close relationships and may appear independent or emotionally distant. - Insecure-anxious attachment (15%-20%)
Infants are extremely distressed when separated and may resist comforting upon reunion, showing anger or clinging behaviors.
Later outcomes: Children may develop anxiety in relationships and might struggle with emotional regulation. - Disorganized attachment (5%-10%)
*these are North American estimates
Infants display confused or contradictory behaviors (e.g., approaching the caregiver but looking away, freezing, or showing fear).
Later outcomes: Often linked to trauma or inconsistent caregiving, leading to difficulty with emotional and social relationships.
Attachment Styles
* Attachment style associated with later outcomes
* Secure well adjusted, helpful, empathic
* Cultural differences in attachment style
* The mono-operation bias
* Relying on only one measure of a concept
* Lack of reliability?
* Changing styles over brief times
* Different styles for mom vs dad (40% of infants)
Cultural differences in attachment styles exist. For example, some cultures may place more emphasis on independence or family networks, which may influence attachment behaviors.
The mono-operation bias refers to relying on just one measure of attachment (like the Strange Situation), which may not fully capture the complexity of attachment across different cultures or situations.
Attachment Styles
* What leads to particular attachment styles?
* Responsive parenting secure attachment
* Infant temperament
Responsive Parenting: Caregivers who are attuned, nurturing, and consistent in responding to the infant’s needs typically foster secure attachment.
Infant Temperament: A child’s inborn temperament (e.g., whether they are more easygoing or difficult) also influences the type of attachment formed.
moral development
-Roots of moral understanding can be traced to fear
* Right = reward, wrong = punishment
* Over time, fears become internalized
* Level of fear children’s sense of morality
Moral Development
Piaget: Objective vs. subjective responsibility
How much harm is done Intention to produce harm
Child who knocks 10
plates on purpose because he was mad at his parents
Child who
accidentally knocks
20 plates in cabinet
parenting styles
Baumrind (1971)
* Permissive – tend to be lenient, little discipline, very
affectionate
* Authoritarian – Very strict, punishing, little affection
* Authoritative – Supportive but set clear and firm limits
* Uninvolved – neglectful and ignoring
Authoritative parenting associated with best social and
emotional adjustment and fewest behavioural problems
Parenting Styles
Sensitive Parenting:
Involves attuning to a child’s needs, being responsive, nurturing, and providing consistent care. This style is often associated with secure attachment and positive outcomes.
Does Parenting Matter?
It may not matter as much as once thought, as long as the child is in an average expectable environment—a baseline environment where basic needs are met, and the child is safe and cared for.
When Parenting Matters More:
Extremely Negative Parenting: Harsh, abusive, or neglectful parenting has a significant impact on a child’s development and can lead to emotional or behavioral issues.
Child’s Predispositions: Parenting becomes more critical if a child is naturally impulsive, aggressive, or prone to violent behavior, as their predispositions may require more structured, supportive, and responsive parenting to help manage these tendencies.
Other Parenting Issues
* Divorce:
* 35-42% of marriages end in divorce (Canada)
* Most children emerge from divorce without long-term emotional
problems
* Higher marital conflict prior to divorce better outcomes
* Divorce may have consequences for some children
moral development pt2
Lawrence Kohlberg (1970s)
* How do people reason about moral dilemmas
A woman was on her deathbed. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to produce. He paid $400 for the radium and charged $4,000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman’s husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only get together about $2,000 which is half of what it cost. He told the
druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said: “No, I discovered the drug and I’m going to make money from it.” So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man’s laboratory to steal the drug for his wife.
kolhberg’s stages of moral development
Preconventional:
Focus: Punishment and reward.
Children’s moral reasoning is based on the desire to avoid punishment and to seek rewards.
Conventional:
Focus: Societal values.
Morality is based on conformity to social norms and the desire to gain approval or maintain social order.
Postconventional:
Focus: Internal moral principles.
Individuals at this stage follow abstract principles such as justice, fairness, and equality, sometimes even if they conflict with societal laws.
Criticisms of Kohlberg’s Theory
Cultural Bias:
Kohlberg’s theory is criticized for being more aligned with individualist cultures (e.g., Western societies) and may not apply well to collectivist cultures, which value community and relationships.
Gender Bias:
Kohlberg’s emphasis on justice as a central moral principle is seen as biased toward male-oriented moral reasoning. Critics like Carol Gilligan argue that women may adopt a caring orientation (focused on relationships) rather than a justice-based one.
Low Correlation with Moral Behavior:
Some research suggests that moral reasoning doesn’t always predict moral behavior. A person might reason at a high moral stage but still act immorally.
Confounded with Verbal Intelligence:
Kohlberg’s stages rely heavily on verbal reasoning, so those who are more articulate may score higher, even if their behavior doesn’t reflect higher moral reasoning.
Causal Direction:
It’s unclear whether reasoning precedes emotion (i.e., we think about morality first and then feel it) or whether emotional responses lead to our moral judgments.
