Module 10 - Attachment and Development of the Self Flashcards
1
Q
Harry Harlow
A
one of the first psychologists to ask questions about love and nurturing.
He is best known for his controversial experiments involving rhesus monkeys. Showed the importance of contact comfort.
Basis for Bowlby’s idea for a secure base attachment theory
2
Q
Results of Harlow’s study
A
monkeys preferred spending time on the cloth mother, even when it did not provide them with food.
Harlow argued that the infant monkeys needed the comfort provided by the cloth mother, and that this emotional security enabled them to safely explore their cage.
3
Q
Bowlby’s Attachment theory
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children are biologically predisposed to develop attachment to their mothers/caregivers
4
Q
Key features of Bowlby’s attachment theory
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-Biological predisposition
- Secure Base
-Internal Working Model
5
Q
Attachment
A
Attachment is an enduring emotional bond with a specific person, that first forms in the parent-child relationship. The quality of attachment varies based on our experiences in our relationships.
During infancy, a child’s attachment to their primary caregiver provides the foundation through which all future relationships will be experienced.
6
Q
Biological predisposition (Bowlby)
A
Bowlby argued that attachment:
-is evolutionary advantageous because it increases the chance of survival. In other words, all children come into the world ready to develop an attachment because it promotes survival.
-develops within the first year of life. More specifically, Bowlby argued that attachment to a primary caregiver is best developed during a sensitive period of 6-24 months old.
7
Q
Secure Base (Bowlby)
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Bowlby argued that infants instinctively look to their caregiver to form a secure base. That is, the presence of a trusted caregiver provides infants with a sense of security that enables them to safely explore their environment.
8
Q
Internal Working Model (Bowlby)
A
The internal working model is a mental representation of ourselves and relationships constructed based on experiences with caregivers.
Our internal working model:
- provides information on the self, the attachment figure, and what to expect from relationships in general.
- is formed early in life (during infancy) and goes on to influence our relationships with others throughout our lives.
9
Q
The strange situation task is specifically designed to….?
A
heighten infants’ need for the caregiver. The idea here is that by observing how infants respond to “strange situations”, researchers can classify their attachment style.
9
Q
Ainsworth
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builds on Bowlby’s attachment theory and proposes different attachment styles. Ainsworth’s seminal contribution to the field of developmental psychology is the Strange Situation task, which she developed in order to identify the attachment styles of infants.
10
Q
According to Bowlby, what is the main purpose of attachment?
A
It keeps the caregiver close
It encourages learning about the world without fear
It facilitates co-regulation
11
Q
Ainsworth first delineated three attachment styles, what were they?
A
Secure
Avoidant
Ambivalent
12
Q
Mary Ainsworth concluded that the quality of infant attachments can be determined by looking at:
A
Infant reactions to separations from the caregiver and the infant’s use of the caregiver as a secure base
13
Q
Mary Main, one of Ainsworth’s graduate students added what attachment style?
A
Disorganized
13
Q
Insecure AVOIDANT attachment - parental characteristics
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Unavailable and responds insensitively
Tends to ignore, ridicule, or focus attention away from the child
13
Q
Secure attachment - infant characteristics
A
Receives both comfort and confidence from presence of caregiver.
Becomes confident of caregiver’s protection
Based on the parent’s responsiveness, they learn that their needs are respected and valued
Approximately 60% of children in North America can be classified as securely attached.
14
Q
Insecure AVOIDANT attachment - infant characteristics
A
Becomes avoidant of caregiver in times of stress because the caregiver is not willing or able to provide comfort
Approximately 15% of children in North America are classified as having avoidant attachment.
14
Q
Secure attachment - parental characteristics
A
Caregiver sensitivity is the number one predictor of secure attachment, which means:
Respond promptly to infant’s cues – they are dependable Consistently available and responsive in appropriate ways Engage in frequent positive exchanges Attuned to the needs of their child. This means they are good at figuring out their needs when they are upset.
15
Q
Insecure AMBIVALENT attachment - parental characteristics
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Response to infant is unpredictable and inconsistent
Often anxious, overwhelmed caregivers
Tend to be indifferent and emotionally unavailable
16
Q
Insecure AMBIVALENT attachment - infant characteristics
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Learns that caregiver is unpredictable
Learns to exaggerate needs to get a response
When upset, they often approach caregiver but refuse to be comforted
Ambivalent attachment is also sometimes referred to as resistant attachment. Approximately 10% of children in North America are classified as having ambivalent attachment.
17
Q
Insecure DISORGANIZED attachment - parental characteristics
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Have often suffered trauma in their own attachment histories
Correlated with interfering, rejecting, neglectful, frightening, abusive behaviour
18
Q
Insecure DISORGANIZED attachment - infant characteristics
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Shows fear, confusion, lacks coping strategies
Infants may be fearful or confused by their caregivers
Approximately 15% of children in North America are classified as having disorganized attachment. Infants with disorganized attachment show inconsistent behaviours in the Strange Situation. This means that sometimes they seem resistant, other times avoidant, and even sometimes secure
19
Q
Secure Attachment:
Early Outcomes
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12-month-olds who are securely attached:
Show more enjoyment of physical contact Less fussy/difficult Better able to use caregiver as secure base to explore and learn from the environment
20
Q
Secure Attachment:
Later Outcomes
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Better adjusted:
Healthier reactions to stress More likely to have academic success Less anxiety, depression, delinquency and aggression
Healthier relationships:
Generally stronger social skills Peer and romantic relationships
21
Why is secure attachment associated with healthier adjustment for children?
1) internal working model
2) neurodevelopment.
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Neurodevelopment (attachment)
Researchers assessed attachment security at 15 month olds in a sample of 33 children. Attachment security was assessed using the Attachment Q-Sort, an observer-rated attachment measure that demonstrates convergent validity with the Strange Situation. These children then completed structural magnetic resonance imaging at 10-11 years old to examine brain development.
The researchers found that secure attachment predicted larger grey matter volume in several areas of the brain associated with social, cognitive, and emotional functioning (e.g., the bilateral superior temporal sulci, right superior temporal gyrus, right temporo-parietal junction, and the bilateral precentral gyri). Thus, early attachment experiences in early childhood may shape brain development.
23
Internal Working Model
When children experience their caregivers as reliable, supportive, and trustworthy, they learn to expect other relationships to be the same.
For example, having an internal working model that relationships are safe and others are sensitive to our needs would shape our expectations and behaviours in peer and romantic relationships much differently than if we had an internal working model that relationships are unsafe and others are insensitive to our needs.
believing that we are worthy of love (because this was our experience as a child) goes a long way in shaping our relationships throughout the life course.
24
How do we measure attachment in adulthood?
The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI, originally developed by George, Kaplan, and Main, 1984) is one way in which we can assess attachment styles in adulthood.
For example, this could be used to help us understand the links between parental attachment and their child’s attachment.
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AAI - Secure - Autonomous:
Describe their attachment relationships in a coherent and congruent manner, with evidence of valuing their attachment relationships. They are non-defensive and present both favorable and unfavorable memories. Approximately 60% of adults are categorized as having autonomous attachment.
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AAI
The Adult Attachment Interview is a retrospective interview in which adults are asked questions about their childhood. For example, what do they remember about their caregiver relationships, how they felt about separations, etc.
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AAI's four categories of attachment styles
Secure - Autonomous
Insecure - Dismissing
Insecure - Preoccupied
Insecure - Unresolved
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AAI - Insecure - Dismissing
Characterized by a dismissal of attachment relationships. They tend to minimize negative aspects, and tend to contradict their positive memories.
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AAI - Insecure - Preoccupied
Characterized by a continuing preoccupation with their early attachment relationships. They have angry or ambivalent representations of the past.
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AAI - Insecure - Unresolved
Characterized by unresolved trauma or abuse in early attachment relationships.
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How do you think adult attachment styles correspond with infant attachment styles?
Autonomous adult = secure child
Dismissing Adult = Avoidant Child
Preoccupied Adult = Resistant/ambivalent child
Unresolved Adult = Disorganized Child
31
How is parent attachment related to child attachment?
research finds that the attachment styles of the parent are associated with the attachment styles of their own children.
we find that rates of insecure attachment are much higher among children who grow up in poverty, as their caregivers are more likely to have insecure attachments themselves.
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Does attachment change?
While attachment is thought to be relatively stable over the life course (especially if the environment does not change), it can change based on our experiences.
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Improving attachment security
If the caregiver's situation improves (e.g., intervention, change in life circumstances), this may enable the caregiver to improve their ability to respond sensitively to the child’s needs.
For example, attachment-focused therapy is a particularly common intervention with foster and adopted children, who may have had disrupted attachment experiences.
34
What does research on children with depressed mothers show?
That the children are at risk for weakened brain development. Problems with school, problem with peers and as they grow older problems with getting employment and healthy relationships.
Postpartum depression effects 6-30% women around the world. And early brain development depends on "serve and return" interactions. Symptoms of depression interferes with the mom's ability to see those cues to tend to serve and return.
34
When attachment security declines
attachment security can also become insecure. For example, consider a securely attached child who has a parent who develops a depressive episode. Due to their mental illness, their parent may no longer be able to respond to their needs sensitively.
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Circle of security (ex. of Improving attachment security)
Needs can be divided into 3 ways:
1) needs to know the freedom and confidence to go out and explore his world (going out on circle)
2) he needs to feel assured that whenever he is ready he can come back for comfort and protection (coming in on circle)
3) Needs his caregiver to be in charge in a kind way (hands on the circle)
36
Without serve and return what happens?
Kids are unlikely to explore their environment to grow their brains.
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Before developing a self-concept, infants need to develop an...?
understanding of the self. That is, they must be able to recognize and differentiate themselves from others.
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Rouge Test (emerging of self concept)
Given as an indicator of self awareness
Blush placed on nose and child looks in mirror
Not generally passed until about 18 months
Does NOT mean that the child doesn't have any awareness of self before then.
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Photographs (emerging of self concept)
By 20 months, infants start to recognize photos of themselves. By 30 months, they are very good at recognizing themselves in photos.
39
Development of the self also corresponds with what?
Terrible two's.
By saying “no” (common during this phase), children are asserting their autonomy and recognizing that their wants and perspectives are different from another's.
When children have parents who help them with narrative building, they tend to develop their sense of self faster. For example, parents who ask children what they think about things and how they feel are also helping them to develop their sense of self.
40
How do children develop their self-concept?
Once self-awareness has been established, children begin developing their self-concept. When children are in preschool (and beyond), we can understand their sense of self by asking them questions.
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Self-concept - Pre school
Children in preschool tend to focus on the concrete attributes of themselves. This includes physical attributes, abilities, social relationships, and what they own. For example, a preschooler may respond to the above question by saying their gender, a sport they like to play, and that they just received a new toy.
Preschoolers generally do not compare themselves to other children. Because of this, they tend to overestimate their own abilities.
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Self-concept - Elementary school
children engage in more social comparison. That is, they understand their own strengths and weaknesses relative to others.
They stop focusing so much on physical attributes and instead consider higher-order concepts to describe themselves. They also place a greater emphasis on social relationships. For example, a 10-year-old might describe themselves as “smart”, “good at sports”, or “having lots of friends”.
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Self-concept - High school
In early adolescence, children begin to feel conflict about opposing attributes of themselves. For example, they may start to realize that they act differently in different situations. With development, adolescents reconcile this conflict by realizing that everyone is different in different contexts, including themselves.
Adolescents also begin to unify separate traits into higher-order descriptors. For example “being a good friend” might include things like “I support my friends”, “I’m trustworthy”, and “I’m there for my friends”.
They focus more on abstract qualities of the self--including attitudes, personality traits, and beliefs--and are more future oriented. For example, an adolescent may say "I'm funny and want to be a comedian when I'm done school".
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Theories on Adolescent Identity Development
Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development
Elkind/Piaget Adolescent egocentrism & The personal fable
Marcia's idea of different categories of identity formation.
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Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development
theory of psychosocial development are marked by specific conflicts that one must resolve in order to proceed to the next stage of development (otherwise the person will continue to struggle with this conflict).
Erikson believed that conflict focused on Identity vs. Role Confusion. In other words, the key developmental task of adolescence is for youth to figure out who they are and what their identity is, now that they are no longer children.
While Erikson's theory is certainly more of a historical perspective, it emphasizes the importance of self-identity among adolescents.
45
What are the two ideas related to adolescent identity development introduced by David Elkind?
Adolescent egocentrism and personal fable.
Adolescent egocentrism refers to the self-absorption that marks an adolescent's search for self-identity. In other words, early adolescents become very self-focused. Not only are they thinking about themselves all of the time, they also believe that everyone else is thinking about them all of the time! The adolescent tendency of feeling like they are being watched all of the time is referred to as an imaginary audience.
The personal fable The personal fable refers to the adolescent tendency to believe that all of their experiences are unique in their identity development. This is the idea that no one else has ever gone through what they are going through (this is the quintessential moment of teenage angst).
46
James Marcia formed the idea of different categories of identity formation, what is this theory?
individuals can be high or low on commitment and crisis. In this theory, "crisis" means a period of active exploration. Crossing these two factors creates four categories of identity development:
Low crisis/Low commitment - Diffusion: A passive acceptance without a clear identity.
High Crisis/Low commitment - Moratorium: Actively exploring roles.
Low Crisis/High Commitment - Foreclosure: A passive acceptance of identity.
High Crisis/High Commitment - Achievement: Has explored and achieved identity on their own.
These individuals tend to be more mature and motivated than others.
47
Overall, development of self-concept first requires?
an awareness of the self.
Children's understanding of themselves increases with development, as their ability to think abstractly also becomes more complex. The search for self-identity is a central theme of adolescence.
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What does self esteem reflect
reflects our evaluations of our own worth and abilities. In other words, self-esteem reflects how we feel about ourselves, whereas self-concept reflects how we think about ourselves.
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What does self-esteem look like at different developmental stages?
-Preschoolers have a sense of how they feel about themselves, but they tend to be overly positive. Preschoolers often believe they can do anything, and have completely unrealistic views of their abilities. In other words, preschoolers have unrealistic evaluations of themselves.
-grade school, children start to engage in social comparison and gain a better understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses. This starts to make self-esteem more realistic.
Note that realistic self-esteem is the key here. Individuals who develop an overly positive or overly negative self-esteem are more likely to develop psychosocial difficulties. Thus, the goal of healthy self-esteem development is to recognize both strengths and weaknesses.
Even from a young age, children understand that self-esteem is positively associated with success. For example, children as young as 5 years old understand that children who like themselves do better in school and have more friends.
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How is childhood self-esteem measured?
1) a global indicator
2) as a set of components
51
What is One of the most common ways to measure self-esteem in childhood?
using the Self-Perception Profile for Children (Harter, 1985, 2012). While this is a self-report measure, the questions have been designed in a way to help minimize socially-desirable responding (a major issue in self-esteem research).
Rather than the standard “true/false” response option, this style of question aims to legitimize either response. This helps researchers to obtain more accurate self-perceptions, rather than socially-desirable responses.
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What is One of the main factors that promote self-esteem?
is approval and support from others.
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Other factors that affect self-esteem include:
Physical Appearance
Relationships
Minority Status
Personality
Gender
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Gender differences in the development of self-esteem
boys tending to have higher self-esteem than girls. However, this gender difference does vary depending on what factors you’re looking at. Girls tend to focus more on appearance and social aspects of self-esteem, whereas competence and conduct are more important for boys’ self-esteem.
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what does having a healthy self-esteem mean?
a realistic appreciation of our worth and abilities.
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The praise paradox
Child's low self esteem -->Adult's desire to boost self-esteem -->Adults provide person praise and inflated praise --> Children's self-validation goals
In this transactional model, the praise paradox begins when adults feel the need to "fix" children's low self-esteem. Indeed, in Western cultures, 87% of adults report that children need praise in order to feel good about themselves.
While praise has many forms, adults often give person praise ("you're so smart!") and not effort praise ("you worked really hard on that!")
Unintentionally, this model suggests that person praise and inflated praise can backfire. This is because they reinforce the idea that children need to be doing "amazingly well" all of the time. Thus, children increase their self-validation goals, meaning that they act primarily to gain self-esteem or avoid losing it. Children with high self-validation goals tend to avoid challenging tasks because failures are interpreted as the result of their own worthlessness. Over time, this contributes to low self-esteem.
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Parents role in self esteem
Parents and other adults who work with children should focus on process praise (e.g., "you're working hard at the violin this week!") and uninflated praise (e.g., "you made a beautiful drawing").
Adults also play an important role in helping children to develop healthy self-esteem through more indirect means. For example, helping children to develop new skills (e.g., teaching a teenager how to drive) and developing healthy relationships all contribute to self-esteem development.
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When does self-esteem start to develop?
self-esteem starts to develop in the preschool years.
Preschoolers have an overly positive view of themselves, which becomes more realistic as children gain an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses.
The number one factor promoting self-esteem is support from others, although paradoxical effects can be seen when looking at praise.
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According to research on the Praise Paradox:
Person praise can reduce a child's self-esteem
Many adults in Western society use praise to promote self-esteem development
Effort praise can bolster a child's self-esteem
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parent-child separations
There is an important role that caregivers play in setting the foundation in which children develop. Indeed, a secure attachment is crucial for the development of healthy relationships, but also for our sense of self and how we view ourselves in the context of relationships.
Parent-child separations can negatively impact brain development. biasing them towards anxiety and fear, and compromising their cognitive development as well.
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Attachment Theory
theory based on John Bowlby’s work that posits that children are biologically predisposed to develop attachments to caregivers as a means of increasing the chances of their own survival
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Bowlby's theoyr of attachment was initially influenced by several key tenets of Freud’s theories, what did he replace?
Bowlby replaced the psychoanalytic notion of a “needy, dependent infant” with the idea of a “competence-motivated infant” who uses his or her primary caregiver as a secure base
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Secure Base
refers to the idea that the presence of a trusted caregiver provides an infant or toddler with a sense of security that makes it possible for the child to explore the environment
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Through the process of attachment, the child develops what?
An internal working model of attachment.
This internal working model is based on young children’s perception of the extent to which their caregivers can be depended on to satisfy their needs and provide a sense of security.
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Strange Situation
a procedure developed by Mary Ainsworth to assess infants’ attachment to their primary caregiver
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Secure attachment
a pattern of attachment in which infants or young children have a positive and trusting relationship with their attachment figure. In the Strange Situation, a securely attached infant may be upset when the caregiver leaves but may be happy to see the caregiver return, recovering quickly from any distress. When children are securely attached, they can use caregivers as a secure base for exploration.
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Insecure/Resistant attachment
a type of insecure attachment in which infants or young children are clingy and stay close to their caregiver rather than exploring their environment. In the Strange Situation, insecure/resistant infants tend to become very upset when the caregiver leaves them alone in the room. When their caregiver returns, they are not easily comforted and both seek comfort and resist efforts by the caregiver to comfort them.
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Insecure/Avoidant attachment
a type of insecure attachment in which infants or young children seem somewhat indifferent toward their caregiver and may even avoid the caregiver. If the infant gets upset when left alone, he or she is as easily comforted by a stranger as by a parent.
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Disorganized/Disorientated Attachment
a type of insecure attachment in which infants or young children have no consistent way of coping with the stress of the Strange Situation. Their behavior is confused or even contradictory, and they often appear dazed or disoriented.
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Is there is some similarity between infants’ behavior in the Strange Situation and their behavior at home?
Yes.
For example, compared with infants who are insecurely attached, 12-month-olds who are securely attached exhibit more enjoyment of physical contact, are less fussy or difficult, and are better able to use their mothers as a secure base for exploration at home (Pederson & Moran, 1996).
Thus, they are more likely to learn about their environments and to enjoy doing so. In addition, children’s behavior in the Strange Situation correlates with attachment scores derived from observing their interactions with their mother over several hours
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Criticism of the strange situation
1) requires substantial resources; it must be conducted in a laboratory with video-recording equipment and an extensively trained staff
2) some psychologists argue that, rather than falling into categories, the attachment security of parent–child relationships should be measured along multiple continuous dimensions.
3) that it is no longer so “strange” in a world where 61% of children under the age of 5 are cared for by someone other than their mothers on a daily basis
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One key aspect of parenting that has been consistently linked with attachment styles is
Parental Sensitivity
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Does Childcare Interfere With Attachment?
1) 15-month-olds in childcare were just as likely to be securely attached to their mothers as were children not in childcare.
The same pattern was found with children at 36 months of age: the number of hours in childcare, the type of childcare, the number of childcare arrangements, the age the child entered childcare, and the quality of childcare did not predict children’s security of attachment (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2001).
2) maternal sensitivity was a very strong predictor of children’s attachment security, even when aspects of the children’s childcare arrangements and other aspects of the family (income, mother education, mother depressive symptoms) were accounted for
3) evidence found that high-quality childcare can serve a compensatory function. Specifically, children who had insensitive and unresponsive mothers were more likely to be securely attached to those mothers if they experienced high-quality childcare than if they experienced low-quality childcare
*Note: A study in Chile found that children who attended childcare were not more likely to have insecure attachments or to experience less sensitive parenting than children who did not attend childcare
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Interventions to improve attachment
1) Circle of security
2) Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up (ABC)
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Parental Sensitivity
caregiving behavior that involves the expression of warmth and contingent responsiveness to children, such as when they require assistance or are in distress
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DRD4
there is some research indicating that certain genes, such as DRD4 (which is involved in the dopamine system), are associated with disorganized/disoriented attachment when an infant is in a stressful environment (as when the mother is suffering from trauma or loss) but are associated with greater attachment security in a less stressful context
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Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up (ABC)
developed specifically for mothers identified as at risk for maltreating their children (Dozier & Bernard, 2017). ABC focuses on changing parents’ behaviors, rather than changing mental representations. Trainers teach parents to achieve three goals: provide nurturance to the child, follow the child’s lead, and avoid frightening behaviors.
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What did twin studies on attachment theories find?
Twin studies have provided non evidence that attachment styles are heritable..
However, several studies have shown that epigenetic effects play a role in the expression of attachment behavior, including support for the differential susceptibility hypothesis
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SLC6A4
participants in the strange situation who had an SLC6A4 variant, frequently associated with vulnerability in the face of stress, exhibited less attachment security and more attachment disorganization if they grew up in an institution than did preschoolers with the same variant who lived with their families.
In contrast, participants who were raised in an institution but who had a different SLC6A4 genotype, one that is frequently associated with less reactivity and less vulnerability, did not exhibit adverse attachment behavior
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Self Concept
a conceptual system made up of one’s thoughts and attitudes about oneself
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Cultural Variations in Attachment Styles
In all cultures, there are securely attached, insecure/resistant, and insecure/avoidant infants, with the average percentages approximating those established in the United States.
Another study found that, in all countries, children used their mothers as a secure base when exploring new surroundings
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OXTR
Researchers found that the continuity in individuals’ attachment security depended on which variant of an oxytocin receptor gene OXTR they had
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Social Comparison
the process of comparing aspects of one’s own psychological, behavioral, or physical functioning to that of others in order to evaluate oneself
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The Four Groups of Identity Status Developed by Marcia
Identity Achievement
Identity foreclosure
Moratorium
Identity diffusion
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imaginary audience
the belief, stemming from adolescent egocentrism, that everyone else is focused on the adolescent’s appearance and behavior
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Personal Fable
a form of adolescent egocentrism that involves beliefs in the uniqueness of one’s own feelings and thoughts
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Low self-esteem in childhood and adolescence is associated with
problems such as anxiety, depression, and bullying, both as perpetrator and victim
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Self Esteem
an individual’s overall subjective evaluation of his or her worth and the feelings he or she has about that evaluation
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Why does inflated praise undermine the effort of children with low self-esteem?
The researchers surmised that inflated praise sets high standards (e.g., you must be “perfect” or “the best” at something to get praise), which in turn leads these children to avoid activities where they might fail, as a form of self-protection
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identity
a description of the self that is often externally imposed, such as through membership in a group
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identity achievement
an integration of various aspects of the self into a coherent whole that is stable over time and across events
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moratorium
period in which the individual is exploring various occupational and ideological choices and has not yet made a clear commitment to them
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identity foreclosure
period in which the individual has not engaged in any identity experimentation and has established a vocational or ideological identity based on the choices or values of others
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identity diffusion
period in which the individual does not have firm commitments regarding the issues in question and is not making progress toward developing them
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ethnic and racial identity
the beliefs and attitudes an individual has about the ethnic or racial groups to which they belong
By the early school years, children know the common characteristics of their ethnic or racial group, start to have feelings about being members of the group, and may have begun to form ethnically based preferences regarding foods, traditional holiday activities, language use, and so forth
Children tend to identify themselves according to their ethnic or racial group between the ages of 5 and 8.
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acculturation
the process of adjusting to a new culture while retaining some aspects of one’s culture of origin
Children and parents can acculturate at different rates to their new culture, sometimes resulting in acculturation gaps between them, which can in turn be a source of conflict.
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sexual identity
one’s sense of oneself as a sexual being
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sexual orientation
a person’s preference in regard to males or females as objects of erotic feelings
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sexual-minority youth
young people who experience same-sex attractions
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first recognition
an initial realization that one is somewhat different from others, accompanied by feelings of alienation from oneself and others. At this point, the individual is generally aware that same-sex attractions may be the relevant issue but does not reveal this to others.
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What are the top three most important life problems listed by sexual- minority youth ? (according to one survey)
non-accepting families, bullying at school, and fear of being open about their sexual identity;
in contrast, the top three problems listed by heterosexual youth were grades, college, and financial pressures
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According to Bowlby’s theory,
attachment is a biologically based process, rooted in evolution, that increases the helpless infant’s chance of survival. A secure attachment provides children with a secure base for exploration. Children’s early relationships with their parents and other caregivers provide children with internal working models of relationships.
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There are similarities in children’s attachments across many cultures, although...
the percentages of children in different attachment categories sometimes vary across cultures or subcultures.
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Intervention programs demonstrate that parents can be trained to be...
more sensitive, attentive, and stimulating in their parenting. These changes are associated with increases in infants’ sociability, exploration, ability to soothe themselves, and security of attachment.
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Young children’s conceptions of themselves are ...?
concrete— based on physical characteristics and overt behavior—and usually positive.
As children age, their self-concepts are increasingly based on internal qualities and the quality of relationships with others; they also become more realistic, integrated, abstract, and complex.
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Because young adolescents focus on what others think of them, they think about an
“imaginary audience” and develop “personal fables.”
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Children’s self-esteem is affected by many factors, including ...
genetic predispositions
the quality of parent–child and peer relationships
physical attractiveness
academic competence
various social factors.
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The development of an ethnic and racial identity involves...
identifying oneself as a member of an ethnic or racial group, developing an understanding of group constancy, engaging in ethnic-role behaviors, acquiring knowledge about one’s group, and developing a sense of belonging to the group. Family and community influence these aspects of development.
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Minority adolescents often start to explore the meaning of their ethnicity or race and its role in their identity. Many youth initially tend to be ...
diffused or foreclosed in regard to their identities, and then become increasingly interested in exploring their ethnicity or race (search/moratorium). Some come to embrace their ethnicity or race; others gravitate toward the majority culture; still others become bicultural.
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The process of self- identification and disclosure among sexual-minority youth may involve several phases:
first recognition, test and exploration, identity acceptance, and identity integration.
However, not all sexual-minority individuals go through all these stages, or go through them in the same order, and some have difficulty accepting and revealing their sexual-minority identity.
