Module 6 Lesson 2 - Social Development and Adolescence Flashcards
What does the psychological and social development of infants involve?
The development of relationships, personality, as well a sense of their gender.
This is how children demonstrate their personalities and are primarily through temperament and attachment.
What is temperament?
Temperament refers to how a person’s nature affects or influences their behavior. These characteristics are usually well-established at birth.
Temperament reflected as easy for a baby
- When a baby maintains a regular schedule of sleeping and eating
- Is rather adaptable to change
- Seems generally happy
- Can be calmed or soothed when in distress
Temperament reflected as difficult
- When a baby maintains an irregular schedule of sleeping and eating
- Is not adaptable to change
- Seems to be crabby, loud, or overactive
- Usually cannot be calmed or soothed easily
Temperament reflected as slow to warm up
When a baby can change their schedule or behaviors but only when the change happens slowly so that they might adapt to the change at their own pace.
These types of babies generally take time to feel comfortable around new people and/or new situations.
Temperament is affected by…
Is largely hereditary but as a child ages, their temperament can change based upon the environment in which the infant is raised.
Ex. If a parent is loud, then the child can absorb that trait to become loud over time. Thus, a personality can be inherited or impressed onto a young child.
What is attachment?
It is a deep and permanent bond that ties one person to another despite distance and absence.
This is why babies are attached to their mother
It can also be described as a social-emotional relationship formed between a child and parent
It can occur when an instinctual reaction called “imprinting” is present in many species (observed in research conducted by Konrad Lorenz on ducks as well as with Harlow and monkeys).
It is a deep and permanent bond that ties one person to another despite distance and absence.
This is why babies are attached to their mother
It can also be described as a social-emotional relationship formed between a child and parent
It can occur when an instinctual reaction called “imprinting” is present in many species (observed in research conducted by Konrad Lorenz on ducks as well as with Harlow and monkeys).
An instinctual reaction present in many species (attachment), observed in research conducted by Konrad Lorenz on ducks as well as with Harlow and monkeys
What is the Harlow Monkey Experiment?
- Baby monkeys were separated from their parents at a really young age.
- They were given the choice to choose between two different alternative mothers.
- The first mother was the “wire” mother made up of wires and could provide food (it had a feeding tube attached to it). It was the same shape as the other one.
- If you assume the monkey is attached to the mother by food, this mother would be chosen.
- The second mother, unlike the “wire” mother which was almost like a cage, had a furry blanket wrapped around it.
- If you assume the monkey is attached to the mother by comfort, then this mother would be chosen.
The baby monkeys overwhelmingly preferred the “cloth” mothers and spent most of their time clinging to the cloth mother, while eventually reaching over to the “wire” mother to be fed as they were clinging to the cloth mother (unwilling to lose contact with comfort).
When does imprinting occur?
It occurs when certain attachments occur during a critical period early in life.
Human babies are usually imprinted and develop bonds to anyone who regularly responds to their cooing, crying, or smiling.
What is a critical period?
A time when an organism has to experience stimuli so that they may proceed through their developmental stages properly.
In children, language skills are easily acquired during the critical period, but if this critical period is skipped - some children have been observed to not be able to even functionally learn their native language until a later date.
What are the four components of attachment?
- Secure
- Avoidant
- Ambivalent
- Disorganized
Secure (4 components of attachment)
When a child explores happily - they are upset when a mother or father leaves - but are able to be easily soothed upon the return of the mother or father.
Avoidant (4 components of attachment)
When a child is willing to explore but not as easily as a secure child - they have very little reaction to a mother or father’s absence or return.
Ambivalent (4 components of attachment)
When a child is clingy and unwilling to explore - they are visibly upset when a mother or father leaves and remain angry or upset when they return.
Disorganized (4 components of attachment)
When a child is not able to explore - they are also unable to have a definitive reaction to a mother or father’s return - but usually seek to avoid any eye contact.
Attachment can lead to the development of…
Anxiety. There are two types:
1. Stranger Anxiety
2. Separation Anxiety
What is stranger anxiety?
When a baby around the age of eight months can begin to fear strangers and act differently around strangers or seek to avoid any type of contact with them.
What is separation anxiety?
According to researchers, this typically peaks at about fourteen-to-eighteen months. This is described as extreme emotional agitation, fear, and even distress when a person such as mom or dad, or even an object leaves.
What is the strange situation?
- Created by Mary Ainsworth
- Focused on mother-child relationships
There are three parts:
In the first part, a mother, a stranger and her baby is in a room. The mother sits in the chair as her baby explores the room, but neither person interacts with the baby.
Would the baby explore the room while his/her mother was there?
In the second part, the mother leaves the room quietly without attention so the baby is in the room with a stranger
Would the baby start crying or keep on playing
In the third part, the mother comes back into the room, at which the experiment becomes just how it started
Was the baby happy or sad of the mother’s return, or just ignore her altogether?.
What was the result of the strange situation?
About 60% of kids demonstrated a secure attachment and the rest demonstrated an insecure attachment.
What is secure attachment (in the strange situation)?
- Child generally felt comfortable to explore the room in the strange situation experiment
- When the parent left, the children became really upset and distressed (trap sense).
- This distress would go away once the mother returned, as they were happy to be back in contact with her.
What is insecure attachment (in the strange situation)?
- Child clings to their mother too much and refuses to explore the room.
- When the mother left, the children became really upset.
- The distress didn’t go away when the mother returned.
- Some may have even felt indifferent when the mother left and returned.
- Why are there two different attachment cases?
