Social Cognition & Attachment Flashcards
Purpose of theory of mind
i.e. naive psychology
allows us to think about entities in the social world (i.e. social agents) in ways that we do not think about objects
Social agents vs. inanimate objects
agents
* move on their own and change direction on their own
* influence others at a distance, often delayed
* behavior is influenced by mental states
objects
* move and change direction via outside forces
* influence others via immediate contact (i.e. contact causality)
* behavior is subject to physical laws
Mechanism behind babies’ preference for social stimuli
early social orienting thought to be largely reflexive/subcortical, and in neurotypical infants, is replaced by volitional processes subject to cortical control within ~2 months after birth
When do babies exhibit gaze-following with agents?
12-month-olds follow the gaze of a “blob” only if it has acted contingently (with them or with another agent) OR if it has a face
- babies attribute agency even to objects that don’t look like humans (as long as they show contingency)
- universal in infancy and may be present in newborns
Do babies view actions of agents as goal-directed/intentional?
- yes, goal representation is specific to the actions of agents
- but not always! interpreting every action of an agent as goal-directed would lead to errors
babies also expect agents to act rationally
Examples
* 9-month-olds don’t interpret placing the back of the hand on an object as goal-directed
* 14-month-olds imitate actions followed by “there!” but not actions followed by “whoops!”
Who are babies more likely to imitate?
- reliable agents
- real people (e.g. less likely to imitate people on video aka video deficit effect)
- ingroup members (e.g. don’t imitate people who speak in foreign language they have no experience with in head touch study)
Mature theory of mind
Do babies have a mature theory of mind?
understanding of others’ minds as representational (not the actual state of the world and not the same as our own) in terms of preferences, knowledge, beliefs, etc.
No, babies are egocentric with desires/preferences (e.g. 4-year-olds fail Sally Anne task)
2 categories used in diagnosing Autism
DSM-5
- communication/interaction deficits (at least 3)
- restricted range of activities/repetitive behaviors (at least 2)
Examples of communication/interaction deficits in ASD
lack of…
* social-emotional reciprocity
* awareness of nonverbal cues
* building/maintaining relationships
- more likely to fail false belief tasks even into adolescence, even with low support (i.e. high functioning)
- may recognize how desire and knowledge influence behavior but not belief
Examples of restricted range of activities/repetitive behaviors in ASD
- highly sensitive to changes in environment/schedules
- stereotypes or highly repetitive motor movements
- intensely focused on inappropriate items
- hypo/hyperreactivity to sensory input (atypical interest)
- difficulties with planning, working memory, etc.
Autism as a developmental disability
must show symptoms from early childhood even if not officially diagnosed until later
Autism as a spectrum
- needs range from very low to very high
- some have high support needs: solitary, repetitive behaviors; little to no language; little interaction with or interest in people
Regression in autism
- children seem to have typical development from birth then regress (e.g. lose language, stop imitating) at 19 mos on average
- show symptoms before loss
20-40% of autistic children show some regression
Who has autism?
- more American children (1 in 36) than Canadian children (1 in 50) in 2019
- boys are 4x more likely to be diagnosed
- girls may present differently and appear less severe
Genetic component in autism
- 50% heritability (higher for broader phenotype that runs in families)
- 14x more likely to have ASD if your sibling has it (i.e. high-risk sibling)
- not traceable to a single genetic abnormality (likely >100 genes involved)
Early Start Denver Model (ESDM)
- 15 hrs/week of sessions with a trained therapist during infancy and toddlerhood
- promotes everyday activities via operant conditioning techniques (which parents are expected to use)
- major gains in IQ, daily living skills, etc. relative to controls
autism is highly sensitive to treatment, especiallly when done early
Outcomes of measles, mumps, rubella
once worldwide epidemics
- measles cause serious illness, mental retardation, death
- mumps cause sterility
- rubella or German measles cause congenital defects in unborn children
- all very contagious!
- before vaccine, measles “as inevitable as death and taxes”
Attachment
enduring affection between 2 individuals
first attachment relationship usually between baby and mother and/or father
Development of attachment
- preattachment: newborns prefer social stimuli and cry to summon caregiver
- 6 wks: social smiles to whoever meets their needs (typically caregiver) but still no specific attachment
- 6 mos: clear-cut attachment (respond selectively to attachment figure)
- 8 mos: separation anxiety
- 1.5 yrs: mutually-regulated reciprocal relationships (less separation anxiety)
2 theories about the development of attachment
- learning theory or drive reduction approaches
- Bowlby’s ethological approach
Learning theory
behaviorist
- attachment formed through positive and negative reinforcements for behavior
- e.g. mom reliably rewards baby with food = babies attach to mom (positively reinforced with food)
- parents solely responsible for attachment
Criticisms of learning theory
- more to attachment than who feeds you
- doesn’t account for baby’s interpretations/thoughts of relationship
- children become attached to bad/neglectful parents
Bowlby’s ethological approach to bonding
biological/evolutionary perspective
bonding (not just eating) made our predecessors more successful
- birds imprint on caregiver (Lorenz)
- crying (extremely aversive), smiling (feedback loop), and clinging help attachment in humans
- crying leads to co-regulation
Features of babies’ faces that make adults want to care for them
round face; large eyes; small chin, ears, nose
- dying hair of rhesus macaques to make them look like babies make other adults treat them better
- even babies prefer baby faces
Bowlby’s internal working models
- early attachment relationships lead infants to develop mental representations of the self, attachment figures, and relationships
- guides relationships throughout life
e.g. may establish early on that caregivers are dependable
4 attachment styles identified in The Strange Situation
Ainsworth
- secure
- insecure-avoidant
- insecure-ambivalent
- disorganized-disoriented
Secure attachment
- use mother as a secure base from which to explore
- mostly ok with strangers whem mom is in room
- very upset when mom leaves but easily comforted upon return
~60% of Canadian babies
Insecure-avoidant attachment
- no problem exploring (but don’t seem to use mom as secure base)
- fine with strangers
- indifferent when mom leaves and avoid her when she returns
~15% of Canadian babies
Insecure-ambivalent/resistant attachment
- less prone to explore and seem clingy
- always uncomfortable around strangers
- extremely upset when mom leaves and inconsolable (even by her) when she returns
~10% of Canadian babies
Disorganized-disoriented attachment
- inconsistent reactions (e.g. sometimes dazed/disoriented, fearful)
- linked to later aggression issues and psychopathology
- more likely to have been abused
- ~15% of Canadian babies
- babies of adolescent mothers more likely to be disorganized
Continuity of secure attachment
- better social functioning (e.g. understanding others’ emotions, more prosocial, empathetic)
- better at handling stress
- predicts relationship with mother, platonic/romantic relationships in adulthood
- predicts academic performance
2 possible causes for difference in attachment styles
- nature: child themself (e.g. internal working models)
- nurture: parenting styles, culture
Parental sensitivity
consistently responsive caregiving in timing and in kind
Parents’ behaviors toward secure child at home
- responsive and sensitive to child’s signals
- affectionate and expressive
- frequently initiates close contact
Parents’ behaviors toward avoidant child at home
- insensitive to child’s signals
- avoids close contact and rejects child’s bids for contact
- can be angry, irritable, impatient
babies learn that parents are not reliable and do things on their own
Parents’ behaviors toward ambivalent child at home
- inconsistent or awkward in reacting to child’s distress
- seem overwhelmed with caregiving tasks
makes babies anxious
Parents’ behaviors toward disorganized child at home
- intrusive and emotionally unavailable
- may dissociate or be in a trance-like state
- confuses or frightens child
- may be harsh or abusive
Relationship between parental sensitivity and attachment style
- observed in >26 cultures (though how parents show sensitivity may differ)
- children can have different attachment styles with different parents
- parents in sensitivity training interventions have more securely attached, less disorganized children
e.g. twin studies suggest most attachment variation due to environment, not genes
Effect of daycare on attachment style
- studies suggest that children in daycare are no more likely to be insecurely attached
- no relationship between time in daycare, age at entry, type and quality of care, and attachment (in North America and countries where SES is not a factor in who gets daycare)
- can serve compensatory function for babies with insecure attachments at home
Effect of sleep training on attachment style
babies randomly assigned to sleep training or usual care
* no difference in attachment styles after 5 years
* suggests sleep techniques have no long-term effects
* parents can use them to reduce short-term burden of baby’s sleep problems and maternal depression
Cross-cultural differences in insecure attachment styles
depends on how much independence is valued in culture
* German insecure babies are more avoidant
* Japanese, Korean, Israeli insecure babies are more ambivalent, almost never avoidant
Attachment associated with DRD4 alleles
dopamine transporter gene
- disorganized attachment only if mother is suffering from trauma
- better attachment in less stressful contexts
Attachment associated with allele of serotonin transporter gene SLC6A4
disorganized attachment among institutionally-raised children
How are humans “cooperative breeders”?
- parenting is shared among many “alloparents” unlike many non-human primates (i.e. humans attach to multiple individuals)
- required to support highly immature offspring spaced too close together
e.g. shared parenting after divorce may be good policy as the removal of any attachment figure is very stressful for children
