w4 - 5 Flashcards
current definition of temperament (4)
constitutionally based (inborn)
individual differences
relating to affect - activity and attention
visible from early childhood
how is temperament different from personality
- temperamental qualities form the BASIC COMPONENTS of personality (not a clear cut difference)
- personality is more abstract and complex than temperament
- temperament is more biological while personality is more socialized - controlled proccess
brief history of temperament before thomas and chess’s groundbreaking study
- greeks: thought to be determined by four humours (blood phlegm black and yellow bile)
- allport: biological component of personality
describe thomas and chess’s work on temperament (methods - findings - 3 - example dimensions)
- reaction to strong influence of envioment on development
- wanted to see if there were biological influences on a child’s individual differences
- conducted detailed interviews with parent to derive rating
- identified temperament categories based on common themes - 9 distinct dimensions
(activity level - adaptability - attention span ex.) - domains include:
DIFFICULT (rarest - negative mood, withdrawn, intense moods)
EASY (most common - positive mood - adaptable)
SLOW TO WARM UP (still rare but more common than difficult - low activity level become increasingly adaptable - initially withdrawn - between the two temperaments)
- these patterns stay stable throughout childhood
HOWEVER - large amount of participants did not fit into these categories
describe rothbart’s temperament model (3 main dimensions - benefits of this measure over thomas and chess (3) )
- composed of diff dimensions that have diff subcomponents (not just categorical - but more on a continuum)
- negative emotionality (fear sadness etc.) - surgency (behavioural - anticipation impulsivity) - effortful control (attention - focusing - perceptual control)
benefits:
- easier to measure (less subjective)
- can be applied to a certain degree to non-human animals
- derived from questionnaires (much easier to measure - cost effective)
describe other methods to measure temperament (5)
self-report questionnaires:
- pros: makes use of repeated observations (longitudinal) - measures multiple characteristics at once - inexpensive - large samples ]
- cons: more subjective -social desirability
naturalistic observations at home or at school
-pros: less bias, context
- cons: expensive - narrow view
structured observations and tasks
- pros: standardized stimuli - precise observations
- cons: unusual environment, carryover effects (after doing a task multiple times the behaviour will no longer be independent)
interview with parents and kids
mechanical measures (asses movement and activity)
describe the basis of behavioural inhibitions (6)
- characterized by INTIAL NEGATIVE EMOTIONAL AND MOTOR REACTIVITY TO NOVELTY DURING INFANCY - and a tendency in later childhood to display fearful or withdrawn behaviour when confronting unfamiliar events - people - objects
- BI conveys heightened risk for anxiety disorders
- high heart rate - elevated cortisol - pupil dilation - startle response
- greater ERN responses (brain-related activity that shows they are more self-conscious of errors)
-hyper-responsive amygdala
- candidate gene: 5-HTT serotonin transporter
developmental origin of temperament (3)
- appear early (in fetus’s !)
- will show differences in expression of negative emotions in early infancy
(2-3 mo frustration) (7-10 mo fear)
attentional control starts developing in first year of life - becomes developed in childhood
(2.5 yrs - children within a category present the same for effortful control - predicts ability later in life)
how temperament can effect development (4) - transactional model - differential susceptibility
direct linear effects:
- extreme temperament might lead to or create a vulnerability to particular outcome (anxiety disorders)
indirect effects:
- child’s temperament affects environment - which then impacts social adjustment (sullen child will get an unfriendly reception)
interactional effects
goodness of fit:
no good or bad temperament - these characteristics determine how well-suited a child is for it’s environment
transactional model:
development is outcome of a child’s intrinsic characteristics (temperament) interacting with the environment (constant interactions between child and the environment)
moderational effects:
influence of temperament is moderated by the environment (ex. more fearful children will be greater impacted by GENTLE DISCIPLINE - non-fearful kids will not be impacted)
differential susceptibility: children with more extreme temperamental characteristics are more susceptible to socialization experiences (positively and negatively)
describe mischel marshmellow task. what did the initial findings show ? how is this related to biological temperament ? describe the follow up study of kidd et al. What did they look to study ? describe their methods and findings
initial findings showed that kids who waited longer to eat the marshmallow had greater success in life - idea is that temperament factors (delaying gratification attentional control etc.) play a role in driving a child’s ability to WAIT (regulate themselves)
kidd et al revisited this with the questions - WHAT IF children are actually weighing short terms over long terms gains - giving the reliability of their environment - would be more rational to go for the short term gain if long term isn’t guaranteed - not JUST about self-control
method:
first kids are provided with crayons (use these now or wait and i will bring you better crayons and a sticker) one reliable one not reliable
reliable group waited MUCH LONGER than the group with the unreliable condition (in the classic marshmallow experiment)
this SHOWS that the information children receive about their environment (reliability) impacts their SELF-CONTROL - SO temperament is not completely biological after all
how does temperament highlight the role of nature and OR nurture in social development
nature - biological basis (physiological heart rate - cortisol etc.)
nurture - information from the environment (nurture)
temperament (continuity or discontinuity)
continuity (relatively stable and can predict future behaviour - effective control - doesn’t go through significant changes)
definition of attachment
affectionate tie that forms from one person to another - enduring feeling or bond with that person
describe harlow’s work on attachment
experiments driven by learning theory
idea of DRIVE REDUCTION THEORY - attachment because mother provides food (secondary drive)
monkeys - cloth or wire mother
greater attachment to cloth mother - (should be wire WITH FOOD - disproves drive reduction)
describe bowlby’s work on attachment (4 points)
- attachment as an instinctual response for the survival of the species
- mutual - complementary responses from mother to child - cries responds
- parents provide secure base - safety to explore world with a protector
- attachments as a feature of dyads
describe the four phases of attachment
pre-attachment - no fear of strangers or social response (till 6w)
attachment in the making - 6w to 8mo - recognizes familiar people - social signals toward particular person - recognizes parent but doesn’t protest when separated
clear-cut attachment - (8mo - 24 mo) - separation anxiety - wary of strangers
goal-corrected partnership (24mo) - reciprocity in relationships - understands caregivers schedule and needs - separation protest declines
what is the internal working model of attachment ? (4 po of the model - 4 po ab the model)
- attachment bonds lead to the development of an internal working model
LEADS TO:
- mental representation of self - others - relationship
- specific content in a well-organized structure
- processes influence what info one attends to - what they remember - how they interpret events in the world
-unconscious
-carries forward into adult relationships
- mechanism to which attachment behaviours transfer to relationship partners
- subject to change and continuity
describe ainsworth’s strange situation - what did she find ? (name the 4 types of attachment styles)
mother and child play in room with toys
stranger enters talks to mother and child - mother leaves
mother returns stranger leaves
mother leaves - child alone
stranger returns - interacts with child
mother returns and stranger leaves
FINDINGS:
SECURE ATTACHMENT:
- majority
- sought contact with parent after her departure
- quickly comforted
- explored environment when parent was absent
INSECURE AVOIDANT:
- 20%
- show little distress when parent leaves
- actively avoids her when she returns
- avoid after parent leaves
- linked to irritable, intrusive and parents who are not ‘present’
INSECURE AMBIVALENT:
-10%
- extremely upset when parent leaves
- ambivalent or resistant upon return
- anxious inconsistent parents
INSECURE DISORGANIZED :
- disorganized and disoriented upon reunification
-neglectful, abusive parents
- depressed parents
other approaches to measure attachment - code reunion (4 dimensions - 2 yields - pros) - AQS (method - relation to SSP)
CODE REUNION EPISODES ALONG 4 DIMENSIONS:
- proximity seeking
- contact
- avoidance
- resistance
YIELDS TWO DIMENSIONS:
- proximity seeking vs avoidance
- anger and resistance
pro - CONTINUOUS MEASURES - don’t assume that individuals differ categorically from each other (greater nuance)
AQS:
- home observation or sorting exercise in which the caregiver OR OBSERVER sort cards based on how descriptive they are of the child’s behaviour
- tell how mUCH child looks like a securely attached child
- highly related to SSP
describe what we see when measuring attachment using the SSP across cultures ? what is universal (4) ? issue with SSP across cultures ?
we see that SECURE ATTACHMENT IS THE MOST PREVALENT ACROSS CULTURES - difference in prevalence of insecure avoidant and insecure ambivalent - HIGH INSECURE AVOIDANT in western countries (usa - germany - sweden)
- SSP might vary across cultures:
validity concerns of this paradigm
can be ACTUALLY STRANGE SITUATION - in a collectivist culture (much more comfortable with strangers)
UNIVERSAL:
- greater variability within cultures than between cultures (ontario vs. quebec have greater variability than in canada and the usa)
- preferential attachment to one caregiver is common
- majority are securely attached
- secure attachment is related to maternal sensitivity
describe the contributions of caregiving to attachment (7)
hormonal changes during and after pregnancy promote parents bonding with baby (skin to skin contact - oxytocin)
physical contact - infants who don’t stay at home are less likely to be securely attached
parenting behaviours:
- sensitivity to baby
- response to baby
- acceptance to baby’s states
-availability to baby
-insightful good at reading beyond child’s behaviours
ALL TEND TO BE INTER-RELATED
impact of childcare on attachment ? - goal of the study (3) - methods - findings
GOALS:
- look at association between child care and attachment status
- impact of quality of care
- child and parent factors associated with impact of childcare on attachment status
- interviewed, questionnaires, observation with mother - observe at childcare - ssp
FOUND
- MOTHERS high IN SENSITIVITY AND RESPONSIVENESS and had greater psychological adjustment were likely to have more securely attached infants
- temperament and sex did not predict attachment classification
- no impact of quality amount frequency of care and age of entry
- when children had low quality care and had mothers low in sensitivity they were less likely to be securely attached
THEREFORE - no reason to be concerned about child care alone
attachment - nature and nurture
nature - hormones for bonding - synchrony - (disproved drive reduction theory)
nurture - physical contact with parents, mother’s response and sensitivity to the baby
attachment as continuous or discontinuous
- yes and no
- continuous to adult relationships but subject to change through experience
is attachment universal or culture specific
can be both - we see secure attachment as most common and driven by universal factors like maternal sensitivty
cultural - prevlance of insecure ambivalent and insecure attachment styles
concerns about culture (collectivist - validity of SPSS - hard to measure)
what are emotions ? describe the differences between primary and secondary emotions
subjective reaction
accompanied by arousal
cognitions
and result in facial expressions or behaviour
primary emotions: emerge early and don’t require self reflection
secondary emotions:
emerge later
require self-awareness
why do emotions matter ?
provide access to other’s internal states
linked to social intelligence
linked to physical and mental health
explain the biological theory of emotional development
idea that expressions are INNATE (evolved) - universal - based on face anatomy
support:
- ekman: facial expressions of primary emotions same in diff cultures
- same in blind and sighted people
- emerged 46 after conception - regardless of time of birth (immune to experience from the environment)
learning perspective of emotional development
- socialized - explains ID
- support:
- children’s smiles are related to caregivers behaviour (warmth)
- children can be conditioned to fear things (little albert)
functional perspective of emotional development
- what do emotions DO ?
- help children achieve social goals - survival goals - establish maintain social relationships - adapt to enviroment
support:
emotion to lead behaviour (both self emotions and that of others))
memories of prior emotions guide future behaviour in novel situations
how can we measure emotional development (3)
initial research relied on parental report (how well can parents identify emotions in their children)
now - coding schemes that focus on the movement of different parts of the face
now - computer automated techniques applied to detect emotional expressions (continues)
talk about the development of joy (5)
- smiles from early age (reflexive)
- intentional smile (6 weeks)
- smile to familiar faces - reinforced by parents more than strangers (3 mo)
- intense genuine smiles - to parents mostly (10 mo)
- individual differences
PRIMARY
development of fear ? (5)
3 - 7 mo: start to become wary to novel experiences
7 - 9 mo: emergence of true fear
- emergence of fear of strangers depending on cultural context
- separation anxiety (universal)
10 to 12 mo: fear expressions guide behaviour
preschool: children understand beliefs and thoughts as source of fear in others
early school year age: children get better at regulating fear
development of anger (5)
- first negative reactions are not FEAR (disgust startle)
- 2-3mo facial expressions of anger
- frustration and pain elicit anger (goals blocks - physical pain - teasing)
- 4 to 16 mo anger reactivity peaks and then drops
gender diff: boys ANGRIER than girls
development of jealousy (5)
- early as 1
- diversion of parent’s attention to another child
- distress
- then anger and sadness
- first directed towards family relationships - then friends in teen years
development of pride (4)
- when kids feel happy ab their acomplishments
- 3 feel pride when. completing DIFFICULT TASKS
- 10 yrs. children link pride to effort on the part of others (no longer belief that good outcomes achieved through luck)
- cross cultural variability
development of guilt (3) and shame(1) ? how are these emotions diff ?
shame - attribute failure to self
guilt - feeling associated with doing something wrong
shame after failing easy task (mindset)
age 2 - overt guilt - older kids - subtle guilt
age 9 - recognize link between guilt and personal responsibility (younger children will feel guilt even when they don’t control the outcome)
guilt more common in boys
development of empathy (5)
what do researchers see in children’s responses to other’s distress ? (4)
triggered by observing or imagining another person’s affective state
cognitive empathy: taking another person’s perspective
affective empathy: feeling distressed in response to another person’s pain
emerges early (newborns cry in response to another infant’s cry but not their own)
RESEARCHERS SEE:
- 1YR. seek comfort for themselves in response to another person’s distress
- 14 mo. comfort others in general ways
- 18mo. more specific behaviours BUT still egocentric
- 2yrs. comforting becomes more directed at the state of the other person
describe how children recognize and categorize emotions (5)
- positive emotions recognized before negative emotions (exposure)
- preference for happy faces (can distinguish very early on)
- is this positive and negative differentiation or are they recognizing specific emotions?
- depends on degree of familiarity (better at knowing mom’s emotions - abused children better at recognizing angry expressions)
- accurate labeling of facial expression starts at age 3 - 4
describe social referencing (using emotions to guide behaviour) what does this consist of ? process of engaging in social referencing ? what do more advanced forms of social referencing require ?
describe the study that examined this phenomenon
refers to an infants ability to use another person’s emotional expression or affective reaction to make decisions that guide behaviour (in novel situations)
to engage in social referencing children must:
- recognize the meaning of an expression
-identify what that expression refers to
more advanced forms include:
- seeking information
- possessing the requisite skills to acquire information
floor patter: looks SCARY - UNFAMILIAR
- look to mom
- when mom was SCARED did not procceed
- when mom was encouraging WENT ACROSS
how do children start understanding the causes of emotions ? individual differences - emotion scripts - age periods (2) - age periods of the causal nature of emotions (3)
individual differences in emotional understanding are related to POPULARITY - EMPATHY - PRO SOCIALITY - SOCIAL COMPETENCE
emotion scripts:
templates for how particular situations are linked to particular emotions (learn to be happy when receiving presents)
- children start to create emotion scripts at 3
- as they get older - becomes richer - (understand that facial expressions are linked to emotions - and actions follow this)
6 - 7 yrs old - understand that a situation can elicit different emotions in different people (scared of dog - happy to see dog)
10 - 12 yrs - understand you can feel multiple emotions at once ab the same situations
causal nature of emotions timelines
3-6: situational based emotions
7-8: emotions caused by psychological states
9/10+: emotions from a person’s perspective
how are emotions generally socialized ? (3) 5 steps of emotion coaching.
- from models of emotional expression and regulation (how do other people do this ?)
- from reactions that encourage or discourage particular emotional responses (direct experiences - we don’t act like that !)
- emotion coaching: talking about their child’s and their own’s emotions - helping them identify and put into perspective their emotional reactions (helps develop emotional intelligence)
EMOTION COACHING INCLUDES:
- awareness of child’s emotions
- recognize as a teaching opportunity
- help child label the emotion
- empathy and understanding of the child’s emotion
- set limits and problem solve
