Week 6 Flashcards
What is an attitude
“An organisation of beliefs, feelings and behavioural tendencies towards significant objects, groups, events or symbols” (Hogg & Vaughan 2005)
Evaluate: liking vs disliking, beneficial vs harmful
Subjective: not necessarily based upon fact/ knowledge
Explicit vs implicit
Learned
Enduring but possible to change
ABC model of attitude: Rosenberg & Hovland 1960
Affect
Behaviour
Cognition
How are attitudes formed
Imitation and role models
Conditioning- reinforcement
Experience
Social norms
Why are attitudes formed
Social acceptance
To protect out self esteem
To express what we believe
To avoid punishment
To understand the world
To express who we are
Do attitudes predict behaviour
Yes but complicated
LaPiere 1934
Wicker 1969
Attitudes can be a good way of predicting behaviour under certain conditions:
-when they’re measured specifically
-when an attitude is formed through experience
-when there is more at stake
-when there are fewer potential barriers
-when the attitude is repeatedly expressed
Davidson &Jaccard 1979
Theory of planned behaviour (Azjen, 1991)
Perceived social pressure
Attitudes. —> intentions—> behavioural change
Perceived control
Why is attitude predicting behaviour important to doctors
Attitudes can then be used to predict:
-adherence to lifestyle advice
-concordance with treatment
-engagement with non-pharmacological interventions
-uptake of screening tests
-willingness to attend appointments
Measuring attitudes
Difficult
Behavioural observation: easy to perform, no specialist equipment, time consuming & unreliable (Hawthorne Effect-the alteration of behaviour by the subjects of a study due to their awareness of being observed)
Covert measurement: eg EMG, Galvanic skin response, more objective, non-directional, false positives
Self report scales: eg Likert, Osgoods semantic Differential cheap, quick, easy, assume attitudes are fixed, dependent on honesty and self awareness
Responder bias: people tend to always agree/disagree, people generally avoid extreme responses, people generally choose responses that make them look good, tend to choose socially acceptable responses
Changing attitudes
Cognitive dissonance
Self perception —> attitudinal change
Persuasive communication
Cognitive dissonance (Festinger 1957)
Human have an innate desire for consistency
Inconsistency= dissonance
Ways to resolve dissonance:
- gain new info that overrides a dissonant cognition
-reduce the importance
-change attitudes
Dissonance based interventions
Growing evidence
Induced cognitive dissonance
-belief disconformation
-free choice
-hypocrisy (contradictions between thinking and behaviour)
-effort justification
-induced compliance
Self perception theory (Bem 1967)
Traditional view: attitudes determine behaviour
Bem’s self perception theory: behaviour determines attitudes
Persuasive communication
Yale attitude change approach (Hovland 1953)
Source
Message
Audience
Elaboration likelihood model (Petty 1980): central vs peripheral
Is fear persuasive
Good evidence that fear can be a motivator for attitudinal/ behavioural change (Leventhal 1967)
However too much fear prevents attitudinal/ behavioural change (Janis & Feschbach 1953)
Brief intervention the 5 As
Ask
Advise
Assess
Assist
Arrange
Developmental psychology
Maturation and learning
Human development is a continual and cumulative process
Plasticity- capacity for change in response to negative or positive life experiences
History and culture has a strong influence on attributes and competences that individuals acquire
Infancy
New born reflexes and states
Infants sensory capabilities
Basic learning processes
-habituation
-classical conditioning- combining 2 stimuli to produce a new learned response
-operant conditioning -ability to learn based on our behaviours and any following reward or punishment
-observational learning
Emotional development
Emotions from birth: contentment, disgust, distress and interest
Emotions from 2-7 months: anger, fear, joy, sadness, surprise
Emotions from 12-24 months: embarrassment, envy, guilt, pride, shame
Temperament
Is defined as individual difference in emotional, motor and attentional reactivity and self regulation
These are seen as the emotional and behavioural building blocks of adult personality
Hereditary influences
Home environmental influences
Cultural influences
Stability of temperament
Development of self-concept
Proprioceptive feedback
Self differentiation in infancy
Self recognition in infancy
Self esteem
Attachment
An intense emotional relationship that is specific to two people that endures over time and in which prolonged separation from partner is accompanied with stress and sorrow
Reciprocal relationship- 2 way relationship
Process of attachment- synchronised routines
Theories of attachment
Phases of attachment (Schaffer and Emerson)
Pre attachment phase; last 3 months of age, preference for contact with human beings from 6 weeks manifest as nestling, gurgling, smiling
Indiscriminate attachment; lasts up 7 months, allows strangers to look after them without noticeable distress provided stranger provides adequate care, starts to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar people
Discriminate attachment; 7-8 months, actively tries to stay close to certain people becomes distressed when separated (separation anxiety), requires infant to be able to discriminate between care giver and others
Multiple attachment phase; 9 months onwards, strong additional ties formed, fear of stranger weakens but strongest attachments remains
Lorenz and Harlow
Lorenz in 1935 showed that non human animals form storing bonds with the first moving object they encounter
Called imprinting- occurs during a brief critical period and is irreversible
Harlow showed in experiments that rhesus monkeys spent most time clinging to cloth parent- need for contact comfort
They use this surrogate as a secure based to explore the environment
Bowlby
Synchrony- action between main caregiver and infant produces an attachment: useless after 36 months (critical period)
Infant attached to main caregiver: main caregiver bonded to infant
Infants display innate tendency to attach to an adult (monotrophy) and this qualitative different from other later attachments (not necessarily with natural mother)
Ainsworth stranger test to identify attachment type
Anxious-avoidant type
Secure attachment
Anxious resistant
Disorganised/disorientated
Secure attachment type
Infant plays happily when main caregiver is there whether stranger is there or not
Main caregiver is largely ignored because he/she can be trusted
Clearly distressed when main caregiver leaves and play is reduced
Seeks immediate contact when main caregiver returns is quickly calmed and resumes play
Distress caused by main caregivers absence not being alone
Main caregiver treated differently from stranger (can provide some comfort)
Anxious resistant type
Infant is fussy and wary when mother is present
Cries more
Difficulty using main caregiver as secure base
Very distressed when main caregiver leaves and seeks contact on return but simultaneously shows anger and resists contact
Actively resists strangers efforts to make contact
Anxious avoidant type
Infant indifferent to main caregiver
Play is little affected by whether main caregiver is present or absent
Actively ignores or avoids main caregiver on there return
Distress caused by being alone
As easily comforted by main caregiver as by stranger that is both adults treated in similar way
Disorganised/disorientated type
A combination of resistant and avoidant patterns
Reflect confusion about whether to approach or avoid the caregiver
When reunited with caregiver they might be dazed or freeze or move closer and then quickly move away
Cultural variations in attachment classifications
% that fall into the different categories differ from culture to culture
Differences across culture due to different child rearing practices across cultures
Some debate around what qualifies as an secure or an insecure attachment varies from culture to culture
Factors that influence attachment security
Sensitive responsive caregiving associated with secure attachment
Inconsistent, neglectful over intrusive and abusive caregiving predict insecure attachments
Environmental factors such as poverty and a stormy relationship between caregivers
Secure attachments during infancy play a predictive role in intellectual curiosity and social competence in later adulthood
Aggression
Changes in aggression as children age
Sex differences
Antisocial behaviour
Is aggression a stable attribute
Individual differences
Popularity and aggression
Cultural and sub-cultural influences
Parental conflict and children’s aggression
Altruism
Origins of altruism
As children grow
Sex differences
Role taking and altruism
Empathy
Cultural and social influences
Role upbringing and parents
Moral development
3 moral components
Affective
Cognitive
Behavioural
Cognitive development- Piaget
The changes that occur in children’s mental abilities over the course of their lives
Cognitive equilibrium
Child as a constructivist
Schemas- organisation and adaptation
Adaptation consists of- assimilation and accommodation
Vygotsky- Social cultural perspective
Social cultural theory
The role of culture in intellectual development
Tools of intellectual adaptation
Zone of proximal development
Guided participation
Scaffolding
Parenting
4 patterns of parenting
Authoritarian
Authoritative
Permissive
Uninvolved
Behavioural control versus psychological control
What does abuse and neglect mean
In the GMC guidance ‘abuse or neglect’ means physical, emotional or sexual abuse including fabricated or induced illness and emotional or physical neglect which has led or may lead to significant harm to a child or young person
Possible signs of physical and emotional abuse
Unexplained or repeated injuries
Injuries in shape of object eg belt
Injuries not likely to happen given the age or ability of child
Disagreement between child’s and parents explanation of injury
Obvious neglect of child
Fearful behaviour
Aggressive or withdrawn behaviour
Afraid to go home
Possible signs sexual abuse
Difficulty walking or sitting
Stained or bloody underwear
Genital or rectal pain, itching, swelling, redness or discharge
Bruises or other injuries in genital or rectal area
Soiling or wetting pants or bed after being potty trained
Withdrawing from activities and others
Talking about or acting out sexual acts beyond normal sex play for age
Preparing children for hospital
Small children do not like being separated from family encourage parents to stay
Before admission; children books about hospitals, hospital visit, videos
On admission; show children instruments reduce fear, distraction strategies no time to think, highest level of stress occurs waiting in operating room corridor
What might upset a child in hospital
Pain
Eating new unfamiliar food
New smells
Strange sounds
Different routines
Lots of new strange people
Illness itself
How can children react to a hospital stay
Suffer nightmares
Anxious
Cry a lot-fear of unknown
Throw tantrums
Refuse to eat
Refuse to speak
Become withdrawn-lost confidence and frightened
Afraid to be on own
Return to earlier stages of development
Implications for practice
Find out exactly how child views causes of illness and reasons for treatment
Their ability to assimilate info is limited and they often distort what they’re told
Address magical thoughts appropriately often they are a coping/defence mechanisms, tell truth, match level of comprehension and think about stages of development
