Week 9 - Bonding with Caregiver Flashcards

1
Q

What Contributes to Bonding Between Children and Caregivers?

A
  • Cuteness
    • Smiling
    • Clinging
    • Contingent responding (cycle of response)
    • Social referencing
    • Look to others to see how to react
    • Joint attention/gaze following
    • Looking between caregiver and object
    • Caregiver and child both focusing on same object
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Why Do Infants form Bonds with their Caregivers? (psychoanalytic perspective)

A
  • Mother-child bond is critical

• Breastfeeding is primary source of oral gratification

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Why Do Infants form Bonds with their Caregivers? (behaviourist perspective)

A
  • Babies have physical drives like thirst and hunger
    • When caregivers respond to these drives, the child associates the caregiver with positive reinforcement
    • Biological drives guide attachment
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Harry Harlow cloth/wire monkey study

A

Infant monkeys placed in a cage with a “wire” mother and a “cloth” mother
- Half of the monkeys fed by the wire mother
• Half the monkeys fed by the cloth mother
Results: monkeys spent more time with cloth monkey no matter the group –> caregiver provides sense of security

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

bonding in infants

A

Beginning at around 6 months of age, human infants have bonds with specific caregivers
• At around 8 months of age, they begin to show separation distress

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What is Attachment?

A

bond between child and caregiver
Function:
• Infants: safety
• Parents: passing on genes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

four stages of attachment

A
  • Preattachment (birth to 6 weeks)
  • Attachment in the making (6 weeks to 6-8 months)
  • Clear-cut attachment (until 18 months – 2 years)
  • Reciprocal relationships (2+ years)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Dependency

A

reliance on another person for basic physiological needs

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Secure attachment

A

Child can explore the world knowing that the caregiver will be there for them
Use parents as a secure base:
• Explore when with caregiver
• May or may no cry when separated, but cry because caregiver is absent and prefer caregiver to the stranger
• Seek contact when parent returns and reduces crying

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Insecure attachment

A

Balance between exploration and attachment is impaired

Different types

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Avoidant attachment

A

Baby does not appropriately rely on the caregiver
• Explore when with caregiver
• Not distressed when caregiver leaves
• Responds to stranger in same way as caregiver
• On reunion, avoids or is slow to greet caregiver
• Often fail to cling when picked up

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Resistant attachment

A

Diminished exploration because of preoccupation with
the caregiver
• Before separation, infant seeks closeness to caregiver and fails to explore
• Become extremely distressed when caregiver leaves
• On reunion, infant is both clingy and angry
• Cannot be comforted easily

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Disorganized attachment

A

Behavior is confusing and contradictory
Seem to both want caregiver and be afraid of them
• Represents greatest insecurity
• Confusion at reunion with caregiver
• Contradictory behaviors (e.g., looking away while parent is holding them)
• Dazed facial expressions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Stability of Attachment over Time

A

In theory, attachment should remain stable over time
• Data are inconsistent
• Attachment may change because of changes in family circumstances
• Divorce
• Birth of a sibling

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What Predicts the Quality of Attachment?

A
  • Parenting
  • Genes
  • Child-specific factors
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Parenting and Attachment

A
Parental sensitivity is associated with more secure attachment
• Maternal well-being
• Depression
• Stress in the family directly affects attachment
• Economic disadvantage
• Marital conflict
• Domestic violence
• Alcohol and drug use
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Genes and Attachment

A

Heritability
• Twin studies indicate that the security of attachment is primarily due to the environment
• Parenting quality
Recent studies have suggested that infants with particular genotypes may be more at risk for developing insecure attachments in the context of poor quality parenting

18
Q

DRD4 7-repeat polymorphism

A

Associated with impulsive hyperactive behavior
• More likely to develop insecure attachment when they were raised by caregivers who engaged in negative parenting characteristics

19
Q

5-HTTLPR serotonin transporter gene

A

Associated with negative emotionality

• Infants with a short allele were more likely to develop insecure attachment in the context of poor parenting

20
Q

Is Attachment Associated with Later Outcomes?

A
Attachment in infancy has been linked to many later outcomes
• Language development
• Peer relationships
• Loneliness
• Math achievement
• Behavior problems
21
Q

Social Interaction and Development

A

Critical

If isolated too long will have permanent social deficits

22
Q

Can the Effects of Social Deprivation be Reversed?

A

Yes, if receive social interaction during critical period

23
Q

Is There a Critical Period for Social Interaction?

A

The first 24 months
• Children placed in foster care before 24 months had very improved language outcomes at 30 and 42 months
• Children placed later had severe impairments in expressive and receptive language
• Similarly, children placed before 24 months have higher IQs at 54 months than those placed after

24
Q

What is Temperament?

A

Tendency towards particular behaviors and emotional responses in specific situations
• Individual differences in affect, activity, attention, and self-regulation

25
When does temperament emerge and what is it shaped by?
``` Emerges in infancy • Shaped by biological processes • Shaped by genes • Shaped by experience • In general, stable over time ```
26
Personality
includes a broader range of individual differences Temperament is measured in infants and younger children • Shift to thinking about personality in later childhood and adolescence • Personality is relatively stable patterns of behavior, motivation, emotion, and cognition - temperament linked to later personality
27
New York Longitudinal Study
``` First to focus on individual differences Interviews with mothers about children’s activities and routine • Focused on actual behaviors: - Activity level - Rhythmicity - Approach and withdrawal - Adaptability - Intensity of reaction - Threshold of responsiveness - Quality of mood - Distractability - Attention/span persistence ```
28
Children with "acting out" problems usually...
Higher activity level • Less adaptable • More persistent • With age, became more distractable and showed lower threshold for responsiveness
29
Children with "withdrawn" problems usually...
Lower in activity level | • Higher in negative mood
30
Major contributions of the New York Longitudinal Study
1. Systematic study of individual differences 2. Examined infants’ actual behavior 3. Complex dynamic 4. Goodness of fit
31
Kagan Model of Temperament
One dimension: Inhibition to the unfamiliar | --> remains relatively stable over time
32
Inhibited Children (Kagan)
Withdraw and express vigilance and fear when confronted with novel, stressful situations • More likely to express negative emotions (e.g., fear)
33
Uninhibited Children (Kagan)
Children who show minimal avoidance and vigilance in such situations • More likely to express positive emotions
34
Link between reactivity and inhibition
High reactivity --> inhibited | Low reactivity --> uninhibited
35
Rothbart Model of Temperament
Biological differences in reactivity and self-regulation • Reactivity: Biological arousability • Regulatory traits: Moderate reactivity
36
Extraversion/surgency (Rothbart)
Tendency towards high activity, expressions of positive emotion, pleasure and excitement in social interaction
37
Negative emotionality (Rothbart)
Tendency towards sadness, fear, irritability, and frustration
38
Effortful control (Rothbart)
Ability to sustain attention and inhibit behavior, ability to persist on tasks, sensitivity to perceptual experiences
39
Rothbart Temperament and inhibition
High inhibition may be linked to high negative emotionality and to low extraversion/surgency
40
Differential Susceptibility
Some children are more susceptible to the effects of their environments, both good and bad • Genotype makes children more likely to develop insecure attachment in context of unresponsive parenting • Genotype makes boys more likely to develop antisocial behavior when they experience physical abuse