chapter 12: socia development Flashcards
social development
the changing nature of our relationship with others over the course of life
Erik Erikson’s theory about stages of life
every stage of life is associated with a particular crisis or a problem to be resolved through interactions with other people
what is the primary problem in infancy according to erikson
developing a sense of trust, a secure sense that other people, or certain people can be relied upon for care and help
what did Bowlby focus on for the period of infancy
infant’s need for care and on the psychological consequences od the manner in which care is provided
what perspective did bowlby give on the issue of early child development
evolutionary perspective - the emotional bond between the infant and adult caregiver (especially the mother) is promoted by a set of instinctive tendencies in both parents (infant’s crying to signal discomfort and the adult’s distress + infant smiling and cooing when comforted and the adult’s pleasure)
evidence that infants aren’t passively dependent
by the time babies are born, they already prefer the voices of their own mothers + shortly after also prefer the smell and sight of mothers
by what age do newborns express emotions and respond to them in others
by 3 months
who and when began to use the term attachment to refer to emotional bonds
Bowlby in the 1950s
Harlow’s experiment
systematic program of research with rhesus monkeys - two surrogate mothers (wire and fur) - regardless of which had the nipple, all monkeys treated the cloth one as their mother
how did harlow conclude that the baby monkeys preferred the cloth mother
clung to it for much of the day, ran to it when frightened by a strange object, were braver in exploring an unfamiliar room when the cloth surrogate was present, pressed the lever repeatedly to look at it through a winoe in preference to other objects
bowlby’s experiment similar to harlow’s
attachment behaviors in infants from 8 months to 3 years - children showed distress when their mothers left them (especially in a new environment), showed pleasure when reunited, showed distress when approached by a stranger until reassured by mother, more likely to explore when the mother is there
evolutionary explanation of attachment
it’s a universal human phenomenon, infants are potentially in danger when out of sight of caregivers, especially in a new environment
when does the attachment strengthen and why
around 6-8 months when infants begin to move on their own - a crawling infant can get into more trouble than an immobile one
social referencing
looking to the caregiver for cues about danger or safety as they explore
who developed the strange situations test
mary ainsworth
which age is the strange situations test done with
infants 12-18 months of age
steps of the strange situations test
mother and infant enter a room, the child plays w the mother and is also allowed to play freely
series of 3 minute periods of activity: unfamiliar adult comes in talks to the mother and interacts with the infant, the mother goes out and leaves baby in the room, the mother returns
what behavior is the most important when evaluating the strange situations test
those behaviors that the baby exhibits when reunited w mother
what are the types of attachments
secure, insecure-resistant, insecure-avoidant, disorganized/disoriented
characteristics of the secure attachment
60% of people - infants explore while in the room with their mothers, become upset when she leaves, when she comes back the baby will go to her and greet her warmly, the mother is able to soothe the child sometimes it plays with the strwnger in the end
insecure-resistant attachment
10% - anxious even with their mothers, don’t explore a lot and wary of the stranger, very distressed when the mother leaves but ambivalent or angry when she returns, stay near the mother when she returns but seem to resent her departure and resist contact
insecure-avoidant attachment
15% - little distress when the mother leaves, avoid contact with her when she returns, usually no wariness of the stranger but might avoid them we much as mother
disorganized attachment
15% - no coherent strategy for dealing with stress of departure and reunion, seek to be close to their mothers in erratic ways (strong approach followed by strong avoidance), may look dazed upon reunion, freeze in tbe middle of movement, approach her backwards, wait an inordinate amount of time before approaching
what does the baby get securely attached + what is it called
when the mothers procide regular contact comfort, respind promptly and helpfully to the infant’s signals of distress, interact with the infant in an emotionally synchronous manner - sensitive care
what is the security of the attachment positively correlated with
ratings of mother’s sensitive care
how was sensitive care assessed
home visits early in infancy and attachment through the strange situation tests
what can secure attachment lead to in adulthood
confidence, being better at solving problems, emotional health, being more sociable
training program experiment - attachment
mothers w irritable babies (unusually fussy, easily angerer, difficult to comfort) participated in a 3-month training program, beginning when infants are 6 months old, designed to help mothers perceive and respond to baby’s signals
when 12 months old - strange situation test - 62% vs 22%
relationship between genes and attachment
5-HTTLLPR - can be in a short or in a long form (how the brain uses serotonin) - l allele resilts in greater uptaje of serotonin - children who are homozygous for the l allele are less affected by negative environmental experience
attachment genes experiment
parents assessed for sensitive care when infants were 7 months old and then strange situation test when the infants were 15 months old
28 of the 88 infants had the ll genotype - attachment security increased significantly and sharply with increased maternal sensitivity for the ss/sl group but not the ll group
how is the attachment in !Kung San children
the mother carries the infant at all times (the infants sees everything the mother sees, can breastfeed at will), when not held by the mother the infant is passed around among others
attachment in the efe society
infants are in physical contact with their mother about half the day, during the rest of the day, they’re in direct contact with other caregivers - also breastfeed from other women
at around 8-12 months, efe infants begin to show increased preferences for their own mothers
how are !kung children when they grow up
extraordinarily cooperative and brave, children older than 4 explored more and sought their mother less in a novel environment than did their British counterparts
record in father involvement
Aka of central Africa - fathers hold their infants an average of 20% of the time during the day + get up at night
what are the thee Erikson’s successive stages
development of autonomy (self control), initiative (willingness to initiate actions), industry (competence in completing tasks)
prosocial behavior
voluntary behavior intended to benefit other people
proof that infants are predisposed to be social
infants prefer to look at faces and seem to have a special ability to process and make sense of faces, view others as intentional agents, they easily form attachments with multiple people early in life
how do babies comfort
as young as 2 or 3 days old, reflexively cry and show other signs of distress in response to another baby crying
what did hoffman sat about comforting in babies
the tendency to feel discomfort in response to another’s expressed discomfort is a foundation for the development of empathy
when do babies stop crying immediately when another is distressed
by about 6 months of age - turn toward the distressed individual, look sad, whimper
egocentric empathy
until about 15 months of age - the distressed child seeks comrort for themselves rather than for the other distressed person
comforting by second year
succeed at comforting - not only feel bad about another’s discomfort, but also must understand enough sbout the other person’s mind to know what will provide comfort
when does give and take start
near the end of the first year
give and take experiment
nearly every one of more than 100 infants ages 12 to 18 months spontaneously gave toys to an adult (also unfamiliar researchers) during brief sessions in a lab room + !Kung
when does helping behavior in children start
between 18 and 30 months - joining their mothers in household tasks without being asked
helping behavior experiment
researchers sat in front of children between 18 and 24 months and performed taks such as reaching for a marker or stacking books - occasionally a mishap would happen and they would drop it - chidren more likely to retrieve a fallen object if it seemed like it was an accident
empathy
the ability to perceive and feel emotions that another person is feeling
what were most disuptes between pairs of 21-month-old children about
84% involved toys
sharing experiment
5- to 14-year-old chidren had earned 5 candy bars and were told they could share some with “poor children” - 60% of 5 and 6 year olds shared, 92% of 7 and 8 year olds and 100% of older kids
food sharing experiment
18 and 25 month old toddlers took part in a food sharing task with an adult - children could pull a lever to deliver a treat for themselves and for an adult
when adults said “i like crackers. i want a cracker” - 70% of older children gave crackers
collaboration sharing tadk
3 year old children shown how to operate an apparatus in which two people must pull on ropes to get a prize
children cooperated 70% of the time, shared reward equally 80% of the time
at what age do children realize they’re getting an unfair deal
3 years old
how is young children’s fair distribution of resources related to the theory of mind
preschool children who passed false-belief tasks were more likely to make a fair distribution of resources between themselves and a peer
emulation
understanding the goal the model has in mind, don’t restrict themselves to using the same behaviors as the model did to achieve it
overimulation
faithfully repeating the actuons of a model even if many of these are irrelevant and if there’s a more efficient way to solve a problem
when does emulation stop
around the 3rd birthday
Lyons experiment
showed preschool children how to open a transparent container to get a toy that was inside
some of the actions of the morel were clearly relevant to opening a containers while others are irrelevant
most children copied both even when they were able to say which actions are “silly”
experiment about emulation - accidental
3, 4, and 5 year old children in one study were less apt to copy irrelevant actions in attempting to get the toy out when the adult morel made it clear movements were accidental
explanation for overimulation
older children believe that models are trustworthy
is overimulation present in Kalahari Bushman children and if yes, when
yes in 2- to 6-year-olds
why do children copy irrelevant actions too
they might believe all of the actions are important for the “bigger overarching action sequence”
puppet experiment
3- to 5-year-old children corrected a puppet that omitted unnecessary actions previously performed by an adult
panpipes experiment - showing the child
one preschool was shown how to work the panpies using a stick (the lift method, the poke method, the push lift method) - served as a model for other children, all 20 learned
when just gave them panpipes - only 3/16 succeeded
how do children teach one another
not deliberately, one child performs some task while their classmates watch
but - many children talked about what they were doing
panpipes experiment 2
taught one child in each of 2 classrooms either the lift or the poke method - 83% of children who tried to operate them were successful + after a few days, several children learned additional ways
parenting styles
ways. in which parents interact with the children on the way to adulthood
two dimensions of parenting styles
the degree of warmth (being loving and attentive to children and their needs) and the degree of control a parent attempts to exert over a child’s behavior
4 types of parenting styles
authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, uninvolved
authoritarian parenting style
strongly value obedience for its own sake, high degree of power assertion to control children (low warmth, high control)
authoritative
wish that their children learn and abide by basic principles of right and wrong (high warmth, high control)
permissive parents
most tolerant of their children’s disruptive actions, least likely to discipline, the responses to misbehavior are manifestations of their own frustration not attempts at correction (high warmth, low control)
uninvolved (neglectful) parents
added later - disengaged from their children, emotionally cold, demand little of their children (low warmth, low control)
what qualities to children of authoritative parents have
friendlier, happier, more cooperative, less likely to disrupt others’ activities
