Early beginnings and infancy

Question 1

Outline stages of pre-natal development, and how long do they last for?

Answer 1

germinal stage - 0-2 weeks
embryonic stage - 2-8 weeks
fetal stage - 9 weeks until birth

Question 2

What is a pre-term baby and what are the adverse impacts of such an event?

Answer 2

Baby born before 37 weeks old

• increased chance of cognitive impairment eg///
• increased chance of autism
• increased chance of ADHD

Question 3

Vulnerability of embryo - incidence of conception/stillborn/abortion?

Answer 3

58% conceptions fail to implant
5% are stillborn
20% of embryos are spontaneously aborted within 2-8 weeks due to a chromosomal abnormality

Question 4

What impacts phenotype? How is this the case?

Answer 4

Genotype + environment. If either genes or environment are atypical then phenotype will be atypical.

Question 5

Impact of malnourishment on fetus?

Answer 5

Increased incidence of schizophrenia

Increased incidence of personality disorders found

Question 6

Examples of teratogens and what do they impact?

Answer 6

Asparin - blood clotting
Thalidomide - limb development
Alcohol - FAS
Smoking - low birth weight
Excess vitamin A - damages the liver

Question 7

Symptoms in child of FAS? Why is it on the rise?

Answer 7

• Changes in culture wrt women (particularly western culture) meant that more women in the workplace and therefore have more disposable income.
• Also social shift has meant that it has become more socially acceptable for women to drink alcohol.
  PHENOTYPIC SIGNS: small eyes, flat/smooth philtrum, upturned nose, thin upper lip, learning disabilities

Question 8

Outline contrasting environments before and after birth for infant

Answer 8

Before:
Water based, constant food via umbilical cord/placenta, steady temperature, constant supply of O2
After:
No longer in water, Food consumed orally, self regulation of temperature, breathing via respiratory system

Question 9

What signals birthing process?

Answer 9

Fetal brain signals release of hormones –> triggers contraction of the uterine wall to push out the baby

Question 10

What are the difficulties in testing infants and babies?

Answer 10

• Babies have limited communicative abilities
• poor motor coordination
• short attention spans

Question 11

Definition of attachment? Why is it so important?

Answer 11

‘Emotional bond with specific person that endured across time and space’
–> much evidence suggests that secure attachment is crucial for typical social, emotional and even physical development, as well as maintenance of high self esteem

Question 12

How did Darwin and Piaget contribute to the investigation of attachment?

Answer 12

Charles Darwin - naturalistic observational study of his own son Doddy
Jean Piaget - development of clinical methods of studying children. Used experimental designs and manipulated these and recorded behaviours

Question 13

How did John Bowlby’s observation contribute to our understanding of attachment? What were his important conclusions?

Answer 13

• Observation of institutionalised children in WW2 increased understanding of importance of parent-child interactions
• importantly, concluded that parent offers safe haven to allow child to safely explore their own environment

Question 14

What is social referencing and whose theory?

Answer 14

John Bowlby - social referencing used by children to help them make decisions about how to react to a particular stimulus. When they are presented with a novel stimulus, they look to the face of their attached adult to help them understand how they should react

Question 15

Konrad Lorenz - what important study contributed to our understanding of attachment?

Answer 15

Konrad Lorenz (1935) - hatched baby goslings and separated from mother. Geese without mother actually attached to Lorenz himself –> Lorenz hypothesised that ourselves and animals were biologically predisposed to form attachments as they increase our chance of survival

Question 16

Harry Harlow (1965) – important study and how this aided understanding of attachment?

Answer 16

Harlow (1965) –> study on Rhesus Macaques
Infant monkeys separated from mother and raised in lab setting.
- Those kept in social isolation displayed self-injurious behaviour, severe social outcomes and rejected/killed their own young later on.
- Infants also given option of either wire or cloth mother. Monkeys chose to cling to cloth mother out of the two options –> highlighted importance of maternal touch
- when monkeys presented with a ‘helper monkey’ (animal with secure attachment and typical social behaviours), rehabilitation of atypical behaviours were observed

Question 17

Attachment styles - what are the main 4?

Answer 17

Secure attachment
Insecure avoidant
Insecure resistant
Disorganised

Question 18

Outline the main features/ steps of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation (1969)?

Answer 18

Each ‘episode’ 3 minutes. Controlled setting - room with toys in it.

1) mother and child play
2) stranger enters
3) mother leaves
4) mother re-enters and stranger leaves
5) mother leaves child alone
6) stranger re enters
7) mother re-enters and stranger leaves

Question 19

Features and incidence of secure attachment (with regards to strange situation) and what this means for child/mother relationship

Answer 19

50-70% infants observed to have this type.

• upset when their mother leaves
• comforted upon mother’s return
• content relationship with attachment figure –> high quality attachment
• mother/attachment figure is emotionally and physically available for child

Question 20

Features and incidence of insecure resistant attachment style (with regards to strange situation) and what this means for child/mother relationship

Answer 20

10% infants observed with this type

• ‘clingy’ attachment
• very upset when mother leaves
• resistant to comforting on mother’s return
• resistant to comforting by stranger
• no exploration of environment
• may indicate mother is inconsistently available
• indicates overactive attachment system

Question 21

Features and incidence of insecure avoidant attachment style (with regards to strange situation) and what this means for child/mother relationship

Answer 21

15% infants observed with this type

• indifferent towards caregiver when they are in the room
• indifferent upon their return
• if they become upset, they are comforted as easily by the stranger as their caregiver
• may indicate parents emotionally unavailable / unresponsive / rejective

Question 22

Features and incidence of disorganised attachment style (with regards to strange situation) and what this means for child/mother relationship

Answer 22

15% infants observed with this type

• not soothed by mother
• ‘freeze’ behaviours observed
• infants appear dazed and disorientated
• commonly observed in domestic environments where children have experienced sexual abuse or are around substance abuse (where source of soothing is also source of danger)

Question 23

What did Bowlby (1969) suggest regarding schemas?

Answer 23

development of a child’s attachment relationship with their primary caregiver leads to the development of an internal working model; a cognitive model compromising of mental representations of the world, self and
others - schema .