Mother as the Primary Care Giver

Question 1

Intro. What is a primary care giver?

Answer 1

The person who is most responsible for an infant’s health, developmetn and wellbeing

Question 2

Intro. Social/ethical implication of traditional role?

Answer 2

Many women may feel unable to return to work after having children as society may overemphasis the importance of the mother

Question 3

Intro. What did Pew research centre find?

Answer 3

16% of primary care givers are male - society promotes equality raising the question of whether a woman is the ‘best’ PCG

Question 4

1 What did Freud believe?

Answer 4

The mother infant relationship was of the greatest importance in the oral stage of psychosexual development.

Question 5

1 What happens if there is a problem at any stage of development?

Answer 5

Can result in the child getting fixated at the body part associated with that stage - long lasting effect

Question 6

1 Key events at the oral stage?

Answer 6

Breast feeding and weaning onto solid food

Question 7

1 Adult personality when fixated?

Answer 7

Over indulged - optimistic, gullible, needy
Under indulged - pessimistic, envious, sarcastic

Question 8

1 What is separation anxiety caused by?

Answer 8

The infant realising that their bodily needs will go unsatisfied if separtion is allowed .

Question 9

1 What does a mother’s love act as?

Answer 9

A prototype for every relationship the infant will go on to have in their lifetime

Question 10

2 Historical context?

Answer 10

At the time he was writing women did not even have the right to vote and their lives were solely lived in the home - ideas may reflect norms and values in society

Question 11

2 What happens in the phallic stage?

Answer 11

A young boy comes to desire his mother and regard his father as a rival. he will wish his dad is dead which will cause anxiety. - resolved when boy comes to identify with his father allowing the boy to develop normal, healthy friendhips and heterosexual relationships

Question 11

2 What did Freud recognise?

Answer 11

The importance of the role of a father in a boy’s development

Question 12

3 What did Bowlby’s research demonstrate?

Answer 12

Early and prolonged separation can have lasting emotional effects

Question 13

3 What can separation lead to?

Answer 13

An affectionless character - lacks the ability to feel normal affection, shame or sense of responsibility - more likely to become a thief

Question 14

3 What did Bolwby develop these views into?

Answer 14

Maternal deprivation hypothesis

Question 15

3 What did Bowlby identify?

Answer 15

A central role for the mother in healthy emotional development

Question 16

3 What was Bowlby influenced by?

Answer 16

Initially Freud’s ideas but was later influenced by the evolutionary theory - proposed that attachment to one caregiver has special importance for survival (monotropy)

Question 17

4 What did Bowlby believe?

Answer 17

A child should experience a warm, intimate and continuous relatonship with his/her mother or permanent substitute

Question 18

4 What is ‘mothering’ not exclusive to?

Answer 18

a child’s mother - other people can act as a PCG

Question 19

4 What did Bowlby study?

Answer 19

Children with TB who spent years in hopsital - most showed few problems in later life

Question 20

4 What can be suggested about Bowlby’s study?

Answer 20

Findings may only be applicable to the ppts studied. - low external validity as they cannot be generalised

Question 21

5 Why are women the best PCG?

Answer 21

Most men are just not psychologically equppied to form this kind of intense emotional relationship

Question 22

5 Biological factors?

Answer 22

Female - oestrogen underlies caring behaviour as well as the release of oxytocin after giving birth and during breast feeding

Question 23

5 Social factors?
Heerman (1994)?

Answer 23

Gender stereotypes that can affect males’ behaviour - feminine to be sensitive
Heerman - evidence that men are less sensitive to infant cues than mothers.

Question 24

6 What did Frodi (1978) find?

Answer 24

no differnces in the biological responses of men and women even though their social responses differed - equally as sensitive

Question 25

6 Validity of Frodi’s study?

Answer 25

low ecological validity - not real face to face experience as videotapes are used

Question 26

6 Single male parent families/same sex families?

Answer 26

Plenty of evidencce that men are capable of forming close attachments with their children

Question 27

6 What does the change in gender stereotypes mean?

Answer 27

men and women feel freer to take on roles traditionally reserved for the opposite sex

Question 28

6 What did Gettler (2011) suggest?

Answer 28

New father’s testosterone levels drop when in the presence of a newborn child - help to respond more sensitively

Question 29

Cult. Aka tribe?

Answer 29

Men take on an important care giving role - in reach of their infants 47% of the time and take on many roles including allowing them to suckle on their nipple to stimulate breast feeding

Question 30

Soc. economic issues?

Answer 30

Mothers feel unable to go back to work - if mother earns more this could limit income of the family and have broader implications for the UK economy as it could decrease productivity and reduce size o the economy

Question 31

Soc. Shared parental leave?

Answer 31

Fathers and mothers can divide the 52 weeks off work as they see fit - reflects how parents in the UK are moving awat from the traditional view that the mother should be the PCG

Question 32

Conc. Out of date?

Answer 32

Healthy development relies on multiple imprtant relationships

Question 33

Conc. What did Bowlby propose?

Answer 33

Secondary attachments provide a vital emotional safety net for situations where the PCG is absent.

Question 34

Conc. What has research shown?
Geiger (1996)?

Answer 34

Men typically provide an equally important ingredient in development
Geiger - fathers are more playful, physically active and generally better at providing challenging situations