1
Q
Bonding
A
- The early relationship formed between mother and infant
- Early belief that post birth bonding was critical for later social development.
- It is now thought that attachments are formed with infants through daily interaction.
- Infants are predisposed to respond to human interaction:
- A few days after birth Infants show clear preference for their mother’s face.
- At One year children use their mother’s emotional expressions to guide their own behaviour in ambiguous situations
2
Q
Social Referencing
A
- Relying on another person’s emotional reaction to appraise an uncertain situation
- Starts at 8–10 months
- Caregiver’s role very important
- Helps evaluate safety and security
- Guides actions
- Aids in gathering information about others
3
Q
Bonding and Temperament
A
The infant’s temperament is determines:
- The type and amount of social interaction in which they engage with others.
- The quality of the bonds established with their primary caregivers
4
Q
Temperament Chart
A
Elements of Personality
- Melancholic
- Choleric
- Phlegmatic
- Sanguine
5
Q
Measure and Observe Temperament
A
- Difficult to define and measure and observe
- No clear-cut distinction between temperament and personality
- Key dimension of personality
- Evident from birth.
- Shapes Attachment and subsequent intimate relationships.
6
Q
Three General Temperament Patterns
A
- Easy (Flexible)
- Slow to warm up (Fearful)
- Difficult (Feisty)
Each individual’s temperament shows their style of expressing needs and emotions
7
Q
Temperament Type - Basic Clusters
A
- Chess & Thomas Basic Clusters
8
Q
Temperament - Australian Study
A
- Sanson, Prior, Oberklaid 1985
- 2,443 representative Melbourne families
- Infants aged 4 months - 8 months
- Four temperaments identified
- Babies rated middle of most of the dimensions that showed difference between easy and difficult
- Easy 39%
- Average 40%
- Slow to warm up 8%
- Difficult 12%
9
Q
Temperamental Differance
A
- Cause of temperamental difference unclear
- Possible psychological basis suggests association between colic, sleep disturbance and temperament classification
- Not related to:
- Birth order effects
- Birth in Rural v Urban environment
- Individual Gender
- Evidence for Cohort difference indicating environmental factors shape temperament
10
Q
Temperamental Difference - Smart & Sanso 2005
A
- Smart & Sanson (2005):
- Compared infant temperament patterns in two cohorts of infants.
- Australian Temperament Project (ATP): commenced in 1983
- Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC): commenced in 2004
- THREE facets of temperament style assessed:
- Approach-Sociability, Cooperation-adaptability, Irritability-soothability
- Findings were that ATP infants scored higher in irritability than LSAC infants.
- Reason:
- Parents of LSAC infants older and better educated.
- Improved personal and social resources (e.g., maturity, income, parent education) for parenting role.
11
Q
Tempermental Stability
A
- Persistences of infant temperament over time is likley but not inevitable
- Mood tone is most likely to be stable over time
12
Q
Mood Tone
A
refers to the overall tone of a person’s feelings
13
Q
A
14
Q
Temperamental Stability - Young, Fox & Zahn-Waxler (1999):
A
- High activity + negative mood at four months (i.e., difficult) à less altruism & empathy at 2 years (i.e., less responsive to mother’s distress).
15
Q
Temperamental Stability - Lewis (1993)
A
- Negative mood tone (frequent expression of intense negative emotions – anger, distress) at 3 months
- Poor cognitive performance at 4 years (even after other variables controlled for).
16
Q
Temperamental Stability - Caspi & Silva (1995)
A
- 800 NZ boys and girls from birth -18 years
- “Lack of control” at 3 years [rough in play (Activity), distractible, hard staying still (Distractibility), dramatic mood swings (Responsiveness)]
- Risk taking, sensation seeking, low regard for authority, negative emotional response to everyday events, enmeshment in adversarial relationships at 18 years.
- Explanation: environmental engineering
- Shy child growing up in extroverted environment = more likely to be rejected
17
Q
Temperamental Stability - Continuity & Change
A
- There are both continuities and change in temperament over time:
- Studies have shown clear longitudinal continuity of temperament
- Explanation: Children as niche pickers – select environments that match their genetic predispositions
- Patterns of interactions lead to same conditions being recreated
- Goodness of fit With child temperament + parenting styles
18
Q
Goodness of Fit
A
- Thomas & Chess 1977
- Degree of overlap between infant’s temperament and parents image of ideal child
- If good fit then continuity of temperament is observed
- If poor fit then Parental effort to change infant can modify initial temperament tendancies
- If modification is successful the discontinuity in temperament is observed
19
Q
Conclusions about Temperament
A
- Biological basis to temperament
- A number of facets/dimensions to temperament
- Children’s temperament matters for their development and well being
- Reactivity/Irritability/cooperation in infancy can put a child at risk for development of behaviour problems (e.g., aggression, hyperactivity)
- Temperament influences development directly and indirectly through in the type of interactions it elicits from others around the child.
20
Q
Attachment Defined
A
- Deep, affectionate, enduring relationship to another individual.
- Bowlby (1969):
- Studies of infants and children orphaned in WWII.
- Infants biologically motivated to form attachments because they ensure survival.
21
Q
Role of the Mother - Bowlby
A
- Studies of institutionalised children in the 1940s and 1950s
- Influenced development of contemporary attachment theories.
- Bowlby: subsequent problems of these children resulted from being deprived of the experience of bonding to a mother.
- Children deprived of consistent care by a mother were:
- Developmentally delayed.
- Showed later forms of psychopathology, e.g., delinquent personalities.
- This hypothesis = Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis.
22
Q
A
23
Q
Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis
A
- Bowlby
- Suggests that continual disruption of the attachment between infant and primary caregiver (i.e. mother) could result in long term cognitive, social, and emotional difficulties for that infant.
- Originally believed the effects to be permanent and irreversible.
24
Q
Role of the Father
A
- Bowlby:
- Institutionalised infants who were also deprived of fathers
- Their later psychopathology was not attributed to paternal absence.
- Initially suggested that fathers are as crucial to their child’s development as mothers.
- However, it also shows that fathers have a unique role in the child’s development.
25
Role of the Father - Peterson
* Father’s role been so downplayed that paternal deprivation is considered “normal”, even for a child in an intact family environment (Peterson, 2010, p. 151).
* Research shows fathers may be first object of attachment for some infants (see Peterson, 2013, p. 158-162).
26
Role of the Father - Schaffer & Emerson 1964
* 60 Scottish infants.
* Even in homes where the mother was the primary caregiver, some infants formed their first emotional bonds with:
* Fathers.
* Grandparents.
27
Role of the Father - Ainsworth
* Study of Ugandan infants
* Fathers were primary attachment figus in 5-20% of cases
* Subsequent researchers interested in examining how fathers might contribute to infant and child attachment behaviours.
28
Historical Research Fathers - Lamb 1977
* Qualitative difference between type of care provided by each parent for infants.
* Mothers → Nurturant acts of parenting, e.g., feeding, changing, dressing, and comforting the child.
* Fathers → Engage in play activities with the child.
29
Historical Research Fathers - Russell 1978
* Russell (1978):
* Fathers devote approximately 13 hours per week to parenting.
* Much of this time is involved in play activities with children.
* This research is 40 Years old!!
30
Contemporary Fathering
* Rochlen, McKelly & Whittacker (2010):
* Increase in the numbers of fathers who choose to stay at home and care for their children, with 65% increase in numbers from 2004-2007.
* However, 50% of fathers reported a stigmatising incident, with 67% of incidents perpetrated by stay at home mothers.
* Australian statistics: 4-5% of two-parent families have stay-at-home fathers (80,000 in 2016, AIFS).
* Come to this role for various reasons, however still face stigmatisation
* Gender role expectations have not changed significantly
31
Attachment Aspects
Bowlby: Attachment behaviour has Four Aspects:
* Proximity Maintenance
* Safe Haven
* Secure Base
* Separation Distress
32
Proximity Maintenance
Child maintains close proximity to caregiver
33
Safe Haven
Child turns to caregiver for comfort when frightened or threatened
34
Secure Base
Child considers caregiver as providing reliable base to come back to.
35
Separation Distress
Child is distressed when separated from caregiver
36
Separation
* When infants are separated from caregivers, anxiety occurs
* Three stages of the separation process
* Protest
* Despair
* Detachment
37
Working Model
* Repeated experiences with caregiver establish a Working Model.
* Children Internalise experiences with caregivers and the way they are treated/valued
* Important to overcoming separation anxiety and judging situations
* Based on likely response of caregiver if they were present at the time
* If something goes wrong, knowing they will be protected
* This working model provides a prototype for all subsequent relationships (friendships, love relationships, faith experiences).
38
Comfort or Food?
* Early research on attachment was also interested in the question of what led to an infant developing an attachment to a caregiver.
* Is comfort or food more important?
* This question was addressed in research by Harry Harlow in 1959.
39
Harry Harlow 1959
* His observational studies were conducted using rhesus monkeys.
* Harlow was able to establish that comfort was crucial in establishing attachment.
* Monkeys separated from mothers at birth.
* Raised using two artificial mothers:
* Wire mother that provided food.
* Cloth mother that provided no food.
* Preference for cloth mother, especially when fearful.
40
Harlow - Consequences of No Attachment
Harlow (1959) isolated infant monkeys showed:
* Withdrawal.
* Rocking.
* Huddling.
* Unable to form sexual relationships as adults.
* When female monkeys had babies, tended to:
* Ignore them.
* Abuse them when they became distressed.
41
Consequences of No Attachment - In Humans
* In cases where human children have been denied the opportunity to form attachments, similar negative consequences to Harlow Study have been observed.
* Genie Wiley
* Child of Rage
* Tragedy of Orphanages
42
Later Attachment Research
* Ainsworth (1967, 1978):
* Research with infants and caregivers in Uganda then the US.
* Developed a protocol for the systematic observation of attachment behaviours in the laboratory à the “Strange Situation”.
* This situation escalates stress that infants experience
43
Strange Situation Experiment
8 stages that each increases anxiety
* Mother and infant enter unfamiliar room.
* Mother sits down and infant is free to explore the room.
* An unfamiliar adult enters the room.
* The infant is left alone with the stranger.
* The mother returns and the stranger leaves.
* The mother leaves the infant alone in the room.
* The stranger returns as a substitute for the mother.
* The stranger leaves the room and the mother returns to the room.
44
Attachement Styes
TWO types of attachment:
* Secure - 66%.
* Insecure - 34%.
* Avoidant à Detachment - 22%.
* Anxious-resistant (ambivalent) à Protest - 12%.
* Disorganized (later research).
* Attachment patterns created in part by quality of care given by caregiver
45
Attachment Styles - Secure
* Warm, affectionate, consistent.
* Child welcomes mother’s return and seeks closeness to her (most common)
46
Attachement Style - Avoidant
* Distant, unresponsive, inexpressive.
* Child avoids or ignores their mother when she returns
47
Attachement Styles - Ambivalent
* Intrusive, inconsistent, uncertain.
* Child is upset when their mother leaves
* When she returns the child exhibits anger at mother while seeking to be close to her
48
Attachment Styles - Disorganised
* Abusive, depressed.
* Child may approach mother but gaze away, and may show odd motor behaviour and dazed facial expressions
49
Evaluating Attachment Theory
50
Evaluate Attachment Theory
* Attachments may be reversed if initial conditions that give rise to the attachments are changed.
* Interaction of temperament with attachment style
* Child’s temperament may help to shape caregiver’s style of interaction with child
* Attachments styles might define relationships, not individuals
* Context may affect type of attachment behaviour exhibited
* Model of self may be as important as model of others in determining attachment style.
51
Parenting Styles
* Temperament, attachment, and deprivation points to significance of primary caregivers in shaping later personality and behaviour.
* Diana Baumrind’s research on parenting styles and their effect.
52
Parenting Styles - Baumrind 1971; 1991
Australian & European American parents tend to one of four parenting styles:
* Authoritarian
* Permissive
* Authoritative
* Uninvolved
Based on Two Dimensions
* Parental Responsiveness/Warmth.
* Parental Demandingness/Control.
53
Authoritarian Parent Style
* Place high value on obedience
* Relatively strict, punitive, and unsympathetic
* Curb the child’s will
* **High** Control, **Low** Warmth.
54
Permissive Parent Styles
* Exert minimal control over their child
* More affectionate
* Lax with discipline
* Give the child a great deal of freedom
* **Low** Control, **High** Warmth.
55
Authoritative Parent Style
* Reason with their children
* Encourage give-and-take and setting limits
* Demands are reasonable and consistent
* Give their child more responsibility with age
* **Moderate/High** Control, **High** Warmth.
56
57
Uninvolved Parent Style
* AKA rejecting/neglecting parents
* Indifferent to their child
* Put their own needs above that of the child
* Do not monitor the child’s activities
* **Low** Control, **Low** Warmth.
58
Children of Authoritative Parents
* High Acceptance, High Control Parent
* Friendly, cooperative, self-reliant, socially responsible children, socially competent
59
Children of Authoritarian Parents
* Low Acceptance, High Control Parents
* Unhappy, fearful children
* Have low self-esteem and assertiveness
* Weak communication skills
60
Children of Permissive Parents
* High Acceptance, Low Control
* Impulsive children who lack control
* Lack respect for others
* Difficult peer-relations
61
Children of Uninvolved Parents
* Low Acceptance, Low Control
* Socially incompetent children
* Immature, dependent, have low self-esteem
* Display antisocial behavior
62
Authoritative Parenting Leads to Better Outcomes
* Social competence in middle childhood
* Outgoingness, prosocial assertiveness, strong social responsibility, moral values
* Cultural differences:
* Authoritative parenting rare in non-Western cultures
* Asian/latin cultures: expect obedience; parents have greater authority
* Not considered domineering in the Western sense
* Indigenous parenting practices – child oriented (children’s needs put first), age-integrated (young children active participants of community), autonomy given to children, parents model behaviour
* **Correlational research** – relationship between parenting style and child development a lot more complex
* Reciprocal relationship between parents and children
63
Self and Identity
Explorations of social and emotional development during childhood and adolescence have focused on TWO entities
* Self - All characteristics of a person
* Identity - Who we are, career, beliefs, gender roles
* Understandings of self and identity become increasingly complex with age
64
Infant Self Understanding
* Hard to study babies sense of self as infants cannot verbalise how they experience themselves.
* Research has investigated self-recognition using the mirror self-recognition paradigm.
* Example: Rouge test
* Before one year of age, children do not recognise themselves in the mirror.
* However, by two years of age, most infants can recognise themselves in a mirror.
* Conclusion: self-recognition begins at approximately 18 months of age.
65
Self Understanding in Childhood
By three years of age, children show FOUR forms of self-awareness in language that reflect a sense of self.
* Self-referral, e.g., ‘me want’.
* Possession, e.g., ‘my toy’.
* Self-monitoring, e.g., ‘do it myself’.
* Conscious awareness of body shape and appearance
66
Self Understanding in Middle Childhood
By middle childhood, children have a concrete understanding of themselves manifested in:
* Physical description, e.g., “I’m different from Jennifer because she has brown hair and I have blonde hair”.
* Active description, e.g., self-description in terms of activities, such as play.
* Unrealistic positive over-estimations
67
Unrealistic Positive Overstimations
* Represents an overestimation of personal attributes, e.g., ‘I’m never scared’, ‘I’m so strong’
Occur because:
* Children have difficulty in differentiating desired and actual competence.
* Cannot generate an ideal self that is distinguished from a real self.
* Rarely engage in social comparison.
68
Self Understanding in Childhood
* By late childhood, children’s self-understandings are becoming increasingly complex
* Although still tied very much to the concrete
69
Childhood Self Understanding Includes
* Psychological characteristics - Helpful, mean, smart
* Social description - Girl scout, chess player
* Real v. ideal self - What I can do and what I would like to be able to do. (Erikson Industry v Inferiority
* Increased realism - More realistic about abilities compared to younger childhood
* Social comparison. - Better/worse than peers in certain aspects
70
Self-understandings in adolescence are complex and increasingly abstract.
* The revolve around THREE elements:
* Possible selves.
* Identity.
* Self-consciousness.
71
Possible Selves
* Erikson (1953):
* Adolescents imagine possible selves.
* Versions of self that adolescents try on for fit, imagining what lives might be like.
* Possible selves may be:
* Positive (what we hope to become).
* Negative (what we fear becoming).
72
Possible Selves - Knox, Funk, Elliot & Bush 2000
Most possible selves are positive (hoped for selves), although some may be negative (feared selves).
* Knox, Funk, Elliott, & Bush (2000)
* Adolescents in high school generate an average of 13 possible selves.
* Generate mostly positive selves.
* Females more negative/feared selves for relationships/ interpersonal connections
* i.e., not ever dating, never having children, being a bad mother
* Males more negative/feared selves for occupation
* i.e., getting a bad job, being a loser, not becoming famous
73
Identity
* Erikson (1953):
* Social development across lifespan occurs in eight stages.
* Identity v. Role Confusion is the stage associated with adolescence.
* Changes in identity that occur during adolescence involve substantial reorganisation and restructuring of the individual’s sense of self.
74
Identity is Constructed From . . .
* Past experiences.
* Present encounters.
* What an individual anticipates for his/her future.
75
Identity Formation
* Identity is developed through the process of individuation.
* Individuation involves the following steps:
* Separation from primary caregivers.
* Dependency shifted onto peers.
* Psychological autonomy leads to a unique identity.
76
Individuation
* A process of transformation whereby the personal and collective unconscious are brought into consciousness
* Acheived by means of dreams, active imagination, or free association
* Assimilated into the whole personality.
* It is a completely natural process necessary for the integration of the psyche
77
Identity Formation
* Some personality characteristics are important for identity formation:
* Self-esteem (encourages risk taking).
* Self-monitoring (encourages sensitivity to social cues).
* Ego resiliency (increases flexibility).
* Openness to experience (expands scope of options that adolescents are able to consider).
78
Identity Domains
* Initial domains of identity proposed by Erikson (1953, 1968):
* Vocation (career).
* Ideology (spirituality/faith and politics).
* Gender, sexuality and interpersonal relationships.
79
Identity Status
* TWO criteria essential for the attainment of identity:
* Crisis/Exploration:
* Commitment:
* Four Identity statuses that can be achieved
* Depend on absence or prescence of crisis/exploration
* Depends on commitment to each of the identity domains
* Acheived
* Foreclosed
* Moratorium
* Diffused
80
Crisis/Exploration:
* Active examination of possible selves
* Exploring alternatives to self
81
Commitment to Self
* Personal involvement + allegiance to one self
* Personal investment in identity
82
Discuss Identity Statuses
* The identity statuses form a developmental progression.
* Regressive changes, from higher to lower statuses, may occur.
* An adolescent may be in two or three statuses in different domains at the same time.
83
Identity Diffusion
* Not yet experienced a crisis or made any commitments
* Individuals who are identity diffused display the highest levels of psychological and interpersonal problems:
* Most socially withdrawn.
* Lowest levels of intimacy with peers.
84
Diffusion and Parenting
* Parenting practices that feature a lack of warmth are most associated with inability to commit, and therefore lead to identity diffusion
85
Identity Foreclosure
* Made a commitment but have not experienced a crisis.
* Example: following a career path chosen by parent
* Individuals who are identity foreclosed demonstrate:
* Authoritarian values.
* High levels of prejudice.
* Highest need for social approval.
* Lowest levels of autonomy.
* Greatest closeness to parents.
86
Foreclosure and Parenting
* Parenting features little encouragement of individuality
* Most associated with problems in engaging in extensive exploration
* Associated with authoritarian parenting
87
Moratorium (crisis)
* In a middle of a crisis but their commitment is vaguely defined.
* Adolescents who are in the stage of moratorium demonstrate:
* Highest levels of anxiety.
* Highest levels of conflict over issues of authority.
* Lowest levels of rigidity.
* Lowest levels of authoritarianism.
88
Identity Acheivement
* Undergone a crisis and have made a commitment.
* Adolescents who are identity achieved demonstrate:
* Highest achievement motivation.
* Highest levels of moral reasoning.
* Highest levels of intimacy with peers.
* Greatest reflectiveness.
* Highest career maturity
89
Acheivement and Parenting
* Parenting practices that have been associated with identity achievement have been shown to be:
* Warm.
* Not excessively constraining.
* That is, authoritative.
90
Self Consciousness - Elkind (1978)
* The adolescent experience is characterised by a particular type of egocentrism.
* Adolescents believe that other individuals in their worlds are as pre-occupied with themselves and their thoughts as they are.
91
Self Consciousness
TWO consequences:
* **Imaginary audience**
* Imagines critical evaluation by others
* Increased self-consciousness.
* **Personal fable:**
* Personal uniqueness.
* Invulnerability
* Adolescents feel immune to risks that affect others.
*
92
Self Esteem
* How the individual feels about self.
* Positive or negative evaluation of self;
* Affective dimension of self-understanding.
* Self esteem has two aspects:
* Global - overall.
* Dimensional - specific domains, e.g., mathematics.
93
Self Esteem and Parenting
* Relationships with parents provide foundations of self-esteem.
* Adolescents will have positive self-esteem if :
* Parents use authoritative parenting styles.
* Parents stress:
* Self-reliance.
* Shared decision-making.
* Willingness to listen.
94
Self Esteem and Gender
* In childhood, there is no difference in levels of self-esteem manifested by males and females.
* However, at adolescence, females report significantly lower levels of self-esteem than males.
* Trend continues until mid-life.
95
Differences in Self Esteem by Gender
* Females more likely than males to evaluate negatively the characteristics about themselves that they believe to be most important.
* Females rate feared selves as more likely to occur than do males.
* Females’ self-esteem is more vulnerable than males’ in the face of change
96
Conclusion about Temperament
* Research on temperament and attachment demonstrates the importance of **biologically based predispositions** and **parental/caregiver interaction** in social development.
* Strategies that caregivers use to raise children are important in shaping subsequent social development.
* **Biological and environmental factors** interact to produce the social developments of childhood and adolescence in terms of self-understanding, identity and self-esteem.
* These social developments provide the foundations for subsequent developments in vocational choice, gender, sexuality and relationships, and ideological framework
2052 - Lifespan Development
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