Lecture 9

• Infancy: Erikson - Trust versus distrust


  ▪ Primary task/conflict of baby’s (0-1.5 years): basic trust versus

  distrust

  ▪ Strong dependency on parents

  ▪ If caretaker is reliable and responsive: trust

  ▪ If parenting is insecure, unreliable: can lead to distrust (insecure

  attachment)
• Attachment:


  strong emotional bond between caregiver (parents) and child (or any two people)
• According to ethologists (Lorenz), forerunners of today’s evolutionary psychologists, attachment is a...

  … biologically programmed response taking

  place early after birth (if attachment figure

  present)

  ... But also remember: influence of stimulus from

  environment (boots)
• According to behaviorists, attachment is caused by association

  with food (maternal reinforcement stimulus)

  • Watson: Baby/child must be treated like a small adult, so

  they will turn out to be independent adults

  • Parental advice: keep emotional distance

  • Behaviorism still influences our everyday thinking about

  upbringing
• Attachment: Harlow experiment (‘58). Short-term effects:

  ▪ Most monkey stayed on warm mother, but do take a

  drink from metal mother when necessary

  ▪ When scary stimulus in cage: monkey would go to

  warm mother → monkey got attached to warm mother

  ▪ Proximity-seeking behavior occurs with survival threat
• Attachment: Harlow experiment (‘58). Long-term effects:

  ▪ Monkeys who grew up “motherless” showed deviant

  social behavior in later life (no sexual behavior, fear of peers,

  no caring behavior for offspring)

  → Warm relationship of infant with parents (secure

  base) is crucial for development!
• Bowlby: Attachment theory [Milestones]


  Table:

  
• Bowlby: Attachment theory


  ▪ Sensitive period for attachment unfolds in most vulnerable time in

  life, in the same period that a baby becomes mobile

  ▪ Fear bias kicks in when we “move into the world”

  ▪ Attachment figure provides

  ▪ Secure base from which to explore world

  ▪ Safe haven to return to for comfort in case of danger

  ▪ Evolutionary explanation: Attachment is good for survival

  ▪ Relationship with primary caretaker forms basis for future

  relationships
• Secured attachment


  ▪ Child responds happily to

  parent or can easily be

  comforted by the parent

  ▪ Parent is a safe base from

  which the child can explore

  the surroundings
• Insecure attachment


  ▪ Child does not respond happily and cannot be comforted by the parent ▪ Parent is not a safe base
• Avoidant: (insecure attachment style)


  shows no separation anxiety and shows little emotion as the parent returns
• Resistant/Ambivalent: (insecure attachment style)

  much anxiety and stress after separation, ambivalent (e.g., sad and angry) emotions when parent returns, inconsolable by parent
• Disorganized/disoriented: (insecure attachment style)


  no consistent way of coping, confused (frozen) or contradictory behavior, deviant response to return of parent (e.g., fear, running away)
• Attachment experiences affects internal working models

  • = cognitive representations of self and others

  • Important for processing social information and behavior in relationships
• Safely attached children


  • Positive internal working models

  • "I am lovable and can trust others"
• Insecurely attached children


  • Negative internal working models

  • “I am difficult to love me and I can't trust others"
• How does a child get securely attached?

  1. Sensitive parenting: sensitivity to a baby’s signals, needs,

  emotions

  2. Intergenerational transfer: is the parent securely attached?

  • Attachment often mirrors caregivers’ working model of

  attachment

  • Or transfer of same ‘attachment genes’?

  3. Match between children’s needs and environmental suppor
• How does attachment develop over time?

  ▪ Stable environment: same attachment style over time

  ▪ Change in environment (e.g., divorce or death of parent) can

  lead to change in attachment style
• What are effects of secure attachment?

  ▪ Securely attached kids are more likely to grow up to be socially competent, higher self-esteem, higher quality friendships
• Criticism attachment styles/Strange situation

  ▪ Categories of attachment may be overly simplified

  ▪ Children with disorganized attachment style mixed group

  ▪ 20 minutes not sufficient to capture full quality of relationship

  ▪ Cultural differences may impact results
• Playing behavior: Types of play


  Image:

  
• Play


  • Allows children to develop and practice many skills
  • Motor (physical or locomotor play → associated with neural maturation and refinement of motor skills)
  • Cognition (pretend play → better performance on tests of cognitive development, executive function, and creativity)
  • Language (pretend play → language skills)
  • Social (social pretend play → children's understanding of others' perspectives, social skills and popularity)
  • Emotional (play → healthy emotional development by providing opportunities to act out or express bothersome feelings, regulate emotions, and resolve emotional conflicts)
• Gender-segregated play differences


  Image:

  
• Gender schema theory:


  selective attention to same sex as role model
• Developmental theories: a best friend..

  • fulfills the need for self-validation and intimacy that emerges at around

  age 9

  • serve as a training ground for adult romance

  → Protecting factor of having a friend; friends also teach emotions
• Popularity


  • Popularity becomes an absorbing question in later elementary school

  • Social status becomes children’s primary goal

  • Entering concrete operations makes children highly sensitive to making social comparisons

  • Related to:

  • Physical attractiveness

  • Intelligence

  • Social competence

  • Emotion regulation abilities
• Popular


  • Many positive nominations

  • Few negative nominations

  Characteristics:

  • Friendly, prosocial (in all ages)

  • But can be linked to relational

  aggression (in 3rd-5th graders): class

  leaders

  • Handsome/pretty

  • Sporty (especially boys)
• Rejected


  • Many negative nominations

  • Few positive nominations

  • Risk factor for development problem behavior (can be long-term)

  • Internalising behaviors (anxiety, depression): more in girls

  • Externalising behaviors (aggression, oppositional behavior): more in boys

  • Bidirectional: problem behavior cause and effect of rejection

  (externalizing problems / anxiety also lead to being rejected)
• Victims of bullying


  Two types:

  • victim: children with internalizing problems (shy, anxious, depressed)

  • ‘bully-victim’: aggressive children who are bully and victim
• Neglected


  • Few (pos/neg) nominations

  • Is not seen in a positive or negative way

  • Unnoticed

  • Average social skills, but often shy

  • Even more negative effects than rejected
• Controversial


  • Many positive nominations

  • Many negative nominations

  Shows features of both popular and rejected children
• Average


  • At or about the mean on both likability and visibility

  • Regarded as a comparison group when assessing behavioral correlates of the more extreme sociometric groups

  • Behavior of average children described in terms of the extent to which children in the extreme sociometric groups deviate from it
• Secure attachment during adolescence:

  • sense of identity, self-esteem

  • social skills

  • emotional adjustment, fewer behavioral problems

  • attachment to friends and later to romantic partners
• Friendships with peers who are similar in

  • physical characteristics (e.g., age, gender, cultural background)

  • behavior (e.g., academic motivation, hobbies)

  • psychological qualities (e.g., interests, attitudes, values, and personalities)
• Three stages of dating in adolescence

  1. Entry into romantic attractions and affiliations (11 to 13 years)

  2. Exploring romantic relationships (14 to 16 years)

  3. Consolidating dyadic romantic bonds (17 to 19 years)
• Entry into romantic attractions and affiliations (11 to 13 years)

  • Triggered by puberty → interest in romance, dominates conversations
  • Developing a crush on someone, crush often shared with a same-sex friend, but not necessarily interaction
  • If dating, then usually in a group setting
• Exploring romantic relationships (14 to 16 years)


  • Both casual dating and group dating
• Consolidating dyadic romantic bonds (17 to 19 years)


  • More serious romantic relationships develop →strong emotional bonds, more closely resembling those in adult romantic relationships, more stable and enduring
• There are also risks related to drive for popularity

  →Reduced academic motivation

  →Unethical behavior

  →Relational aggression