Social DevelopmentChapter 4

Stranger Anxiety Stranger anxiety – fear of strangers

that infants commonly display› Displayed ~ 6 months old

Attachment Attachment – an emotional tie with

another person; seen in young children by seeking closeness to the caregiver

Elements of Attachment Familiarity

› Attachment forms during a critical period – period shortly after birth when certain events must take place to facilitate proper development

› Imprinting – certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life Ex. Konrad Lorenz studied what ducks would

do if he was the first thing they saw after being born. They followed him around. Lorenz also found that imprinting occurred with various other moving objects.

Movie Trailer – Fly Away Home

ATTACHMENT Attachment theorists believe that if proper

emotional ties are formed (from birth to one) with caregiver then social and emotional development is more likely to flourish. To do this caregiver needs to be nurturing, trusting and show responsiveness. They believe it’s the most important time of life.

Q. What might happen if you parent a child and respond every time a 3 year old cries, whines and/or says he/she needs something?

Elements of Attachment Body Contact – attached to those

who satisfy needs› Ex. Harry Harlow bred monkeys and

placed them in cages with a baby blanket. The monkeys became attached to the blanket. Harlow then created two artificial mothers – one wire mother with a wooden head and one terrycloth monkey. Monkeys preferred the cloth mother.

› Video: YouTube - Harlow's Monkeys› › HarryHarlow strange situation

Mary Ainsworth - Attachment

Ex. Mary Ainsworth – studied attachment by observing mother and infants in the first 6 months. Later she places 1 year olds in a strange situation without their mothers. Mothers seen as sensitive in the first observation, had children with secure attachments, Mothers seen as insensitive had children with insecure attachments.

Video Clip – Strange Situation

Secure AttachmentsSecurely Attached infants (had

responsive parent) will: play comfortably in their mother’s

presence, use mom as a homebase are distressed when mom leaves and

seeks contact upon return but not clingy.

Insecure AttachmentInsecurely Attached infants may: explore less in the mother’s presence cling to her be ambivalent about mom having left be crying uncontrollably Secure vs

Insecure Attachments Strange Situation

Secure Attachments Secure attachment predicts social

competence› Erikson states that children with secure

attachment approach life with basic trust – the belief that the world is predictable and trustworthy

› Basic trust develops with appropriate responses by caregivers (loving, caring, nurturing)

› Life without forming attachments could cause one to fear the world, no basic trust develops.

› Harlow’s monkeys, if reared alone were later terrified to be surrounded by adult monkeys.

What if attachment is interrupted?

Interruption during attachment› Most infants recover if placed in a stable,

nurturing environment

Self Concept By the age of 12 children have a sense of self Self concept – a sense of one’s identity and

personal worth By the time children reach school age they

begin to describe themselves by their gender and group memberships and compare themselves to other children.

The Rouge Test – Self-recognition (video)› Children recognize themselves with rouge on

forehead around 18 mo.

Baumrind’s Parenting Styles

1. Complete the Parental Authority Questionaire using your mother, father OR guardian.

Parenting Authoritarian - Parents impose rules and

expect obedience Permissive – parents submit desires,

make few demands, and use little punishment

Authoritative – Parents are both demanding and responsive (open discussion about the rules and explanation for the rules, discussion about exceptions to the rules)

Parenting Styles In Pairs, go through each of the 21

parenting Styles. For each one, decide whether you think

it represents a: Authoritarian (place an N) Permissive (place a P) Authoritative (place a V)

Parenting Styles Survey Directions: Add up your scores

from the following numbers 1,6,10,13,14,17,19 = Permissive / 2,3, 7, 9, 12, 16, 18=

Authoritarian, add up the remaining ones =

Authoritative.

Can parenting influence self-esteem?

Children with the highest self-esteem have authoritative parents› When people are given control over their

own life they become motivated and confident

› Don’t jump to conclusions that correlation = causation. Other third factors could be causing high social competence (ex. genes, harmonious marriage)