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Early Socialisation

Early Socialisation. Developmental Psychology. This topic covers . . . Nature of attachment and its role in early socialisation: behaviourist and psychoanalytic explanations of attachment, the Bowlby -Ainsworth paradigm, stages and types of attachment, multiple attachments

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Early Socialisation

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  1. Early Socialisation Developmental Psychology

  2. This topic covers . . . • Nature of attachment and its role in early socialisation: behaviourist and psychoanalytic explanations of attachment, the Bowlby-Ainsworth paradigm, stages and types of attachment, multiple attachments • The nature of separation, deprivation, privation; evidence from studies with animals and humans, long term implications for adjustment and mental health • Day Care: factors affecting cognitive and social development of young children in day care.

  3. Nature • http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=imprinting&view=detail&mid=D9E805685895B3B05802D9E805685895B3B05802&first=0&FORM=NVPFVR

  4. What is attachment? • Bond between child and adult (Primary Attachment Figure, PAF) responsible for its care. • Long term emotional bond. • Separation causes stress and sadness. • Behavioural feature –trying to maintain close proximity (Ainsworth and Bell, 1970). Key Features (Maccoby, 1980): • Wanting close proximity to avoid distress • Using attachment figure as basis for exploring the world (safety) • Orienting behaviour towards figure – looking at them, facing them (focus)

  5. Stages of attachment (Schaffer, 1996) • Pre-attachment – 0-2 months – Enjoys social contact of any kind, no focus on carer. • Attachment in the making – 2-7 months- Starting to recognise individuals but still content with strangers. • Specific Attachment – 7+ months – Separation protest when PAF leaves and begins to become anxious around strangers. • Multiple Attachments –9+ months - Begins to become attached to other figures but still has preference for PAF.- • Reciprocal Relationships – 8-24 months – can predict and influence others responses.

  6. Schaffer and Emerson, 1964 • 60 Glasgow infants – middle class families. • M&P - Observed in their homes once every 4 weeks for a year and then again at 18 months. • Attachment measured by asking mothers about separation protest. • Measured levels of stranger anxiety by approaching the infant at the start of every observation and noting when they started to show signs of anxiety. • R - Showed first specific attachment at 6-8 months. • 39% - PAF was not the person who fed and bathed them (as Behaviourists claimed). • Little relation between strength of attachment and time spent with person. • Strongest bonds were with mothers who reacted to infants responsively.

  7. Behaviourist Theory of Attachment • Attachment learned through conditioning • Classical Conditioning = PAF is neutral stimulus • Food (UCS) Pleasure (UCR) Feeder(CS) • Operant Conditioning (Dollard and Miller) • Negative reinforcement – stopping the discomfort of the baby through feeding/being fed • The food is the primary reinforcer while the feeder is the secondary reinforcer.

  8. Evaluation • Strong evidence support that people do learn through reinforcement – Little Albert. • Is food the reward? What else could be the reward? • Oversimplified • Can’t explain Schaffer and Emerson’s findings.

  9. Psychoanalytic Theory • Freud’s theory of development • 0-18 months the child is in the oral stage • At this point only the id has been developed • Motivated by being satisfying their need for food. • Person who satisfies this becomes object of attachment.

  10. Evaluation • Identifies why and who they become attached to. • Difficult to prove or disprove. • Lack of evidence.

  11. Cupboard Love Theories • Both of these theories are called Cupboard Love theories – focus on feeding. • Contradicted by Schaffer and Emerson. • Harlow (1959) Rhesus Monkey Study • This showed that rather than learning through Classical Conditioning, infants have an innate need for comfort – contact comfort. If the attachments had been formed through feeding then the monkey would have clung to the wire figure.

  12. The Bowlby-Ainsworth Paradigm • Bowlby’s Theory – The evolutionary approach • Bowlby (1969) claimed that attachment was adaptive – born with a need to become attached in order to survive (be cared for as an infant) and reproduce (form relationships as adults). • Infants elicit caregiving (see next slide) • Adults respond to social releasers- attachments form due to the interactions. Infants only form one special relationship (monotropy) with the person they interact best with. • Internal working model – the relationship they have with their PAF determines what they expect from all relationships.

  13. Research • Imprinting – innate in animals for survival. Sensitive period – 6 months, after which infants find it difficult to form attachments. Supports Bowlby’s theory of attachment being adaptive. • Schaffer and Emerson’s study also appears to support the idea of monotropy. Tronick et al (1992) African tribe – one PAF despite being breastfed by multiple women. • Harlow’s monkeys all had trouble in adulthood – poor relationships and poor parents. Lack of interaction.

  14. Ainsworth’s Caregiver Sensitivity Hypothesis (1967) • Expresses importance of sensitivity. • Uganda – mothers were more sensitive if they could recall lots of information about their children. • These infants tended to be securely attached.

  15. Types of Attachment • Secure – strong and content attachment. Results in a well developed adult. PAF responds sensitively to their infants needs. • Insecure – PAF is insensitive to infants needs. Poor subsequent emotional and cognitive development. • Insecure/Avoidant – child avoids social interaction. • Insecure/resistant – Children both seek and reject social interaction.

  16. Ainsworth et al, 1978: The Strange Situation Study. • To observe separation and stranger anxiety as well as to test the secure base concept. • The infant was observed in the following situations: (1) Parent and infant alone. (2) Stranger joins parent and infant. (3) Parent leaves infant and stranger alone. (4) Parent returns and stranger leaves. (5) Parent leaves; infant left completely alone. (6) Stranger returns. (7) Parent returns and stranger leaves. • Exploring behaviour, separation anxiety, stranger anxiety and reunion behaviour were all recorded at 15 second intervals.

  17. Results

  18. Harry Potter • Consider the 3 main characters in Harry Potter: Harry, Hermione and Ron. • Categorise these characters in terms of their attachment style based on what you know from the films/novels. • Justify your answer. • If you have never watched or read Harry Potter pair up with someone who has and have them describe each character to you.

  19. Continuity Hypothesis • The effects of attachment last into adulthood • Hazan and Shaver, 1987. ‘Love Quiz’ in a newspaper. • Securely attached – long lasting, trusting relationships. • Insecure – ambivalent (resistant) – Worried that their partners don’t love them. • Insecure – avoidant – Fear intimacy. • Sroufe et al, 1999 Longitudinal study. Securely attached grew up to be more popular and rated higher for social competence.

  20. Temperament Hypothesis (Kagan, 1984) • Opposes Bowlby’s theory. • Claims that attachment is a result of infant being innately trusting and friendly (personality that you are born with) which shapes the mother’s responses. • Belsky and Rovine, 1987 – Newborns who were difficult babies were less likely to become securely attached.

  21. Different Kinds of Attachment • Multiple attachments – for social learning (interacting with peers). • Father attachments – Bowlby, 1951 – fathers there simply for financial and emotional support. Schaffer and Emerson, 1964 – fathers were PAF. • Accessibility – suggested that fathers tend not to be PAF because they don’t spend as much time with infant – Schaffer and Emerson, 1964 found that there was no correlation between attachment and time spent with infant. • A different kind of attachment – men are more challenging than women in their kind of play – not a secure base but positive and challenging.

  22. Cultural Similarities • If attachment is innate – there shouldn’t be any differences. • Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988) – 32 studies of the Strange Situation in 8 countries. • Secure most common in every country • This is the best attachment style for healthy relationships . • Tronick et al, 1992 (African tribe study) Still showed only one PAF. • Fox, 1997 studies infants in Israel who spent most of their time in a children’s home. Still most closely attached to mother.

  23. Cultural differences. • Grossman and Grossman, 1991. German children tended to be insecurely attached. Childrearing style? – Interpersonal space so would make infants appear to be insecurely attached. • Takahashi, 1990. Infants rarely separated from their mother so they may ‘appear’ to be more distressed than infants from other cultures.

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