Christina & Brianna
Define attachment. Discuss how childhood attachment may affect formation of relationships
later in life.
Intro:
Attachment is the condition of being attached to something or someone in particular.
Most babies exhibit the same patterns as adult humans: They see proximity to the mother and react with anxiety to
separation from her, attachment behavior
 Evolutionary bias of attachment
 Close relationship between the child and mother
John Bowley(1951)- worked with children who had been separated from their parents
 Argued that behavior such as smiling, babbling, grasping, and crying are genetically based social signs.
Body:
Shaffer(1996)- attachment develops until around the age of 7 months, certain signs will indicate the formation of
specific attachment
Brazleton(1975)- carried out an observational study of mothers and babies during interactions
 Can be based off of interactional synchrony where both mothers and babies imitated each other’s movements
and emotional expressions, took turns to initiate new movements.
Internal Working Model: Mental representations of his/her first attachment relationship.
Three working elements:
I. Ideas about attachment figures and what can be expected
II. Ideas about the self
III. Ideas about how the self and others relate
Ainsworth(1970)- Devised an experimental procedure called the Strange Situation, which resulted in a classification of
attachment patterns. It included three types of attachment: A, B, C
Strange Situation Paradigm:
 Goldberg (2000)
 Lamb (1985)
 Marrone(1998)
Conclusion:
Research shows that there may be some relationship between the experiences of attachment in childhood and adultlove relationship.
Hazen and Shaver (1987)
 Translated Ainsworth’s three attachment styles to make it more relevant to adults
Warning: Does not recommend drawing too many conclusions about the continuity between early childhood
experience and adult relationships.
Rashaan Williams
Discuss one theory of cognitive development
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

The way children think is different from the way adults think. Piaget believed that maturation as
well as the social environment is important in the cognitive development.

According to Piaget, interaction with the environment changes people, and cognitive development
is dependent on how the child interacts with the social and physical world, otherwise known as the
constructionist approach.

Piaget suggests that children use strategies in problem-solving and thinking that reflect different
stages of cognitive development

Piaget began by observing his own 4 children and made baby diaries to take down observations he
had with them. The method he utilized to study cognitive development in children was a clinical
interview. Which is an open-ended conversational technique used to provide insight into the child’s
judgements and explanations of what goes on.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

Sensorimotor (0-2 years)- Knowledge develops as a result of sensations and actions

Pre-Operational (2-7)- Increase in use of symbolic thought and self-awareness, but dominated by
the visual appearance of things such as language development, egocentrism, etc.

Concrete Operational (7-12)- Logical reasoning based on real objects that can be manipulated;
understanding of conservation

Formal Operation (12+)- Ability to use abstract reasoning and logic
Piaget’s ideas suggest that children learn best when the teacher sets up situations where the child child
can discover ideas for themselves otherwise known as child-centered learning.
He also suggested inventive research methods to further investigate the way children think. Alot of these
concepts have been tested by others.
Piaget changed the traditional view of children as passive, giving insight that the children are active in
searching out knowledge and constructing mental representations of the world around them.
Sarah Kerman and CJ Jasinski
Examine Psychological Research into adolescence/ contrast 2 examples of
psychological research (theories &/or studies)
Sarah Kerman and CJ Jasinski
Examine Psychological Research into adolescence/ contrast 2 examples of psychological research
(theories &/or studies)
Intro: Essay will be contrasting 2 researchers’ perspectives about adolescence
-developmental psychology- studies changes that occur over a lifespan- this essay will focus specifically
on adolescence
contrasting 2 theories
-Identity vs. role confusion- Erikson
-Rutter et. al (1976)
Theory 1: Identity vs. role confusion- Erikson
-marked by rapid physical growth and hormonal changes between 12 & 18 years old
-developmental crisis which Erikson called a “moratorium”- a time to experience different possibilities
2 options either
confident about future identity
OR
experience role confusion
when adolescents are insecure about the 2 options leads to become insecure in role developmentally
Study 2: Rutter et. al (1976)
-conducted on Isle of Wight, among 14-15 year olds, used all 15 year olds on island
-cohort study b/c used entire pop. of 15 yr olds → increases validity of data
- used interviews & questionnaires w/ parents & teachers → important bc corroboration adds validity
Studied
1. conflict between parents & children
2. inner turmoil of children
Findings
avg. adolescent not in state of crisis
Contrast to Erikson study bc only ⅕ of adolescents reported feeling miserable/depressed in Rutter study,
Rutter study provides more positive view of adolescent developmental stage by refuting Erikson’s claims
about insecurity & confusion @ this stage
Sana Khatri Danielle LaFleur
Outline physical changes in adolescents. Discuss how such physical changes
during adolescence relate to development of identity.
Physical Changes young people experience growth spurt- dramatic change in size and shape- distribution of body fat
and muscle tissue and reproductive organs start maturing
 girls develop breast and widening of hips
 boys have broad shoulders and more muscle strength
 reach puberty- sexual maturity
 boys and girls produce same amount of testosterone and estrogen
 pituitary gland starts producing more sex hormones (boys more testosterone and girls more
estrogen)
 menarche- first menstruation for girls around 12
 women grow hair on arms, legs and armpits
 boys starts with an enlargement of testes followed by growth of scrotum
 men grow pubic hair, penis grows, sperm production begins at 15 yrs
 boys grow facial hair and body hair, voices crack, lowering of voice
 *identity crisis start happening now
eating disorders start due to new body shape
 girls like their bodies least because they want to be thin, boys like their bodies because they want
to be muscular (this is important in creating self esteem)
Development of Identity
 some teenagers are happy because they look like adults
 body image dissatisfaction- feeling that there is a discrepancy between body image and the ideal
body they want (mainly girls)
 strong predictor of teenage depression, eating disorders, exercise dependence, and steroid use
cultural ideal hypothesis- closer to ideal body (mainly boys because their bodies conform to cultural
stereotypes of masculinity)
 when boys gain weight they may relate more with girls don’t like their body
Caufmann and Steinberg- girls show more concern about appearance and worry about how others see
them
Ferron- small scale survey; boys and girls equally represented, US and French kids, interview, most
important cultural difference was:
 75% of US adolescents did not accept biologial predisposition in terms of body shape, thought they
would get perfect body once at puberty
 80% of Americans said they would rely more on losing weight
 French did not agree
 75% of French acknowledge that physical appearance is pre-determined and cannot be changed
no matter what is done
*Even when girls are physically healthy they are still unhappy with their own body shape and lose
self-esteem during puberty
Wyatt & Eugene
Discuss potential effects of trauma in childhood on later development. Discuss psychological research
related to the potential effects of trauma in childhood on later development.
Introduction
●
●
●
Trauma - caused by a powerful shock (such as divorce, the death of a parent, abuse, natural disasters,
or war) which may have long-lasting effects on development
Experiences of deprivation can also cause Trauma
Potential effects
○ PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)
○ Failure to develop social ties
○ Health issues
Body
●
●
What makes up a healthy development?
○ Loving caregivers
○ good nutrition
○ Cognitive stimulation
○ talking to one another
Studies
○ Carion et al. (2009)
■ fMRI scans were performed on children suffering from PTSD after experiencing extreme
stressors such as abuse or witnessing violence.
■ The children suffering from PTSD performed worse on a simple verbal memory test and
showed decreased hippocampal activity when compared to the control group.
■ The children suffering from PTSD showed withdrawal from those who wanted to help
them. Additionally, they had difficulty remembering the trauma, felt cut off from others,
and showed lack of emotion.
○ Yehuda et al. (2009)
■ Looked at the mental health of 51 children of holocaust survivors that were raised by
traumatized parents and a controlled group to compare.
■ Mean age of sample was 40.9 years old.
■ results showed that children of holocaust survivors were more likely to develop PTSD.
■ the participants who performed the worst showed signs of PTSD such as:
● not wanting help
●
● difficulties remembering Trauma
● feeling cut off
● and lack of emotion
○ Felliti et al. (1998)
■ Examined exposure to seven categories of adverse events during childhood (sexual
abuse, physical abuse, witnessing domestic violence, etc.)
■ Found a clear correlation between the number of adverse events in childhood and adult
health and the prevalence of various diseases and risk behaviours
■ In addition, with four or more adverse childhood events, the risk for various medical
conditions significantly increased
○ Harlow & Suomi (1971)
■ Aimed to produce clinical depression in Rhesus monkeys and monitor their behavior as
they developed
■ Utilized a box designed to isolate the monkeys, resulting in depression
■ The monkeys were left within the box for various amounts of time, up to one year.
■ After thirty days the totally isolated monkeys were found to be enormously disturbed.
■ After being isolated longer, they barely moved, did not play, and were incapable of
mating. Two refused to eat and eventually starved to death.
■ The experiment is meant to show the importance of a loving, nurturing environment in
developing into healthy adulthood, and can reasonably draw conclusion to humans from
the reactions of monkeys.
Conclusion
Trauma is caused by a powerful shock or experience that renders someone unable to cope with stress, leading to
disorders such as PTSD, health issues, and social incapability
Elijah Davila
Define adolescence
Overview: Adolescence describes the teenage transitional years between the ages of 13 and 19(though some
psychologists argue that it can begin at the age of 9). It is a period of physical and psychological development that leads
to adulthood.
Buhler’s(1954) definition: Adolescence is an in-between period beginning with the achievement of psychological
maturity and ending with the assumption of social maturity- that is with the assumption of social, sexual, economic, and
legal rights and duties of the adult. The definition is biological at the outset, but except for the word ‘sexual’, its
termination is entirely in social terms. In other words, the termination of adolescence is subject to the particular
customs of the culture- it is cultural specific. Adolescence is thus subject to human judgment. It has the implication that
adults willfully prolong adolescence by decisions about what defines the termination of it.
Riane Barrera
Evaluate theories of cognitive development
Introduction:
 Cognition (coghoscere) “to know”. Ulric Neisser (1967) describe cognition as. “all the processes by which
the sensory input is transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored, recovered, and used.” Processes include
perception, thinking, problem solving, memory, language, and attention.
 Developmental psychology → psychologists are interested in the environment in which the child grows up,
“child ecology.” Studied by conducting case studies and longitudinal research
 Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
 Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory
Body:

Piaget’s Theory:
→ Concentrating on the way children think compared to adults. According to him interaction with the
environment changes people, and cognitive development is dependent on how the individual child
interacts with the social and physical world. This theory suggest that children use strategies in thinking and
problem solving that reflect different stages of cognitive development.
→ Says that knowledge consists of cognitive structures - schemas: mental representations of knowledge
→ Piaget’s Theory claimed that children’s intelligence progresses through series of cognitive stages, each
leading to the next. The stages are a way to describe changes in logic of thinking. They are: Sensorimotor
(age 0-2), Pre-Operational (age 2-7), Concrete Operational (age 7-12) and Formal Operation (age 12+).
→ Piaget’s sample was small, consisting of his own children, this makes it questionable to generalize his
findings. Many argue that Piaget underestimated children's cognitive abilities, viewing them as deficient
rather than competent thinkers.
 Vygotsky’s Theory:
→ Stresses the fundamental role of social interaction in cognitive development and suggests that a child’s
cognitive development is based on interaction with other people and their culture. The theory argues that
learning is necessary for the development of cognition and that it is not possible to describe the process by
which children acquired knowledge without considering culture and social environment. Knowledge is
transferred via imitation, instruction, and collaborative learning. Language serves as the most important
tool of learning.
→ Zone of proximal development: the difference between what a child can do on their own and what they
can accomplish with the help of others.
Conclusion:
 Remember: Evaluate means to assess, form an argument, discuss the evidence/limitations/implications. etc.
Xena Nguyen and Ebony Hargro
Discuss the relationship between physical change and development of identity
during adolescence.
-Adolescence: From a western perspective, age where a young individual can have/produce children;
period between puberty and adulthood
-Approximately from age ten to twenty (according to the World Health Organization) but can vary
according to different cultures
Cultures in the West: teenagers not mature to take the responsibilities and rights of an adult
Other cultures: adolescence does not exist, there is no gap between sexual maturity and adulthood
Everyone experiences bodily changes during puberty: growth spurt
Physical Changes
-increase of distribution of muscle tissue and body fat, maturing of reproductive organs
Girls: development of breasts and hips wide; gain in fat and weight looked upon negatively as it does not
coincide with western ideology of being ‘thin’, want to be attractive
Boys: shoulders broaden, muscle strength increases; allows boys to reach their ‘body ideal; boys tend to
have a positive image of themselves compared to girls, boys welcome weight gain more than girls until
they become overweight or not muscular as they would like to be
- it is essential for the young adolescent to be comfortable with their changing body, create and maintain a
positive image of one’s body
-Eating disorder: In the West, may suggest low self-esteem about self body image
Consequences of puberty on identity
-physical changes coincide with identity changes, adolescents become aware of sexuality
-unable to explore sexuality freely sometimes due to social and cultural norms
-some cultures permissive of actively sexual adolescents while others do not accept premarital sex
-body changes has an effect on body image
-Body Image Dissatisfaction: while some teens are content with their adult-like image, most suffer from
a feeling where an adolescent's body image does not match up to what their ideal body looks like; a
predictor of depression,eating disorders, exercise dependence, steroid use (Stice & Withenton, 2002)
-Cultural Ideal Hypothesis: (Simmons & Blyth, 1987) Puberty brings boys closer to their body ideal and
brings girls away from theirs; predicts girls are dissatisfied with their bodies more than boys due to cultural
demand
-In the west, girls are more concerned about their appearances, diet, and worry about the opinions of
others than boys (Caulfmann and Steinburg, 1996)
Conclusion:
Changes in the physical body cause adolescents to become more aware of both sexuality and societal
standards of beauty. These physiological changes can produce low self-esteem or body image
dissatisfaction, and these kinds of negative changes are more prevalent in girls than boys.
Rachelle Blash
Assess the extent to which biological, cognitive, sociocultural factors influence human
development.
Intro.
Developmental psychology deals with the lifelong process of change and it is the study of how and why
people change over time in the way they behave, think and relate to others.
Body


Biological
 Identical twins typically begin sitting up and walking on about the same day (Wilson, 1979)
 Motor Development Sequence
Cognitive



Maturation - Neural networks grow increasingly more complex as a child matures
Habituation - Decreasing responsiveness to repeated stimuli
Schemas- concepts or mental molds into which we pour our experiences.
 Assimilation and Accommodation
 Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development - Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational,
Formal Operational
 Zone of Proximal Development - Problem Solving: With assistance → Alone
 Morality
 Kohlberg (1981, 1984) - levels of moral thinking
 Preconventional Morality - self-interest
 Conventional Morality - authority & social order
 Postconventional Morality - universal principles
Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development
Sociocultural
 Attachment - intense and mutual infant-parent bond
 Familiarity
 Deprivation of Attachment
 Parenting Styles
Authoritarian
Permissive
Authoritative
 Theorist Erik Erikson (1963) contended that each stage of life has its own psychological task, a
crisis that needs resolution.
 Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development
Discuss how social and environmental variables may affect cognitive development./Examine
how social variables may affect cognitive development.
Intro:
● Define cognitive development and its importance
Body:
Social Variables
●
●
Children growing up in poor families with low socioeconomic status experience high levels of stress hormones
Study: Krugman (2008) argues that 50% of children born into poor families have the risk of remaining in that
position
●
●
Poverty is one of the major risk factors in children's cognitive development. It leads to malnutrition
Study: Bhoomika studied the effect of malnutrition in a sample of 20 Indian children in two groups aged from
five to seven and another from eight to ten. Found that malnourished children in both age groups scored lower
in tests of attention, working memory, and visuospatial tasks.
● Diet is an important variable for cognitive development
○ Hibbeln et al. (2007) compared two groups of women. Those consuming high levels of omega- 3 fatty
acids (seafood) and those consuming low levels of the same. They found the children of those mothers
who had a low seafood intake during pregnancy had lower motor (movement and coordination) skills
and lower social development and communication skills than the children of mothers who consumed
high levels of seafood
● Raloff (1989) studied 1023 sixth grade children over the course of one year and found those who were given
free school breakfasts improved their math and science scores.
Environmental variables
●
●
Animal research demonstrates that stress interferes with normal brain development
Study: Martha Farah et al. (2008) conducted a longitudinal design with 110 african-american middle school
children. Found positive correlation between environmental stimulation and language development. Positive
correlation between parental nurturance and long term memory performance
Conclusion:
●
Social and environmental variables are important in cognitive development but no cause and effect relationship
Gloria Mensah & Adina Beslagic
Trea & Asia
Discuss how Sociocultural factors influence the formation and development of gender roles
Introduction



Nearly all societies expect males and females to behave differently and to assume different gender roles
In order to live up to such expectations, the child must learn what it means to be a boy/girl in the culture in
which they are raised
Gender Identity: labeling your own or another person’s sex gender; a child may be able to do this correctly by
age 2



Around the age of 7 children realize that no matter what clothes you wear or what you do, you still remain
male/female (gender consistency)
In most cultures there are ideas of what is typical/appropriate behavior, according to biological sex
Children are socialized to assume appropriate gender roles through child-rearing practices
Body




Whiting and Edwards (1973)
- Studied children in Kenya, Japan, India, The Philippines, Mexico, and the U.S.
- Girls were more nurturing and made more physical contact
- Boys were more aggressive, dominant and engaged in more rough-and-tumble play
- Interpreted the gender differences in the 6 cultures as difference in socialization pressures
- The nurture new claims that the way a child is dressed and treated is the most important factor in the
development of gender identity
Gender Neutrality/Biosocial Theory of Gender Development
- Money and Ehrhardt (1972)
- Saw the interaction between biological and social factors as important, rather than simply the direct
influence of biology
- Claimed that biological factors such as hormones, in combo w/how the child is labeled sexually, determine
the way the child is socialized
- Development of gender identity and adherence to gender role is primarily a consequence of socialization
- Children are gender neutral at birth
- Gender identity is the result of socialization (or nurture)
- Idea was welcomed by feminists
- Theory was based on case study of individuals born w/ambiguous genitals (Intersex)
Social Learning Theory
- Boys and girls behave differently because they are treated differently by their parents and others
- Children learn to behave in ways that are rewarded by others and to avoid behaviors that are
punished/fronded on
- 2 important factors in SLT
1. Presence/absence of reward for gender-appropriate behavior, and punishment for genderinappropriate behavior
2. Modeling of behavior demonstrated by same sex models
- Bandura (1977)
- Fagot (1985)
1. Carried out observational study if behavior of children aged between 21-25 months
2. Found that boys made fun of other boys who played with dolls or with girls. Vice versa for girls
3. Children in this study were very young, so it is unlikely that gender identity had been achieved
a) Could indicate that observed behavior might be based on a basic in-group/out-group identity
- Stroute et al. (1993)
1. Observed children around the age of 10-11
2. Found that those who did not behave in a gender-stereotype of way were the least popular
- These studies indicate that children establish a kind of social control in relation to gender roles very early,
and it may well be that peer socialization is an important factor on gender development
Are Gender Roles Universal?
-
-
-
-
Gender-based divisions of labor probably came about as a consequence of child bearing and the nursing
abilities of women and the fact that men are generally bigger and stronger
Eagly (1987)
1. Social Role Theory suggests that gender stereotypes arise from the differing roles men and women
typically occupy
2. Roles are allocated, consistent w/societal beliefs about the nature of women and men
Williams and Beat (1990)
1. Gender stereotypes arise out of gender roles
2. Once the stereotypes act as norms for men and women, they provide models for gender role
socialization
a) Purpose: to teach children what is socially appropriate and to prepare them for adult roles
Best et al. (1977)
1. Conducted a cross-cultural study on gender stereotypes w/a sample of children in the UK, Ireland,
and the U.S., aged 5 and 8
2. Found that the majority of boys and girls in the 2 age groups agreed that females were soft hearted,
whereas males were strong, aggressive, and coarse
Mead (1935)
1. Compared gender roles in 3 New Guinean tribes who lived within a, and published the, in her
famous book, Sex and Temperament
2. Evidence collected supported that masculine and feminine traits are the result of culture (or
ideology) rather than biological sex
3. Arayygh Tribe: mean and women were cooperative, gentle, and loving, shave the relating to the
crops and children
4. Mundugumer Tribe: men and women were arrogant , competitive and emotionally
Jessie & Bailey
Discuss the formation and development of gender role/Discuss two factors relevant
to the formation and development of gender roles.
Discuss = offer a balanced view of two strategies.
Explain = give a detailed account which includes reasons or causes for your explanation.
Introduction Gender constancy (around the age of 7) children realized that no matter what clothes you wear or
what you do you will still be either a male of a female.
 Children are socialized to assume gender roles: Whiting and Edwards 1973
 Nature or Nurture
 Biosocial Theory of Gender Development: Money and Ehrhardt 1972


Sroufe et al. 1993
Gender Schema Theory: Martin and Halvorson 1978
Body
Nature vs Nurture
o Biological and Psychological differences in men and women which naturally result in
different gender roles.
o Money and Ehrhardt say that children are gender neutral at birth. Gender roles and
identity is the consequence of socialization. They believe it is possible to reassign sex
within the first two years of a life (intersex experiment).

Social learning theory
o Bandura 1997 - Gender roles are learned through same sex models direct tuition
(acceptable gender behavior is awarded by a significant other and gender inappropriate
behavior is discouraged).
o Smith and Lloyd 1978 (Baby X experiment) - asked adults to interact with a baby dressed
in unisex snowsuit (blue or pink). The snowsuits were given randomly so they did not
always match the true sex. They played with the infants according to what they thought
was the gender of the baby based on the color which indicated that the babies perceived
gender. The perceived gender is a part of the social environment because people treated
the child based off of perceptions of gender which could influence the child's own
perception and become the determining factor of the development of a child's gender role
and identity
o Sroufe et al 1993 - observed children between 10-11 and found that those who did not
behave like the gender stereotype were least popular. This indicates that children establish
in relation to gender roles and peer socialization is important to gender role development.
o Social Learning Theory cannot explain why there is variation in the degree to which
individual boys and girls conform to gender roles but they predict that children acquire
internal standards for behavior through reward and punishment.

Gender Schema Theory - Gender schemas are generalized ideas about what is appropriate
behavior for male and female.
o The most important factor = childrens ability to label themselves as boy or girl.
o Children are motivated to be like others in their group and observe same sex role models
more carefully.
o Gender Schemas influence processing on social information and self esteem.
o Martin and Halvorson 1978 - Children create their own gender identity based off of
experience.
 Children have a gender schema for their sex and the opposite sex
 Gender schemas determine what children pay attention to, who they interact with,
and what they remember.
o Fagot 1985 - Gender policing in children 21-25 months, boys make fun of other boys or
girls. Girls who did not like when a boy was playing with a girl. This shows that gender
schemas have been established and peers can reinforce them.
o Gender Schema Theory is not really possible to explain how and why gender schemas
develop but they explain why roles do not change after middle childhood.
Brittny & Justin
Define resilience. Discuss strategies to build resilience.
Define is just stating the definition. Discuss means a range of factors, hypothesis to the topic.


Define Resilience
 Psychological process developed in response to intense life stress.
 Process in avoiding adverse outcomes or doing better than expected.
 Resilience is categorized as a process not a trait
Studies of Resilience
 Rutter, 1981
 Argues that if a child fails to develop an attachment its privation, but if they experience loss or
damage due to the attachment its deprivation
 Findings: The thieves in the juvenile center have suffered more from privation than
deprivation


Werner, 2005
 Wanted to see if children who are exposed to multiple stressors, will they develop
problems later in life.
 Findings: 30% of children have experienced multiple stressors
 ⅔ later developed learning problems by age 10 and by age 18 they had mental
health issues.
 ⅓ had not negative outcomes
Strategies Needed to Build Resilience
 Studies
 Lowenthal, 2001
 Establish safe and predictable learning environments
 Set Realistic goals
 Work in small groups
 Learn social skills
 Walker, 2007
 Studied risk factors in developing countries to prevent poverty and build
resilience
 Sagor, 1996 & Wang et al, 1994
 Schools can provide support for students
 Competency (feeling successful)
 Belonging (feeling valued)
 Usefulness (feeling needed)
 Potency (feeling empowered)
 Optimism (feeling encouraged)

Strategies
 Culture
 people react different to stressful life events
 everybody uses different strategies to build resilience
 culture depends on how people communicate and and deal with adversity
 culture diversity leads to greater access to an approach to build resilience
 Make connections with friends, family, and new people
 Maintain a positive outlook on your life
 Take decisive actions and look for new opportunities
 Look for help from a professional to help you get stronger
 Ask questions about your life and is there anything you can change to become stronger
Daisha Lark
Alex Wallace
To what extent does attachment childhood play a role in the subsequent
formation of relationships?
-Imprinting: The process by which animals form attachments during a limited critical period early in life.
-Natural Maturation: Increased stimuli will cause early new connections.
-Parental Styles (Diana Baumrind)
 Permissive (all say)
- Submit to their child’s desires/ make a few demands use little punishment
- Consequences: poor emotion regulation, rebellious/ deficient, anti-social behaviors

Authoritarian (no say)
- Authoritarian parents impose rule and expect obedience
-Consequences: Anxious, withdrawn, unhappy, not likely to engage in social activities

Authoritative (some say)
-Encourage open discussion and allow for exceptions when enforcing rules
-Consequences: Lively/ happy/ self-confident, well developed emotion regulation, developed social
skills
Gender Development
 Gender similarities and differences
 -Males and females faced similar adaptive challenges. Differences are noticed. Within a culture,
ethnic subgroups may behave differently and yet be influenced similarly.
Culture and child-rearing also plays into parenting styles.Child-rearing also practices are not immune to
the variations in cultural values from one time and place to another. Children across place and time have
thrived under various child-rearing systems.
Madison Carr
Evaluate psychological research (through theories and/or studies) relevant to developmental
psychology.
The Strange Situation Paradigm
The Strange Situation Paradigm background and study

Created classification of attachment patterns by measuring child's attachment behavior (based
upon how child reacts when the mother leaves and returns)
o
Set up:

Parent and child alone in room

Child explores room without parental participation


A stranger enters the room, talks to parent, and approaches child

The parent quietly leaves the room

The parent returns to comfort child
Mary Ainsworth
o
Conducted in Uganda 1967 and Baltimore 1971


Uganda, 1967

28 unweaned babies ages ranged from 15 weeks to 2 years old

Observed in natural environment two hours twice a week
Baltimore, 1971


26 babies and mothers observed every three or four weeks
Types of attachment
o
Type A- avoidant (20%): children are indifferent to mother leaving and avoids contact with
her when she returns. Not afraid of strangers.

o
Type B- securely attached (70%): children are upset when mother leaves and are happy
when she returns. Easily comforted by mother.

o
Mothers tend to actively support play and communicate its children.
Type C- ambivalent (10%): children are very upset when mother leaves and are difficult to
sooth. Seeks comfort but also rejects it.

o
Mothers tend to be insensitive and not interested in child's play.
Mothers tend to be inconsistent with their reactions to their children
*Type D- insecure-disorganized/disoriented attachment (Main and Solomon, 1986): children
show no particular reaction to mother leaving or returning

Associated with childhood abuse and chronically depressed mothers
Strengths of SSC

Unique with respect to the experiments use of experimental and clinical methods.
o
Conducted in natural environments
o
Allows for natural interactions
o
Does not claim to be cross-cultural or universal pattern
Weaknesses of SSC

Ignores cultural differences
o
Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988):

Carried out study in 32 countries with over 290 infants

Found different distributions of attachment types
o
Japan: almost completely absent of Type A and high proportion of
Type C
o
Western: Type A is more common


Does not take into account culturally different cold rearing practices

o
Type Bis most common cross culturally
Highly uncommon for Japanese children to be separated from mothers and
would be a highly unusual situation for Japanese children
Turnball (1973)

Studied tribe in remote area of Uganda called the Ik

No sign of parental love

Parents were unhappy when new child was born

Children thrown out of family hut at young age and expected to take care of
self
o
Tribe behaved this way because lignin conditions were difficult and
usually on the edge of starvation

These children assembly would have Type D attachment. They
would not have any particular reaction to parents leaving or
returning because there would be an insecure relationship