SPR L5 Social and Emotional Development

Question 1

Learning Outcomes (for general perusal)

Answer 1

• Explain what is meant by ‘emotional intelligence’, ‘social cognition’ and ‘theory of mind’
• Describe ‘attachment theory’.
• Describe stages of emotional development [attachment] in young children.
• What does attachment predict?

Question 2

Emotional Intelligence?
Salovey and Mayer (1990)

What is emotional intelligence?

Answer 2

1. Perceiving emotions - the ability to detect and decipher emotions in faces, pictures, voices -including the ability to identify one’s own emotions.

Perceiving emotions represents a basic aspect of emotional intelligence, as it makes all other processing of emotional information possible.

2. Using emotions — the ability to harness emotions to facilitate various cognitive activities, such as thinking and problem solving.

The emotionally intelligent person can capitalize fully upon his or her changing moods in order to best fit the task at hand.

3. Understanding and managing emotions

Question 3

What is social cognition?

Answer 3

How people process social information, especially its encoding, storage, retrieval, and application to social situations.

Neuropsychological studies have shown that brain injury (particularly to the frontal lobes) can adversely affect social judgments and interaction.

Question 4

Theory of Mind

1. What is ‘theory of mind?’
2. What is theory of mind impairment?
3. What do individual with a theory of mind deficit have difficulty determining?
4. Give examples of those who don’t have a theory of mind

Answer 4

1. The ability to attribute mental states—beliefs, intents, desires, knowledge — to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires and intentions that are different from one’s own.
2. The theory of mind (ToM) impairment describes a difficulty someone would have with perspective taking. This is also sometimes referred to as mind-blindness.
3. Individuals who experience a theory of mind deficit have difficulty determining the intentions of others, lack understanding of how their behavior affects others, and have a difficult time with social reciprocity.
4. Children with autism do not employ a theory of mind (Baron-Cohen, Leslie, Frith, 1985).

Question 5

Assuming we are born healthy, how do we begin to socialize and develop emotionally?

Answer 5

Konrad Lorenz: Discovery of ‘Critical Period’ for process of ‘Imprinting’ in geese.

Gave rise to notion of ‘Critical Period’ for bonding in humans [Bowlby].

‘Critical Period’ – thought to be pre-programmed and innate.

•http://tinyurl.com/23bnqu5

Question 6

What is the importance of a child’s tie with its mother?
Food, nurture, or both?

What is ‘Cupboard Love’?

Answer 6

Infants become attached because caregiver satisfies physiological needs

e.g. Freud – association with nourishment. Bad outcomes when deprived/overindulged.

This view was challenged by Harlow’s (and indeed Lorenz’s) studies.

(Harlow: Cloth Mother View)

http: //tinyurl.com/6fcp9j9 - Experiment
http: //tinyurl.com/6agznly - Long-term behavioural disturbances resulting from deprivation
http: //tinyurl.com/nbr2zml - More detailed overview of Harlow’s Experiments

Question 7

Maternal-Deprivation/Social Isolation

What did studies show?

Answer 7

• the need for contact comfort is stronger than the need to nurse or the need to explore. Demonstrated by length of time monkeys spent with cloth mother compared to feeding or exploring.
• Absence of contact comfort is psychologically stressful
  
  • Demonstrated by clinging behaviour in new environments and behaviour when cloth mother was not present i.e. frozen in fear, crying, crouching, sucking thumb.

Question 8

Principles of Attachment

1. What are human babies biologically programmed to do?
2. How are babies programmed to behave towards their primary care-giver?
3. How are parents biologically predisposed?
4. What is a prerequisite to attachement in infants?

Answer 8

1. programmed to attach themselves to a significant caregiver(s). [Bowlby- monotropy].
2. in ways that ensure survival e.g. sucking, cuddling, looking, smiling, crying.
3. Parents are biologically predisposed to ‘bond’ with their infants.
4. Sociability

Question 9

Timeline:
Phases in Development of Attachment

When are the following stages and how are they characterised?

1. Pre-attachment
2. Indiscriminate Attachment
3. Discriminate Attachement
4. Multiple Attachements

Answer 9

1. 6weeks-3 months - Attracted to humans e.g. social smile
2. 3-7 months - Can discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar people. Allows strangers to handle them.
3. 7-8 months onward - Develops specific attachments. Separation anxiety. Fear-of-strangers response
4. 9months-onward - Strong additional ties are formed. Closest remains with primary-caregiver. Fear-of strangers response weakens over time.

Question 10

“The Strange Situation”
Mary D. Salter Ainsworth

The child experiences the following situations:

• Parent and infant are introduced to the experimental room.
• Parent and infant are alone. Parent does not participate while infant explores.
• Stranger enters, converses with parent, then approaches infant. Parent leaves inconspicuously

Two aspects of the child’s behavior are observed:

◦The amount of exploration (e.g. playing with new toys) the child engages in throughout.

◦The child’s reactions to the departure and return of its caregiver.

Answer 10

–First separation episode: Stranger’s behavior is geared to that of infant.

–First reunion episode: Parent greets and comforts infant, then leaves again.

–Second separation episode: Infant is alone.

–Continuation of second separation episode: Stranger enters and gears behavior to that of infant.

–Second reunion episode: Parent enters, greets infant, and picks up infant; stranger leaves inconspicuously.

Question 11

Attachment Types

Define the following types of attachment

1. Secure attachment
2. Anxious-ambivalent/resistant insecure attachment
3. Anxious-avoidant insecure attachment
4. Disorganised/disoriented attachment

Answer 11

1. Child explores freely while the caregiver is present, will engage with strangers, will be visibly upset when the caregiver departs. Will not engage with stranger when caregiver isn’t present. Happy when (s)he returns. Caregiver: engaged, responsive and appropriate.
2. Anxious of exploration and of strangers, even when caregiver is present. When the caregiver departs, child is extremely distressed. The child will be ambivalent (close but resentful) when (s)he returns. Caregiver: Engaged but on the caregiver’s own terms.
3. Avoids or ignores the caregiver - showing little emotion when the caregiver departs or returns. The child will not explore very much regardless of who is there. Strangers will not be treated much differently from the caregiver. Caregiver disengaged: infant’s needs often not being met with communication.
4. child may cry during separation but avoid the caregiver when she returns or may approach the caregiver, then freeze or fall to the floor. Some show stereotyped behaviour, rocking to and fro or repeatedly hitting themselves. Caregiver has suffered trauma or is suffering from it.

Question 12

The Strange Situation

http://tinyurl.com/yyhqdaj

What are the three types of attachment?

Answer 12

Three Types of Attachment

◦Secure

◦Anxious/Avoidant

◦Anxious/Ambivalent

http://tinyurl.com/69mhpyf

Question 13

What do attachement types predict?

Answer 13

• Harlow: monkeys never formed an attachment (privation) and as such grew up to be aggressive and had problems interacting with other monkeys
• Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation hypotheses
• Results in long term cognitive, social (relationships), and emotional difficulties (stress) for the infant.

Question 14

J. Bowlby Psychiatrist (1907-1990)

“the infant and young child should experience a warm, intimate, and continuous relationship with his mother (or permanent mother substitute) in which both find satisfaction and enjoyment” and that not to do so may have significant and irreversible mental health consequences.

Give examples of situations that can disrupt this relationship

Answer 14

• Daycare?
• Divorce

Question 15

Privation: Extreme Cases

1. ​On what did Bowlby base a lot of his findings upon?
2. Why was this criticised?

Answer 15

1. based a lot of his findings and conclusions on children in orphanages as a result of World War II.
2. Criticised as these are seen as examples of privation rather than deprivation.

Extremes of Privation - Victor of Aveyron ‘feral child’

Extremes of Privation - Genie ‘feral child’

Question 16

Outline how privation and deprivation can come about, about some effects of each

Answer 16

Question 17

What is Attachment Disorder?

Outline the following traits

Emotions

Thoughts

Relationships

Physical

Moral/Spiritual

Answer 17

Attachment disorder affects all aspect of a child’s functioning. A child may display some combination of the following primary symptoms: Behavior: oppositional and defiant, impulsive, destructive, lie and steal, aggressive and abusive, hyperactive, self-destructive, cruel to animals, irresponsible, fire setting.

Emotions: intense anger and temper, sad, depressed and hopeless, moody, fearful and anxious (although often hidden), irritable, inappropriate emotional reactions.

Thoughts: negative beliefs about self, relationships, and life in general (“negative working model”), lack of cause-and-effect thinking, attention and learning problems.

Relationships: lacks trust, controlling (“bossy”), manipulative, does not give or receive genuine affection and love, indiscriminately affectionate with strangers, unstable peer relationships, blames others for own mistakes or problems, victimizes others/victimized.

Physical: poor hygiene, tactilely defensive, enuresis and encopresis, accident prone, high pain tolerance, genetic predispositions (e.g., depression, hyperactivity).

Moral/Spiritual: lack of faith, compassion, remorse, meaning and other prosocial values, identification with evil and the dark side of life.

Question 18

The First Relationship: In a broader context

The first relationship is an important foundation - but what else is important?

Answer 18

peer/sibling relationships also important, particularly in relation to future conflict resolution behaviour.

Question 19

Summary

Important!

Answer 19

• Emotional intelligence involves perceiving, using, understanding and managing ones emotions.
• Social cognition is often very different in people with mental health problems that affect emotion.
• Theory of Mind, essential to social cognition, is often impaired in children with developmental problems, particularly autistic-spectrum disorders and can underpin emotional and behavioural problems.
• Infants are imbued with innate social skills e.g. eye gaze and the social smile.
• Attachment behaviour with a primary caregiver develops across time and reflects the emotional adjustment of the child.
• It can be measured using ‘The Strange Situation’ Test.
• There are four attachment types that reflect a secure or insecure infant.
• A child becomes securely attached when the primary care-giver is available and able to meet the needs of the child in a responsive and appropriate manner.
• However, the behaviour of both the primary-care giver and the infant can determine the attachment type.

Bowlby did not distinguish between deprivation and privation

Bowlby exaggerated extent of DIRECT effect of deprivation

Bowlby alerted the public to the vulnerability of a deprived infant

Some children do recover, but others don’t

What speeds recovery and determines this for some and not others are crucial questions

Question 20

Reading 1

Chapter: Development in early infancy

1. Describe the NBAS and its uses.
2. Describe bonding. How is it similar to imprinting? How important is it?
3. Why is breastfeeding important? List advantages.
4. What factors influence whether a mother is likely to breast feed?
5. How do breast-fed and bottle-fed babies differ in their behaviour?
6. What barriers exist to breast-feeding?

Question 21

Reading 2

Chapter: Emotion

1. What evidence exists that the perception of basic emotions is innate?
2. What are display rules?
3. How can chronic negative emotions affect health?
4. How can a healthcare worker adversely affect the emotions of an individual and how might this impact upon the person’s behaviour?