Early Social Development

Early Social Development

1. Explanations of attachment

   • Social Learning Theory
     • Classical Conditioning
     • Operant Conditioning
       • Dollard and Miller 1950
         • Baby enters 'Drive State'
     • Harlow and Harlow 1962
       • Cylinder with towel
         • Monkeys went to this when frightened
         • Monkeys grew up abusive with trouble in mating and parenting
           • Need responsive carer
       • Cylinder with teat
       • Different study four monkeys raised on own
         • Huddled together in first 4 months, no ill effects
           • Infant bond just as effective as mother bond
   • Bowlby's Evolutionary Perspective 1969
     • Innate Programming
       • Natural Selection
       • Adults and children programmed to become attached
       • Social Releasers
     • Critical Period
       • 2.5 years
     • Continuity Hypothesis
       • Monotropy
       • Internal working model for attachment
       • Caregiver sensitivity hypothesis
     • Lorenz 1952
       • Goslings imprinted on him

2. Types of attachment

   • The Strange Situation Ainsworth 1970
     • Germany study Wartner 1994
       • 78% of children classified same way at ages 1 and 6
         • When differences occur, change in some other aspect of childs life - Melhuish 1993
     • Securely attached with mum, insecurely with dad, what is infant's attachment type? Lamb 1977
     • Multiple Caregiver Paradox Van Ijzendoorn 1992
     • Responsive mothers and infants more likely secure at 12 months - Isabella 1989
     • Temperament Hypothesis - Kagan 1982
       • Newborns showing 'behavioural instability' less likely secure attachment - Belsky and Rovine 1987
   • Secure
     • Type B
   • Avoidant
     • Type A
   • Ambivalent
     • Type C or Resistant-Insecure
   • Main and Cassidy 1988
     • Further group type D, disorganised and inconsistent

3. Cultural Variations in Attachment

   • Strange Situation with Japanese children - Takahashi 1990
   • Meta-analysis - Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg 1988
     • Most striking thing of this analysis is a lot of consistency - Bee 1999
     • They say similarity may be due to increasing effect of mass media; nurture instead of nature
   • German infants - Grossman and Grossman 1991
     • German norm keeping interpersonal distance so only appears to be insecurely attached
   • Monotropy?
     • No - Healthy Caribbean multiple attachments - Thomas 1998
     • No - Several attachments beneficial - Parke 1981
       • Differences in play; fathers physically stimulating, mothers reading stories and soothe
     • Yes - infants form several attachments, but one main one - Schaffer and Emerson 1964
     • Yes - Ganda tribe have multiple caregivers, but still one special attachment - Ainsworth 1967
     • Yes - Efe pygmies from Zaire, children looked after whoever closest to hand, still at 12 months preference for mother - Tronick 1992
     • Yes - Kibbutzim in strange situation more comforted by mothers reunion than metapelets - Fox 1977

4. Problems With Attachment

   • Bowlby's Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis 1953
     • Warm, intimate and continuous relationship or difficulty forming relationships
     • If relationships have separations they become unstable and less predictable
     • Continuous relationship must occur during critical period
       • Continuing risk up to 5
     • Primary caregiver not necessarily mother
     • 'Mother love in childhood in infancy and childhood is as important for mental health as vitamins and proteins are for physical health'
     • 44 juvenile thieves -Bowlby 1944
     • Separation need not lead to deprivation - Robertsons 1971
     • 100 normal severely depressed children after being in hospital - Spitz and Wolf 1946
       • Recovered well if separation less than 3 months
     • John and other children - Robertsons 1971
       • However, Joyce looked after some other kids, let them visit mothers in hospital, maintained emotional bond
         • Slept and ate well, welcomed parents at end of stay with Joyce
       • Retarded women supports this - Skeels and Dye 1939
         • 20 years later assessment - Skeels 1966
     • Orphans with mentally retarded women, IQ got higher, control IQ got lower - Dye 1939
       • Children assessed 20 years later and effects still apparent - Skeels 1966
     • Tuberculosis - Bowlby 1956
   • Maternal Deprivation Revisited - Rutter 1981
     • Bowlby confused cause and effect with association
       • Isle of Wight delinquency - Rutter 1976
     • Bowlby didn't say about different kinds of deprivation

5. Day Care

   • Methodology
     • Can't do experimentally, not able to ethically select groups for participants
     • Temperament or day care?
   • Types of day care
     • Day nurseries
       • Between 26 and 40 kids
       • One staff member for every 8 3-5s, one for every 4 2-3 and one for every 3 under 2
     • Child minders
       • Max of 3 kids
       • Home environment
   • Quality of day care
     • Ratio of staff to children
       • Leach 1998
     • Staff turnover
       • Leach 1998
       • Melhuish 2004
     • Physical provision
     • Staff training
     • Dedication of staff
     • Type of children
   • Effects of day care on social development
     • No evidence of attachment difference - Clarke-Stewart 1994
     • Extensive non parental care - Schwartz 1983
     • More than 20 hours per week - Belsky and Rovine 1988
     • Different response for different attachments - Egeland and Hiester 1995
     • Child's temperament - DiLalla 1998
     • Criminal record and welfare - Schweinhart 1993
   • Day care and aggression
     • Longer in day care, more likely antisocial behaviour - Sammons 2003
     • Increased aggression when carers constantly change - Melhuish 2004
     • Kindergarten children - NICHD 2003
     • Analysis of Quebec children after universal day care introduced - Baker 2005
   • Day car and peer relations
     • EPPE Project - Sylva 2003
     • More sociable - Clarke-Stewart 1994
     • No permanent harm in mothers absence - Harvey 1999
     • Quality and quantity - Field 1991
       • Age of entry - Campbell 2001
     • Longitudinal Swedish kids - Larner 1989

6. Implications of Research

   • Consistency and quality of care important - Schaffer 1998
     • Quality of care
       • Amount of verbal interaction
         • Complexity of conversation - Tizard 1979
       • Sufficient stimulation
       • Sensitive emotional care
         • NICHD 2003
   • Programme to improve quality of interactions - Howes 1998
   • Hospital admissions
     • Government policies, parental expectations and hospital attitudes changed because of the Robertsons and Bowlbys maternal deprivation hypothesis
   • Adoption
     • Bowlby's research led to change in timing
       • Babies now adopted first week of birth
     • Adopted children just as securely attached now - Singer 1985
     • Adopted Romanians higher IQs and less attachment disorders - Rutter 2007
   • Theatre of attachment
     • Helps attachment of children who were abused or neglected - Moore 2006
   • Sure start 2001
     • Break cycle of poverty
     • Enhancing existing services - SSLP
     • NESS study on SSLP areas - Tunstill 2005
   • EPPE project
     • Led to government promising pre school place for every 3 year old after 2004

7. Privation and institutionalisation

   • Longitudinal studies of institutional care
     • Ex institutional children - Hodges and Tizard 1989
       • Transactional model - Clarke and Clarke 1979
     • Romanian orphans adopted - Rutter 1998
     • Women reared in institutions - Quinton 1985
     • Recent study on Romanian orphans - Rutter 2007
   • Case studies of extreme isolation
     • Czech twins - Koluchova 1976
     • Genie - Curtiss 1977
   • Reactive attachment disorder
     • This is when someone appears unable to recoverr
     • Symptoms - Parker and Forrest 1993
     • Suggested cause is lack of primary attachments
       • Young boy example - Flanagan 1996
   • Are effects reversible?
     • Lately adopted yet recovered - Triseliotis 1984
     • Consider the studies