BEH STUD: Child social development

DEFINITIONS

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT: Maturation of bodily structures

MOTOR DEVELOPMENT: Progression of various motor skills

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Growth of intellectual functioning

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT: Changes in the way children deal with others

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

PIAGET'S THEORY: Believed the way infants and children see the world is profoundly different to adults. Children construct their understanding of the world through active involvement and interactions. They use assimilation and accomodation.

STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

SENSORIMOTOR STAGE: Ages 0-2y. No concept of time or self. Use of senses and motor skills. They "think" with their eyes, hands, ears etc.

  1. REFLEXIVE SCHEMAS: 1st month. Suck, grasp. By 4 weeks they become voluntary.
  1. PRIMARY CIRCULAR REACTIONS: 1-4 months. Develop simple motor skills - motivated by basic needs. eg. Sucking thumb.
  1. SECONDARY CIRCULAR REACTIONS: 4-8 months. Repeat actions that get a response from others. Imitate actions.
  1. COORDINATION OF SECONDARY CIRCULAR REACTIONS: 8-12 months. Develop hand-eye coordination. Intentional behaviour to solve problems. Struggle with object permanence.
  1. TERTIARY CIRCULAR REACTIONS: 12-18 months. Repeat actions (mimicry). Trial and error. Advanced object permanence and self-awareness.
  1. MENTAL REPRESENTATIONS: 18-24 months. Can solve problems using symbolic means instead of trial and error. Insight and creativity. Imaginary play.

PREOPERATIONAL STAGE: Ages 2-7y. Mental representations of objects and use of symbolic thought and language. Do not yet understand logic. Why? questioning begins.

EGOCENTRISM: Inability to see viewpoint of others.

ANIMISM: Belief that inanimate objects have feelings.

THEORY OF MIND: Can't understand that other people may be thinking different things to you.

CONSERVATION: Don't understand the concept of properties eg. volume.

CENTRATION: Can only focus on one thing at a time.

TRANSITIVE INFERENCE: Can't understand hypothetical rules eg. feather breaks glass experiment.

CONCRETE OPERATIONS STAGE: Ages 7-11y. Use logic to solve problems. Can do Theory of Mind false beliefs test. Egocentrism and animism disappear. Learn about conservation. Learn about reversibility - if things change they can still be the same as they used to be. Start to understand hypotheticals.

FORMAL OPERATIONS STAGE: Ages 11+y. Can think rationally and logically. Develop hypothetic-deductive reasoning and metacognition. Easily do transitive-inference.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

ATTACHMENT THEORY

ATTACHMENT: Emotional attachment The first human bond between a caregiver and child is thought to influence all later relationships.

ANIMALS - IMPRINTING: Attachment occurs in the form of imprinting to first moving object they see. Studied by Konrad Lorenz - ducks and geese. Imprinting on moving duck on wheels. Found that imprinting occurs within 2 days of birth.

ANIMALS - HARLOW: Examined love and attachment in monkeys. Found monkeys stayed with soft "mother" even though "hard" mother gave milk.

INFANT ATTACHMENT: John Bowlby. Infants are born seeking direct contact with an adult. Positive cause - matter of enjoyment. Negative cause - fear of the unfamiliar.

WHY IS ATTACHMENT IMPORTANT? Secure attachment promotes exploratory behaviour. No strong attachments = medical problems, delays in physical, cognitive and social-emotional development. Secure attachment in infancy help to form stronger relationships later in life. Bowlby - attachment contributes to our survival.

ATTACHMENT PHASES: 1. 0-3 months - undiscriminating social responsiveness. 2. 3-7 months - discriminating social responsiveness. 3. 7 months - 3 years - activity proximity seeking/true attachment. 4. 3+ years - goal-corrected partnership.

SIGNS OF ATTACHMENT: Contact-maintaining attachment eg. smile, holding on to person. Proximity-seeking behaviours eg. crawl towards person.

SEPARATION AND LOSS: Once an infant becomes attached they become wary and distressed when separated. Happens around 6-8 months. Can be seen in older children.

MEASURING ATTACHMENT: Mary Ainsworth. Examined behaviour of children when separated and reunited with caregiver.

ATTACHMENT STYLES

SECURE ATTACHMENT: 60-65% of American children. Comforted by presence of caregiver. Easily play independently.

INSECURE ANXIOUS-RESISTANT: 10-15% of American children. Little play - preoccupied by caregiver. High distress when separated and angry with caregiver when reunited.

INSECURE ANXIOUS-AVOIDANT: 15-20% of American children. Ignores caregiver. Doesn't show distress when separated.

INSECURE DISORGANISED: 5-15% of American children. Demonstrates contradictory behaviour. Very stressed when separated, doesn't know what to dp.

PARENTING: Sensitive and responsive to needs and emotional signals.

PARENTING: Inconsistent caregiving.

PARENTING: Too much or too little stimulation.

PARENTING: Often severely depressed caregivers.