Social Development and Attachment Theories

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Questions and Answers

What critical skills are considered essential for success in relationships and behavior into adulthood?

Problem-solving and critical thinking

Creativity and innovation

Memory and recall abilities

Empathy, perspective-taking, and cooperation (correct)

What is the significance of the 'babyness' features in infants?

They help infants communicate their needs

They evoke caregiving behaviors from adults (correct)

They enhance the infant's cognitive abilities

They improve physical strength in infants

At what age do infants begin to recognize their mother's voice?

Within 2-3 days of birth (correct)

Within the first week of life

At the end of the first month

After one year of age

What developmental milestone is demonstrated when infants engage in joint attention?

Shared focus through following gaze and gestures Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes Bowlby’s Ethological Theory of attachment?

Attachment provides a secure base for exploration and learning Signup and view all the answers

In the context of social learning mechanisms, what distinguishes emulation from imitation?

Emulation achieves the same goal through a different means, while imitation is copying action and goal Signup and view all the answers

What type of attachment is characterized by balanced exploration and seeking comfort?

Secure attachment Signup and view all the answers

What age period is primarily associated with the emergence of shared intentionality and imitation in infants?

9-14 months Signup and view all the answers

What characterizes Insecure Avoidant attachment?

Minimal distress or interest in the caregiver Signup and view all the answers

At what age is prosocial behavior, such as helping others without reward, first seen?

12-18 months Signup and view all the answers

What is a core component of secure attachment?

Promotes balanced exploration and relational development Signup and view all the answers

What is meant by 'Theory of Mind'?

Attribution of mental states to oneself and others Signup and view all the answers

At what age do infants begin to understand that others' desires may differ from their own?

18 months Signup and view all the answers

Which type of gesturing becomes more prevalent around 2-3 years of age?

Iconic gestures Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following statements about animal communication is true?

Chimpanzees lack declarative gestures typical of humans Signup and view all the answers

What milestone indicates an understanding of perception, attention, and goals in infants?

9 months Signup and view all the answers

What do vervet monkeys' alarm calls demonstrate?

Primitive 'word-like' meanings for specific predators Signup and view all the answers

At what age do children typically begin to produce their first words?

1 year Signup and view all the answers

Which theory posits that language is acquired through reinforcement and imitation?

Behaviorist Theory Signup and view all the answers

What is a criticism of the Behaviorist Theory of language acquisition?

Children often produce sentences they have never heard before Signup and view all the answers

What significant development occurs around 18 months of age in children?

Vocabulary spurt takes place Signup and view all the answers

What aspect of childhood is crucial for acquiring native language proficiency?

Early childhood Signup and view all the answers

In Piaget's stages of development, what is the A-not-B error?

Looking in the original hiding place after seeing the object moved Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary focus of the Social Interactionist Theory regarding language acquisition?

Language is learned through social interaction and scaffolding Signup and view all the answers

What is a key limitation of Piaget's methods of assessing infant cognition?

Piaget relied on infant actions to infer knowledge. Signup and view all the answers

At what age do infants begin to show signs of object permanence through visual tests?

3.5 months Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary focus of the core knowledge hypothesis proposed by Spelke?

Infants have innate knowledge systems for reasoning about objects. Signup and view all the answers

Which method do infants predominantly rely on for object individuation at 10 months of age?

Spatiotemporal cues Signup and view all the answers

How can the performance of preschoolers on conservation tasks be improved?

By using a playful 'naughty teddy bear' approach. Signup and view all the answers

What do looking-time experiments in infants typically measure?

Infants' expectations of object knowledge. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes the A-Not-B error in infancy?

Infants struggle with distinguishing between two hiding places. Signup and view all the answers

At what age can infants typically discriminate between groups of two and three objects?

6 months Signup and view all the answers

What does the 'Three Mountains' test suggest about preschoolers' perspective-taking capabilities?

They may be misrepresented as egocentric. Signup and view all the answers

How does procedural knowledge differ from declarative knowledge?

Procedural knowledge precedes explicit knowledge. Signup and view all the answers

Which phrase best describes the developmental U-shaped curve in children's responses?

Initial correct responses may decline as partial theories are formed. Signup and view all the answers

What distinguishes development (ontogeny) from evolution (phylogeny)?

Development focuses on individual changes versus species changes. Signup and view all the answers

How does Darwinian natural selection operate?

It involves competition, variation, and adaptation. Signup and view all the answers

What role does prolonged infancy in primates suggest in terms of evolutionary advantages?

It supports the notion of adaptive advantages for extended development. Signup and view all the answers

In what way does the study of evolutionary developmental psychology inform our understanding of behaviors?

It explains behaviors and cognition as evolving adaptations. Signup and view all the answers

How is morphogenesis defined within the context of development and evolution?

It involves the formation of new patterns and structures. Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary focus during the Concrete Operational stage of cognitive development?

Logical operations with concrete concepts Signup and view all the answers

Which mechanism describes the process of incorporating new information into existing mental frameworks?

Assimilation Signup and view all the answers

At what age range does the Preoperational stage occur in Piaget’s theory?

3-6 years Signup and view all the answers

What characteristic is primarily associated with the Sensorimotor stage of development?

Practical intelligence through actions Signup and view all the answers

What does the term 'conservation' refer to in Piaget’s theory?

The ability to understand that quantities remain the same despite changes in shape Signup and view all the answers

Which concept best explains the qualitative changes in intelligence that occur across Piaget’s stages?

Reorganization of cognitive structures Signup and view all the answers

During which developmental stage do children begin using mental representations to solve problems?

Preoperational Signup and view all the answers

What role does self-organized, goal-directed action play in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?

It serves as a driver of cognitive growth Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Predicts success in relationships, education, and behavior, driven by empathy, perspective-taking, and cooperation
Humans are born helpless, relying on social bonds for survival
Babies have "baby features" (large heads, round cheeks) eliciting caregiver responses
Infants recognize their mother's voice within 2-3 days of birth
Prenatal learning enables recognition of sounds and stories
Infants prefer faces over other stimuli
Infants recognize their mother's face after 5.5 hours of exposure
Prefer direct gaze and happy expressions
Infants mimic facial expressions, aiding in social bonding
Infants show shared intentionality and imitation
Social skills develop between 9–14 months, including joint attention, social referencing, and early cooperation

Attachment Theories

Freud's Drive-Reduction Theory: Attachment arises from satisfying biological drives
Bowlby's Ethological Theory: Attachment provides a secure base for exploration and learning
Harlow's Studies: Baby monkeys preferred comfort over food, supporting Bowlby's theory
Secure Attachment: Exploration and seeking comfort
Insecure Avoidant: Minimal distress or interest in caregiver
Insecure Resistant: Ambivalence towards caregiver's return
Disorganized: Dazed and apprehensive responses
Prosocial behavior, seen as early as 12–18 months, involves helping others and providing information
Chimpanzees also show altruism and cooperative behaviors
Disrupted attachment leads to social and emotional impairments
Secure attachment is essential for exploration, relational development

Theory of Mind

Attribution of mental states (perceptions, intentions, desires, emotions, thoughts, knowledge, beliefs) to oneself and others
Enables explanation and prediction of behavior based on inferred mental states
Nine-month revolution, enabling infants understandings of perception, attention, and goals
Newborns display emotional contagion
Infants show concern for and attempt to comfort distressed others
Eighteen-month-olds grasp that others' desires might differ

Nonverbal Communication

Intentional communication begins between 9-10 months (sometimes as early as 6 months)
Eye contact and gaze alternation are important indicators
Gestures, including dyadic (non-referential), triadic (referential), imperative, declarative, and iconic, develop differently
Chimpanzees use complex gestural communication, but lack declarative gestures seen in humans
Vervet monkeys demonstrate primitive "word-like" meaning with referential calls

Language Acquisition

Pre-linguistic vocalizations (coos, gurgles) occur during early months
Babbling develops around 6 months, without meaning
First words occur around 1 year, often in holophrases
Vocabulary spurt occurs around 18 months with rapid word acquisition
Grammar mastery is reached by 5 years, children understand adult-like grammar
Behaviorist and Nativist theories explain language acquisition
Social Interactionist Theory emphasizes language learned through social interaction

Object Permanence and Practical Intelligence

Sensorimotor Intelligence: Actions organized into a self-organizing system during the first two years of life focusing on developing understanding of fundamental categories (object, causality, space, time)
Object Permanence is developed- understanding that objects exist independently
Development stages of objects from 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12, and 20 months
Cross-cultural and evolutionary perspectives on object permanence
Universal stages of human infants reflected in primates

Modern Research on Infant Cognition

Limitations of Piaget's methods: underestimating infant understanding
Looking-time experiments: infants look longer at unexpected changes or events
Habituation/dishabituation paradigm: measure infant attention shifts
Baillargeon's research: object permanence tests with infants as young as 3.5 months
Core knowledge hypothesis: infants' innate knowledge systems for reasoning about objects
A-not-B error theories: possible explanations for working memory limitations

Infants can link sensory modalities, such as matching felt shapes with visual images
Early number understanding, including habituation paradigm in infants to explore number sense.

###Preschool Cognition

Reassessing Piaget's tasks, such as using playful scenarios to improve task performances
Class inclusion: grouping terms (e.g., "family of sheep")
Perspective-taking, better understood with practical scenarios, not formal tests
Procedural (implicit) knowledge precedes explicit knowledge, with example of balancing blocks leading to rule-based understanding

Evolution and Development

Development vs Evolution- distinction between biological growth through adaptation, and species diversifying over time
Developmental-Evolutionary Interconnections- prolonged infancy suggests evolutionary advantages
Mechanisms of Evolution: Darwinian Natural Selection and Adaptive Radiation
EvoDevo in artificial intelligence and Morphosgenesis

Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Piaget's stages of cognitive development- Sensorimotor (0-2 years), Preoperational (3-6 years), Concrete Operational (7-11 years), and Formal Operational (12+ years)
Key concepts include Operations (mental activities with logical structures), and Constructivist Theory.
conservation tasks are important parts of this stage

Sensorimotor Stages and Early Development

Sensorimotor stages, from reflexes to intentional problem-solving
Differentiation and coordination of schemas through assimilation and accommodation in infants
Developmental sequences, like grasping, looking, and object manipulation, highlight sensorimotor intelligence
Practical problem-solving and evolution of tool use
Piaget's emphasis on goal-directed actions as drivers of cognitive growth, along with Gestalt and Behaviorist theories

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Description

Explore the fascinating world of social development in infants and attachment theories. This quiz delves into key concepts such as empathy, perspective-taking, and the characteristics of attachment through the lens of prominent theorists like Freud and Bowlby. Test your knowledge of how these foundational elements shape relational success and behavior in early childhood.