Dpsy Lecture 4 Infancy PDF

Sensory/perceptual functions The sensory/perceptual functions are measured by the habituation paradigm Habituation paradigm Decrease Infant’s response ____________after repeated presentation of an identical stimulus (Getting bored habituation) New stimulus > increase in responsiveness (getting inter...

Sensory/perceptual functions The sensory/perceptual functions are measured by the habituation paradigm Habituation paradigm Decrease Infant’s response ____________after repeated presentation of an identical stimulus (Getting bored habituation) New stimulus > increase in responsiveness (getting interested again > dishabituation) Demo (1:05~8:08) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlilZh60qdA) The habituation/dishabituation demonstrates whether New object the infant can distinguish a _________ or not 載入中⋯ Dev Psy, 2022-23 5 Studying sensory/perceptual function Habituation paradigm – an example (1) When an infant is first presented a puppet of Mickey Mouse repeatedly until the baby habituates to it – i.e. No longer shows much response. (2) Then we present another puppet of Donald Duck, if the infant reacts again, he dishabituates. This serves as an evidence that the infant can differentiate between two puppets/objects Can be applied to study other sensory modes, i.e. touch, smell, taste, hearing and vision Dev Psy, 2022-23 6 Sensory/perceptual development Hearing 3 months, preference to human voice > smiling Before 6 months, phoneme [= sound] differentiation in all languages After 6 months, phoneme differentiation and preference in mother tongue to other languages Vision By 4 months, follow the gaze of other people to track the path of a moving object [For interest] By 9 months, infants use their gaze and head turning of others to direct their attention > social connections First 4 months, visual acuity [= clarity] increases, their vision is just like an adult, e.g. shapes, colours, motion Dev Psy, 2022-23 7 Sensory/perceptual development Taste and smell Newborns can differentiate different tastes and smells [for interest] e.g. evidence of preference for sweet and salty food over bitter and sour food [early formation of flavour] Touch The sense of touch is very important for infants to explore the world and communicate with the caregivers (e.g. hugs) [For interest] Touching is crucial for infant to develop a bonding with the caregivers o E.g. Placing a hand on a newborn’s chest can quiet a crying episode; gentle stroking can soothe even premature babies Dev Psy, 2022-23 8 Face perception Infants show discomfort to faces without any motion nor facial expression > they move away or show some distress Normal The infants expect _______facial movements in human interaction Still face experiment 9 Dev Psy, 2022-23 Motor development milestones Infants are able to hold their heads up, roll over by themselves, reach and grasp things, they can sit, crawl, stand and walk. This progress Physical maturation show ____________________ Dev Psy, 2022-23 10 Cognitive abilities (1) Memory Habituation tasks show that infants as young as 3 months can remember specific objects and their own actions for as long as a week (Carolyn Rovee-Collier, 1974) o o o (2) Representational skills /symbolic thinking Knowing that one thing represents something else E.g., use a block to feed a doll E.g. using a word or a gesture to represent an object They are able to form mental images of an object/action 載入中⋯ Dev Psy, 2022-23 11 Cognitive abilities o o o o (3) Causal schemes Infants know some actions will lead to certain consequences, infants can make things happen E.g. they can use a spoon to bring soup to the mouth; E.g. if they kick chair, chair will move; E.g. if they cry, Mama will come to them etc. The development of the casual schemes makes the infants become more purposeful in their behaviours These schemes are developed through repetitions and experimentation. (4) Depth perception Visual Cliff experiment (Gibson & Walk, 1960) Video (from 1:18 ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrzmvI6iMrE Dev Psy, 2022-23 12 First evidence of object permanence The A-not-B error Dev Psy, 2022-23 14 Cognitive abilities (6) Language development (6b) Gestures By 8 months, infants combine sounds with gestures and looks in a certain direction to achieve a goal > purposeful communication, e.g. asking the caregiver for a toy/food Pointing _________may be the precursors of asking a question like “what is this?”, “where is this?”. These preverbal questioning it is fundamental for knowledge acquisition process Dev Psy, 2022-23 16 Early communication milestones Interacting Infants are showing intentions and abilities of ____________ with the external world. Dev Psy, 2022-23 17 Attachment Attachment is a process through which people develop specific and positive emotional bonds with others John Bowlby’s attachment theory The ability to make strong emotional bonds is innate A survival value to develop a Security person’s sense of ________ Dev Psy, 2022-23 19 Stranger anxiety Stranger anxiety refers to an infant’s discomfort or tension Unfamiliar in the presence of _________ adults. A sign of an infant’s growing attachment to a specific person (by 6 months) An infant’s response is influenced by: Proximity of the caregiver (e.g. mother) is How does the stranger approaches the infant How the mother responds to the stranger, e.g. mother speaking in a positive tone to stranger, the infant tends to respond positively The amount of prior experience with unfamiliar adults Dev Psy, 2022-23 20 Separation anxiety The other sign of a child’s growing attachment to a specific person (by 9 months) Infants express rage and despair when their parents leave them A baby’s responses to separation and reunion reflect the attachment quality Over time, most babies become more flexible in response to parents’ temporary departures Dev Psy, 2022-23 21. 2. Patterns of attachment Four patterns reflecting the quality of attachment Secure attachment The infant actively explores the room and interacts with the stranger when mother is present, using the mother as a safe base for exploration Upset when mother leaves, accepts comfort and goes back to exploration after mother’s return Actively greets mother upon her return Avoidant attachment (Insecure) Infants show less distress when being left alone, no preference for the mother over other people They avoid contact with the mothers during the reunion or ignore their mothers, they turn away from her and avoid eye contact with her Seems to expect the mothers will not be around when needed At home: the mothers seem to reject their babies, e.g. anger; less holding of their babies Dev Psy, 2022-23 24. 2. Patterns of attachment Resistant attachment (Insecure) The infant shows little exploratory behaviours, especially when the mother is not there Greatly upset when separated from the mother and not reassured by her return or efforts to comfort/soothe him, protest Continues to cry and express anger towards the mother Disorganised attachment (Insecure) The infant shows no interests to explore the room At the reunion: the infant shows contradictory behaviours without consistent pattern, which are unpredictable, such as moving toward the mother while looking away from her At home: the mothers are likely to be unpredictable, perhaps hostile towards their babies or passive and helpless, being afraid of their babies, possibly related to experience or loss or abuse in their childhood Dev Psy, 2022-23 25 Parental sensitivity and quality of attachment Parental sensitivity: parents’ attentiveness and accurate interpretation of the infant’s signals with timely responses, which promote mutually rewarding interactions, including the infant’s physical needs and emotional state Any examples of parent’s timely attending to the physical and emotional needs of the infants? Caregivers who are psychologically available, responsive, consistent and warm in their interactions with their babies, especially during the first 6 months > Secure attachment more likely to form _______ Dev Psy, 2022-23 26 Parents’s supportive network Trust vs. Mistrust Trust Our evaluation whether the person is available, dependable and sensitive A faith that the relationship will survive in an unpredictable future and it begins in infancy For infants, trust refers to their confidence that their needs will be met and they are being valued Outcomes: Achieve a sense of self-worth Over time, it develops in to a general sense of optimism about how one expects to be treated by others and about one’s ability to cope with challenges 載入中⋯ Dev Psy, 2022-23 29 Trust vs. Mistrust Mistrust Can arise from three sources: infant wariness [= overly alert] lack of confidence in the caregiver (and reasons?) doubt in one’s own lovableness, e.g. poor selfregulatory abilities Outcome Negative A ________ view about the self and define oneself as cautious and nervous. Dev Psy, 2022-23 30 The central process for resolving the crisis: Mutuality with the caregiver o o To resolve the crisis (of trust vs mistrust), an infant must establish a feeling of mutuality with a caregiver Consistency Mutuality is initially built on __________ with which the caregiver responds appropriately to the infant’s needs Caregivers attending to variety of infants’ needs, e.g. hunger Infants learning to expect that personal needs will be met Babies whose mothers responding promptly to their crying in the first 6 months of life cried less often in the coming 6 months Dev Psy, 2022-23 31 Mutuality with the caregiver The mutuality is developed through the process of: Coordination > mismatch > repair of interactions (1) Coordination between the infants and caregivers Infants learn to understand social interaction through observation and sensory and motor functions Caregivers also learn to read infants’ signals E.g., what does it mean by infants’ crying or sweating? Dev Psy, 2022-23 32 Mutuality with the caregiver Coordination refers to 2 related characteristics on interaction (1a) Matching Infant and caregiver are involved in similar behaviours or states at the same time E.g., playing together with an object, smiling at each other, etc. (1b) Synchrony Infant and caregiver move fluidly from one state to the next E.g., When infants are paying attention to their caregivers, the caregivers attempt to stimulate them. As babies withdraw attention, the caregivers learn to reduce stimulation and wait until the infants are ready to engage again. Dev Psy, 2022-23 33 Mutuality with the caregiver (2) Mismatch Normally, the caregiver-infant communications are typically mismatched Babies develop quickly, matched interactions appear to become mismatched rather quickly. (3) Communication repairs However, periods of mismatch are usually followed by communication repairs Renewed moments of coordination Implications to the infants? ____________, interactions which are not Hopefulness A sense of well coordinated can be rectified Dev Psy, 2022-23 34 Mutuality with the caregiver Parents with psychological problems Can lead to impairment of: Sensitivity to an infant’s emotional states Ability to respond to an infant’s needs Quality of daily interactions Infants with depressed mother Unresponsive, emotionally unavailable and unable to sustain smooth communication with their babies Fewer expressions of interest, sad, angry, weaker regulations of emotions Fewer positive matched states and takes longer time to repair those states (Reck et al., 2011) Dev Psy, 2022-23 35 Optimising an infant’s development 36 Optimising an infant’s development Be available, dependable and sensitive > Trust 37