Social Development

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Social Development

• Nature and Nurture
• Where does the division begin?
• Attachment Theory
• Cupboard Theory (Freud)
• The need for comfort (Bowlby Harlow)
• The Strange Situation and beyond (Ainsworth
  Main)

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Social Development

• Nature-Nurture
• We are a complex and unique combination of our
  genes and environment
• Reaction range
• Limits of the genotype
• Environment determines where in the range the
  gene is expressed

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Social Development

• Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
• Cupboard Theory
• Children innately attracted to their mother for
  food
• Attachment purely for physical needs

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Attachment Theory

• John Bowlby (1907-1990)
• Internal Working Model
• Innate fear of the unfamiliar
• Built-in approach and sign behaviours

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Attachment Theory

• John Bowlby (1907-1990)
• Innate fear of the unfamiliar
• Built-in approach and sign behaviours
• Internal Working Model
• Harry Harlow (1905-1981)
• Comfort vs. Nurture
• Terry-Cloth vs. Wire-Milk Mother

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Attachment Theory

• Harry Harlow (1905-1981)
• Comfort vs. Nurture
• Terry-Cloth vs. Wire-Milk Mother
• Isolated monkeys spent more time with cloth
  (comfort) mother than wire (nurture) mother

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Attachment Theory

• Mary Ainsworth (1913-1999)
• Childs attachment with Mother
• The Strange Situation (Gleitman,510-512)
• Children should use mother as secure base for
  exploration
• Children should exhibit separation anxiety
• Children should be less comfortable with a
  stranger than their mother

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The Strange Situation

• Parent and Infant enter experimental room
• Parent and infant are alone. Infant explores.
• Stranger enters, talks to mother and then
  approaches infant.
• First Separation Mother leaves room
• First Reunion Mother returns and stranger leaves
• Second Separation Mother leaves room again and
  stranger returns
• Second Reunion Mother returns, picks up infant
  stranger leaves.

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Patterns of Attachment
Securely attached (65) Children show distress when parent leaves room seek comfort and contact upon reunion then return to play
Insecurely attached-avoidant (20) Children seem aloof and may actively avoid parent upon return
Insecurely attached-ambivalent (10) Children become upset when parent leaves at reunion they cannot be comforted and show anger to parent but, at the same time, express desire for contact
Insecurely attached-disorganized (5) Children act confused upon reunion. After parents return, they may stop moving or show contradictory behaviour patterns
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Attachment and Adulthood

• Mary Main
• Collected four generations of data examining the
  long-term effects of attachment style
• The internal working model of relationships

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Attachment and Adulthood
Attachment Style View of themselves as adults View of relationships Experience in romantic relationships
Secure Believe they are likeable by others Characterize love by trust Tend to be more caring
Avoidant Describe selves as independent Believe they dont need a partner Fear of intimacy
Ambivalent Have many self-doubts View love as painful struggle Difficulty staying in love
Disorganized !?!? ?!?! !?!?
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Attachment and Adulthood

• Resilience and Nature-Nurture revisited
• Patterns can change they are not set in stone
• Our environment is constantly changing influence
  on the way we define ourselves, others and social
  relationships
• Crisis and change

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Attachment and Adulthood

• How to create a secure attachment
• Be emotionally available and responsive to the
  others needs in a predictable manner
• Intimacy, passion and support
• Conflict resolution strategies, self-disclosure
  and trust

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Social Development

• Nature and Nurture
• Where does the division begin?
• Attachment Theory
• Cupboard Theory (Freud)
• The need for comfort (Bowlby Harlow)
• The Strange Situation and beyond (Ainsworth
  Main)

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Happy Valentines DayHave a great READING
Week