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)
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)
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
Social Development
• Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
– Cupboard Theory• Children innately attracted
to their mother for food• Attachment purely for
physical needs
Attachment Theory
• John Bowlby (1907-1990)
– Internal Working Model– Innate fear of the
unfamiliar– Built-in approach and
sign behaviours
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
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
250-259 260-269 270-279 280-289 290-299
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Days of Age
Mea
n tim
e in
Hou
rsTime Spent on Mothers
Cloth Mother
Wire Mother
Attachment Theory
• Mary Ainsworth (1913-1999)– Child’s 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
The Strange Situation
1. Parent and Infant enter experimental room
2. Parent and infant are alone. Infant explores.
3. Stranger enters, talks to mother and then approaches infant.
4. First Separation: Mother leaves room
5. First Reunion: Mother returns and stranger leaves
6. Second Separation: Mother leaves room again and stranger returns
7. Second Reunion: Mother returns, picks up infant; stranger leaves.
Patterns of AttachmentSecurely 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 parent’s return, they may stop moving or show contradictory behaviour patterns
Attachment and Adulthood
• Mary Main– Collected four generations of data examining
the long-term effects of attachment style– The internal working model of relationships
Attachment and AdulthoodAttachment
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 don’t need a “partner”
Fear of intimacy
Ambivalent Have many self-doubts
View love as painful struggle
Difficulty staying in love
Disorganized !?!? ?!?! !?!?
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
Attachment and Adulthood
• How to create a secure attachment– Be emotionally available and responsive to
the other’s needs in a predictable manner– Intimacy, passion and support– Conflict resolution strategies, self-disclosure
and trust
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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