Cognitive Development - Piaget's Theory

OUTLINE

Piaget's theory was mostly based on observation.

He went on to put together a general stage theory of cognitive development.

This theory stated that development follows a fixed (invariant) order, and that the behaviour in question gets better by the stage. Additionally, the order is the same for everyone - it is universal.

Piaget came to the conclusion that children begin to explore the world around them from the moment they first open their eyes and. They are NOT passive observers, instead they are actively involved.

STAGES

1 - SENSORI-MOTOR STAGE (0-2 YEARS)

  

  - Thoughts and behaviour are generally the same

• They examine their surroundings and place objects into schemas in their minds
• The baby gradually learns to make sense of the information coming in through the senses

Features include

 - Body schema(s)

• The infant recognises that it exists physically, it can recognise itself in a photograph or mirror

- Motor co-ordination

• The infant learns to co-ordinate different body parts, such as moving their hand to their mouth for eating or moving their knees and hands so that they can crawl

- Object permanence

• The infant knows that an object or person still exists even if they cannot be seen
• When a newborn baby cannot see that thing or person, they assume they do not exist
• Towards the end of the first year, perhaps as early as 8 months, babies will look for hidden objects because they have developed object permanence

2 - PRE-OPERATIONAL STAGE (2-7 YEARS)

Cognitive development gets better by the year. However, they are still limited.

- Animism

• They treat inanimate objects as if they are alive

- Reversibility

• They are unable to work backwards in their thinking
• For example, if you ask a child in the pre-operation stage who has a sibling if they have a sibling they will say yes. But if you ask them if that sibling has a sibling, they will say no

- Egocentrism

• They cannot see others viewpoints

3 - CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE (7-11 YEARS)

 - The child can do what they couldn't in the previous stage, and they also develop other abilities

- Linguistic humour

• They start understanding and enjoying word games and double meanings

- Seriation

• The ability to rank things

- Conservation

• They know properties of certain objects remain the same
• They can conserve volume,number and mass

4 - FORMAL OPERATION STAGE (11 YEARS +)

- Hypothetical thinking

• Thinking without physical prompts
• It allows you to 'see the big picture' and develop general principles you can apply to other situations. 

CRITICISMS

1 - The cognitive stages are not as fixed or rigid as Piaget proposed

• Sine children flick into different stages depending on circumstances, sometimes thining egocentrically, and at other times having grand ideas of right and wrong

2 - There is no guarantee that people develop through all the stages

• Some researchers argue that only about 50% of adults make it to the formal operational stage

3 - Development is not an automatic biological process

• Piaget may have underestimated the role that parents and other people play in a child's intellectual development. 
• Some psychologists believe that we can 'hothouse; children so they develop at a quicker rate

4 - Piaget ignored different types of thinking

• Not all thinking is an exercise in logic or problem solving

5 -  Thinking does not develop in the same way for children everywhere

• Aboriginal children develop concrete operational thinking earlier than European children as it is useful for physical survival

6 - Piaget only describes the kind of thinking a child can/cannot do, he does not explain how the changes in thinking occurs

• Some critics would say that this does not make it a proper theory as theories should offer reasons for why things happen

Cognitive Development - Key Concepts

Cognitive development is age related changes such as how children think and behave differently as they get older.
This is built on processes or schemas.
Whereas some are present from birth (eg- sucking) others are not. They follow a pattern of assimilation and accommodation, which is learning new information and fitting it in with what is already known.

Schemas or though processes are what every child uses as they interact with the world around them. All ideas, memories and information about a particular object/situation etc that a child comes into contact with are sorted into patterns. These are like mental blueprints which link things and behaviours.

Perception - Advertising (Applications)

- Subliminal Advertising

• A subliminal message is a brief sound or image that is directed at us with a less than 50% chance of us spotting it
• This has been banned in Britain
• Supermarkets may put on French music to increase sales of French wine

- Advertising For The Brain

• What goes through the left eye goes to the right hemisphere of the brain and vice versa
• Emotional content should be on the left side of the screen
• Messages/words should be on the right side of the screen

- Context in Advertising

• Perception of an object can be affected by the context it is presented in. 
• For example, food will look better on a smaller plate as it makes the food appear bigger

Perception - Haber & Levin (2001)

OUTLINE

9 male college students (who had been tested for good eyesight) were driven out to large grassy field in the USA, which was surrounded by trees on three sides. It was separated into 4 sections, and the participants viewed from the middle.

This was a repeated measures study. The students were taken in a line to the centre of the field through the empty section,a n asked to face a certain field in groups of three. They guessed how far away the objects were. The groups turned around to each field until they were done.

RESULTS

Standard sized real world objects has good guesses for both near and far objects.Guesses for the other fields were not as accurate.

CRITICISMS

1 - The results cannot be generalised

• The sample was too small
• It is gender-biased

2 - It is an artificial task

• The task is not seen in real life
• The participants lived in cities

3 - Questionaire is still subjective

• People may not perceive an object in the same way
• The group could've grown tired of the task and not much as much effort into each field

Perception - Nativist Theory

This theory states that perception is a natural and instinctive process which believes that instinct and biology play an important role in perception.

 This supports bottom-up processing which is when perception is dominated by what enters through the eyes rather than what we expect to see. This means that perception is immediate,direct and data driven.

 It starts with independent information from the environment and works its way upwards to an interpretation of that information.

In this theory, the role of the brain is only to analyse and interpret the information coming through our eyes. This explains why we all have a similar view of the world, as we all evolved the same way.

Perception - Constructivist Theory

OUTLINE

This theory states that we construct our perception of the world not only based on what we see in front of us but also based on past experience. This supports top down processing and perceptual set

Top down processing - When perception is dominated by what we expect to see
Perceptual set - A tendency to perceive something in line with what you expect based n past experience

Numerous factors demonstrate the role of perceptual set in processing.

 - Expectations

• If you are looking for a friend in a crowd, you will easily see them as you expect to

- Motivation

• If you are hungry/thirsty, pictures of food/drink are likely to look brighter

CRITICISMS

1 - It ignores how people may perceive the world in a similar way despite individual differences

• This suggests that most information comes from our environment rather than our minds.

2 - It can't explain how a newborn baby perceives, as they don't have experience

• Studies have shown that newborns have some perceptual abilities early on
• At 2 months, some can recognize faces and complex patterns
• At 6 months, they will not crawl over an imaginary cliff despite limited environmental experience 

3 - Illusions disprove this theory

• If perception is about experience, then we should learn not to be fooled the second time

4 - It tends to ignore the fact that we are born to see and make sense of distance, movement,colour, and shape

Perception - Key Concepts

Sensation - The physical process of collecting data from the environment via the senses

Perception - The cognitive process of interpreting data once it has been senses

When there is a mismatch between sensation and preception, you experience an illusion.

Illusion  - The effect of misinterpreting data

CONSTANCES

Shape constancy

• The ability to perceive the shape of an object as constant even if it appears to change through movement eg- bending a book

Colour constancy 

• The ability to perceive the colour of an object as constant even if it appears to change with changes in lighting eg- a white top in a dark room 

TYPES OF ILLUSIONS

The Ponzo Illusion is a geometric illustion, as both of the yellow lines are the same length, but the bottom one appears shorter

The Necker Cube is an ambiguous figure as it can be seen in more than one way depending on which 'x' you look at 

The Kanzia Triangle is a fictions illusion as you can see a white triangle which not actually there

DEPTH CUES

Texture gradient

• When the further away something is, the smoother the texture seems

Linear perspective

• When things seem to converge at a distant point

Height in the plane

• If the object is higher than the horizontal halfway line, it seems further away

Relative size

• When bigger objects appear closer and smaller objects seem further away

Superimpositon

• When one image blocks another, the full object seems closer

Criminal Behaviour - Applications

Crime Prevention

• Placing restrictions on media to reduce 'copy cat' crimes
• Youth services, social services, and education system intervene to stop bad behaviour, and reinforce good behaviour

Deterrents

• Prisons, community orders and fines serve as deterrents
• As people observe others  being punished, they are less likely to imitate the actions

Rehabilitation

• Teaches criminals appropriate behaviour. This may be education in maths and english or in skill workshops

Criminal Behaviour - Mednick et al (1984)

OUTLINE

The researchers took a sample of 14,000 adopted Danish men who were born between 1924 and 1947. They compared their criminal records to those of their adoptive and biological parents.

RESULTS

• If they had convicted biological parents, they were nearly twice as likely to be convicted than adoptees who had biological parents who had not.
• There was a strong correlation between biological parents and their sons for property crimes
• If a biological parent had 3 or more convictions, it is more likely their son also would
• If unrelated siblings were present, only 8% committed a crime
• 20% of related siblings in different families committed a crime
• If the biological father committed a crime, 30% of the sons also committed crimes

CRITICISMS

1 - Unreliable records

• Criminals may not have been reported,detected, or convicted
• Some convictions may not be fair

2 - The contamination effect

• The adoptees spent time with their biological parents
• Over 90% of the adoptees were adopted before the age of 2
• Psychoanalysts think that early childhood affects you greatly

3 - The sample is culture biased and sex biased

• All participants were male and from Denmark
• Cannot be generalised to females or other countries.

Criminal Behaviour - SLT

SLT (social learning theory) states that we learn from the observation of others, usually role models. When we imitate others to receive the same rewards, this is called vicarious reinforcement. Additionally, when a person is rewarded for this behaviour, this direct,positive reinforcement causes the person to repeat the behaviour.

Criminal Behaviour - Biological Theory

OUTLINE

Criminal personality and behaviour is inherited, and people are genetically programmed through DNA. This is seen in criminal families - if a parent is a criminal there is a higher chance that the child will also be one. This inheritance may cause abnormal brain development, which in turn causes brain dysfunction - the idea that a brain is not operating as normal brains do. This includes

1 - Prefrontal cortex

• Underactive in some criminals
• This is where the association between fear and anti-social behaviour is formed

2 - Limbic system

• Increased activity
• Controls sexual and aggressive behaviour
• The amygdala is located here and controls emotions, and this does not function in many psychopaths

3 - Corpus callosum

• 'Bridge' that allows the rational and irrational sides of the brain to communicate
• Less active in murderers, causing weak communication between the brains hemispheres

4 - Temporal lobe

• Brainwave activity is more likely to be slower in aggressive 
• psychopaths
• Involved in numerous functions - eg language, learning, emotions and memory

In the 19th century, psychologists began arguing that criminals have common physical characteristics. Genes could also result in common facial features such as

• asymmetrical faces
• low and sloping foreheads
• glinting/glassy eyes
• high cheekbones
• large,protuding, handleshaped ears
• crooked,flat, or upturned noses
• fleshy lips
• strong jaws
• prominent chins
• lots of hair

CRITICISMS 

1 - Critics argue that there cannot be one singular gene that accounts for all criminal behaviour

• Crimes vary in factors such as violence, intelligence, or property
• Genes don't vary across cultures, yet crimes do

2 - Brain dysfunction is not present in all criminals

• It cannot reliably predict if someone is going to be a criminal
• Brain dysfunction may also be caused by environmental factors such as problems during pregnancy/birth, illness or injury

3 - Criminal facial features have limited evidence

• People may be prejudiced against certain features
• Some features may be due to environmental factors

4 - It ignores the influence of the social environment

• 'Criminal families' can be explained by how children learn behaviour from other people, such as their parents. 

Criminal Behaviour - Key Concepts

A criminal act is any behaviour that breaks the law, however, as crime changes over time and in different countries, out definition of criminals shall change.

The common characteristics of criminals include

• impulsiveness
• lacking in feelings of guilt
• pleasure-seeking
• being over-optimistic
• self-importance

However, crime is difficult to measure. Statistics count the number of criminal acts, rather than the number of criminals, so numerous people can commit a singular crime and it is counted as one whereas a serial killer's crimes are counted as numerous. Also, the British crime survey shows that more criminal acts occur than the ones reported. This could be as people believe the crime is silly, may be embarrassed to report it, may not report it in order to protect a loved one or may fear being caught for a separate crime.

Phobias - Treatments (Applications)

Flooding

• Immersed in fear - forced to face it
• The patient is meant to form a new association to overcome the phobia
• Initially, they will still feel fear, but the body cannot maintain the fear response. The response subsides (reduces)
• This therapy can cause psychological harm, and if the response is strong enough, physical harm. This causes ethical problems
• As they calm down, they are still in the feared situation, but they are relaxed. This means they form a new association or break the old one.

Systematic Desensitisation 

• This is considered more ethical than flooding
• Associations are formed gradually, and they are taught to completely relax
• Relaxation and fear cannot occur at the same time as they are mutually exclusive
• This is achieved through stages
• A hierarchy of fear is created, going from something they can cope with to their worst fear. They must be completely relaxed at each stage before they move onto the next step

Implosion Therapy

• Similar to flooding, but is more ethical as they imagine the worst situation rather than being physically placed in it.

Phobias - Evolutionary Theory

This theory states that phobias are formed to ensure survival.

A psychologist called Seligma (1971) stated that being aware of dangers may be beneficial. This is as a 'biological preparedness' to fear certain things could aid survival.

The theory focuses on nature to explain phobias. Mainly,people wish to survive, which is aided by fear. This means they can survive to reproduce. If fear wasn't present,we would put ourselves in harmful situations.

Certain objects/situations threaten our survival more. In animal phobias, we fear them as they are unlike us in shape. As they are less closely related to us in terms of genes, we believe that they are more likely to attack us.

However, you still require a negative experience to form a phobia. Evidence suggests that the 'survival phobias' are difficult to treat or get rid of. This suggests that they are 'built in' rather than learnt.

This also explains why fast cars,guns and cigarettes aren't feared as our ancestors had no contact with these.

Phobias - Watson & Rayner (1920)

PROCEDURE

Watson and Rayner subjected a child named 'Little Albert' to a variety of neutral stimuli at 9 months old, including live animals, masks and cotton. They also hit a steel bar, which produced a loud sound which caused him to cry. At 11 months, they offered Albert a white rat. When he reached out to stroke the rat, they hit the bar. This was repeated 7 times over 2 weeks.

RESULTS

The rat caused the same reaction as the bar being hit, which means it was now a conditioned stimulus. 5 days after conditioning, the phobia persisted and due to generalization, he also feared

• A rabbit
• A dog
• A sealskin coat
• Cotton
• A Santa Claus mask
• Watson's white hair

10 days after the initial conditioning, Albert still feared the rat, but it was less extreme.

1 month after the initial conditioning, only a mild of the rat was displayed. After this, Albert's mother withdrew him from the test.

CRITICISMS

 1 - The phobia was conditioned under artificial conditions

• This causes a lack of ecological validity 
• In a natural setting, variables may affect the conditioning
• This only proves that conditioning can occur in a laboratory setting
• This took more than one-trial, but phobias usually only require a singular experience

2 - Only one child was conditioned with a phobia in this study

• This is a small sample, so cannot be generalized
• It could be easier or harder for others to be conditioned, depending on factors such as age
• As only one phobia was developed, other phobias may be more difficult to form.

3 - There are a number of reasons why this study is highly unethical

• They didn't attempt to counter condition his phobia
• Some believe that the mother was not correctly informed, so informed consent wasn't given 

Phobias - Behaviourist Theory

OUTLINE

This theory states that phobias are learnt through classical conditioning. People learn their phobias, so they are often linked to bad encounters. However, some behaviours are instinctive, such as vomiting, anxiety or sexual arousal, these are unconditioned responses.

Pavlov's Dogs

UCS - Triggers a natural response

UCR - Is the natural response

NS - A stimulus that would normally cause no reaction

Sometimes, UCRs occur when a NS is present and they are paired together.

In classical conditioning, the NS needs to be repeatedly paired with the UCS to be learnt. However, if it is a traumatic experience, the association can be learnt after only one event.

 If repetition doesn't occur, the phobia is usually 'extinguished', meaning it is not formed.

Phobias are the result of a negative experience with the feared object, context or activity. In this situation, the CR is always fear. Fear itself is a UR, as it is instinctive.

Phobias are formed in three stages

Stage 1 - Classical Conditioning (as described above)

Stage 2 - Stimulus Generalization

• The CR is associated with similar stimuli.
• People do not only fear the original object/context/activity, but now also fear similar things
• For example, they will not fear one specific spider, they will fear all spiders and maybe even similar animals.

Stage 3 - Operant Conditioning

• If the consequences of a situation are rewarding the behaviour is repeated, but if the consequences are punishing, the behaviour will not be repeated.
• If you avoid the stimulus, this provides relief which is a positive consequence, so you repeat this and continue avoiding the stimulus
• If you attempt to face the stimulus, this causes anxiety which is a negative consequence, so you do not repeat the behaviour, and instead avoid the stimulus.

CRITICISMS

1 - By only focusing on behaviour, the mind and the thinking behind this behaviour is ignored.

Example - Two people are attacked. One may think about it rationally and realise it is unlikely to occur again, especially if they take precautions. The other person may think irrationally, and think of numerous attackers and develop a phobia of a common factor such as the dark.

Explanation - We don't just respond passively to surrounding stimuli, but think about what is happening to us too. People may form different associations. 

2 - Behaviourists assume that you need direct experience with the feared stimulus ; however, others argue that phobias can be learnt more indirectly

Example - Reading about a deadly situation such as a plane crash can make you afraid of being in a similar situation

Explanation - We can learn through vicarious reinforcement, such as in the SLT. People can observe and imitate role model's behaviours.

3 - Behaviourists cannot explain the fact that some people have phobias that they have no direct or indirect experiences of

Example - A number of British people are afraid of snakes. but have never come across one

Explanation - Phobias could be innate or social norms.

Phobias - Types of Phobias

A phobia is an intense, persistent and irrational fear of

• Objects (such as snakes or needles)
• Context (such as confined spaces or hospitals)
• Activities (such as flying or speaking on the phone)

Phobias are considered atypical behaviour as people show extreme fear in a non-threatening/moderately threatening situation. However, it is typical behaviour to experience fear.

The most common phobias are

• Agoraphobia -  Being in public, away from home
• School Phobia - Attending/ being in school
• Social Phobia - Embarrassment in social situations
• Acrophobia - Heights
• Arachnophobia - Spiders

Symptoms of phobias include

• Heart pounding
• Sweating
• Feeling sick
• Dizziness
• Difficulty concentrating
• Loss of control

A phobia is not just the fear of a stimulus, but it is also the active avoiding of it. This what creates a major impact on people's lives.

Agoraphobia

• Highly restrictive, people may become confined to their homes
• Fear of context
• Fear of being trapped in a place/situation where they may become trapped or struggle to escape

Social Phobia

• Can be specific, such as eating in public, or general.
• Most know this is irrational, but still experience panic days or even weeks in advance to the event
• Fear of activities

School Phobia

• Non-attendance is related to anxiety
• May fear leaving home or embarrassing themselves
• Most common in 11-12 year old boys
• Fear of context

Acrophobia

• More extreme than a typical fear
• Might not be able to walk on the roof of a tall building, or may have to kneel or crawl due to fear of losing their sense of balance
• Extreme sufferers may avoid any heights
• Fear of context

Arachnophobia

• Most common animal based phobia
• In extreme cases. cartoons or the word will be triggering
• Less extreme cases require an actual spider
• May check bed or clothes for spiders
• More common in women
• Fear of object.

 

Attachment - Applications

HOSPITALS

- Years ago, only physical needs were considered

• Emotional factors are now also considered
• Newborns used to be taken immediately after birth, and kept in separate wards. This was to protect the child from infection and to give the mother a chance to recover. However, this meant that contact was usually limited 
• Parents were not encouraged to vist, and the opportunites to vist were limited

- The more contact a baby has with its mother in the first few days, the stronger the attachments

• As long as there is no problems, skin to skin contact is encouraged as this is when bonding begins
• Babies are placed by the bedside to ensure continual contact

- Bowlby showed 3 stages of separation 

• 1 - Protest. The child is panic stricken and visibly upset
• 2 - Despair. The child is upset, and they become uninterested and and apathetic
• 3 - Detachment. The child rejects their caregiver

- Mothers are encouraged to stay with children

• A cot is often placed at the mother's bedside

- Hospital policies were changed

• Flexible and frequent visiting hours are in place
• Parents can sleep over when a child is in hospital to avoid seperation effects

NURSERIES

- Nurseries are controversial, as it helps people to socialise but separate children from their caregivers

- Generally, a high quality nursery requires

• Highly trained staff - to understand children's needs
• Low staff turnover - to avoid separation effects when a child attaches to a carer
• Low staff to child ratio - such as 1 carer to 3 babies

FAMILY

- Parents used to be able to bring children up as they pleased

• They now actively educate parents
• Parents are educated on things such as attachment behaviours and parenting styles that benefit the child

- Institutions are in place that can help and intervene such as the police, child services, and social services.    

Attachment - Hazen &Shaver (1987)

OUTLINE

• Opportunity sample
• Questionnaire for people aged between 14 & 82
• Conducted in the USA
• Advertised as a "love quiz" in a local newspaper
• Two independent variables - the persons infant attachment type and their attitude to their most important love relationship
• Multi-choice questions
• 620 out of 1200 answers analysed 

RESULTS

• 56% had a secure infant attachment, whereas 25% had an insecure avoidant infant attachment and 19% had an insecure ambivalent infant attraction

Secure Infant Attachment

• Happy, friendly relationships
• Accepting and supportive of their partners
• Least likely to be divorced
• Average relationship length of 10 years

Insecure Avoidant Infant Attachment

• Afraid of intimacy 
• More highs and lows in their relationships
• Prone to jealousy
• Most likely to say they can get along fine
• Average relationship length of 6 years

Insecure Ambivalent Infant Attachment

• More prone to obsession
• Experience extreme sexual attraction
• Experience extreme jealousy
• Most likely to be divorced
• Average relationship length of 5 years

CRITICISMS

1 - The sampling method may have given an unrepresentative sample

• Only certain types of people may have responded
• More females in the sample caused a gender bias
• Can be class/culture biased as it was in a local newspaper

2 - The method relies too much on respondents giving honest/accurate answers

• May lie, exaggerate or cover up certain details
• May have inaccurate memories of upbringing
• May have a biased view of childhood

3 - The questionnaire used closed questions which may not have gone into depth

• Relationships are complex
• May want to elaborate on their answer, but they cannot

Attachment - Behaviourist Theory

This theory states that attachment is not innate. Rather, it relies on learning and experience.

Reinforcement

• Learning behaviours through consequences
• If the consequence is positive, the behaviour is repeated, but if it is negative the behaviours are discouraged
• However, giving a child attention for negative behaviour will result in more negative behaviour as they relate the action to the response via classical conditioning.
• Interaction with the caregiver (eg cooing) results in rewards (eg attention). This creates and reinforces their bond, so attachment behaviors become more common

Explanation

• Attachment is a two way process, both the child and the caregiver attach to eachover.
• The caregiver is rewarded,  as a child that is interactive and happy makes them want to interact,
• They both learn to bond as they both benefit
• This explains why bonds don't form in neglect and abuse, as neither are rewarded. Thus, behaviours aren't encouraged, and the child may see relationships as a punishment and avoid them.

Experience

Attatchment depends on experience and parenting styles

Secure Attachment

• Sensitive caregivers
• Interpret child's signals well
• Cooperating, accepting and accessible

Insecure Avoidant Attachment

• Uninterested carers
• Often reject child
• Self centered or strict caregiver

Insecure Ambivalent Attachment

• Carers interested in children
• Misunderstand child's behaviour
• Child cannot rely on emotional support
• Often seen in caregivers who are substance dependent

Effects

• Effects are both short and long term
• Securely attached children are less likely to bully, insecure ambivalent attached children are more likely to be bullies and insecure avoidant are more likely to be bullied.
• There is also a relationship with attachment types and adult intimate relationships.

Attatchment - Bowlby's Theory (Evolutionary)

OUTLINE

Bowlby believed that humans and animals attached in a similar way, and that infants have an innate response to bond with one figure, typically the mother.

Monotropy

• Only occurs in Bowlby's theory
• An attachment to the primary caregiver, usually the mother.

Critical Period

• Attachment should happen in the first three years of life, although the first year is the most preferable. 
• If an attachment was not formed in this time,the infant would suffer negative psychological effects, even into adulthood. This included affectionless psychopathology

Privation

• Privation is when a child forms no attachment to a caregiver
• Unusual
• Tends to occur in children who are in care - as they cannot form a lasting bond, or in cases of extreme neglect
• Causes effects such poor social,language and motor skills, which continue into adulthood.
• Bowlby believed that these effects were irreversible 

Deprivation

• Deprivation is when a child has formed an attachment to a caregiver, but this attachment is broken through separation
• Occurs when separated for a week or more, especially if the child is younger than 5
• Causes less extreme effects than privation, but still damages the child
• This can lead to the child being demanding and clingy. This can lead to depression, aggression, and affectionless psychology.

CRITICISMS

1 - Monotropy

• Evidence shows that children may have a number of attachments
• Schaffer & Emerson (1964) showed that after 18 months, only 13% of children were still attached to only one figure
• Weisner & Gallimore (1977) showed that mothers are the exclusive caregiver in only a small percentage of countries

2 - Critical Period

• The critical period is too extreme
• There may be a sensitive period where people are able to attach better
• This period is the best time to bond, but it is not essential
• People can form healthy relationships after the age of 3

3 - Long Term Effects of Deprivation

• Effects are reversible
• For example, a pair of Czech twins were found neglected and abused at the age of 7, yet went on to form healthy relationships with foster parents.

Attachment - Ainsworth's Strange Situation (1960s)

OUTLINE

The mother and child (aged 12 - 18 months) were observed through a one way mirror in an a laboratory. There were different episodes they went through to determine the child's attachment.

1. Mother and their infants enter the lab
2. The infant played with some toys while the mother was there
3. A stranger enters the lab and the mother left
4. A stranger tries to comfort the infant
5. The mother returns and the stranger leaves
6. The mother comforts the infant and leaves again
7. The child is left alone for a short period of time
8. The stranger returns and tries to interact with the child
9. The mother returns and picks up the infant while the stranger leaves

This showed that 70% of the sample had a secure attachment, whereas each of the insecure attachments were present in 15% of the sample.

Secure Attachment

• Explore whilst playing, using mother as a safe base
• Show moderate distress on seperation
• Comforted by mother, and to some extent by the stranger

Insecure Avoidant Attachment

• Pay no attention to mother while playing
• Show little distress on seperation
• Easily comforted by stranger if necessary, and often ignored mother when she returned

Insecure Ambivalent Attachment

• Stay close to mother whilst playing
• Show extreme distress on separation
• Stranger cannot comfort the infant, and the mother is rejected when she returns.

Attachment - Key Concepts

Attatchment - An enduring bond formed with a significant other

The two main ways of measuring attachment are separation protest and stranger anxiety.

Separation protest measures how upset a child becomes when left by primary caregivers. If an attachment is formed, they show high levels of distress such as

• sobbing
• searching
• reaching

If no attachment is formed, little emotion is seen on separation

Stranger anxiety is how afraid a child is in the presence of a stranger. If there is an attachment, the child shows fear through

• screaming
• trying to get away
• appearing tense

If no attachment is formed, little emotion is seen.

There are three types of attachment.

1. Secure attachment - when a child and caregiver have a relationship based on trust and security, and the child wishes to interact with the caregiver
2. Insecure avoidant attachment - When a child and caregiver have a relationship in which the child is quite independent of the caregiver
3. Insecure ambivalent attachment - When a child and caregiver have a relationship in which the child can be cling and demands, yet awkward with the caregiver at the same time

Obedience - Applications

Most social groups encompass a hierarchy, this is the structure of an organisation or group, which starts with a person at the top with the most authority, and with a descending line of command and decision making. These are used to keep order in institutions and situations.

Prisons

• Prisoners are seperated to reduce the effect of consenus, so group rebellion is less likely to occur
• Rewards are given for conformity and good behaviour
• Privileges are lost if one inmate misbehaves
• Prisoners may conform to a social role

Armed Forces

• Knowledgeable/experienced people in command are figures of authority with the power to punish
• Individuality is removed so that they comply to roles
• Punishment is used as power to punish increases obedience
• Order is ridigly kept

Schools

• Clearly set rules
• Rewards for positive behaviours

Obedience - Bickman (1974)

OUTLINE

Bickman's study was a field study conducted in Brooklyn, New York. Three male experimenters dressed as a civilian, a milkman or a guard, and asked them one of three things.

1. "Can you pick up this bag for me"
2. "This man is over-parked at the meter but doesn't have any change - give him a dime"
3. "Don't you know you have to stand on the other side of the pole ? This sign says no standing"

RESULTS

89% obeyed the guard, as he was a figure of authority with the power to punish.

57% obeyed the milkman, as he was a figure of authority.

33% obeyed the civilian.

CRITICISMS

1 - Because it was a field experiment, there was a lack of control over variables

• Extraneous variables (variables that can change the outcome such as noise, weather, or crowding which can't be controlled)
• These variables would be easier ti control in a laboratory setting but would reduce the experiment's ecological validity

2 - The participants were selected by opportunity sampling

• There was no knowledge of the person's circumstances or personality type.
• People could have an authoritarian personality, or be late.

3 - The study was unethical

• It was impossible to gain the participant's informed consent
• They also weren't debriefed
• This could've caused embarrassment or distress

4 - Results may be affected by gender

• All the experimenters were male, and people may be more likely to obey men than women.

5 - The study was in one city, in one country

• The study was culturally biased as it was conducted in an individualist culture.
• The results may vary if repeated in a collectivist culture

Obedience - Hofling et al

OUTLINE

22 nurses on night duty in a psychiatric hospital were phoned by 'Dr. Smith' , an unknown doctor, wo told the nurse to give a patient 20mg of Astroten, despite it being double the maximum dose of 10mg.

RESULTS

The drug was a placebo, so no patients were harmed. All but one of the nurses obeyed the orders given over the phone.

HOW TSF COULD AFFECT THIS

• The nurses were in a place of work, so the setting would ensure that they would be more obedient.
• The doctor was an authority figure with the power to punish, so the nurses were more likely to obey him.

Obedience - Milgram (1962)

PROCEDURE

This experiment was conducted at Yale university, America. 40 males aged 20-50 years old were asked to be 'teachers' to a man in another room. The participant had to ask the man in the other room (who was a confederate, so was not actually harmed) questions as part of a 'learning experiment'. When wrong answers were given, they would give them an electric shock, with the voltage increasing each time.

RESULTS

All of the participants gave the confederate at least 300 volts, whereas 65% of them gave him the lethal maximum of 450 volts.

TSF IN MILGRAM'S EXPERIMENT

Setting

• When Milgram's experiment was moved to a rundown office building in downtown Bridgeport, the amount of people giving the maximum of 450 volts fells from 65% to 47.5%

Culture

• When conducted in Austrailia, the amount of people which give the maximum voltage fell to 40%, as it is an individualist culture.
• In Italy, it rose to 80%, and 85% in Austria, as these are both collectivist cultures.

Power to Punish / Figure of Authority

• If the figures of authority were not present, the amount of people who gave the maximum voltage was reduced to 20%

Consensus

• When the study was repeated with one genuine participant and two disobeying confederates, only 10% delivered the maximum voltage.

CRITICISMS

1 -  It lacks ecological validity

• It was conducted in an artificial setting, so is subject to demand characteristics.

2 - It bypassed ethical guidelines

• Participants weren't provided with the right to withdraw
• Participants didn't give informed consent
• The participants were deceived as they weren't told the true reason for the experiment
• This could have caused distress, embarrassment or other long-term harm

3 - Individual differences weren't accounted for

• People naturally vary in how likely they are to obey despite other factors.

Obedience - TDF (Theory of Dispositional Factors)

Some people are more likely to obey because of their dispositional factors, these are factors associated with an individual's personality.

An authoritarian personality is a personality type which is prone to obedience. This was investigated by Adorno et al (1950). This appeared shortly after WW2 as an attempt to try to understand and explain antisemitism in Nazi Germany. People with this personality type are more likely to be bigoted and prejudiced, and are also more likely to obey.

Their research comprised of 2000+ college students from the USA. These were American,white,non-Jewish middle class people such as teachers, nurses and psychiatric patients. They were asked to grade their support of statements on a scale called the F-scale, with the F standing for fascism.

Authoritarian personality was believed to develop during childhood due to factors such as strict and controlling parents.

 This personality type consists of 4 characteristics:

• Someone who feels and active dislike of people from lower classes
• Someone with fixed and conventional ideas of right and wrong
• Someone who cannot deal with any uncertainty about the right way to behave and acceptable attitudes/beliefs
• Someone who is always willing to obey those of higher status than themselves.

Obedience - TSF (Theory of Situational Factors)

The theory of situational factors states that your situation determines your level of obedience.
This is affected by 5 factors.

• Setting - the more prestigious/formal, the more likely you are to obey.

• Culture - collectivist cultures are more likely to obey.

• Power to Punish - if someone has a high power to punish you are more likely to obey them.

• Consensus - if more people obey you are more likely to obey

• Authority Figure/ Uniform - if an authority figure is present, you are more likely to obey.

Obedience - Key Concepts

Authority - A level of status or power

Obedience - Following orders or commands from people in authority

Defiance - Resisting roders or commands from people in authority

Denial of responsibility - Passing responsibility of an act onto somebody else, usually higher in authority.

Individualist culture - The individual's rights are valued over others. The opposite is a collectivist culture.

Memory - Applications

MEMORY AIDS

Memory aids have been developed and are often used in education. These are cues, mind maps, and imagery.

Cues

• Help retrieve information from the LTM and overcome accessibility problems.
• Cues can trigger memories through the senses eg - a smell
• Formal use - Police provides verbal/visual cues to reconstruct crimes. They use cues to help trigger witnesses' memories.
• Informal use -  Such as 'retracing steps' to remember  where you left something
• In education - Could give hints, such as the first letter of the word or visual cues.

Mind Mapping

• Reflects how the brain is organised
• Created by Buzan in the 1960's

Imagery

• We remember things better when it is attached to an image. This is as we dual encode this information so we can recall it easily. This means that it is remembered acoustically and visually.