What do I need to learn?

Content Number of marks (Rough guide)

Define what is meant by Child Psychology – showing that is about the development of the individual from birth to adolescence and beyond, that what we experience as a child affects our later development

2 marks – you should define the term and elaborate or give an example

Define the following key terms: attachment, deprivation, privation, evolution, day-care and separation anxiety (be also prepared to define any new key term you come across e.g. monotropy, secure base etc…)

2 marks – you should define the term and elaborate or give an example

Describe the use of naturalistic observation as a research method in child psychology

4 marks

Describe the use of structured observation (e.g. the Strange Situation) as a research method in child psychology

4 marks

Describe the use of case studies as a research method in child psychology

4 marks

Evaluate the above research methods in terms of their relative strengths and weaknesses including their use in child psychology and also their reliability, validity and ethical issues

4 marks each

Describe and evaluate cross-cultural and longitudinal ways of studying children in psychology

Description 4, evaluation 4

Describe and evaluate Bowlby’s theory of attachment

Description 6, evaluation 6

Describe and evaluate the work of Mary Ainsworth including the strange situation and cross-cultural implications

Description 8,Evaluation 6

Describe and evaluate research into deprivation/ separation (both short and long-term) including the maternal deprivation hypothesis and also ways in which negative effects can be reduced

Research 6, MDH 4, descript and eval, ways effects can be reduced 4

Key Issue: Describe and evaluate research into day-care, including in detail one study which shows positive and one which shows negative effects

Description 4Evaluation 4

Describe evaluate research into privation and consider whether the effects are reversible

Description, evaluation and reversibility 6

A developmental disorder: Describe the characteristics of and two explanations for autism and explain two ways in which this can affect a child’s development

Enough to write a 12 marks essay (6 des and 6 evaluation)

Describe and evaluate Curtis (1977) Genie: A case study of extreme privation

6 des, 6 eval

Describe and evaluate one other study: Bowlby (1946) 44 thieves – their characters and home life

6 des, 6 eval

Evidence of practice – the content analysis you carried out in class. You must be able to:

Outline the theory upon which your practical is based

State your research aim Describe the ethical problems you

encountered and how you overcame them Describe the research method used and

why Describe the targeted material, how you

selected the sample and the justification for this

Describe how you carried out the content analysis and how the data was analysed

Describe the conclusions you made from the study

Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your study

There is a lot to learn, but it is not impossible! Use your knowledge from the Cognitive Approach to help you revise:

o Revise in ‘chunks’ – do not try to learn too much at once – it is easy to get confused

o Deep processing is best – do not simply read the information, do something with it. Spider diagrams, flash cards, post-it notes for definitions are all helpful. If you

know something well enough to explain it to someone else without notes then you will be fine in the exam

o Use cues to help you remember such as mnemonics or includes pictures on your spider diagrams which can act as a visual cue in the exam

o Test yourself – especially with past exam questions, you know the style of question that will be asked so make them up, you have my email address so you can email me questions that you complete and I will mark them and send them back to you with comments

o Use the Learning Environment – there is extra information on there, including podcasts for the auditory learners. I have also set up a revision forum where you can post questions/ share your frustrations and I and you can answer any questions

o It sounds obvious but – read the question! If it asks for a theory do not describe a study – you will get no marks

o If you are asked to describe, do not evaluate and vice versao Remember to PEE!! Make your point and provide an example or further

explanationo When evaluating make sure the points you make are specific to that study e.g. lots

of studies lack ecological validity – you need to say what this is and explain how the study you are evaluating lacks ecological validity (if this is the point you are making)

o When describing a study remember Nasty Awful Mothers Ruin Children (Name Aim Method Results Conclusion). This should be the first thing you write on your question paper as a cue to help you remember as you will not have time to plan any answers except possibly the 12 mark essay question

o Always write in full sentences – never ever ever use bullet points – even for evaluating and do not divide evaluation into sub headings such as strengths and weaknesses – it is done in this revision guide to make it easier to read

o Use the language of the mark scheme to answer your question. When describing a study use word such as “the aim of the study was to…”, “the results of the study were”

o Use connectives in your writing “One strength of Social Identity Theory is…” In addition to this, the theory has been praised because of…”

o You will be given marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar in the essay question so take care on this question especially

You have to learn these terms off by heart:

Child Psychology: part of developmental psychology which focuses upon infants and young children, but can also include adolescents and young people. Child psychopathology is also investigated which focuses upon problems with child development. Child psychologists are interested in emotional development and how the type of care a child receives affects the child at the time, and also consequences for later development

Attachment: an enduring love bond between child and care-giver which provides security and stability for the child. Attachment is a two-way bond as the care-giver will also attach to the child. It also provides a basis for adult relationships. The bond can be seen at about the age of seven when a child becomes distressed when separated from their caregiver.

Deprivation: where an emotional bond/ attachment has been formed between care-giver and child and then disrupted. The deprivation can be short-term, through hospitalization or day-care, or long-term through divorce or the death of a parent

Privation: where a child has never formed an attachment. This can occur because of neglect or abuse, or because of a serious illness, for example a mother with severe post-natal depression who fails to bond with their child

Evolution: this is the idea that certain behaviours are passed on through our genes because they are essential for survival. In terms of child psychology, attachment is seen as adaptive (increases the chance of survival) because children are helpless and maintaining close proximity to a care giver means that they are more likely to be protected

Daycare: temporary care of a child by a person/ group of people who are not family members. The care takes place outside of the family home.

Separation anxiety: from around seven months old a child will become visibly distressed when they are apart from their primary carer. This phenomenon was used by Ainsworth as a means of measuring attachment type in the Strange Situation.

Bowlby’s Attachment Theory: ** For a very detailed description of Bowlby and attachment see the PowerPoint I went through in class – this is a summary

What is Attachment and who influenced attachment theory?• Attachment is a two-way emotional bond

between a child and its primary carer• Bowlby’s theory of attachment is quite

complex. He was at first influenced by Freudian/ psychoanalytical thinking, but later became influenced by the work of ethologists such as Harlow and Lorenz

• He saw that attachment is adaptive (increases an individuals’ chance of survival) at the level of the individual genome – but not at the species level

Attachment Theory – Evolutionary basis:• Bowlby discovers ethology (the study of animal behaviour) and raises the question

of whether the formation of bonds between infants and caregivers is a product of evolution

• Bowlby was struck by the similarity between birds imprinting and the proximity seeking seen in infants

• For Bowlby, all of this work pointed to the fact that children’s ties to their parents were not driven by psychoanalytic notions of physical gratification (Freud). For instance, Harlow’s work with monkey’s showed that, if given the choice, baby monkey preferred a warm soft surrogate mom to an uncomfortable surrogate mom who provided milk.

• Attachments develop through a specific attachment behavioral system. When the attachment system is cued, infants respond using a repertoire of behaviors like crying, sucking, grabbing, etc – these are known as proximity-promoting behaviours as it encourages the care-giver to be close to the child. At first, these are directed fairly arbitrarily to anyone, but with time and histories of interactions with specific caregivers, the attachment system become attuned to specific individuals. The child will also then show distress around strangers and a preference for the primary carer

• Bowlby emphasized the idea of monotropy – where a relationship between a child and a single primary carer is of great importance

• Through these systems the child internalizes cognitive representations of the world and the self. If the primary carer responds appropriately to the child’s signals they will develop a secure internal working model. The will then use the carer as a secure base from which they can explore the world

• These internal working models will shape development because they affect how we explore the world, as well as how we interpret information. For instance, the

insecure child is less likely to explore the social world and when he/she does interprets information more negatively, would reinforce further limited exploration.

Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis:• Bowlby argued that a child who suffers a disruption to their attachment bond during

the first 24 months will develop an unworthy internal working model.• The child could become an affectionless psychopath (lack of guilt and lack of regard

for the consequences of their actions)• They would also show developmental retardation (low IQ), delinquency and

depression• The MDH was based upon research at the Tavistock clinic where he worked (44

thieves) and also the work of Harlow

EVALUATION:

o Bowlby’s theory has had great academic influence and also real life application. Hospitals allow parents to stay with their child to avoid attachment disruption, daycare facilities appoint a child a key worker who is a substitute caregiver while the parent is at work and social services will try to support parents who are struggling rather than take the child into care

o Bowlby’s theory suggests that disruptions to attachment are harmful to children and puts too much blame on the mother for when things go wrong. This has meant that many working mothers feel guilty for leaving their child. His WHO report was used by the government to persuade mothers to stay in the home to help deal with the unemployment problems after the war. It is now argued that it is the quality of the attachment that is important and a working mother who is happy and has quality interactions with her child is better than a stay-at-home mother who is unhappy

o Some psychologists argue that Bowlby overemphasised the consequences to a child from a disruption in their attachment (deprivation). It is argued that the severe consequences he referred to were the consequences of privation (where no attachment is made), not deprivation. Bowlby failed to distinguish between the two

o His study on delinquent adolescents (44 thieves) supports the maternal deprivation hypothesis as the thieves who were classified as being affectionless psychopaths were more likely to have had childhood separations. However, the study does have methodological issues

o Evidence from still-faced studies shows that children get distressed very quickly when their behaviours are not responded to appropriately by their primary carer

o The idea of monotropy had been criticised and instead it has been argued that a child may have multiple attachments to, for example, the father, grandparents and siblings (Shaffer and Emerson, 1964)

o The evolutionary basis of attachment is very plausible and there is plenty of supporting evidence from animal studies. However, the evolutionary basis of attachment does not say anything about the quality of the relationships and how this affects the child

Name: Bowlby (1946) Forty-four juvenile thieves

Aims: Bowlby aimed to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between maternal deprivation and emotional maladjustment based on his observations of patients at his child guidance clinic. He had observed that children showing poor emotional development had often experienced separation/deprivation and suggested that this could result in psychological and behavioural problems in later life.

Method: An opportunity sample of 88 children was selected from the clinic where Bowlby worked. Of these, 44 were juvenile thieves, and had been referred because of their stealing; 44 "controls" had been referred because of emotional problems. Retrospective and present case studies were used to assess experience of maternal separation and evidence of emotional maladjustment.

Results: Bowlby diagnosed 32% (14) of the thieves as "affectionless psychopaths", but none of the controls were. Of the thieves diagnosed with affectionless psychopathy, 86% (12 of the 14) had experienced maternal separation before the age of 5 years, whereas only 17% (5) of the thieves not diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths had experienced maternal separation. Only 2 of the control group had suffered maternal deprivation.

Conclusions: Bowlby concluded that the maternal separation/deprivation in the child's early life caused permanent emotional damage. He diagnosed this as a condition and called it affectionless psychopathy. According to Bowlby, affectionless psychopathy

involves a lack of emotional development, characterised by lack of concern for others, a lack of guilt, and inability to form meaningful andlasting relationships. He claimed that once the attachment bond was broken, the negative effects could not be reversed or undone. The implications were that this research could be used to inform on issues concerning parenting, in particular, the potential negative consequences of mothers working.

Evaluation

• The research was correlational and non-experimental: Separation/deprivation cannot be manipulated as an independent variable, and so cause and effect cannot be inferred. Thus, it cannot be said that separation/deprivation causes emotional damage or affectionless psychopathy. Other factors may have led to these outcomes (e.g., conflict within the family). At most, we can say that separation/deprivation and affectionless psychopathy are linked or associated. Hence, Bowlby's conclusions were flawed, confusing cause and effect with correlation, as criticised by Rutter (1972).• Detailed case studies were used meaning that the conclusions made about each

individual child are likely to be valid, especially since Bowlby triangulated his own findings with those made by social workers and psychiatric assessments. Nevertheless it is difficult to generalize the findings as the may be unique to that individual.

• Out of 44 thieves, only 17 mad suffered maternal deprivation, 27 had not. This mean that Bowlby could not conclude that maternal deprivation causes delinquency

• The study was vulnerable to researcher bias. Bowlby conducted the case studies and made the diagnosis of affectionless psychopathy. As a result, his findings may have been biased by his own expectations. Bowlby may have unconsciously influenced what he expected to find during the implementation or interpretation of the research, thereby undermining its validity.

• Bowlby emphasised the notion of "affectionless psychopathy". However, it is rather vague and hard to assess, and has not been used by other researchers.

• Ainsworth argued that attachment is not an ‘all or nothing’ process, she said that there are individual differences in attachment types

• Her research was based on observations of mothers and children in Uganda and in Baltimore

• She saw that Bowlby was correct that the mother was used as a secure base, but that there were different types of attachment relationships

o Securely Attached – children were content and pacified by the mother and used her as a secure base

o Insecurely Attached – children explored less and cried more, even with the mother

o Not yet attached – children were indifferent to the presence of the mother

• She also noted that secure children tended to have mothers who enjoyed breastfeeding their child and enjoyed the company of their child – she called this maternal sensitivity

• This qualitative research was used to develop a quantitative way of measuring attachment types – the strange situation

The Strange Situation:• This involves a structured observation of parent-child interaction using a one-way

mirror• It is a series of 8 episodes lasting three minutes each• The study looks at separation protest, stranger anxiety and reunion behaviour

1. Mother and child enter a room which contains toys for the child to play with2. The child is allowed to explore the room in the presence of the mother3. A stranger enters the room, makes conversation with the mother and then tries to

play with the child4. The mother gets up and leaves the child alone with

the stranger5. After a short period (determined by the child’s

distress) the mother returns to the room, consoles her child, and the stranger leaves

6. The mother leaves the room again so that the child is left alone

7. The stranger enters the room and attempts to console and interact with the child

8. The mother returns to console the child

• Ainsworth and Bell (1971) found the following three patterns of attachment:– Secure (70% of sample)– Insecure – avoidant (20%)– Insecure – resistant (10%)

The following table explains the types of child and adult behavior associated with each attachment typeReaction to

StrangerReaction to

separation from mother

Reaction to reunion with

mother

Parenting style associated with attachment type

Secure (Type B)

Indifferent when mother is

present, will use parent as a

secure base. Ignores the

stranger when alone (stranger

fear)

Upset and distressed

Happy when mother returns

and quickly settles. Child

resumes exploration

Sensitive and responsive care

Insecure Anxious-

Avoidant (Type A)

Plays with stranger

regardless of mothers

presence – does not check that mother is

there

Not distressed and can seek

comfort of stranger if necessary

Shows no interest in

mothers returnUnresponsive

care

Insecure Anxious-

resistant (Type C)

Shows fear of the stranger and

avoids them even when the

mother is present

Intense distress at mothers absence

Child wants comfort of the

mother but may push the mother

away when approached

Inconsistent care

The following flow diagram shows the transactional nature of the relationship between the child and the primary carer as their behavior effects the behavior of the other

Evaluation of the Strange Situation and Ainsworth’s research:

• Causes unnecessary distress to the child, under BPS guidelines pps should be kept safe from harm. However – parents and researcher could intervene if they believe distress is extreme and the purpose of the study was to investigate anxiety, separation fear and reunions

• Standardised procedure – timings, rigorous analysis of the behaviour, it is replicable and objective thus a reliable method

• It does not take into account individual differences of the child – it could be measuring the child’s temperament rather than their attachment type

• It is also assumed that the attachment type is caused by maternal sensitivity when it could be the child’s temperament – thus the strange situation may not be valid as it is meant to be a measure of attachment type caused by maternal sensitivity – it could be that a parent is unable to form an attachment with a difficult child

• The situation lacks ecological validity in that the situation takes place outside of the child’s home where they may feel comfortable being left with a stranger because they are in familiar surroundings. The distress may be due in part to the unfamiliar surroundings

• It is questionable whether you can compare children because some children experience day-care and others do not. Children in day-care will feel different amounts of stress in the SS than children who are looked after solely by the mother

• Child rearing practices vary considerably from place to place due to– Environment– Traditions– Beliefs about children

• Does this result in different attachment patterns?• Is attachment universal or culturally specific?• The strange situation has been used in many countries to measure attachment, the following table shows the

results of individual studies carried out in different countries% of Type B % of Type A % of Type C

Ainsworth and Bell (1971) USA

70 20 10

Sagi et al (1985) Israel

37 13 50

Grossman et al (1985) Germany

33 49 18

Miyake et al (1985) Japan

68 0 32

This table would seem to suggest that Israeli and German children are much less securely attached than American and Japanese children, however, there are many explanations for the variations found

o Differences in child rearing practices found in different cultureso The samples used in the studies are often biased

Explanations for differences found in different cultures

Israel: The Sagi study looked at children raised in a kibbutz where child rearing is

shared an children are often raised by a non-biological community member The caregivers rotate shifts and do not give prompt attention to individual

children The children often have communal sleeping arrangements away from their

parents Sagi (1991) compared the attachment of children who had communal sleeping

arrangements with those who slept with the family. They found that 60% of the children who slept with the family were secure compared to 26% of the children who slept communally

Germany:

Grossman argued that the large number of Type A children found was due to the cultural value placed on independence and early weaning

Japan: Traditional Japanese mothers do not leave their

children with others and encourage dependence They are kept very close to the mother at all times Durrett et al (1984) showed that in modern Japanese

families where mothers go out to work a similar attachment classification to that seen in the USA is found

Other cross-cultural attachment research: Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988) carried out a meta analysis of studies of

attachment in different countries They looked at proportions of different SSC attachment types They found that secure attachment always the most common (see table below)

Secure Avoidant Resistant Explanation

USA 65% 21% 14% Regular close contact

Germany 57% 35% 8% Independence is valued

Israel 64% 7% 29% Communal care in kibbutz

Japan 68% 5% 27% Mother & child rarely separated

Their research shows that there is often as much difference within-cultures than between them and that the SS may be measuring culture as much as it is measuring attachment types

Some individual studies only used middle-class parents or only mothers who lived in urban environments

Explanations for differences found in different cultures

Israel:o Children raised in Kibbutz are more likely to be

anxious-resistant. Sagi (1991) conducted a further study and found that children who lived in a kibbutz but slept with the family (rather than in a communal sleeping arrangement) were moral likely to have ‘normal’ patterns of attachment

Germany:

o Grossman et al concluded that the overrepresentation of anxious-avoidant types was due to the cultural value placed on independence and early weaning

Japan:o Miyake explained that there were no anxious-avoidant types because traditional

Japanese mothers do not leave their children with others and encourage dependency on them. Japanese children are kept close to pacify them and they rarely cry. In the strange situation these children get very distressed. More modern Japanese families have similar attachments patterns to those seen in the US

Short-term deprivation

This is where there has been a loss in an already formed attachment between a care-giver and child for a short period. An example is hospitalization of the primary carer or child or the use of day-care, where the attachment bond is disrupted for a period each day

Husband and wife team, Joyce and James Robertson were two of the first people to study short-term deprivation in their observation of a 17 month old boy John who was placed in a residential nursery while his mother gave birth to her second child. The noticed the following after John had tried but failed to make attachments to other nursery staff:• Protest. He showed great distress, calling, and crying for his mother, • Despair. He became calmer but apathetic and showed little interest in anything. Self-comforting behaviours were observed such as thumb sucking and rocking and he hugged his teddy bear.• Detachment. When his mother came to collect him, John ignored her and cried

***If needed in a longer answer question you could discuss examples of day-care as evidence for short-term deprivation

Evaluation:

Studies of short-term deprivation often have methodological issues. For example, as they are observations they are often not well controlled, for ethical reasons, and other variables may affect the findings – e.g. a child may be distressed as a result of their or their care-givers illness

The PDD model has mostly been found when nurses or day-care staff are more focused on duties such as feeding or dressing than a child’s emotional needs. Nowadays there is much more focus upon the importance of a child’s emotional needs being met and parents can often stay overnight in a hospital if their child has been admitted

Individual differences can affect a child’s response to short-term deprivation. For example, John was a shy child and this may explain why he found it difficult to attach to other people

The age at which the separation takes place is significant – John was only 17 months and an older child may fare better at a disruption to their attachment

In any case Bowlby seems to have overestimated the effects of short-term deprivation on children

A good substitute carer can counter negative effects of short-term deprivation. The Robertsons themselves provided short-term foster care to two girls in a similar situation to John and the girls did not show the PDD model

Kirby and Whelan (1996) found that a variety of variables affect whether hospitalisation has negative effects, such as the age of the child and the quality of their attachment to their primary carer.

Long-term Deprivation

This is where an attachment bond has been formed and then broken either permanently (death) or for a long period (some divorces).

Divorce:

Divorce usually involves one parent leaving the family home and sometimes the parent who leaves has little contact or no subsequent contact with the children

Family reordering may occur (where the parents remarry someone else who has children)

Richards et al (1995) argued that divorce does have negative effects on children including lower levels of academic attainment and greater behavioural problems

Cockett and Tripp supports the notion that divorce is harmful for children. They found that in terms of school success, children from divorced families were worst off, followed by children from families with discord. Intact families with no discord showed the best academic attainment. Nevertheless, caution needs to be displayed when interpreting these results as despite the fact that attempts were made to match the groups, there must be something different between the reordered and discorded families, for those parents to divorce

It is likely that it is the conflict caused by divorce which causes the negative effects in children rather than the divorce itself

Jekielek found that family discord was worse than reordering, as children whose parents stayed together but argued showed the highest levels of anxiety and depression

Death of a parent:

Death of a parent rarely involves the conflict seen in divorce Children are more likely to receive support after the death of a parent than a

divorce It is less likely to make the child angry as death, unlike divorce is not a choice

(unless suicide) Rutter’s 1981 study showed that children who experienced the death of a

parent fared better than children separated from a parent due to a high-conflict divorce

Reducing the negative effects of deprivation:

The Robertsons showed that a good substitute carer can lessen the negative effects of short-term deprivation

Older children are more able to deal with short-term deprivation. Belsky would argue that day-care should be kept to a minimum until a child reaches the age of 2

Short-time deprivation is less harmful where the quality of day-care is high. For example a day-care centre should employ lots of highly qualified carers who provide stimulation for the children

Negative effects of divorce can be reduced if conflict is kept to a minimum or not witnessed by the children. Separation is better than exposing children to high amounts of conflict

To avoid an attachment being permanently broken, regular contact should be sought by the non-custodial parent

Privation

You need to be able to describe and evaluate research into privation, discuss whether the effects are reversible and describe the case study of Genie in detail.

Remember case studies are described differently to experiments and other research

Name: Genie, Curtiss (1977) ** For extra information read the photocopies of the case study given in class Case detail: Genie was discovered at age 13. She had been locked away in a cellar and kept tied to a ‘potty chair’. She only had a few wooden spools and some raincoats to play with on special occasions. None of the family made any real attempt to communicate with her – her father believed she had been brain damaged from birth. When she was rescued she was found to be small in stature, malnourished,

showed no speech, could not eat solid food and had not been toilet trained. Genie did make some progress – she made some attachments to her care workers and made some progress with language – she wanted to know the names of things around her although her understanding was incomplete.Case analysis: Genie’s case was analysed in terms of there being a critical period for language development. It could not be concluded that there was no critical period for language as although she did learn new words, her language use was not typical. She used the right hemisphere of her brain for language when in ‘normal’ people the left hemisphere is responsible. It could also not be concluded from this case that privation is reversible as the study was cut short because of funding constraints and party because her adopted parents resented the excessive testing Genie was exposed to

Evaluation:o The case study gathered a huge body of information from a variety of sources –

both quantitative and qualitative, meaning the case of Genie was so detailed and rich. This makes the conclusions drawn from this study valid

o Genie was given a false name so that her privacy was protected. After the study this meant she would not be bothered by journalists and she could live a relatively ‘normal’ life.

o The study gave great insight into the effects of privation, case studies such as Genie are helpful in areas such as this where for ethical reasons it is not possible to carry out experiments

o The study could not conclude that the effects of privation are reversible or not – this is due to the fact that Genie could have been brain damaged from birth – therefore her problems may have been due to this, or the brain damage could have prevented rehabilitation

o Ethical issues – informed consent – was Genie able to give this? There were allegations that Genie was treated more as a subject in an experiment by some researchers rather than a patient who needed rehabilitation – this does not keep Genie safe from harm

Other studies of privation:

o Freud and Dann (1951) looked at child holocaust survivors whose parents had been killed. They found that the children were able to form attachments when older, but many suffered from emotional problems when older. Evaluation: they did have others to attach to in the camp, even if it was for a short time. The emotional problems may have been due to survivor guilt rather than privation

o Rutter and ERA team (1998) carried out a longitudinal study on Romanian orphans who had been adopted in the UK. They found that the earlier the children were adopted, the better progress they made – supports the idea that age at rescue is important for reversibility of privation

o Czech twins, Koluchova, (1972) twins lost mother at birth, were placed into care but given back to the father at 18 months old when he remarried. Their step-mother was cruel and beat the children, placing them in a small dark room. When rescued

at age 6 they were developmentally retarded, emotionally scarred and showed little speech. After a 2 year rehabilitation period they were adopted by two sisters and by 11 they had normal IQ and speech for an 11 year old. As adults they held down jobs and had normal relationships. Shows privation is reversible – however, note the age they were rescued compared to Genie, and also they had each other to form attachments to whereas Genie was alone.

Daycare: You need to be able to discuss whether the effects of daycare are harmful for development. You also need to be able to describe and evaluate two studies on daycare (one which shows negative effects and one which shows positive effects). Daycare research is also helpful for discussing short-term deprivation and for your practical.

Study which shows positive effects:

Name: Andersson (1992)Aim: To investigate the effects of daycare on cognitive developmentMethod: A longitudinal study carried out in Sweden. Over 100 children (from both lower, middle class families and one parent families) were assessed at age 8 and 13. Cognitive and socio-emotional competence was rated by their classroom teachers and IQ test data were collectedResults: Andersson found that school performance was rated highest in those children who entered day care before the age of 1. School performance was lowest in those who didn’t have any daycare. The best performance also came from the children with the highest socio-economic statusConclusions: This study suggests that daycare is not harmful in terms of development and may even be beneficial

Evaluation: In Texas the same study found that teachers and parents rated children’s

emotional health as much poorer that those who did not have extensive childcare experiences. (Vandell and Corasaniti, 1990)

Sweden spends a lot of money on daycare therefore it is not appropriate to generalize these findings to countries where daycare is poorly funded

As this was a longitudinal study, the researchers were able to comment upon the long-term effects of daycare on development with some validity as the children were assessed initially and later assessments could be compared to their original tests

The researchers used a variety of methods to assess the children e.g. IQ tests and teacher ratings meaning that a detailed and valid profile of each child was developed. This also increases the validity of the findings of this study

A study which shows that daycare has negative effects on development:

Name: NICHD Early Childcare Research (1991) – this study was funded by the Institute of childcareAim: To investigate the effects of childcare on childrenMethod: A longitudinal study that involved gathering data by different means, including observation, interviews and surveysResults: Children who spent early continuous and intensive time in daycare were more likely to have behavioural problems later than children who did not. Daycare was found to have benefits for cognitive and language development. Low quality daycare (less attentive staff and less stimulating environment) was particularly harmful for children who had mothers which lacked sensitivityConclusions: Daycare causes behavioural problems in children. Daycare is more harmful if it begins at a young age and for a long period of time. Good quality daycare can have positive implications for cognitive and language development

Evaluation: As it was a longitudinal study which followed a large number of children from

birth until they went to school so the coverage was thorough and researchers were able to bring in many different aspects of the child’s experiences from which to draw conclusions

As many different methods of gathering data were used and the results compared, this is like carrying out the same study again and again. If the same results are found reliability can be claimed, increasing the validity of the findings

There are so many variables which can affect a child’s development that it is hard to make meaningful conclusions. Researchers have to look for issues such as social background and the quality of the daycare, but factors such as the temperament of the child and the quality of their attachment to their primary carer can be important. It is difficult to take all of these factors into account

Any study of childcare which takes place in one culture should perhaps have its finals generalized only to that culture. This study was carried out in the USA so the results are probably only applicable to the USA. A similar type of study, the EPPE project carried out in the UK concluded that daycare was beneficial, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds

Other research into the effects of daycare on development Baydar and Brooks-Gun (1991) found that mothers who went back to work

before their child was one were more likely to have children with behavioural difficulties

Russell found overall the effects of day-care were negative Belsky and Fearon found that type A children were more likely to experience

negative effects when they were in daycare than type B or C Burchinal et al (2000) found in a longitudinal study, that high quality day-care

had positive effects on language and cognitive development

Howes (1988) found in their longitudinal study that high-quality care led to happier, more considerate and less shy children

Clarke-Stewart et al found no difference in the type of attachment formed with parents whether the child spent a little or longer hours of daycare

Belsky and Rovine (1988) found that children who spent long hours in daycare at an early age had more insecure attachments with their parents

Ruhm (2004) found that daycare had a negative effect on later verbal ability, reading and maths skills at school

Factors which affect daycare:

Quality of careo Some research (Andersson) indicates that the quality of daycare is important.

Low staff turnover, high staff:child ratios, staff training and qualifications and a structured environment help a child to thrive

Duration of careo Some research (Belsky and Rovine) has highlighted that intensive daycare

can be particularly damaging. But others (Clark-Stewart et al) claim it makes no difference

Onset of daycareo Belsky (1998) maintains that the first year of life is where attachments are

formed. Daycare during this period can produce insecure attachments, particularly if it is for more than 20 hours a week.

Individual differenceso Daycare may provide independent and outgoing children with social skills, but

shy children may be adversely affected by the constant social activityBackground

o Research suggests that children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds benefit greatly from daycare as it offers stimulation and education they may not receive at home. It also allows parents to work and improve their financial situation

A developmental disorder - Autism:

* For this section you need to be able to discuss the characteristics of autism explain two ways in which an autistic child’s development is affected. You also need to be able to describe two explanations of autism

Characteristics of Autism:

Autism affects 1 in 1000 people (some statistics say 1 in 100) and boys are more likely to be affected than girls. It is a disorder that affects socialization and people with autism show an inability to form attachments with others, even with parents. People with autism have said that the world, to them, is a mass of people, places and events which they struggle to make sense of, and which can cause them considerable anxiety.

Characteristics of autism include:

Ritualistic and repetitive behaviour Inappropriate emotional responses Intolerance to change Lack of imagination Irregular responses to stimuli

Ways in which autism affects a child’s development:

The characteristics of autism vary from one person to another but are generally divided into three main groups. These are:

difficulty with social communication difficulty with social interaction difficulty with social imagination

Difficulty with social communication

For people with autistic spectrum disorders, 'body language' can appear just as foreign as if people were speaking ancient Greek.

People with autism have difficulties with both verbal and non-verbal language. Many have a very literal understanding of language, and think people always mean exactly what they say. They can find it difficult to use or understand:

facial expressions or tone of voice jokes and sarcasm common phrases and sayings; an example might be the phrase 'It's cool', which

people often say when they think that something is good, but strictly speaking, means that it's a bit cold.

Some people with autism may not speak, or have fairly limited speech. They will usually understand what other people say to them, but prefer to use alternative means of communication themselves, such as sign language or visual symbols.

Others will have good language skills, but they may still find it hard to understand the give-and-take nature of conversations, perhaps repeating what the other person has just said (this is known as echolalia) or talking at length about their own interests.

It helps if other people speak in a clear, consistent way and give people with autism time to process what has been said to them.

Difficulty with social interaction

Socialising doesn't come naturally - we have to learn it.

People with autism often have difficulty recognising or understanding other people's emotions and feelings, and expressing their own, which can make it more difficult for them to fit in socially. They may:

not understand the unwritten social rules which most of us pick up without thinking: they may stand too close to another person for example, or start an inappropriate subject of conversation

appear to be insensitive because they have not recognised how someone else is feeling

prefer to spend time alone rather than seeking out the company of other people not seek comfort from other people appear to behave 'strangely' or inappropriately, as it is not always easy for them to

express feelings, emotions or needs.

Difficulties with social interaction can mean that people with autism find it hard to form friendships: some may want to interact with other people and make friends, but may be unsure how to go about this.

Difficulty with social imagination

We have trouble working out what other people know. We have more difficulty guessing what other people are thinking.

Social imagination allows us to understand and predict other people's behaviour, make sense of abstract ideas, and to imagine situations outside our immediate daily routine. Difficulties with social imagination mean that people with autism find it hard to:

understand and interpret other people's thoughts, feelings and actions predict what will happen next, or what could happen next understand the concept of danger, for example that running on to a busy road

poses a threat to them engage in imaginative play and activities: children with autism may enjoy some

imaginative play but prefer to act out the same scenes each time prepare for change and plan for the future cope in new or unfamiliar situations.

Difficulties with social imagination should not be confused with a lack of imagination. Many people with autism are very creative and may be, for example, accomplished artists, musicians or writers.

Explanations for Autism:The exact cause of autism is unknown and appears to be caused by a combination of factors. In June 2010 the Guardian newspaper reported in a breakthrough regarding the identification of genes linked to autism. This booklet will focus upon two explanations ‘mindblindedness’ and ‘extreme male brain’, both proposed by Simon Baron-Cohen. Theory of Mind Proposed by Simon Baron-Cohen in 1997

He argued that to be socially competent we need to be able to ‘mind read’ – in the sense that we understand that other people think differently and have different intentions to us

Baron-Cohen believed that people with autism have ‘mindblindedness’ and this helps to explain their poor social interaction skills

In 1985 B-C adapted the ‘Sally-Anne false-belief test’ to test theory of mind in 20 autistic children, 14 children with Down’s Syndrome and 27 typically-developing children

The test:

(see the diagram on the right)

Children are typically acted out the scenario with puppets or have the scenario explained to them.

The children in B-C study were asked three questions

1. Where is Sally’s ball (reality question)2. Where was the ball to begin with (memory question)

3. Where will Sally look for her ball (belief questions)

The last question was used to determine whether the children had a theory of mind. If they stated that Sally will look in the basket the children would understand that Sally had a mind different to their own. If the child stated she would look in the box they would lack a theory of mind as they would not understand that Sally may think differently to themselves.

B-C found that the children with autism had difficulty with the question whereas the other children did not

Extreme male brain

In 2005 Baron-Cohen proposed that the autistic brain is an extreme form of the typical male brain. Males and females are typically stronger at specific tasks:

Male-orientated tasks Female-orientated tasksMental rotation Language tasksTargeting objects (arrows) EmpathyMathematical reasoning Matching tasksGeometry Pretend play in childhood

Baron-Cohen points to evidence that males generally have greater early growth of certain brain regions, and less connectivity between the two hemispheres of the brain than females.

Boys' brains grow more quickly than girls'. In the brains of people with autism, this growth appears to occur to an even more extreme degree.

There are also specific differences seen in certain areas of the brain. The amygdala, which plays a key role in emotional responses, is abnormally large in toddlers with autism; again an exaggeration of the typical development of the male brain.

Baron-Cohen argues that exposure to male hormones, such as testosterone, before birth affecting these brain development patterns. Male foetuses produce these hormones from their testes, and female foetuses from their adrenal glands. So girls too could be exposed to higher than normal level of hormones.

Research has shown that at 12 months, children with high foetal testosterone make less eye contact with their parents and look at others’ faces less frequently. At 18 months, they have a smaller vocabulary than children exposed to lower concentrations of the male hormone.

Falter et al (2008) tested 28 autistic children and 31 typically developing children on mental rotation tasks and found that the autistic children outperformed the typically developing children

Summary:

As explanations of autism neither mindblindedness or extreme male brain is the definitive answer. Mindlindedness could be seen as a symptom of autism rather than a cause and the link between male hormones and autism may not be causal – it could be that something else is causing the greater levels of testosterone and the autism.

One key aspect when discussing research methods in your Unit 3 exam is to discuss their use in the application studied. E.g. do not simply describe and evaluate structured observations, describe and evaluate their use in Child Psychology

Observation:

Structured Observation:

Naturalistic Observation:

Case studies using Children:

Cross-cultural methods of studying children:

Longitudinal methods of studying children: