Upgrade to remove ads
Only $2.99/month

PSYS 259 Exam 1

Terms in this set (88)

Attachment: What is it? What is it not?
IS:
-one specific and circumscribed aspect of the relationship between a child and caregiver that is involved with making the child safe, secure and protected
-survival mechanism for hte infant (bowlby)
-relationships formed in infancy shape intimate relationships we form in adulthood

IS NOT:
-something that doesn't happen
-a trait of a person
-bonding
-something that's weak or strong
What is the most prominent theory used to study families?
SYSTEMS THEORY!

Consists of
Elements- these are the family members
Family members are interdependent and have a continuous and reciprocal effect on each other.
Individual family members have to be studied within the system
What is the central feature of Bronfrenbrenner's ecological model?
bidirectional effects: family members influence one another both directly and indirectly
Central feature of social learning theory?
behaviors occur through acquisition of information from the environment, can lead to modeling observed behaviors
In which century did the term family refer to the married couple and the children?
19th
What is the Jim Crow Law?
law that legally segregated blacks and whites
In which century were middle class children considered as innocents, and protected from labor?
19th
In which year was child labor abolished?
1938
What is a construct?
-an abstract idea (i.e, love, intimacy, marital satisfaction) that cannot be studied unless we can measure it
-need to operationalize in order to measure it
What is inter-rater reliability (IRR)?
two independent observers record the same behavior (inter-rater reliability), and assessing the extent to which they agree.

a. How consistent two raters are to each other in coding and the master coder
When do we use IRR?
in systematic observation studies, coding for behaviors
What is the difference between inter and intra rater reliability?
-intra-rater reliability is the degree of agreement among repeated administrations of a diagnostic test performed by a single rater.

-inter-rater reliability is the degree of agreement between 2 raters
intra: consistency of one coder
What does cronba's alpha measure?
-How well test itmes are intercorrelated

-measure of internal consistency, how closely related a set of items are in a group

-measures questionnaires and how much in agreement they are (consistent with) what is being measured

-higher number is better!
What is the difference between quantitative and qualitative data?
quantitative data: such as values obtained from questions ,can be mumerically counted and measures

qualitative data: can't be assigned a number value, Interviews are examples of qualitative data
What is ethnographic research?
Ethnographers observe and record detailed descriptions of everyday life, behaviors, and interactions of the sample under observation over time

-develop trust with participants first!
-have access to more than 1 respondant but it's expensive!
What is the difference between a positive and negative correlation?
positive correlation: as something increases, the behavior increases
negative correlation: as something decreases, the behavior increases (or, as something increases, the behavior decreases)
Mediator
Mediation: another variable by which a significant association is explained
Effect of one on another explained by a third variable
-EXPLAINS THE PATHWAY

-The process by which the effect of X on Y is explained through the mediator
Moderator
Moderation
Can be a dichotomous variable
Can also be a continuous variable- class discussion!
"If" and "when"
The relationship between X and Y varies by/depends on Mo
What is Rothbart and Bate's definition of infant temperament?
-individual differences in reactivity and regulation

-consensus that temperamental dimensions are observed in infancy, are genetically influenced
Four temperament types
Easy (40%)- adjusted well, cheerful, quickly established daily routines
Difficult: slow to adapt, react negatively and intensely, irregular
Slow-to-warm-up (15%): difficulty adjusting at start, easier over time
Average (35%)

-children at the extremes most likely to show stability over time
When does the first smile appear?
after the first month
At what age does laughter usually appear?
3-4 months
What is the difference between emotion reactivity and emotion regulation?
a.Emotional reactivity: response (how fast, long) to a stimulus change, reflected in somatic, endocrine and autonomic nervous systems
b.Regulation: how they modulate their affect--> processes through which individuals modulate their emotions consciously and unconsciously
Strategies used by adults to regulate their emotions
a. emotional expression of others: our responses are sometiems triggered by other's emotions
b. Modifying the situation: moving away from someone who causes distress
c. Selecting the situation: avoiding situations that can trigger a negative response
d. cognitive reappraisal: thinking through how to express emotions, need effective ER
Adaptive emotion regulation
-Being able to pause, not react immediately to the external stimulus
-Identify primary emotion "what am I feeling right now?" "What is my primary emotion?"
-Determine how controllable the emotion or situation is
-Awareness of one's long term goal "OK, what is my ultimate goal?"
What are some ER strategies observed in infants?
a .Attention shifting ( withdrawal: Hands up, head back, eyes closed)

b. Withdrawal could be maladaptive if they don't come back to re-assess the environment, if they are not able to cope and re focus on the stimulus

c. distraction

d. self soothe
What are the main determinants of a child's social-emotional functioning?
a.Responsiveness of the caregiver (attachment quality)
b. reactivity of the baby to enviornment
c. and the baby's emotion regulation
How do babies progress in their development of emotion regulation?
-Start with using the caregiver (external source), need synchrony of interactions with caregivers
- by the time they are toddlers, secure babies are able to regulate their affect internally
How do we identify if an interaction is synchronous?
a.Mother's ability to repair interaction with baby, secure attachment repairs it fast, other attachments do not (insecure anxious can respond to baby, but unable to read the cues effectively)
How is sensitive caregiving defined?
b.Read the baby's cues correctly, react promptly AND appropriately
c. through interaction with caregivers, baby's learn how to self-soothe, social referencing, self-distraction, witdrawal, fussing/crying
What is the goodness of fit in infant development?
Fitting the environment to the child's needs

Parents can modulate children's temperament by adjusting to the child's temperament

-degree to which an individual's temperament is compatible with the demands and expectations of the environment
When do we see a peak in cry intensity and duration?
6-8 weeks
At what age does crying decline to more stable levels?
4-5 months
Why is SBS highly associated with cry intensities?
c.Parents don't habituate to crying easily, empathy fairly low, parents who've had some kind of abuse in their life, heart rate increase
What parenting behavior can we predict from a parent's response to infant crying?
a.Quality of parenting→ sensitivity
-in turn predicts the type of the infant attachment relationship.
Describe the behaviors of abusive parents when they hear the sound of an infant's cry. Know the physiological markers.
-less empathy, more annoyance
-overly responsive--> aggressive
Strong accelerations in HR
Activation of the Sympathetic Nervous System (fight of flight)- DEFENSIVE ACTION TO STRESS
Know the effects of prenatal stress on infant development.
a.Highly irritable/crying in the first 3 months, high corticoid levels (dysregulation in their stress response)
How did Bowlby conceptualize attachment?
Understand that he conceived it from an evolutionary perspective, where he proposed that infants are born with behaviors, to elicit responses from the caregiver to ensure the baby's survival.
What is the Strange Situation used for?
a.To see if infant uses caregiver as a secure base and assess which type of attachment style there is
What factors determine the quality if the attachment relationship between an infant and his/her parent?
a.History of their interactions, the baby has particular expectations
-parent's availability and responsiveness
When do researchers believe the infant's attachment system gets activated?
When the child is in distress
How do most insecure anxious, insecure avoidant and secure babies behave in the Strange Situation?
avoidant: Explores the environment readily, less interaction with parent, when mom returns, little to no proximity seeking, avoids interacting, very high levels of cortisol

anxious: stay close to mothers, fail to engage in exploration, very upset when mom leaves, resist her attempts to soothe, no exploration
Is there an association between temperament and attachment quality?
-There isn't; temperament does not determine attachment style
-Difficult temperament does not mean the baby will have an insecure attachment style
Undifferentiated attachment
not having a particular preference, friendly manner with anyone who is available
-not shy, don't want to be consoled

i. Social promiscuity in children going to anybody under distress, no particular caregiver
ii. Counter-phobic: lack social referencing, risky behaviors, a lot of accidents, kids who have been in multiple foster homes
Exaggerated attachment behavior:
very clingy because the parent uses the CHILD as a secure base
-tense and anxious
Inhibited attachment behavior
excessive compliance, there could be the threat of abuse, more vocal and expressive when away from their parents
aggressive attachment
organize attachment around verbal and physical aggression, family members often aggressive
Attachment behavior with role reversal
kids take responsibility for their parents, worry about parents because the parents threaten suicide, have attempted suicide etc.
Maternal anxiety & maternal anger in response to infant crying is associated with which infant attachment styles?
a.Mother's show anxiety, babies tend to be insecure anxious, insecure resistant attachment in infants and young children, inconsistent care

b.Mother's who are angry--> children are avoidant, distance themselves from anger, I need to modulate my affect by myself
Moms are very uncomfortable with physical contact
What are some behaviors of moms who report anxiety and those who report anger, in response to infant crying?
-who are anxious, show more rigid and tense touch, and also increase in their heart rate and breathing, inconsistent care, may become unresponsive

-Mothers who are irritated or annoyed by crying are motivated to distance themselves from the aversive crying, mechanical handling, insensitive to cues, goal to end crying promptly
he different attachment types and how they differ in their ER skills (especially parent-oriented strategies)
secure attachment : parent-oriented, less object-oriented

insecure avoidant attachment: less parent-oriented, more object oriented, self-comforting

insecure resistant: exaggerate crying/response, high levels of parent-oriented response
Describe the developmental trajectory of most secure and insecure infants
a.In children and adults who are secure, self-esteem is high, resilience high, empathy high

b.Anxious: worry more, at risk for depression, difficulty social competence,

c.Avoidant: difficulty relating to people, ER, social competence, risk for depression
What is the AAI and what is it used for?
a.Adult attachment inventory, assessing working models of self an others, childhood histories and how it influences their current relationship
Describe how most secure, insecure anxious, and insecure avoidant folks are identified in the AAI.
a.Secure: coherent, rationalize, empathize
b.Anxious: talk excessively and angrily, not coherent, unresolved stress (Why wasn't she consistently there?), ability to empathize with parent difficult
c.Avoidant: incoherent in lack of detail, talk about being very independent,
33. What are some features of secure adults (relationships, self-esteem, empathy, parenting sensitivity )
Healthy expressions of emotions
-optimistic in stressful situations
-have strategies to cope w stress
-strong sense of self worth

-good sense of balance/humor
-comfortable w imperfections of self
-more caring towards others
How do we identify Earned secures?
a.Earned secure: "my mom or dad did this because," sensitive in caregiving, good emotion regulation, resolved childhood stress
-can identify a relationship that was a secure base
-sensitive in their caregiving
-narratives not like insecure types
What are working models and what are they thought to contain?
Summary of what someone remembers, how they feel about themselves and others, how they perceive the world
-contain both declarative and procedural memory

When infants experience repeated situations where their bids for comfort are responded to, these experiences are mentally summarized in Working model
Do infants have different attachment representations for each parent?
yes
In an attachment hierarchy, the top most level occupies which representations?
a. Tops: general sense of self and world (relationships in general)
b. Lower levels: mom, dad, partner etc.
Describe what a secure base script looks like
These scripts are expectations of what to expect from caregivers and later with others

-sequence of events for what to do in a stressful situation

-Script of how to go and comfort, how to ask for help
"If I am-----, then my partner will -----"

-adaptively regulating cognitive guide
Are working models open to revisions? What factors can revise existing working models?
YES, needs to be consistent, comforting, repeated
When does the caregiving system get activated in parents?
When the baby is stressed out
Know how the caregiving system develops.
In girls between 12-14, and boys 14-16, shift attention more to baby if given a picture of a baby and adult
What is Defensive Exclusion?- mechanisms to minimize the discomfort.
Not in secure people, person's inability to cope with a memory/feeling

-capacity to process information in ways that prohibit potentially painful information from entering conscious awareness
Why is it important to use both self-report and physiological measures when looking at the associate between attachment style and affect regulation and distress?
avoidant people can appear ok but have extremely high cortisol levels
Which DE strategy does insecure anxious, disorganized, and insecure avoidant adults use
a.Insecure avoidant: deactivation, shift attention away, will not think about painful memories
Insecure anxious: Cognitive disconnection: haven't fully processed information, lack of closure, don't fully remember everything that happened, remember how they felt, but have disjointed memories
c.Disorganized: Segregated system: block memories or it floods them completely
How do mothers of insecure anxious and avoidant babies respond when the baby signals a need (due to fear or frustration)?
-anxious; Mothers who engage in cognitive disconnection tend to have children who have an insecure _anxious_attachment

-avoidant: Deactivating strategies involve directing attention _away from distressing stimuli, and mothers who engage in these behaviors tend to have insecure _avoidant children
Describe why we don't tend to observe high cortisol levels in secure infants under a laboratory stressor.
They usually calm down quickly, mom is engaging with the baby and distracting them, baby expects it
Describe the behavioral and physiological response to stress in the two infant insecure attachment styles.
a.Avoidant: cortisol goes up, cope by themselves, heart rate goes up
b.Anxious: cortisol goes up, heart rate goes up
Can children function as an attachment figures?
no, do not form attachment relationships w their peers
What are the characteristics of an attachment relationship as described by Ainsworth
Proximity seeking
Distress upon inexplicable separation
Pleasure or joy upon return
Grief at loss
Secure base behavior
What is rejection sensitivity?
is a tendency to expect, perceive, and overreact to possible social rejection
What are some features of individuals high in RS?
significant risk factor for depression, and anxiety (Feldman & Downey, 1996) and poor relationship satisfaction

interpret, and overreact in maladaptive ways
-even if it is minor or imagined insensitive behavior from valued others.

-hyper vigilant to potential rejection
-value avoiding such rejection particularly from significant people in their lives.

women report lower avoidance and higher attachment anxiety than men higher rates of insecure avoidance in males than in females
What do we observe in the levels of serotonin and cortisol in the early stages of a romantic relationship?
Low serotonin, coritsol is high
Know the role of OXT
"cuddle hormone"
Differences in levels of oxytocin between individuals has been associated with differences in individual traits such as _social behavior

-_OT receptor_density increases with more touch and contact

couples with the highest levels of oxytocin, were still together and in love when assessed 6 months later- Feldman, 2012
High frequency of affectionate touching
Laughed together more
High positive affect,
Synchronized dyadic states
When is dopamine released?
released during any activity that brings us rewards, especially when they are repeated over time

-at the beginning of a relationship or with surprise
Which areas of the brain show high activity and which show low activity during the initial stages of a relationship?
a. Amygdala and the frontal cortex

Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) & anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)
Why do we observe similar areas of the brain lighting up in those folks during the early stages of a relationship and those very much in love in a long term relationship?
These are areas of the brain associated with the rewards pathway high levels of DA--> released in beginning of relationship too

This supports the Self Expansion model, where folks in long term relationships engage in novel and rewarding experiences which may continue to activate the DA rich areas of the brain

-higher serotonin than those in early stages of relationship
Romantic love is governed by the ________ while desire is governed by the ______ system
1. attachment system
2. _mating
What three factors make up the Triangular Theory of Love?
Intimacy
Passion
Commitment
Know the 3 phases of a relationship
1. being in love 2. passionate love 3. companionate love

not all relationships follow the same path
What do we tend to observe in happy couple?
a. High affection, positive emotions, forgiveness, high intimacy, high commitment
What is Parental Investment Theory?
The idea here is that each sex allocates different time and energy to produce and raise the next generation. Therefore the behavior we observe sometimes for mate selection differs
What are the factors that influence mate selection?
Accessibility

Affective state

Attraction

Social Status/Resources

Personality
What is the role of HLAs during mate selection?
More different, more attracted we are to them
What are the beneficial effects of physical contact, which is important in the pre-attachment stages?
Affectionate gestures such as touching, cuddling, kissing release of oxytocin & DA reward pathway established--> calming
Be able to describe a Machiavellian personality
personality lie to gain access to short term relationships

shy away from committed relationships and instead focus on emotional manipulation to achieve their goals
What are some motivational factors that influence commitment to a relationship?
Relationship satisfaction

Quality of perceived alternatives to current relationship.

Amount already invested in current relationship

Women report more satisfaction in their relationships, felt they had invested more and perceived fewer alternatives than men, seen in gay and lesbian couples too
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE...