"Some children recover well from privation, but others hardly recover at all". Outline research into the effects of privation and consider the extent to which the effects of privation can be reversed
"Some children recover well from privation, but others hardly recover at all". Outline research into the effects of privation and consider the extent to which the effects of privation can be reversed. Hodges and Tizard conducted a study on the effects of privation, in which they aimed to investigate the permanence of the long-term effects of privation due to institutionalisation. It was a longitudinal study with 65 participants and a control group, using a matched pairs design. The participants had all been institutionalised before the age of four months, and none of them had made attachments, therefore privation had happened. Hodges and Tizard found that the 24 participants who had been adopted before the age of 4 formed attachments and were emotionally fine. They recovered better from privation and formed closer attachments than those 15 participants who had been placed back in their homes with their parents. However, both those who had been adopted and those who had been restored showed difficulty forming relationships with peers and often were attention-seeking at school. Therefore this study shows that these participants did mostly recover from privation, but there were some long-lasting effects. However, there are some limitations to this study. Firstly, because it was a longitudinal study, there was a problem with sample group-off, which means that those children who
Outline and evaluate the evolutionary theory of attachment.
AS Psychology Essay The Evolutionary Theory of Attachment The evolutionary theory of attachment as proposed by John Bowlby (1907-1990) suggests that attachment, in terms of adaptation, is essential for survival. In order to progress healthily, children are born with an innate tendency to form attachments. This means that infants are pre-programmed to become attached to their caregiver. Bowlby's evolutionary theory consists of a number of essential factors. The first is monotropy which refers to his suggestion that infants form one social bond with the person who is most sensitive to their social releases (i.e. their caregiver). This bond or attachment is a two-way process which is referred to as reciprocal. Furthermore, Bowlby proposed that infants develop an Internal Working Model which acts as a template for future relationships. This is based on the relationships between the infant and the primary caregiver. Finally, Bowlby also suggested that there is a critical period of 21/2 years where an attachment has to be formed. If not, the infant will experience social and emotional problems in late life. This theory can be both criticised and supported through studies carried out by several researchers. For instance; Konrad Lorenz (1952) was an ethologist who found that a group of goslings became attached to the first living thing they encountered. This immediate attachment
Bowlby's Attachment Theory
Bowlby's Attachment Theory Findings form animal studies were a powerful influence on Bowlby's thoughts. He suggested too that there was a critical period for the development of attachments between infant and care giver. According to Bowlby infants display an innate tendency to become attached to one particular individual. He called this monotropy. He suggested this tendency was qualitatively different from any subsequent attachment a child might form. However, he did not suggest monotropy was absolute but that the child has a hierarchy of attachments. Bowlby thought that if a child was deprived of their mother between 6 months and five years of age then this would lead to difficulties in later life. They would be unable to form attachments with others and would be likely to turn to crime. He termed this as his maternal deprivation hypothesis. Bowlby suggested that separation experiences in early childhood caused affectionless psychopathy. This is the inability to have deep feelings for other people and, therefore, the lack of meaningful personal relationships. In his hypothesis, Bowlby believed that an infant's failure to attach to a primary caregirt hypothesis. Firstly, the terms 'attachment' and 'deprivation' will be defined. Following that, a full definition of the hypothesis will be made, and then an attempt will be made to describe and understand the studies and period
Outline and Evaluate 2 Cognitive Developmental Explanations of Gender Development
Outline and Evaluate 2 Cognitive Developmental Explanations of Gender Development There are two cognitive explanations of gender development. These theories share the view that the child's thinking and understanding of their gender identity as boys or girls is what leads to the adoption of gender role behaviours. Kohlberg's cognitive developmental theory (1966) argued that the child develops an understanding of gender in three stages and it is only after the child has fully understood that gender is constant, at around age 5, that they show gender role behaviour. Martin and Halverson's gender schema theory (1981) agrees with the cognitive nature of gender development, but argues that children develop schemas about gender and gender role behaviours earlier than Kohlberg suggested. According to Kohlberg (1966), the child's understanding of their own gender identity forms the basis of their enactment of gender role behaviours. Kohlberg argued that the child's understanding of gender develops gradually through three stages which are loosely linked to age across early childhood. In each of these stages, the child grasps increasingly more complex concepts about the nature of gender. Gender Identity: the first and most simple concept the child has to gasp relates to their own sex - that of a girl or boy. Between the age of about two and three-and-a-half, the young child starts to
Outline and evaluate biological explanations of aggression
Outline and evaluate biological explanations of aggression The biological explanation of aggression suggests that aggression is caused by genetics, brain structure or bio-chemical influences - hormones such as testosterone and neurotransmitters such as serotonin. It includes only biological factors ignoring environmental, psychological and social factors which are better explained by of the social-psychological explanation. The first theory linking genetics to aggression was Court-Brown's research study. Sandberg was the first to identify the 47 XYY karyotype. Normally every human has 46 chromosomes - 23 from the mother and 23 from the father. When a male, has an extra Y chromosome the 47th chromosome it makes them XYY and this would be a genetic disorder. Court-Brown conducted a longitudinal study on 314 males with XYY chromosome and suggested that males with this chromosome would be better hospitalised 'due to an increased likelihood of aggressive behaviour'. Many institutions took on this idea without further research and as a result many males where hospitalised. This would support the biological view that genetics can cause a person to become aggressive as Court-Brown provided evidence for this, however after further research he further retracted his comments as much of it was based on assumption. Further research into the XYY karyotype found that the only thing that
Strange Situation
Strange Situation - Ainsworth et al. (1970) Attachment: Attachment is a mutual and intense emotional relationship between two people, in this instance child and caregiver. Compared to other animals. humans are extremely helpless in infancy. relying less on their instincts. Thus unless the infant is highly motivated to stay near the caregiver, and the caregiver is in tune to the infant's needs, we would not be around today. Aims: To establish a universal method of assessing the strength of attachment, and to study individual differences in separation and stranger anxiety in infants aged 12 - 18 months. Procedure: This was a longitudinal study. Meaning it was conducted over a long period of time, where Ainsworth visited 26 mother - child couples at home every month of the child's first year of life. Every aspect of the mother and babies behaviour was recorded, but Ainsworth was primarily interested in the reunion behaviour of both the child and mother. The study was broken down into seven stages, each three minutes long: Stage 1: Mother and child enter room; child is free to play with toys while mother is passive. Stage 2: Stranger enters and talks with mother, gradually approaching child Stage 3: Mother leaves, stranger is passive Stage 4: Stranger leaves and mother returns. This is where she greets and / or comforts child back into play Stage 5: Mother leaves
Outline and evaluate research into the effects of deprivation/separation.
Outline and evaluate research into the effects of deprivation/separation. (18 marks) Either one of the following answers would gain a high grade: Answer 1: In the 1950's Robertson (on behalf of Bowlby) carried out observations of 49 children aged 1-4 over a two-year period of children separated from their main caregiver(s) due to hospitalisation or being placed in a residential nursery because their main caregiver had to be hospitalised. Findings reliably showed that the effects of deprivation pass through three distinct stages: the immediate response to separation is 'protest' followed by despair and then followed by detachment. In the protest the child cries and is unable to be comforted by caregivers with which an attachment has not been formed. In the despair stage the child eventually becomes calmer but is uninterested in others and no longer searches for the caregiver with which an attachment has been formed. In the detachment the child appears to be coping well nevertheless the child tends to treat others all in a similar superficial manner. Furthermore if the attachment-figure returns the 'abandoned' child behaves in a very detached manner towards the main caregiver often ignoring or rejecting their 'advances'. (AO1) Robertson's research reliably showed the effects of deprivation over a two-year period. Nevertheless this research used an opportunity sample which
Compare and contrast the main approaches - Biological and Behaviourist, biological and cognitive, Psychodynamic and Behaviourist.
Compare and Contrast the Psychodynamic and Cognitive approaches in terms of similarities and differences. [12 Marks] The cognitive and psychodynamic approaches have many similarities and differences; these include debates in nature and nurture, the usefulness of these approaches, deterministic and scientific/non scientific. The psychodynamic approach takes into account both nature and nurture, however the cognitive approach has failed to recognise the influence of nature and nurture. Freud claimed that adult personality is the product of innate drives (nature) and childhood experiences (nurture). These innate drives include the structure of the personality, Id, ego and superego as well as the psychosexual development every child passes through. If a child does not pass through these processes successfully it could lead to abnormalities in behaviour. The cognitive approach has carried out research into intelligence but has not looked at the influence of genes in its research or environmental factors (such as wealth) that could influence intelligence. Therefore this clearly indicates that both approaches are different in terms of nature and nurture. The cognitive approach is useful and has been applied successfully in therapy. As one of the core assumptions of the cognitive approach is that mental processes influence our behaviour, therefore if these process are
Describe and evaluate research into the stages of sleep
Describe and evaluate research into the stages of sleep To talk about a concept, we must first be clear on its definition. Psychologists describe sleep as an altered state of consciousness. It is a resting state in which an individual becomes relatively quiescent and relatively unaware of the environment. During sleep, which is in part a period of rest and relaxation, most physiological functions such as body temperature, blood pressure, and rate of breathing and heartbeat decrease. The amount of sleep needed depends on both the individual and the environment. With the invention of the "Electroencephalogram" or an "EEG" as it is more commonly known has made it possible to monitor the brain's electrical activity. The EEG picks up and records electrical activity through electrodes attached to the scalp. The reading of a waking person is clearly different than that of a sleeping person. The EEG pattern of our brain during waking periods is very rapid, irregular and low on voltage. This means that many neurons are firing at different intervals and at different times, with different strengths too. This type of irregular electrical activity in the brain during wakefulness is called beta waves or beta activity. When we are relaxed, sitting in the sofa watching T.V. without any mental arousal, the EEG records a waveform called alpha waves or alpha activity, slower than beta
With reference to alternative research findings, critically assess Aschs study into conformity
With reference to alternative research findings, critically assess Asch's study into conformity A study that criticises Asch is by William & Sogon (1984) who claimed that the group Asch created did not reflect all groups found in society. They found that majority influence was significantly greater among friends than among strangers. Therefore Asch failed to realise that he could have obtained much stranger majority influence if he had replaced groups of strangers with an in0group of friends of the genuine participants & consequently this limits Asch findings to only groups of strangers & as a result lacks generalisability to other populations. And to support this Abrams et al (1990) argued that 1st year psychology participants would show more conformity if the other group members were perceived as belonging to an in group (other 1st yr psychology students) than if they were perceived as belonging to an out group (history students). Eagli & Carli (1981) criticise Asch study for being gender biased. They claim that in Western societies a masculine bias exists & as a consequence women show higher levels of conformity than men in the Asch study. They also found that in feminist societies, women actually show less conformity than men. This criticises Ash because he ignored complex gender characteristics that would have affected his results. Also David & Turner (1996) criticise
