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Ainsworth (1970) - Strange Situation

Aim

It measures the child’s attachment behavior based on how they react when the mother leaves and returns.

Procedure

a series of eight episodes, each lasting about 3 minutes, designed to introduce separations and reunions between the caregiver and the infant, as well as introducing a stranger to the situation.

1. Introduction to the room: The caregiver and infant are introduced to a room with toys, and the infant is free to explore.

2. Stranger enters: A stranger enters the room and talks to the caregiver. The stranger’s presence allows observation of the infant’s reaction.

3. Caregiver leaves: The caregiver leaves the room, leaving the infant with the stranger. This assesses the infant’s reaction to separation.

4. First reunion: The caregiver returns, and the stranger leaves. The infant's reaction to the reunion is observed.

5. Second separation: The caregiver departs again, leaving the infant alone. This step increases the separation anxiety.

6. Stranger returns: The stranger returns to offer comfort to the infant, assessing the infant's ability to be comforted by someone other than the primary attachment figure.

7. Caregiver returns (second reunion): The caregiver returns, and the infant’s response to the reunion is observed again.

Findings

• Secure Attachment (70%): Infants are distressed when the caregiver leaves but are happy upon their return. They feel comfortable exploring while the caregiver is present.

• Avoidant Attachment (20%): Infants show little distress when the caregiver leaves and avoid the caregiver upon return.

• Ambivalent Attachment (10%): Infants are very distressed when the caregiver leaves and are ambivalent upon their return, seeking and resisting comfort simultaneously.

Hazan and Shaver (1987)

Aim

Studied the attachment theory in relation to adult romantic relationships.

Participants

620 (205 males and 415 females) people of a self-selected sample between the ages of 14-82 with a mean age of 36.

Procedure

• Developed a “love quiz” based on AIsnworth’s three attachment styles adjusted for adult relationships.

• The people had to read three statements and decide which one described them the best

• They also asked people to describe their parents parenting style with a checklist

Findings

• 60% showed secure attachment, 20% showed avoidant, and 20% showed ambivalent

• People with a secure attachment had parents who were readily available, attentive, and responsive

• People with an ambivalent attachment had parents who were anxious, responsive only sometimes, and generally not in tune with their needs

• People with an avoidant attachment style had parents who were unresponsive, rejecting, and inattentive.

• Adult attachment was tied to beliefs of self and others 

Empathy

The ability to understand and share another person's feelings, has been suggested to be essential for survival.

Emotional aspects of empathy develop between 0-4 years old, while cognitive elements of empathy and ToM develop after age 4.

Theory of Mind

The ability to attribute mental states such as beliefs, intentions, and attitudes to others. 

Korkmaz (2011) proposed that ToM development depends on the normal functioning of LTM and STM, language development, and executive functioning. 

The expression hypothesis: Suggests some children already have ToM understanding, but since it is abstract, they cannot express it until executive functioning develops and allows abstract thinking. 

It is developed in 4 stages:

1. Pre-theory of mind (first year of life)

2. Desire stage (12-24 months)

3. Belief-desire stage (3 years)

4. Representational stage (4 years) - False Belief Testing

Simner (1971) - Early Manifestations of Emotional Empathy

Aim

?

Participants

Newborns as young as 18-72 hours of age

Procedure

• The children were exposed to the sound of a real baby crying, a fake baby crying, or white noise

Findings

• The babies showed stronger distress response to the sound of a real baby crying over white noise or synthetic crying

Conclusion

Since young children cannot differentiate between themselves and others, they perceive the distress of others as their own

Baron-Cohen et al. (1985) - Sally-Anne Task

Aim

To test the representational stage of ToM 

Participants

27 children between the ages of 3.5 and 5.9 years old

Procedure

• Where will Sally look for the marble? (understanding of Sally’s beliefs)

• Where is the marble? (understanding of the story)

• Where was the marble in the beginning? (memory)

Findings

• All 27 children were able to answer the second and third questions, but those who were younger than 4 were unable to answer the first question correctly.

Sabbagh et al. (2006) - Executive Functioning and ToM

Aim

Correlational study to compare US and Chinese preschoolers on executive functioning and ToM

Participants

109 participants from Beijing and 103 from the USA

Procedure

• False belief task for development of ToM

• Children were tested over two sessions, which were separated by a week

• Both sessions were recorded

• Verbal ability, ToM, and executive functioning were all tested in the same order

• All tests were standardized and translated and back-translated into Mandarin

Findings

• Chinese preschoolers outperformed USA preschoolers in all 7 tasks for executive functioning

• No statistical difference between the samples for ToM

• The correlation between ToM and executive functioning was significant in both samples

Conclusion

While there does seem to be a correlation between ToM and executive functioning, cross-cultural comparisons cannot be made due to factors like the one-child law, which impacted Chinese children as they did not have siblings, which is thought to provide children with more opportunities for ToM to be developed.

Sanders et al. (2002) - Positive Parenting Programme

Aim

Examined the effectiveness of The Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) in reducing children's disruptive behavior.

Program

An evidence-based program that aims to:

1. promote positive parenting strategies

2. enhance parent-child relationships

3. address behavioral issues in children.

By giving structured lessons on:

1. Practical strategies and techniques to manage challenging behaviors

2. improving communication

3. setting consistent expectations

4. establishing positive routines within the family.

Procedure

They randomly assigned participants to either receive the program or be part of a control group.

Findings

The program was effective in reducing children’s disruptive behavior.

Mahoney et al. (2005) - Afterschool Programmes

Aim

To investigate the effectiveness of after-school program participation on academic performance

Participants

599 boys and girls (6–10 years old) from an urban, disadvantaged city in the USA.

Procedure

A longitudinal study over a year under four patterns of care (after-school program care, parent care, combined parent/self-sibling care, and combined other-adult/self-sibling care) looked at the following:

1. school grades

2. reading achievement

3. teacher ratings of motivation of pupils 

Findings

After a year, the children in the after-school care program scored higher on academic performance and observed motivation than the children in the other three groups.

Koluchova (1972) - Czech Twins Case Study

1. The mother of the twins dies at birth

2. The twins are raised by their father until he remarries.

3. The stepmother kept the twins in severe deprivation for 7 years. (No social interaction except for each other, physical abuse, and malnutrition)

4. The twins could not speak, walk, or play when found. They had an estimated IQ of 40.

5. They were placed into foster care and adopted by two sisters.

6. By the age of 14 they had caught up to their peers in school, the IQs had risen to 100 and 90, and they were highly motivated and had an overall good achievement.

7. As adults, they demonstrated above-average intelligence, were able to attend university, and formed good relationships with others.

Vygotsky

Piaget

Role of social interaction

The fundamental factor for cognitive development (ZPD and Scaffolding)

Acknowledges the role of social interaction as necessary for development but doesn't emphasize it.

Continuous Development vs. Stages

Does not propose specific stages but development as continuous, emphasizing the gradual acquisition of skills.

Has clear developmental stages, each with different qualities. (Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational)

Implications for Education

Advocates for child-independent learning

Recommends guided learning using scaffoldings

Cultural Context

No explicit references to the impact of culture on cognitive development

Strong emphasis on the impact of culture on cognitive development. (Cultural tools, language, and social norms)

Samuel and Bryant (1984) - Challenges to Piaget’s Conservation Task

Aim

To challenge the standard Piagetian conservation task by changing parts of the procedure

Participants

252 children aged between 5 years 3 months to 8 years 3 months from the UK.

Procedure

• were tested on their ability to conserve number (coins), volume (liquid), and mass (clay).

• 12 trials each

• 3 IV conditions: Standard Piagetean task (1 Q before and 1 Q after), one judgment (1 Q after), and fixed array (child only sees material post-transformation)

Findings

• All children made fewer errors in the one-judgment condition

• Older children made fewer errors than younger children

• Numbers seem to be the easiest to conserve

Conclusion

1. Asking the same question twice may be a confounding variable as it makes the child think they got it wrong the first time and change their answer.

2. Children performed better than expected for their age in the one-judgment condition 

3. Maturation does play a role in cognitive development.

Strengths

1. Standardized procedure - replicability and reliability

2. Quantitative data - reliability

3. Multiple trials (repeated measures?) - internal validity - credibility

Limitations

1. Low ecological validity 

2. Practice effects, boredom, and fatigue 

3. Small uniform sample

Conner and Cross (2003) - Scaffolding

Aim

To investigate the effect of scaffolding from the perspective of mother-child interactions in an informal setting.

Participants

45 mother-child pairings were observed at 16, 26, 44, and 54 months 

Procedure

• 4 observations took place over 3 years

• Moms were observed on how they used scaffolding (what techniques were most successful, the consistency of the strategies and their outcomes, how much direct help was offered, and independence displayed by the children)

Findings

• Moms offered more support to younger children as they needed more support to perform tasks.

• The mothers gave the children more independence as they became more adept in a skill

Conclusion

• Successful scaffolding can lead a child to acquire more skill and independence in a particular task.

• Knowledge is acquired via imitation, instructions, or collaborative learning.

Gotgay et al. (2004) - Brain Development

Aim

To chart brain development from 4 to 21 years old

Participants

13 healthy children and teenagers from the USA

Procedure

• The study lasted 10 years

• Every two years, the participants got an MRI

Findings

• Grey matter increased with age in the areas associated with cognitive and functional development. 

• The first areas to mature were those related to essential functions for survival, like the motor cortex.

• The parietal lobes developed next, as these areas are related to spatial orientation.

• Areas associated with executive functioning or complex cognitive tasks in the prefrontal cortex developed last around the early 20s.

• Neural pruning starts around puberty

Conclusion

1. The brain and the higher-order cognitive functioning linked to developing a learner do not fully develop until young adulthood.

Luby et al. (2012) - Nurturing Mothers and Brain Development

Aim

To investigate the effects that nurturing mothers have on the brain development of their children

Participants

92 children between the ages of 3 and 6

Procedure

• The children and their mothers were put into a frustrating situation where they were left in a room with a brightly wrapped package, and the children were not allowed to open it. The mothers were tasked with filling out forms, and researchers observed how the children and mothers handled this situation.

• Mothers were rated based on their nurturing behaviors, with those offering reassurance and support classified as nurturing and those who ignored or scolded the child rated as non-nurturing.

• When the children were between 7 and 10 years old, MRI brain scans were performed on them

Findings

Children with nurturing mothers had hippocampi that were 10% larger than those of children with non-nurturing mothers

Conclusion

The study concluded that nurturing mothers have a significant impact on the brain development of children