Lecture notes
Socio-Cognitive Development and Attachment
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- Newcastle University (NCL)
Socio-Cognitive Development and Attachment
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Lecture 4 – Socio-Cognitive Development and Attachment Self-concept
o Who you are
o Most developmental psychologists believe infants born without self-concept (Nurture?)
o Infants gradually come to distinguish themselves from external environment over 2-6
months
o 18-24 months toddlers display self-recognition: dependent on cognitive development
and social experiences
Initial self-recognition provides evidence for toddlers; conception of a present
self, which gradually evolves into a conception of extended self.
Toddlers then classify themselves socially using dimensions like age and sex,
forming a categorical self
o IMPORTANT: self-concept development is continuous
o The 'looking glass self' is the idea that a child's self-concept is largely determined by the
ways other people respond to him or her (Cooley, 1902)
o Self-recognition
Ability to recognize oneself in a mirror or a photograph
Refers to a conceptual system made up of one's thoughts and attitudes about
oneself
An individual's conceptions about the self can include thoughts about one's
physical being, social roles and relationships, and 'spiritual' or internal
characteristics
The 'Rouge' Test: Young Children recognize themselves by age 18-20 months
(Amsterdam, 1972; Lewis and Brooks-Gunn, 1979)
Gallup (1970
Exposed 4 chimps to a mirror
By day 3 they were using it to inspect their bodies and were
pulling faces to it
Red spot was then placed on their face while they were
anesthetized
When they saw their reflection in the mirror they touched the
red spot almost 30 times in 30 minutes
Amsterdam (1972)
6-12 months - infant in the mirror is another baby
13-24 months: withdrawal - infant does not like image in the
mirror - self-consciousness?
20-24 onwards - infant in the mirror is recognized as the self -
point to the spot of rouge on their own noses
Critique - small sample size as only 4 infants of each age in the
sample
Lewis and Brooks-Gunn (1978, 1987)
Examined mirror behaviour in 9–24-month-old infants (with a
larger sample than Amsterdam, 1972)
Observed 'nose directed behaviour' in front of mirror before and
after red spot placed on nose
Ability to direct behaviour to nose based on reflection was never
observed prior to 15 months of age
Is this the age that 'self-awareness' develops in infancy?
Author suggests 15-25 months
o Language development
, By the age of 2 years toddlers use personal pronouns when referring to the self
(e.g. I, me, my)
Preschoolers’ self-concept is very concrete and physical
Self-descriptions are typically based on their physical appearance,
possessions, typical activities or skills
Young children are less likely to mention traits or inner qualities - use global
terms, such as nice, mean, good or bad
Developing sense of self
Becomes more complex as emotional and cognitive development
deepens
Adults contribute to the child's self-image by providing descriptive
information about the child
The self-esteem of young children is often inflated, perhaps providing
the energy/enthusiasm to explore and try new things
However, self-evaluations are not especially accurate or stable
o Summary
Infants have a rudimentary sense of self in the first months of life
Their sense of self becomes more distinct with age
15-24 months, many infants can look into a mirror and realize that the image
they see is themselves
By 2 years old children can use language to indicate their self-awareness
At age 3-4 years, children usually still understand themselves in terms of
concrete, observable characteristics
Children refine their conceptions of self in primary school - increase engage in
social comparison
By middle/late primary school, children's conceptions of self-begin to become
integrated and broadly encompassing
The ability to use abstract thinking allows adolescents to think of themselves in
terms of abstract characteristics
Process continues through adulthood - lifespan perspective
Attachment
o Attachment is one of many organisms native endowments - Bowlby, 1969
o An enduring social-emotional relationship between infant and parent
o An emotional bond with a specific person that is enduring across space and time
o Relies upon infant's growing perceptual and cognitive skills
o Newborns from most species are completely dependent on their (principal) carers
o Usually attach to mothers, then to fathers
o Imprinting
Phenomenon observed primarily in birds, term coined by Konrad Lorenz
When young birds hatch become attached to first moving object they
encountered - typically their mother
Lorenz ensured he was first thing newly hatch goslings encountered and thus
attached to him replaced himself as the object of affection
They would easily attach to inanimate objects, such as gumboots, a white ball
and an electric train
Goslings are predisposed to form an immediate strong social bond within the
first 12-17 hours after hatching
o John Bowlby (1907-1990)
44 Thieves study (1944)
Procedure
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