Child Development And Social Psychology - Essay Example

? Child Development and Social Psychology 15th June Q The theory of internal working model of attachment was first developed by John Bowlby and further researched and modified by Ainswort. It deals with the growth and developments of the human social emotional stricture in the brain. Bowlby stated that infants are endowed with an attachment behavioral system that seeks to learn from others in the society, mainly their caregiver. These caregivers give the child the closed representation of the outside world to their developing inner self. As the infant grows, they develop a working mental representation of the attachment, which they use to develop their inner self (Pietromonaco, P. & Barret, L. 2000 and Atwool, N; p. 2; & Johnson S.C et al, 2003). Cognitive development in children does involve a series of changes in their internal brain development and perception of things in their surroundings. It involves changes they experience in getting intelligence from their environments and surroundings, their ability to remember events in their memory, their levels of reasoning to different situations, their language use and ways in which they can understand and relate to others (Ruiter, c and Ijzendoor, M.H.) The internal working models was postulated by Bowlby and Ainswort to have different levels, in which each had a different effect in cognitive development of the child. The first kind of attachment is where there is a close bond between child and attachment figure, generally called secure attachment. Close relations between the child and the primary attachment figure characterize this attachment. The attachment figure, mainly the mother is seen to be highly sensitive and responsive to the child. The child hence develops a feeling of security and appreciation from the attachment figure. When the child is separated from the attachment figure, research by Thompson et al has shown that the child seeks proximity to attachment figure upon reunion and is quick to forget the separation that had occurred (Thompson, R.A, Laible, D.J & Ontai L.L, 2003 & Johnson S.C et al, 2003). To cognitive development, Siegel in (Atwool, N, 2006) argues that the child develops a strong sense of security in the protection of the caregiver and can explore the world easily. the child can seek easily assistance from the attachment figure and develops self trust to them The child also develops the sense of metacognition as they become of affections they are getting from the attachment figure and their deep sense of attachment and trust in the same figure. The secure child also develops clear mental senses; hence acquire longer attention spans to others and their environments, enabling them to understand it even more. The child also develops self-regulation ability, and adaptive means to explore and internalize new ideas and experiences in their environments (Johnson S.C et al, 2003 & Ruiter, c and Ijzendoor, M.H). Other conditions that a child may experience in the development of attachment, is anxious avoidance and/or anxious ambivalence. These children develop from attachment figures whom, generally tend to avoid physical contact with the child. The attachment figure is also insensitive to the child and periodically neglects the child needs (Ruiter, c and Ijzendoor, M.H.) and upon detachments from the attachment figure, the child takes reunion in different ways. The anxiously avoidance child tends to avoid the figure, and generally focuses on his or her surroundings to get distracted. The anxiously ambivalent child displays a mixture of emotions to the attachment figure upon reunion. They may seek some level of proximity with the figure while showing angry behavior and resistant to the attachment figure (Pietromonaco, P and Barrer L, 2000). Cognitive development in these cases develops negatively, as the child develops the mental sense that they are unlovable, which in turn gives them a low self esteem. The child develops a negative attitude to others in their surroundings and become preoccupied with their own activities to distract their attention. The child develops an avoidant behavior and generally dislikes the company of others in their surroundings. The child will have low self-perception of them, rejects help and assistance from others and does not seek assistance from others. The child’s self then protects the child emotions, in that it makes them emotionally unavailable, and may be even hurtful to others who try to interact with them. The child becomes aware that the attachment figure may be intruding in their affairs and this makes them develop feelings of resentments to others. The low self-esteem from these children makes them become self reliant, and this enables them to shun out other. The self of the child does this as it tries to protect the child from further rejection from others as it has already experienced this from the attachment figure. Through the development of internal working development model of infants, the cognitive development of the children is affects their view of the world and the way they interact with others in society. Fonagy has analyzed that these kinds of interactions of the child with the attachment figures define how the self-state of the child shall develop. The Childs cognitive development especially their esteem, emotions, and beliefs develops as these interactions are recorded in the child’s mind. He further adds that experience the child gets from the caregiver or attachment figure affects their ability to understand their internal working states and be able to relate them the world. The type of experience that they get from their attachment figure, whether sensitive and caring or continued rejection and insensitiveness, will determine their ability to form close relationships with others as they develop. Secure children, develop into socially functional members of society and have a high sense of belief and trustworthy to the others. Anxious and ambivalent children can develop negative perceptions about others in their minds, and hence can become introverts and loners as they grow. Lack of a secure attachment figure therefore means that the child cannot be able to develop trust for others (Atwool, N, 2006; p.4). The internal working model of attachment offers the child its first means to interact with their environment and others. They use these attachment figures to develop a working understanding with the others. Social and cognitive interactions can generally affective the ability of the child attachment models in their cognitive development. The first social interaction between the child and others and their environment comes from their attachment figure. The child then interprets these interactions in their mind and this affects their thinking ability and hence their cognitive development. Through this interaction, the child develops a representation of their environments and types of interactions available with others. The child develops belief and appreciation of others in the society. The child is able to understand the thoughts of other regarding themselves, and how they are expected to treat others. Social and cognitive interaction also encourages the capacity of the child to create the mental capacity to become self aware, and self-reflection on the happenings around them. Through attachment figures, the child can be able to represent happenings that are occurring around them. For instance secure children who have a physical presence of attachment figures develop in an environment which there self-awareness and belief are strong. Their cognitive development develops strongly and they can be able to portray their emotions and work around others with high self-esteem. Anxiety ambivalent children, develop negative cognitive reactions, to others and their environment. Their minds develop a feeling of mistrust to everyone and focus on themselves as they interact with other. Their sense of mistrust of the attachment figure makes them also mistrust the others they interact with in their environment (Thompson, R.A, Laible, D.J & Ontai L.L, 2003). Language and communication lines between the child and the attachment figure also affect internal working development of the child effect on cognitive development. Brethrton argues that, the variations in conversations between the attachment figure and infant, determines the ability of the child to share out their feeling and emotions as they develop. Elaborate conversations between the child and attachment figure enables the child to develop the mindset of trust and be able to share out their feelings and emotions. Through communication, the attachments figure can remind the child on past events that occurred, be it a good thing or one that the figure did not like. The child develops the ability to remember these events in their minds and hence can base their present activities on them (Thompson, R.A, Laible, D.J & Ontai L.L, 2003). The language that attachment figure uses also influences the child cognitive development either positively or negatively. The variations of language that attachment figure may use will also affect the ability of the child to develop an understanding of their own emotions and of others. The use of harsh tones in reprimanding the child or scolding them may make the child become fearful in doing certain things or in talking to others in fear of the same. Through communication and language, the attachment figure can assist the child to develop mentality the ability to remember and recall events. The attachment figure may use highly elaborative language and symbols to try make the child remember an event or action, which had occurred and did not impress the attachment (Thompson, R.A, Laible, D.J & Ontai L.L, 2003). The way in which the child is able to develop and internal attachment of self and the relations they have with their attachment figures may determine the way a child develops. From the analysis above it is clear that a child from secure and close ties with the attachment figure can develop clear communication lines with the rest of the society. The levels of trust they have enables them to actively and develop well cognitively which in essence reflects in the way they view themselves and others. References Atwool, N. (2006). Attachment And Resilience: Implications For Child Care. Child Care In Practice, Vol 12 no. 4. Retrieved on 15th June from https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/1462/168_129.pdf?sequence=1 Johnson, S.C et al.(2010). At the Intersection of Social and Cognitive Development; Internal Working Model of Attachment in Infancy. Cognitive Science, vol.34. Retrieved on 15th June from https://www.stanford.edu/dept/psychology/cgi-bin/drupalm/system/files/Evidence%20for%20infants%27%20internal%20working%20models%20of%20attachment%20attachment.pdf Pietromenaco, P and Barret, L. (2000). The Internal Working Concept Of What Do We Really Know About Self In Relation To Others. Review Of General Psychology, vol.4; no.2. Retrieved on 15th June from http://www.affective-science.org/pubs/2000/PietromonacoFB2000.pdf Ruiter, C and Ijzendoor, M.H. Attachment and Cognition. University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Retrieved on 15th June from http://dare.uva.nl/document/23949 Thompson, R.A, Laible, D.J and Ontai, L. (2003). Early Understanding of Emotion, Morality and Self Development. A Working Model. Advances in Childcare Development, vol. 31. Retrieved on 15th June from http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/labs/Thompson/pubs/article/ThompsonLaibleOntai2003.pdf Q.2 The theory of the mind is the ability of the person to infer to different mental states, and the ability of a person to relate with other people in the society by understanding them. The different minds states that the theories of the mind interpret include; a person’s belief in the real world, a person’s desires different kinds of emotions that someone can perceive and the extent of a person’s imagination (Peterson, C.C & Siegel, M). Theory of the mind develops in children as they grow through their infanthood to the adolescent’s stage. Researchers have identified that a four year old child has a developed theory of the mind to enable them understand many things around them and in their mind. Children growing especially at the age of four have developed mentally to have the following inferences with their theory of the mind. First, they have been able to develop cognitive development in their brain functions and relations to the world. Through cognitive development, the child can be able to use the theory of the mind to gain an insight of the following activities. The child can be able to identify the different body functions including how the brain works and how it can control the other body parts. The child can be able to make mental decisions such as to comprehend on stories they are told by others or be able to identify objects in their brains even though they are not actually seeing the objects (Baron-Cohen, S, 2003 & Andrews G.S et al, 2003). The child can also be able use their brain and understanding to make distinctions from abstract appearance and reality of entities and objects in the society. This means that the child can be able to understand that objects are not what they seem to the eye. The child can use their mind to make a difference between what their eyes tells the brain and what in reality is there. For instance, a four-year-old child can make the distinction between a rock and a ball even though they may all have similar appearance. In the eyes of the child, the rock might seem like a ball, but the theory of the mind had developed well enough to make the child know the slight difference. The child can also have the ability to know the different meaning of works, those that imply a mental state such as pretend, dream, know, think to action-based words such as cry, move, run. This generally states that the child can be able to use the brain to make decisions of which kind of words to use in a given situation (Baron-Cohen, S, 2003 & Andrews G.S et al, 2003). This shows that at the age of four the child is able to use different words well in their speech. The child can be able to identify truths in statements and express their feelings through words well. The child can also be able to make decisions on the first order false belief situations that may arise in their interactions with others in their environment. This refers to the child’s ability to think from a given situation and the theory of the mind assists them to understand that situation well. In addition, it is the role of the child to consider the happenings in terms of the thinking capacity of others in their own situation. For instance, the ability of the child to think in terms of “what am I reactions?” and their ability to reason like, “what does X think of this situation?” The child can also be able to understand and know their sources of different emotions, pleasure and pain in their environments. Through development of theory of the mind, a child can be able to identify what would make them happy, sad, moreover, they can recognize in their mind what will provide them with the pleasure they want. For instance, a child can remember experiences they had, known which toys or games made them happy when they played with them. An absence of the toy makes them sad or cry; hence, they would want the toy around them always. The thought of the child receiving sweets from the parent, in their minds makes them believe that they will get pleasure from that (Baron-Cohen, S, 2003). Therefore, the child can be able to use their brain to develop recollections of previous events and relate them to their present state and situations. A child develops psychological self-awareness and can be able to relate to accounts of events that occur around them. For instance, the child develops the ability to remember where they put some of the things they value like toys. They can also recall the events that caused them displeasure, discomfort, and evade the recurrence of such again. The mind of the child systematically recalls events that occurred to them, and how the situations affected their emotions. The recurrence of the sweetness derived when the child was given a piece of cake, makes them anticipate and demand for more cake in the present times knowing that they will get the same effect or pleasure (Park, 2001). The theory of the mind helps them to cognitively develop and hence be able to trigger memory recollections when they want. Development of the theory of mind in children also enables them to communicate with others in their environment and the child through understanding of different emotions can express them to the others. Communication by these children varies among children but generally, they use speech or actions, also the child develops the ability to play with others and develop roles of the other children. Communication can assist the parent or care take understand why the child behaved the way they did. The child can also be made to understand what is good or bad, or what is desired and undesired by the adult figure. The child can also develop an appreciation of the adult figure, and assist them show their appreciation. For instance, a stubborn child can be coerced to eat by the parent through being told of recent events that occurred. Development of theory of the mind in children enables them to understand better their environment and their own needs. Through interaction and play, the child creates a world of their own, which in real sense is a representation of the real world they will encounter; moreover, they can use objects to express themselves and their needs to others. Through playing with others, children create social interactions with others, and they can be able to interact with others as they grow. The child can also be able to understand other children with who they are playing with. Through playing with toys, they can also appreciate the physical and emotional needs. For instance, a child playing with a doll can claim it is hungry and needs to be fed, or that the doll is sad and cold. This could make them understand more on their needs as theory of the mind can enable them infer those needs to themselves and allow them to communicate it to the others (Baron-Cohen, S, 2003 & Park, 2003). currently as the child develops, they many develop the need to deceive and theory of the mind assist them in many ways. The child is able to use the mental states and emotions to get what they want from the adults and others in their surroundings. The child can be able to predict the actions of others and therefore devise of ways to deceive them. Through theory of the mind, the child can be able to know the effective way they can communicate to get the attention they want. For instance, when a child wants to get candy from the parents, he/she knows that by showing sadness or crying the parent shall provide it to try making them happy (Park, 2001). Moreover, the child is able to identify false belief and reality in their surroundings and their ability to connect reality with the physical world makes them play games on others as they play. The child can be able to know the difference between abstract and reality in their environment. For instance, a child upon knowing where his fellow kid keeps his toy may decide to move it, and then observe how the other child will react, at the same time claiming they o not know the whereabouts of the toy, hence deceiving the other. The child in understanding the social interactions and pretence play can create tricks on other children knowing it will give them pleasure when the other children suffer (Park, 2001). Theory of the mind enables the child have recollections of past events and situations which they experienced pleasure, hence they can use the same knowledge they had to try make the situation occur again. For instance, the child develops social skills and they play with others, they can develop ways in which to make other follow them, or do what they want, by being able to perceive what they are thinking. The development of the theory of mind by children is essential in their understanding and means of coping with their environments. The children can able to communicate well with others and develop social interaction mechanism and skills. References Andrews, G.S. et al. (2003). Theories of the Mind and Relational Competence: Child Development. Society of Research in Child Development; vol.74 issue 5. Retrieved on 15th June from http://www.srcd.org/journals/cdev/1-1/Andrews.pdf Baron-Cohen, S, (2001). Theory of the Mind in Normal Development Autism. Retrieved on 15th June from http://www.autism-community.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/TOM-in-TD-and-ASD.pdf Park, S. (2001). Theories of the Mind Dynamics in Child Play. Retrieved on 15th June from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-12102001-173508/unrestricted/Soyeon_Park_ETD.pdf Peterson,C. C and Siegel, M. Representing Inner World. Psychological Science. Retrieved on 15th June from ftp://ftp.cis.upenn.edu/pub/incoming/Cognitive_Development_100-117.pdf Read More