ID: 20210811398
PSY 4331
Dr. Ackerman
Over, H. (2009). Eighteen-Month-Old Infants Show Increased Helping Following
Priming With Affiliation. Psychological Science, Vol. 20 Issue 10, p1189-1193
Eighteen-Month-Old Infants Show Increased Helping Following Priming With Affiliation
This study explains attempts to explain how certain images can predict the way an infant positively or negatively interacts with the world, in terms of prosocial engagement. The purpose of this study is explicit, in that it is trying to convey that infants personality can be shaped by positive or negative influences, and ultimately discovering why infants differ in social skills. Much research has been done on child development and what specifically drives their development, whether it is environmental factors or simple genetic inheritance, this field of study is an essential tool in understanding the mechanisms in which shape our personalities throughout life. This particular experiment proposed a design that aimed to find a correlation between “a sense of affiliation to a group and the tendency to adopt a prosocial orientation” (1189). The hypothesis stated that: when infants were “primed” with images evoking affiliation, these images would shape the way an infant would affiliate with different social groups or social behaviors. The authors of this study proposed a simple method of studying infant affiliation. The participants comprised of 60 18 month old infants including 27 boys and 33 girls. The infants were recruited for this study using a database in which parents had volunteered their children to be a part of child development studies. In total 15 infants were placed in each condition, and 7 were thrown out due to interference from parents. The two conditions tested were: Crying during the test and refusal to observe images. To test their hypothesis the researchers presented the infants with 8 color photographs and a prime such as a wooden doll. To measure the infant’s reaction to the different photographs and primes the experimenter would observe the infants behavior following their unique interpretation of the photograph paired with the prime. A child would play with the experimenter and thus a behavioral parameter would be observed. In conclusion, about 3 times as many infants were spontaneously stimulated in accordance with photographs and primes, however there were no differences in the infants mood in response to the stimuli provided. The affiliation with the “primes” generally increased in the infant’s spontaneity as well as the stimulus of the photographs presented. The researchers found that “subtle changes to the social environment can promote proscoial behavior in children” (1189). In other words the results of the study confirmed that environmental stimuli does in-fact promote affiliation with certain prosocial behaviors. The meaning of these results provides further insight into the broad range of child development theories. These results may prove informational in further studies of how certain children develop certain social patterns. In addition to understanding child development, this study proves that not only can an infant’s development be influenced by genetic inheritance; it may be influenced by extraneous environmental associations such as images or social interaction. I thought this study provided concrete evidence into various mechanisms of child development. The questions asked in this study were generally well formed, and appropriate in associating child development with social behavior. Not only were the questions well formed, they pointed out key aspects of development that are not fully understood in this field of study. Researching unknown subject mater, that is extremely important to child development, greatly increases the possibility to reach a point of full understanding, in turn completely validating the purpose of this research. I am enrolled in child development this semester, so this study provides further insight into the vast array of developmental processes that are involved in adolescence. In addition I believe it is important to understand key developmental stages in life, especially when it comes to determining certain psychological function later on in life. I learned that infants have the ability to interpret sensory information in many different fashions and that human beings are unique in the ways they develop. One question that I have about theses research findings would be: Which influences play the most important role in development? Genetic Inheritance or environmental influences? An alternative to studying increased helping following priming with affiliation would have to be using infants as well as adolescents to determine the long term affects, thus creating a concrete measure of how accurate correlating stimuli is in determining social interaction in the future.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
Social and emotional development: At this age a baby will respond to adult’s voices and faces, prominently their mothers, possibly by smiling. They will concentrate on adults face during feeding and be extremely dependent in adults for reassurance and comfort, quieting when held and…
- 2096 Words
- 9 Pages
Better Essays -
Another study study into attachment was Cross-cultural differences Grossmann and Grossmann (1991). This study found that German infants tended to be more insecurely rather than securely attached. It was though that this was because of different childcare practices, as German culture involves keeping distance between parents and children, so infants do not engage in proximity-seeking behaviours r the Strange Situation and therefore appear to be insecurely attached.…
- 280 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
5. Fonagy,P., Steele, H., & Steele. (1991). Maternal representations of attachment during pregnancy predict the organisation of infant mothers attachment at one year of age. Child development, 62, 891-905…
- 2358 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Infants and toddlers are able to emotionally attach to people who are biologically unrelated to them. Infants and toddlers have no more than three or four emotional attachment figures. Developing emotional attachments to caregivers in a child…
- 613 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
6 weeks to 8 months Attachment in the making. Infants respond preferentially to familiar people by smiling, laughing, babbling. Their caregivers’ voices, touch, expressions, and gestures are comforting, often overriding the infant’s impulse to cry. Trust (Erikson) develops.…
- 1035 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
Takahashi did another study to find out about attachments between Japanese children and their caregiver. He used 60 middle class Japanese infants all aged 1. They were all raised at home, and were observed in a strange situation. 68% of the results showed that the child was securely attached. The…
- 487 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Rudolph Schaffer and Peggy Emerson studied the progress of 60 babies starting from a few weeks old to 18 months. These children were observed in their own home , and a pattern was identified in their development of attachment. They found that babies attachment developed in a sequence…
- 1428 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Salter A., M. D., (2011). A theoretical review of the infant-mother relationship. Retrieved from http://www.psychology.sunysb.edu/attachment/online/attach_depend.pdf…
- 2149 Words
- 9 Pages
Better Essays -
Crying is a primary social behavior in infancy. It attracts parents or caregivers and promotes a social interaction of some type and duration, depending on the skill and awareness of the caregiver. Crying also has a survival value; it alerts caregivers to the presence and needs of the infant. However, merely meeting the basic needs of infants in a matter of fact is not sufficient to form a firm base for social development. You must react to infants with enthusiasm, attentiveness, and concern for them as unique persons…
- 772 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The purpose of this observation was to analysis a preschool age child between the ages of 3-5 on their social and emotional development using “California Preschool Learning Foundation Volume 1: Social and Emotional” and “Desired Results Developmental Profile – preschool.” (DRDP) The child was observed for one hour in two locations at three different settings. The observer noticed the child playing and interacting with the environment. The written portion of the child observation closely analyzed the social and emotional development using “California Preschool Learning Foundation Volume 1”, one hour observation, and applying the DRDP measures. The social and emotional development is written in three portions that analyze the child’s self, social…
- 141 Words
- 1 Page
Good Essays -
Schaffer & Emerson observed 60 babies, infants were not most attached to the person who fed them, they were most attached to the person who was most responsive and who interacted with them the most.…
- 1835 Words
- 8 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
After observing a nine month old child for this Child Observation paper, the author of this paper has taken copious notes during the session. The purpose of this paper is recognizing the biological, cognitive and psychosocial development of the child. The author of this paper identified the background history of the child, the observation made and the development process of the child.…
- 1087 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
Ainsworth ‘Strange Situation’ study aim was to investigate what type of attachment the infants had to their caregiver. Therefore, Ainsworth used 12 to 18 months infants in an experiment to test this. Ainsworth had several conditions to allow the observer to identify what reaction the infants are showing and hence, which attachment type. In a play area room, the infant and mother spent some time playing, suddenly the mother leaves (reaction of baby will be observed), then she will come back and reaction of the baby will be analysed again. Then a stranger will enter the room (analysing the infants reaction and behaviour), then mother leaves (analysing the infant reaction and behaviour) and mother enters again. Ainsworth found that there are three types of attachment, 70% were secure attachment, 15% insecure avoidant and 15% insecure ambivalent (resistant).…
- 435 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Social, emotional and behavioural development – Babies enjoy feeding and cuddling, they stare carefully at adult’s face when being fed and enjoy listening to sound, music and voices.…
- 3682 Words
- 15 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Initially, babies’ social responsiveness is indiscriminate. For example, they will smile at any face or cry for any person who leaves. Between about 3 and 6 months of age, however, babies narrow their responsiveness to a few familiar people, and are then wary of strangers. Bowlby’s attachment theory, Phase 3(6months-3years) talked about a baby going through a period called separation anxiety. Increased intense and exclusive behavior then occurs when the mother leaves or greets the child before and after being away for a brief time.…
- 590 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays