```dataview list without id file.inlinks where file.name = this.file.name ``` --- creation date: 2024-09-10 18:42 modification date: Tuesday 10th September 2024 18:42:12 --- #lecture_notes #hku Oksana the feral child - able to learn some language - limited intellectual ability - went back to parents - raised by dogs Janie Wylie - first 13 years of life - total sensory and social isolation - Los Angeles - Linguist Susan Curtis Harry Harlow - showed the crucial importance of caregiving - physical contact with caregiver has profound impact on health and development Development: - critical period - the time for the brain to make said connection (for language around 5) ## Temperament: how you react / think #### Is temperament Nature or Nurture? - How nature and nurture fit together can determine the happiness and success of that child. - if environments and influences are suited together to their personalities, the child will do better - Nine dimensions of Temperament (Thomas, Chess, Birch, Hertzig, and Korn) (1963) - activity level - energy levels and amount of movement - biological rhythms - regularly of biological functions (ie. circadian rhythms, hunger responses) - approach/withdrawal - initial reaction - mood - typical emotional outlook. - intensity of reaction - - sensitivity - reaction to sensory stimuli - adaptability 0- ability to adjust to changes. - distractibility - ability to focus. - persistence (attention span) - ability to stay with an activity Twin studies show genetic component - Genes factors account for 20 - 60% - Environmental factors 80 - 40% Child psychopathology is associated with temperament that is characterized by *high levels of emotionality / neuroticism and low levels of effortful control* Two models of child psychopathology - Effortful control acts as a moderator on the link between emotionality/neuroticism and psychopathology - Emotionality/neuroticism and effortful control each play a unique role and hence have additive effects ### The Brain: A Social Organ Peter Fonagy: *minds emerge and emotions organize through engagement with other minds*, shapes our direction, bodily funciton and emotional behavior Epigenetics: emerging area of scientific research that shows how environmental influences - children’s experiences - actually affect the expression of their genes. Rationality is built on our emotion: the ration part of the brain does not work on its own, but at the same time as the basic regulatory functions. Louis Cozolino: human relationships actually sculpt brain tissue: - positive relationships trigger neuroplasticity - traumatic experiences can stop growth Social neglect: orphans - more likely to have social challenges. - difficulty forming attachments - prolonged lack of social stimuli alters the social brain (amygdala) Youtube: Three core concepts of brain devleopment Harvard U. The caregiver represents the baby as an intentional being - They treat us as a tool to achieve things - to have intentions (actions in pursuit of goals) A baby needs a caregiver who has the capacity to understand and to reflect upon his/her mental experiences. Babies - limited capacity to self regulate their arousal, pay attention, and control impulses. - self regulation has to be performed in early months by caregivers. - caregiver essentially acts as a “external brain” - brain-to-brain interactions, and these dyadic experiences are vital for a baby developing self regulation. - caregivers help babies regulate their emotions when upset In order to learn how to self-soothe, certain brain connections need to develop. Every time you soothe the infant, you are teaching it how to self regulate later in life. “Serve and Return” Model of child - adult interaction forms the foundation for future devleopment ## Process of Mentalizing - The role of mirroring - the move from teleological to intentional mental model - the baby is able to see an image of themselves in their caregiver Youtube: Still face experiment Dr. Edward Tronick ### 1. The role of mirroring - *A reasonable congruency and contingency of mirroring:* the caregiver accurately and timely matches the baby’s mental state. ### 2. The move from teleological to intentional mental model Sensitive caregiver helps baby to *identify contingencies between internal and external experiences* Baby understad that the caregiver’s reaction to them matches with the assumption of an internal state of belief or desire within themselves. IF FAILS TO ENGAGE baby - flat affect caregiver - look very compliant Difficult babies does not equal poor outomes: difficult parents are neglectful or intrusive Intergenerational transimission *parents own attachment (internal work model) shapes how they care of their babies or adjust to their parent’s role. internal work model - how we think other people see us and interact with us Conger at al (2009) 5 major longitudinal studies parents tend to rear kids in much similar way that they were reared, especially when the parent’s own rearing is harsh. ## Piaget’s theory of devleopment assimilation: ## Attachment Styles ### Securely attached Separation anxiety starts at around 18 months When a kid is securely attached, they feel more brave to explore their environments as long as they know their caregiver is around. - Relatively healthy childhood development ### Insecurely attached - 3 styles #### anxious resistant - fearful to explore - stay close to caregiver - limited exploration - caregiver gives inconsistent response - sometimes responsive - sometimes not - still face experimen - leads to distress in child #### avoidant - caregiver very unavailable - child learns to suppress their negative emotions of distress - avoid the adult (eg. look away, arch their back) - often struggle socially because they seem to prefer playing with objects rather than with people. - objects seem to be more consistent and projected of emotional availability than people, leading to antisocial behavior #### disorganized - often a result of abuse or neglect - n Video: The Strange Situation - the important clue is whether the child is able to calm down quickly when she returns - if the child is able to calm down quickly and return interest in the toys, that is a secure attachment - if the child is avoidant, looks away, still looks sullen after the return of the mother, then thats not secure, avoidant - or the child is unable to calm down, keeps crying for extended duration and unwilling to return to play soon after, thats also not secure, anxious resistant - if the child shows hesitation to greet the caregiver, ie. not reacting, or showing mixed signals of reaction, thats disorganized Dr. Dan Siegel - The Whole-Brain Child - Core concept: take care of the emotion before reasoning - very vivid examples of what to do in different situations Youtube: Dr. Dan Siegel - On disorganized attachment - parent provide terrified experiences - possibly because the parents are terrified themselves, with relation to mirror neurons - other examples, physical / sexual / emotional abuse - Terrifying directly or looks terrifying - child has no solution - feels fear, go to attachment figure to find reasurrance - feels the parent is the source of fear, should stay distant from attachment figure - hence disorganized logic ### Circle of Security one type of therapy