Deck 11: Section 1: Attachment to Others and Development of Self

Question 1

Is it possible for an individual to have a poor ethnic identity and a strong general identity? What about a poor sexual identity and a strong general identity? For both questions, explain why or why not, and provide supportive examples.

Answer 1

Not Answer

Question 2

Describe how strangers are used in the Strange Situation. Why did Ainsworth consider this an important part of the procedure?

Answer 2

Not Answer

Question 3

Write a brief article for a parenting magazine on what parents can do to promote high self-esteem in their children. Would this advice differ if the article were directed at parents of ethnic-minority children? at parents of adolescents? at parents of sexual-minority adolescents?

Answer 3

Not Answer

Question 4

Describe the identity status of two people you know well. Classify each of them according to the characteristics of each status. Provide examples as necessary to explain your classification. Provide at least one example of a causal factor involved in the identity formation of each person.

Question 5

Describe the notions of a personal fable and a belief in an imaginary audience. Give an example of each. How do these beliefs impact adolescents' social competence? In what ways might these beliefs be helpful to adolescents and in what ways might they be harmful?

Question 6

Describe the attachment process and the development and quality of infants' attachment in terms of the roles nature and nurture play. Be specific, and use examples as needed.

Question 7

Describe the notion of the internal working model of attachment. What does this working model include? What type of internal working model is associated with having unresponsive, uncaring, and unavailable caregivers? What about caregivers who are accessible and responsive?

Question 8

Think about the concept of a secure base. First, describe what is meant by this concept. Then, describe how having a secure base can be important for cognitive development and give a specific example. Finally, describe how having a secure base can be important for emotional development and give a specific example.

Question 9

Describe the four identity-status categories into which researchers classify adolescents. For each category, provide the criteria used to classify individuals into the category. Then, describe how each of these categories is associated with adjustment and social behaviour.

Question 10

Describe what parents can do to help their adolescents achieve a coherent sense of identity. Be sure to include the parenting techniques or styles that are important, as well as the adolescent behaviours that parents can encourage.

Question 11

Describe three characteristics of a child's sense of self, three characteristics of a young adolescent's sense of self, and three characteristics of a late adolescent's sense of self. What cognitive factors are at the foundation of these differences?

Question 12

How is the notion of the "looking glass self" related to the notion of the internal working model? What evidence is there for the validity of the "looking glass self"?

Question 13

Describe the current psychological thinking about what causes people to be attracted to same-sex individuals. How prevalent is same-sex attraction in youth, and what challenges do they face that are different from those faced by other youth?

Question 14

Describe the reciprocal associations between parental sensitivity and children's self-esteem, and between peer acceptance and children's self-esteem. Provide supportive examples.

Question 15

Describe the association between the attachments that parents had with their own parents during their childhoods and the attachments their children have with them. What causes this association? Is there any hope of having securely attached children for adults who were insecurely attached to their own parents? Why or why not?

Question 16

Is it important for individuals to have a strong ethnic identity? Why or why not? Be specific, and provide supportive examples.

Question 17

Briefly describe the Strange Situation. Discuss how infants are classified into each of the attachment groups on the basis of the Strange Situation.

Question 18

Max has an insecure/resistant attachment with his mother. Cassie has a secure attachment with her mother. How is this difference likely to affect their later social and cognitive functioning? Why could this difference in later functioning be predicted?

Question 19

Describe what differences might be expected between the behaviour exhibited in the Strange Situation by a child who is cared for primarily at home by his or her mother and a child who is in day care. Why might this difference exist? Explain the reason, and provide supportive examples.