Chapter 9 Part 2

When I read about the reading together section in our text, it reminded me of when I was young. My parents would always read to me every night. Each parent had certain books that I would ask them to read. My mother would read to me the Golden Egg Book, The Saggy Baggy Elephant and my personal favorite, Rabbit, Skunk and The Scary Rock. Seriously, everyone should by that book (probably ~$4) and read it because its amazing. Coolest. Book. Ever. As for my father, his specialties included most Dr. Seuss books such as Horton Hears a Who, Go Dogs Go, and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish. This was my nightly ritual before bed. I would always ask my parents at bed time for a book and they each would read to me. It was always was one of my most memorable times as a child and I will definitely read to my children one day. I remember the way each of them would tell the stories and I can only imagine how tired they must of gotten reading the same books over and over yet still read to me just to see me smile before bed.

Chapter 9 post 2

Another thing that also caught my attention was when Chapter nine talked about theory-theory. This is when young children don’t understand a topic and therefore they create their own theories to help them understand what they see or hear. I think this is such a powerful thing to have and that will help strive the imagination that they have. This although seems illogical to adults would be good for older people to have too. I think that sometimes you need to have some imagination to succeed in things. I also think that adults use this when they experience an event or something that they can’t explain or deal with; hence creating an alternate conclusion. This could also help with creativity by trying to think of things illogical or corrupted to really get into a warped sense of mind to create their art work. I at least like to take something I know and challenge it with a different perspective, which in turn can help you learn more about yourself mainly and some about society.  However, it is crazy to think that children truly don’t know the truth or the right answers all the time but use problem solving along with logical think to try and figure it out. 

Chapter 9 post 1

One thing that really interested me was the topic about learning languages. I have always had a tough time trying to learn Spanish, French and German. However, when I went to Italy this summer for a study abroad program I actually took away some Italian once I came home. I am a more kinetic learner unlike my sister-in-laws parents who picked up the language fairly fast. I found it interesting about if you learn a language at a younger age you won’t have as much trouble and have less of an accent. I have a friend in the Netherlands who is taught English in school and therefore can speak both languages. This is a common thing for other countries to learn our languages. However, we don’t do the same. We start learning languages a lot older so it takes us longer to learn because of the fact that is doesn’t come natural to us as it would the others. I would love to learn Italian fluently and I know that it will take a long time but I think that actually being in the country is a lot easier to learn because if you don’t figure out key words you won’t be able to do common things such as going out to eat or grabbing a taxi. 

Chapter 9 post 2

Another thing I found interesting in Chapter 9 was the idea of Conservation and Logic which was developed by Piaget. Conservation basically just mean the notion that the amount of something remains the same despite the change in appearance. The book gave many examples of this such as when the same amount of liquid is poured into a tall skinny glass and a shorter wider glass and child will think that there is more liquid in the taller one. The children think that there is more liquid in the taller one because it is taller and higher than the shorter. The child being observed are between the ages of 6 and 7. They did many other experiments with things such as checkers, balls of clay, and sticks. Piaget’s theory of conservation requires the child’s words not actions. After doing brain scans, researchers saw that the child indicated they knew something through the gestures they were giving off but couldn’t express it in words. The video we had to watch the other week let me have a clear mental image of what this was talking about.

Chapter 9 Post 2

Chapter 9 was interesting. Early childhood: cognitive development is the title of the chapter. Language is very important for children and growing up. The book says that if children grow up not speaking the dominant language of their country they are at a disadvantage. However, learning more than one language can come in handy in the future. According to the book, which I found the most interesting, was learning a language is the easiest during childhood. I wish my parents enrolled me in a program to learn Spanish, because I am learning it now and it's difficult, so if I had previously been exposed to it earlier it would be easier for me now. I do not agree with "English only" advocates, I mean I do agree with the fact that you need to learn English to fit in America, because people are very prejudice to other people who can not speak English. There are also many benefits to learning a second language, so when I have kids in the future I will most definitely start teaching them a second language early!

Chapter 9 post 1

While I read chapter 9, I looked at the ages that this was talking about and its my sons age developmental group. I started to relate some of what I see with him to what I was reading in the book more than I normally do because my son is 4. I found it interesting the topic of theory-theory with this age. My son came home from school and was trying to explain what he did at school and all he thought about was snack and play time while they were doing their lessons for the day. He started to describe to me the colors he saw and the things he heard like his teacher talking to the other kids just to explain what he did at school. I learned that he is starting to become his own person with his own mind. He told me that he loves playing with blocks and building which I found quite interesting because he never really was into it till he started school again. He just explained what was going through his mind while he was learning all this new and exciting information. Kids at this age are pretty interesting because they don't fully understand the world but they are understanding on how the world works. This age is quite perfect in a sense. They don't really understand what talking back means and they do what you ask them to and they are always learning something new. At our age, we question every little decision we make like what to have for dinner or even what to watch on TV but for kids they know what they like and what they don't for food and they mainly watch shows that look fun and have exciting colors. My son loves peanut butter and jelly and that is always what he wants for dinner no matter what I am having for dinner. He loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse because of the colors and its fun. We don't make decisions like that anymore because we just ask too many questions about what it is or if it actually good enough to watch on television. Kids seem to have it much easier then we do.

Chapter 9 post 2

The topic of learning two languages caught my eye. I am a Spanish major here and I can say that learning a second language is very difficult at 20 years old. Of course I can understand it and pick up things here and there if I really try and work on it. However, while my teacher is speaking to me, I do translate word for word in my mind which slows me down on my response. When you know a language, there should be no translation in your mind. Your brain is suppose to be able to just switch and understand. If I speak a sentence word for word in Spanish as I would in English, most of the time it is grammatically wrong. On the other hand, my friend Jain was born in Moldova and has Russian as her first language. She only lived there until she was 9 years old so her vocabulary isn't all that professional. However, if we are hanging out and speaking English, as soon as her mother calls her she can speak in Russian without thinking twice. She has no Russian accent while trying to speak English and no English accent while speaking Russian. This is because she learned both languages before puberty and mastered both of them. Part of me wishes my household could've spoke to me in both languages as a child so it is easier now for me. My goal is to be fluent in the language. I just know that after reading this section of the chapter, I have a long road ahead of me.

Vygotsky Social Learning

Children are indeed not always egocentric like said by Piaget and Vygotsky makes valid points when saying that they also tend to the needs and wishes of others and not only their own. Apprentice in thinking is so common in society hence social learning is very critical, children believe that adults have the answers to things that you would not believe to be asked to you. I remember thinking that my mother had the answer to everything and it amazes me hearing this from an outer view/ perspective. Guided participation is something that is very important as well because this seems to be the key as to how we go from looking at something to making the adjustment to change into the person doing so.  The guided participation is something that makes all children come to be recognized by people in such aspects of preschool if you copy something that one is doing they will be very liked in doing something. ZPDs (zone of proximal development) is healthy for children only because here and their you need to know you have the support of people behind you so you can accomplish tasks that cognitively are too much for you however you become more willing and able to make the leap of doing something on your own. As a child I don’t really care who the kid needs help in one way or another I have never seen somebody proficient let alone efficient at all so scaffolding comes into play which helps the child through the time of need so they become better at all they are experiencing.

Learning Multiple Languages

I noticed several people posting about the ability of children to learn multiple languages (specifically, Rosanna and Kenneth). Both posts reminded me of one of my favorite photos found on the Humans of New York Facebook page:

source: https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/photos/a.102107073196735.4429.102099916530784/697862003621236/?type=1

The caption reads: "She was answering my questions in English, while speaking to her mother in Japanese, so I remarked how impressive it was that she spoke two languages already. "Well her father is Russian," said the mom, "so she speaks that too."

I think it would be wonderful if our society pushed for youth multilingual programs. It surprises me that in a country with such an eclectic mix of people, some US citizens get upset over the fact that you need to "press one for English." Yes, English is the primary language spoken here. It's also the language of business throughout the world. But I don't believe it should be an expectation that everyone needs to speak it. I can understand why some members of other countries consider Americans to be rude. We expect everyone to speak OUR language. But that isn't always the case.

I give a lot of credit to foreign exchange students who come to college in the US. They're away from their home, their family, and they're taking classes in their second (or third!) language. I can barely understand organic chemistry in my first language!

Speaking a language leads to many opportunities for obtaining a deeper understanding of the world around us. The US should have more programs to teach children a second language at a younger age, when it is easier for them to learn it. I also hope multilingual parents will make an effort to foster an appreciation of multiple languages in their children and teach them their native languages. It is diversity that makes this world beautiful.

Oh, and if you think it's difficult enough to speak one language...you should check this polyglot out!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOiXtWcQ8GI

He understands.

Egocentrism

The preoperational stage ranges from about ages 2 to 7. Children in this stage can mentally represent events and objects (the semiotic function), and engage in symbolic play. Their thoughts and communications are typically egocentric. Ego centrism refers to the child's inability to see a situation from another person's point of view. According to Piaget, the egocentric child assumes that other people see, hear, and feel exactly the same as the child does. Piaget wanted to find out at what age children become no longer egocentric. Another key feature which children display during this stage is animism. Animism is the belief that inanimate objects (such as toys and teddy bears) have human feelings and intentions.

      Jean Piaget used the three mountains task to test whether children were egocentric. Egocentric children assume that other people will see the same view of the three mountains as they do. According to Piaget, at age 7 thinking is no longer egocentric, as the child can see more than their own point of view.The child sits at a table, presented in front are three mountains. The mountains were different, with snow on top of one, a hut on another and a red cross on top of the other. The child was allowed to walk round the model, to look at it, then sit down at one side. A doll is then placed at various positions of the table. The child is then shown 10 photographs of the mountains taken from different positions, and asked to indicate which showed the dolls view. Piaget assumed that if the child correctly picked out the card showing the doll's view, s/he was not egocentric. Egocentrism would be shown by the child who picked out the card showing the view s/he saw. Four-year-olds always chose a picture which matched their own view, while six-year-olds showed some awareness of alternative perspectives. Only seven- and eight-year-olds consistently chose the correct picture. At age 7, thinking is no longer egocentric as the child can see more than their own point of view.

Chapter 9.

While reading through chapter 9, I was interested in the topic of theory-theory when it came to young children. It means that children develop their own theories to explain the things that they see and hear, even if they don't truly understand it. At that age, it amazes me that children are so fascinated with life, in a sense, for they create their own theories and stories for whatever is happening around them. It makes us understand why children ask so many questions on a regular basis, not because it's annoying, but because they want to absorb all of their surroundings. In a way, they are finally beginning to key into their world, which is probably why they might have something to say about any subject that might come up in casual conversation. They won't know all of the answers yet, but they are starting to understand the world around them. Sometimes, it might cause us to try to remember those days, where we didn't really see the world for what it was, or we didn't quite understand the various things going on all the time. Even today, we still question everything, but for children that young that don't truly know everything, they really seem to be the innocent ones. It is amazing to witness what goes through a child's mind, and how they view things differently than we do.

Children and conservation/ logic

I remember last year in psychology hitting on this subject for a small amount of time when I think it is a very important section. The logic of children is what helps build the foundation for their progression throughout their lives. Piaget had these experiments to make sure the children were hitting the mark or say to be a par standards so they could progress as needed in their lives. Conservation is something that amazed me because it seems to be so little and I remember when I was younger having the same thoughts that an amount in something larger made it the bigger and better thing to have. Static reasoning is something that happens early on due to the oblivious attitudes of most children who have a very strict to the point almost one thing at a time mindset. Egocentrism is something I have witnessed throughout all my life that stays relatively constant due to the child or children wanting to be welcomed to others as opposed to being ostracized.
Irreversibility is another thing that I can remember taking awhile to get used to, because I knew how things went however there was a lot more thought and effort to reenact something in the opposite direction. These preopperational thoughts are very amusing and interesting to me because it makes me go back to that time of my life where I was doing those spoken of. I also have a younger brother who I get the leisure of watching make those same "mistakes" and I recognize how I progressed and only want to make for him to have a "smoother ride" getting to where he needs to be within a reasonable amount of time.

Monolingualism vs Bilingualism

A family that my parents are close friends with are from Peru, and they taught their son both English and Spanish when he was young. He now speaks both very well. Though his father, who began learning English much later in his life, still struggles to master the English language. I think that the strict "English only" advocates that our text talks about are short changing our youth by thinking that they will become confused and end up being monolingual in the long run away. Perhaps more of these people should look into taking a human development course so that they could get a better idea for how crucial this time in a child's life is for language learning. Of course, I think there are other factors at play for these kind of "English only" advocates, but if their concerns really were simply the potential confusion of the child, it seems that they are thinking a bit egocentrically in placing a child who is just learning language development into their personal situations. As adults, it is certainly difficult to learn new languages. However, it doesn't seem that a young child's capability to speak multiple languages is as rigid as an adult's is. I think that there needs to be more awareness in our society about this, so that we can push for better multilingual programs for our youth.

Making Sense of this World

"More than any animal, we search for causal regularities in the world around us. We are perpetually driven to look for deeper explanations of our experience, and to be born with...the desire to understand the world and the desire to discover how to behave in it." (Gopnik, 2001, p. 66)

This is true for children and adults. The idea that children come up with their own theories to explain the world doesn't shock me. I used to teach Sunday school to kindergarteners. Each class was peppered with surprises and delights. I was always inspired by their energy, creativity, and ability to talk about things that were not in the least way related to what we were doing. Their curiosity is astounding. One particular memory I have is of a 5-year-old boy boldly asking another teacher if she had a boyfriend. No filter.

Somewhere along the way, as we grow older, I think the inquisitive nature dampens a little. I remember asking, "Why?" constantly as a child (so much so, it got on my mom's nerves). But, we must learn to be cohesive members of society. Sometimes it's better not to say exactly what's on your mind. We never lose the want to understand our place in the world though.

I think the world would benefit from more adults taking a child's approach when it comes to asking questions and forming connections with each other--uninhibited by the doubts and fears that plague us on a regular basis. "The creative adult is the child who survived." :)

Learning Language, especially a second language

A number of years ago while travelling in El Salvador I had the privilege of sharing a meal with a bilingual family. The little boy, who I think was only two or three, spoke both Spanish and English fluently, with a preference for Spanish. He spoke Spanish to his parents, but when initiating conversation with myself and my friend spoke in English. It was clearly obvious that he understood who knew which languages. I was surprised that such a young child could differentiate between the two languages so well.

My parents grew up Amish and can speak Pennsylvania Dutch fluently. My father really wanted all of us children to learn to speak it well, but my parents also wanted us to be fluent in English. Because of this my parents, though they spoke Pennsylvania Dutch to each other, chose to speak mostly English to us children. Since we were homeschooled if they would have chosen to speak PA Dutch to us all the time, that would have become our primary language. When I was 7-8 my Dad realized that though we could understand Pa Dutch, we didn’t know how to speak it and he decided that we would speak only Pennsylvania Dutch at the table. I was past the sensitive period for language learning and hated being at a loss for words and stumbling around sounding stupid. I was my father’s worst student.

Though my father wanted us to learn the language, he realized it was most important for us to know English. Not so, my grandparents, they would have rather that we were poor English speakers than not converse easily in Pennsylvania Dutch. I remember answering my Grandparents in English when they spoke to me in Pennsylvania Dutch. Sometimes I would start out answering in Pa Dutch and then switch to English when I couldn’t remember a word, or couldn’t get the words in the right order.

Twice i had little breakthrough periods where I began to think in Pa Dutch. The first time was as a teenager, I and some of my siblings took up the challenge to speak only Pa Dutch for several days, the second was when I took a job at an Amish store where I answered the phone and took orders, many of the callers were Amish and were used to speaking Pa Dutch. I started using it more and till the third week of immersion in the language I realized that I was beginning to think in it. Unfortunately my life was rather stressful at the time and I reverted back to English, because I just didn’t have the energy to expend in struggling to communicate.

I’m thankful that my father tried so hard to teach us Pa Dutch. I wish he would have understood about the sensitive period. He waited to begin instruction for me and most of my siblings till we were 7-10 years old. Though i can understand Pa Dutch, I struggle to speak it.

Chapter 9

I read about the vocabulary explosion in this section. I took a linguistics course last year and part of the chapter was a review to me. In that class they said that the primary time to learn a language is before the age of 12. This book says basically the same thing. I found it interesting that a child only knows around 500 words at age 2 but jumps to 10,000 by the age of six. That's incredible. I feel like at age 20, I might learn a few different words here and there but I really have to focus and practice on learning them to remember different vocabulary. It comes naturally to children. This is why it is much easier to be bilingual as a child than to try and catch on later in life by taking classes to learn one. However, I hadn't heard of the processes called "fast mapping" or "logical extension". They make sense, but I never knew that that is how children learn to distinguish different words. When a child is learning to crawl and walk, a parent always says "come here!". I didn't know that that phrase is actually difficult to learn as a child. They have a hard time differentiating between here and there, up and down, and tall and short, comparison words. I feel as though those are words that are commonly used around children and they should've been picked up on easier. Children really just hear a bunch of different words and categorize them in their brain. The more new words a child hears, the easier it is to map other words. That's neat to hear and think about.

Chapter 9

One thing that really stood out to me while reading was the section on Language Two Languages. I fully agree with the fact that children should learn more than one language in early childhood. I wish I could of learned another language in kindergarten as some school around the United States do. My school started teaching Spanish in 7th grade, but it was only for half the year, and was very basic. The next chance we had to take a language was high school. I think there are many pros to knowing more than more one language. Once you know more than one language it is easier to learn a third language if the person so desires. Another big pro is that every year the United States is becoming more culture and many languages are spoken within the US so it's good to know to talk to those people. If you want to travel to another country it is smart if you know the language so knowing another language can allow you to travel easier.

Toddlers and Logic

I had never realized previous to taking this class just how much our brain changes and develops when we are especially young. Chapter 9's discussion about the theory of mind and how we learn to understand the difference between reality and belief totally blew my mind. I don't spend allot of time with very small children, so these revelations are really interesting to me. I have definitely seen the processes of magical thinking and story telling noted in the chapter and like Piaget, find children's stories to be of immense interest in how they interpret the world. It is very interesting how children tell stories and what that says about their processing, for example, if they are hero's in the story, if there is something they are scared of ect. Even at three children can tell highly elaborate tales that can express how they are feeling about the world. The fact that this demonstrates our propensity for logic and making sense of our human experience, really says allot to me about human nature. Learning things such a this, the relationship between children's stories/theories and our natural tendency towards logic and rational, has been what I have enjoyed most about the class so far. I like that the class takes on some level an anthropological approach to the psychological study as oppose to a more functional form, like learning the specifics of which glands and neuron do what.

Chapter 9

I found the topic of private speech to be interesting. Private Speech is when person talks to themselves out loud. I find this interesting because when I was a nanny, I watched a 2 year old and 4 year old. Both talked to themselves and even each other to problem solve. The two year old couldn't fully talk yet, but he still "talked" to himself, the four year old was VERY talkative and she would talk constantly to herself. For example, when she was working on a puzzle, she would say things like "then this will go here, oh wait that doesn't fit, how about here, well that doesn't look like the other puzzle pieces around it." I also noticed that she would be surprised when I answered her, like she didn't realize she was talking out loud, almost as if the private speech is more instinctual than a conscience.

Chapter 7 Blog Post #2

Something else that caught my attention in this chapter was the section about proximal parenting vs. distal parenting. An ethnotheory is defined as theories and values that are embedded into a specific culture. The people of that culture are usually unaware that it is a theory because they just believe it is a custom that everyone follows. One ethnotheory involves the extent to which a culture believes a parent should be in close physical contact with their baby. Proximal parenting suggests that parents should be close with their baby while raising them, holding and cuddling them often. Distal parenting, on the other hand, is a caregiving practice where the parents care for the baby while remaining distant. They nurture them and provide them with communication, but with minimal touching. It is interesting that different cultures have implications that affect their parenting styles.

Research has shown that proximal parenting results in compliant toddlers whereas distal parenting results in less obedient toddlers. Children raised through proximal parenting are less self-aware than those raised through distal parenting. I found it interesting that these different styles of parenting create traits in children that are needed for the specific culture. I think this concept shows that culture has a great influence on a child not only in a social aspect, but also on how they're likely to be raised. Overall, I have noticed that various parenting issues vary within different cultures. I find this interesting because I was raised in an Asian culture and have always wondered if I would be a different person if I had been raised in a traditional American family. I have always thought about what differences I would have encountered and how that would have affected my personality and/or values.

Chapter 7 Post 2

While I was looking back at this chapter, I was thinking about my past memories as a child. I remember my mom telling me about when my brother was born. I was about one and half at this point and I ended up having to get stitches because I was jumping on my moms bed in the hospital and I ended up falling and hitting my head on the breast pump. My mom said I immediately cried and went to hear but she was holding my baby brother at the time so I had to go to my dad. Ever since then my dad and I had a bond that no one ever seemed to understand. I would do everything with him. We went out to eat together or shopping. I remember just before he died a few years ago we were laying upstairs in his room working on his grading for University of Phoenix and for YTI Career Institute. I was helping him since he was so weak. Ever since that day I hold onto that special memory of my dad and I. I never really thought that my dad and I would have a close relationship because he was always working and I was definitely more attached to my mom. I love my mom and she has definitely given me the best things life has to offer and helped me graduate after I had my son. Now I see my son gaining the emotions but I know he is definitely a momma's boy due to the fact that he hates that his dad doesn't play with him so my son ignores his dad when he walks into the room. He gets super excited when I pick him up from school and he wants to do puzzles with me. It is very clear my son has definitely learned attachment and he explains his emotions. I am definitely enjoying this class and learning different things about everyone through this blog and just other peoples perspective on the chapter for the week.

Chapter 7 Post 2

During chapter seven we talked about a lot of topics as stated in my first post. While looking back and reviewing the chapter, I remembered a time when I was dropped off at day care. It was picture day at my care center and of course I’m crying in the picture. This was because my mom left me “deserted” at the place. I was so devastated they had to call my mom and she talked to me on the phone telling me she couldn't leave work and I had to stay there and to go play. After I remembered this story, I related it to the results that I got on the survey we took for this chapter. It stated that I had some sort of attachment to my mother which seems to have carried through my life. My mother is my best friend and I think it is so amazing the connections that we see throughout our lives. This also relates to the subject of separation anxiety that was talked about. I not only had that when I was younger but I still have it now. I am in a long distance relationship and every time we have to part, I completely fall apart. Although, I have out grown the separation anxiety towards my mother, I have it towards my partner now. However, I am glad about the distance in ways because it really has helped me work on getting over the anxiety I get when she has to leave. 

Chapter 7: Synesthesia

When I took Introduction to Psychology a couple years ago, I had to write a paper on a disorder of choosing. I remembered briefly touching upon synesthesia in lecture and how interested I was. I wrote my paper on this amazing and complex disorder. What makes this disorder so unique is how it not only affects the person psychologically, but neurologically as well. Synesthesia is a neurological disorder in which sensation produced in one modality when a stimulus is applied to another modality, as when the hearing of a certain sound induces the visualization of a certain color. Maturation of the brain can affect an infant’s ability to differentiate emotions. This can often lead to complications resulting in disorders such as synesthesia. Long dismissed as a product of overactive imaginations or a sign of mental illness, synesthesia has grudgingly come to be accepted by scientists in recent years as an actual phenomenon with a real neurological basis. Some researchers now believe it may yield valuable clues to how the brain is organized and how perception works. The cause remains a mystery, however. According to one idea, irregular sprouting of new neural connections within the brain leads to a breakdown of the boundaries that normally exist between the senses. In this view, synesthesia is the collective chatter of sensory neighbors once confined to isolation.

Life as a Day Care Baby (Week 4, Post 2)

I grew up as a day care baby. Reading about separation anxiety in chapter 7 reminded me of a story my mom told me about my first few months in daycare. At first, nearly every time she dropped me off and left for work I would cry. She then developed a trick. 1) Place a Gerber Graduate cookie in my right hand. 2) Place a Gerber Graduate cookie in my left hand. 3) Leave. I was so distracted by the cookies that I barely even noticed that she left (either that, or I found cookies to be a sufficient substitute for my primary caretaker).

Though the chapter mentions some negative effects of non-responsive and/or non-maternal care, my experiences at center day care seemed to be very positive. I think it helped that my mom was careful about selecting day care centers that would provide me with enough responsive care. I quickly learned that I was not always the center of attention and that I could not always get what I want (whenever the teacher handed out ice pops and kids asked for a certain color, she always responded with, "You get what you get"). I also got practice interacting with my peers and making friends--one friend I still have today. For me, life as a day care baby was pretty good...though I think whether or not a child should be in daycare varies from family to family.

Chapter 7 "Comparing Fathers and Mothers"

One of the most important things I learned through this chapter is the difference between a mother and father and their infants social and emotional development. I always thought that the mother were the ones to compose the babies laughter and emotions because they already have that strong bond with their mother from birth. However , I learned that men with close relationships with their kids can teach appropriate expressions of emotion. This also helps when the child develops into a teenager, being able not to lash out on authority or friends. Also, when men keep a good stable relationship with their kid they can reduce the risk of depression. I actually looked into this because I was comparing people I know who have great relationships with their father, compared to me who hasn't had the greatest relationship and I can tell the difference. One of my closest friends and her father are very close and always have been since she was really little. She is one of the sweetest people I know and is sweet to everyone she knows. Her dad also is a very happy man and is always sweet to her and his family. I think that the reason my best friend is the way she is, is because her dad was always a great role model in her life. When I compare this to my life with a dad who wasn't that connected, I can see my dad more depressed and more alone feeling than those who have a good connection with their child. On that note, with me also, I feel that in certain situations I am not the nicest or most happy person to be around. The whole reading about how a dad affects a kid really made me realize and connect some things in my life. This actually made me realize why my dad acts the way he does and why my best friends dad is always happy. I learned that having a good relationship with your kids is one of the most important things in life, to give your kid emotional, stable, and a supportive life.

Chapter 7

I am sorry I haven't been on and posted anything recently I have been incredibly sick and so has my son. I have been keeping close eye on him due to the respiratory virus that is going around. I read chapter 7 while I was offline. I found the topic of Social Referencing very interesting especially the section about fathers. I find it very true that fathers spend less time with infants than the mothers do because the infant and the mother have a special bond since a woman carries the child for nine months and they are physically connected to each other. I also agree with the statement about low-income families in the US about a fathers involvement with his infant is the father's relationship with the mother. I see it in my own life. My son's dad and I don't have a good relationship and it definitely reflects through my son. The only reason he sees his dad is because we have a court order that states he has to see him. Also looking at attachment is really interesting too because I have noticed that my son is very attached to me right now and he doesn't want to spend time with his dad. I have definitely noticed when he comes home on the third day of not seeing me he clings and doesn't want me to go anywhere and by the time he has to go back he is very resistant on going to his dads. I thought it was just a phase but this has been going on for months. The only time he doesn't act that way is when he goes to school and that's because his friends are there plus he knows that I will be picking him up and dropping him off. Definitely this chapter really helped me take a look and learn some more information about my son that I didn't know. This class is really opening my eyes to what my son learns and does and I find it very intriguing.

Social Referencing

Another section in Chapter 7 was the section on social referencing. Fathers as Social Partners caught my eye while reading. In most cultures and ethnic group all around the world mothers seem to spend more time with infants than the father. In my eyes, this occurs because the mother spent 9 months with the infant in her stomach and actually gave birth to it, so I feel like the mother feels more attached than the father. It is said that out of most cultures, Latinos are known for being less involved in their child's life. In the US the more active fathers seem to be Mexican, Cuban, and Dominican. But worldwide, Brazilian seem to spend more time with their infant than any other culture. The best predictor of a fathers's involvement with his infant is his relationship with the mother.

Social media and Attachment styles

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-almost-effect/201407/who-connects-best-online-and-why

The link above is an interesting article I read in Psychology Today about the role of security in our early development and people's on line presence. The article stated that it had been found that people with secure attachment styles are more likely to use social media broadly to communicate. This makes sense as people with secure attachment styles would be more comfortable having a broader base of acquaintances/friends that they communicate with using social media. Overall the article reflected that basic transference of fear shyness ect. were echoed in social media. However, what it did not speak of is what I see as a common occurrence of people with high social anxiety, avoidance and insecurity over using social media as a form of affirmation or a seeking of attention. Which can really be a beneficial factor for people who struggle with real life relationships. Using social media can allow the overly shy or person who uses avoidance in real life to seek connection and positive reactions, though of course it may be annoying to the common observer. In this way social media and its psychological influences on us have yet to be fully understood and will be an interesting field of expansion for our generation to begin to understand.

Social Referencing (father and mother)

Social referencing seemed to be something interesting to me. That some child even at a young age is able to look to parents to see if they are doing the right thing or if something is okay to do you see it not only with humans but animals as well do the same thing. Referencing mothers do things such as suggest and make it almost rewarding for a child to do something, almost like conditioning however it is more passive to the sense of they do not directly say something to suggest it is what the mother wants from child/ infant. The United States of America very much so enforces the social referencing because they are looking for some dependence from child but looking for almost all the obedience as well.

Referencing fathers used to be thought of those who would spend relatively no time or be anything involved with the infants now really comes to how happy they are with the mother of the child. This being crucial because it is rare that you get time alone with an infant if the mother is remotely around.

Infants look to receive fun from the father time while the mother time is more cautious. The infants (from father time) show social intelligence because fathers play games and make them go through the motions of doing something that sooner or later they will be able to do such as walk. Book shows that fathers are more proximal parents however they are engaged with playing with infants entire body.

Chapter 7 Blog Post #1

Something that I found interesting in this chapter was the section on social learning and the bobo doll experiment. Behaviorists believe that infants learn by observing the behavior of others, in a process known as social learning. In this process, a person observes someone’s behavior as well as others’ reactions to that person’s behavior. They then take this behavior and either apply it to their lives or use caution against the behavior, based on whether the result was positive or negative. In the Bobo doll experiment, Albert Bandura placed children in a situation where they watched adults hitting a rubber Bobo clown. Afterwards, both boys and girls hit the Bobo doll just as they had observed the adults doing so. I think that social learning is something that applies not only to behaviors, but also to personality traits. The main influence for social learning is your family because you grow up around them and spend the most time with them. This is why it is especially essential for a child’s family to provide a good example for the child. As a child is growing into the adolescent years, I would say that the biggest influence in terms of social learning comes from their friends and their peers. In this stage of life, acceptance is everything. Teenagers will watch the behavior of their friends and copy behaviors that are accepted by their peers. This is extremely dangerous because teenagers can start to get involved in alcohol or even drugs because they see others exhibiting this behavior and they want to replicate the behavior. Social learning is something that affects a person from infancy to adulthood.

Infant attachment chapter 7

Influenced by the psychoanalytic theory and ethology, which I found to be cool was this concept that links, a lot of how we feel we become who we are. I think it is something so simple and yet it is so well explained knowing how certain experiences and things that happen to us early on can lead to say potential trust issues or maybe even mild depression. 

When it came down to the results that John Bowlby found he saw that it depended on things such as how parents and caregivers interact with the infant so they could see how they become in the future. Another factor was that the culture or area they are raised has an impact because the different cultures make for people to be a lot of the way they are especially like said that people in China for example like to raise people to become more self made by being independent and being able to detach from parents at a sooner age.

The caregiver in the sense is what allows the child to either be able to explore due to how they treat child and how they go about overseeing them. This is a secure type of attachment where the kid will try and look back for assurance that what they are doing is good. Insecure comes due to lack of confidence, fear, anger, or indifference. This leads to the child having the inability to say not care when the parent leaves all the way to freaking out and throwing temper tantrums.