Developmental psychology studies the psychological and behavioral changes in human life from infants to old age, and many of the classic psychological effects not only explain key phenomena in human growth, but also provide practical guidance for education, parenting, mental health and social policies. This article will systematically and comprehensively introduce eight representative effects in developmental psychology - the strange situation security base effect , separation anxiety effect , critical period effect , language explosion effect , theory-theoretical effect , Rosenthal expectation effect , snowball effect (adolescent violation) and co-existence effect . Each psychological effect includes background sources, core principles, experimental basis, realistic application and critical analysis to ensure that readers can not only understand the concept, but also apply what they learn in life and work.
1. Attachment and Emotion
Secure Base Effect
1. What is the unfamiliar situational security base effect?
The Secure Base Effect is a core concept in attachment theory, originating from the 'Stranger Situation Experiment' by psychologist Mary Ainsworth in the 1970s. It refers to the fact that when facing strange environments, babies will regard their primary caregivers (usually mother or father) as psychological 'safety bases' - when the caregiver is present, the baby will explore the environment more confidently; and once they encounter uneasiness, fear or threats, they will return to the caregiver for comfort and security.
2. Core Principles
Attachment Theory points out that the safe attachment relationship between infants and caregivers provides psychological protection for exploring the world. The safety base effect reflects the inner 'sense of security-exploration' balance mechanism of the infant: when feeling safe, tend to explore; when feeling threatened, tend to return to the attachment object.
3. Experimental basis
Ainsworth's 'Stranger Situation Experiment' places the baby with his mother and strangers in a controlled environment, and observes the baby's reaction through multiple separations and reunions. It turns out that safe attachment babies will actively explore while their mothers are present, show moderate anxiety when they leave, quickly get comfort and resume exploration when they reunite.
4. Realistic application
- Parenting: Encouraging stable, sensitive care methods can help form a safe attachment.
- Education: Provide a fixed 'safety teacher' or familiarize yourself with the environment in kindergartens to help children better adapt to new scenarios.
- Psychological Counseling: The concept of a safety base in adult relationships can be used for attachment repair therapy.
5. Critical Analysis
- Limitations: Attachment patterns manifest differently in different cultures, and the Western 'independence' orientation may differ from the Eastern 'dependence' orientation.
- Risk of overpromotion: Not all exploration behaviors rely on fixed safety bases, and individual temperament and environmental factors also affect exploration patterns.
Separation Distress Effect
1. What is the separation anxiety effect?
Separation Distress Effect refers to the obvious emotional reactions and uneasy behaviors that an individual develops when he is separated from his main attachment object (such as a mother, father, or long-term caregiver). Common manifestations include crying, searching, irritability, and refusal to contact strangers.
It is most typically present in infancy (approximately 6–18 months) and is an important attachment phenomenon in developmental psychology.
2. Core Principles
Activation of the attachment system is the root cause of separation anxiety. The loss of the attachment object triggers physical and psychological stress responses, which is an evolutionary mechanism to protect the baby from threats.
3. Experimental basis
Both John Bowlby's attachment theory and Mary Ainsworth's strange situation experiments have proved that separation anxiety is a ubiquitous developmental phenomenon that is closely related to the process of safe attachment formation.
Evolutionary significance: In the history of human evolution, leaving children with caregivers means an increase in survival risks, so they instinctively generate anxiety to push themselves back to a safe place.
4. Realistic application
- Kindergarten adaptation: Reduce separation anxiety through step-by-step separation training (such as 'farewell ceremony').
- Trialing family counseling: Help children establish stable emotional connections and reduce emotional shocks.
- Pet Behavior: Young animals also show separation anxiety, which can be learned from human intervention experience.
5. Critical Analysis
- Not all separation anxiety is abnormal; premature intervention or excessive comfort may weaken child independence.
- Different cultural backgrounds, parents' response to separation will affect the strength of anxiety.
2. Cognitive and language categories
Critical Period Effect
1. What is the critical period effect?
Critical Period Effect refers to the optimal time window for the acquisition of certain psychological or physiological functions, and it is easiest to learn or acquire these abilities and the best results during this period; once this stage is exceeded, it will become much more difficult to acquire the same abilities, and may not even be fully mastered.
The critical period effect was first proposed by animal behaviorist Konrad Lorenz when studying the 'imprint' phenomenon of gooses: newly hatched gooses will automatically regard the first-time moving object they see as 'mothers' in a short time after birth, and this time period is their critical period.
In human psychology, American psychologist Eric Lenneberg proposed in his research on language acquisition that humans have obvious critical periods in learning their native language, usually ending before puberty.
2. Core Principles
- Peak of neuroplasticity : During the critical period, the brain has the strongest neuronal connection and recombination capabilities and is most sensitive to response to specific stimuli.
- Environmental dependence : If necessary stimuli (such as language input, visual stimuli) are lacking during critical periods, the related functions may be permanently impaired.
- Evolutionary adaptability : This mechanism ensures that an individual quickly masters the necessary skills to survive in the early stages of life.
3. Experimental basis
- The case of wild child 'Ginni' : Ginni had almost no contact with language before the age of 13. Although she received many years of training, the grammar system has never fully developed.
- Haber and Weisel Visual Deprivation Experiment : Covering an eye in a kitten during the critical visual period will lead to permanent damage to the visual cortex function of the eye, and it will not be restored even if the cover is removed later.
4. Realistic application
- Education: Foreign language learning is more likely to reach the native language level in early childhood.
- Rehabilitation: Patients with brain injury receive intervention within a critical period and have better recovery results.
- Nursing: Early sensory and motor stimulation contributes to comprehensive development.
5. Critical Analysis
- Controversial: Some abilities can be learned after critical periods, but the efficiency is reduced.
- The concepts of critical periods and 'sensitive periods' need to be distinguished, which emphasizes relatively optimal time rather than absolute windows.
Vocabulary Spurt
1. What is the language explosion effect?
The language explosion effect (Vocabulary Spurt) is an important phenomenon in developmental psychology and children's linguistics, referring to the 'accelerated growth' stage in the process of vocabulary acquisition . Usually around 18-24 months , the child's vocabulary will suddenly change from slow accumulation to rapid expansion, which is reflected in the mastery of adding multiple new words every day.
The language explosion effect was first proposed by developmental psychologists in a longitudinal study of children's language development. Researchers found that the early childhood vocabulary growth curve is not linear, but shows a clear leap trend at a certain stage, which is often called the 'vocabulary explosion period' or 'vocabulary surge period'.
2. Core Principles
The main reasons for the language explosion effect include:
- Cognitive leap : Children begin to have more mature concept classification and symbol understanding skills around the age of 1.5.
- Improved pronunciation and pronunciation control : enhanced coordination of pronunciation organs and nerves makes it easier for children to imitate and remember words.
- Social interaction stimulation : The frequency of communication with parents, peers and the environment increases, and the amount of language input increases significantly.
- Fast Mapping : Children can relate a new word to meaning through one contact after hearing it.
After cognitive development reaches a certain stage, children's concept classification ability and language coding ability have rapidly improved, and coupled with the stimulation of social interaction, vocabulary acquisition has increased exponentially.
3. Experimental basis
- Fenson et al. (1994) found through the MacArthur Language Development Scale that most children experience a significant steep increase in the vocabulary curve after 18 months.
- Case studies recorded by Goldfield & Reznick (1990) show that some children grow from 50 vocabulary to more than 200 in just a few weeks.
4. Realistic application
- Family education: Provide rich language input (storytelling, dialogue) during the language explosion period to maximize learning effect.
- Diagnosis of language disorder: No language explosion may indicate developmental delay.
5. Critical Analysis
- There are large individual differences, and some children have a gradual increase rather than an explosive.
- Explosion effects in multilingual environments may be delayed, but they do not mean insufficient capabilities.
Theory-Theory Effect
1. What is the theory-theoretical effect?
Theory-Theory Effect is a cognitive effect in developmental psychology. It means that when children understand world and social phenomena, they do not passively accept external information, but actively construct their own 'theory' to explain things and causal relationships. In other words, children, like 'little scientists', hypothesized, predicted, and tested the world around them, and constantly corrected their own cognitive framework.
This concept was proposed by psychologist Gopnik and other developmental cognitive scholars to explain how children understand causality, other people's intentions, and social rules. Unlike traditional belief that children are just passive imitation or memory, the theoretical-theoretical effect emphasizes children's ability to actively construct cognitive structures.
2. Core Principles
- Active construction : Children will make their own hypotheses based on observed events.
- Causal reasoning : Children try to explain 'why happens' and form early causal understanding.
- Theoretical correction : When the new information does not match the original theory, children will adjust and update their cognitive models.
3. Experimental basis
Research has found that children predict object behavior (such as the landing position of objects) or other people's intentions, and even if these predictions may go wrong, they will constantly correct their own theories through experiments and observations.
For example, children may think that objects fall because 'the object wants to return to the ground', and as cognition develops, they will learn more scientific causal explanations.
4. Realistic application
- Early education courses: Designing inquiry-based learning activities to promote theoretical reasoning skills.
- Special Education: Children on the autism spectrum often have delays in the development of mental theory and require customized training.
5. Critical Analysis
- The timetables of the development of intellectual theory in different cultural centers vary.
- Over-dependence on experimental tasks may neglect actual performance in daily life.
3. Social and moral categories
Teacher Expectation Effect
1. What is the Rosenthal expectation effect?
The Rosenthal Effect, also known as the 'Pigmalion Effect' or the 'teacher expectation effect', refers to a person's expectations that will affect others through their behavior, so that others' performance ultimately meets their original expectations . Simply put, it means 'If you expect your child to be excellent, your attitude and behavior will make your child better.'
Psychologist Robert Rosenthal and colleagues found in experiments in the 1960s that teachers' expectations of students can significantly affect students' academic performance. They randomly informed teachers in the experiment that some students were tested to predict “great progress in the semester”, and the results showed that these students did have higher actual grades than other students at the end of the semester, indicating that teachers’ expectations inadvertently changed teaching interactions and student performance.
2. Core Principles
- Expectation transmission : Teachers’ attitudes, attention and feedback to students will subtly influence students.
- Behavioral Adjustment : Teachers may focus more on “high potential” students and give more encouragement and opportunities.
- Student feedback : Students feel the trust and attention of teachers, which will enhance self-confidence and learning motivation, thereby improving performance.
- Self-realization : In the end, students' behavioral performance gradually meets the teacher's original expectations.
3. Experimental basis
In the classic experiment, teachers were told that some students were 'potential stocks', and these students had significantly higher intellectual and academic performance after the semester than students of the same age, and these students were actually randomly selected. This experiment clearly shows the direct impact of teacher expectations on student performance.
4. Realistic application
- Area of Education : Teachers should maintain positive and equal expectations, provide fair attention and feedback to all students, and avoid bias.
- Family education : High expectations and positive motivation of parents can improve children's self-confidence and motivation to learn.
- Workplace management : Managers’ expectations and trust in employees will also affect employees’ work performance.
5. Critical Analysis
- The size of the effect is affected by the situation and relationship quality.
- Negative expectations (Gorham effect) also have negative effects.
Snowball Effect in Delinquency
1. What is the snowball effect?
Snowball Effect in developmental psychology and behavioral research refers to a tiny behavior, event or psychological characteristic that accumulates over time will gradually have an increasingly greater impact, just like a snowball, getting bigger and bigger.
2. Core Principles
- Cumulative : Small changes or behaviors in the early stage may seem to have little impact, but after continuous repetition or environmental strengthening, it will amplify and become significant results.
- Feedback mechanism : Behavior or psychological state will affect the environment, which in turn will affect individual behavior, forming a positive or negative cycle.
- Nonlinear growth : Small factors accumulate over time and situations, and may eventually produce much larger effects than originally expected.
3. Typical examples
- Teenager biased behavior : A child occasionally skips classes, and if there is no intervention, he may be accepted by his peers, gradually forming more frequent skip classes, and even affecting his studies and social interactions.
- Emotional accumulation : Long-term mild anxiety, if not treated, may develop into severe anxiety disorders.
- Study Habits : The small efforts accumulated every day may eventually lead to a significant improvement in academic performance.
4. Realistic application
- Educational intervention : By early detection and correction of biased behavior, negative snowball effects can be prevented.
- Behavior Shaping : The accumulation of positive behaviors (such as daily habits) can also produce a positive snowball effect.
5. Critical Analysis
- The snowball effect emphasizes accumulation but ignores individual self-regulation ability and the potential of external intervention.
- The 'size' and development speed of snowballs may vary greatly under different individual and environmental conditions, so the prediction effect is uncertain.
Symbiasis Effect
1. What is symbiotic effect?
Symbiasis Effect , in developmental psychology and infant research, refers to a close emotional and functional dependence relationship formed by a child with his primary caregiver (usually parents or caregivers) at an early stage of development. This dependence is not just a one-way “I need you”, but a two-way interaction: children gain a sense of security, language stimulation and social skills through dependence, and caregivers gain emotional feedback and satisfaction through interaction, thereby promoting the development of both parties’ psychological, cognitive and social abilities.
In short, the symbiotic effect emphasizes the important role of close interaction in early parent-child relationships in children's psychological and cognitive growth . It usually occurs in the first few years of the baby and is the basis for building a sense of psychological security and subsequent independence.
2. Core Principles
- Emotional dependence : Infants rely on caregivers to build a sense of security and increase emotional stability.
- Cognitive promotion : Obtain stimuli such as language and social rules through interaction to promote thinking development.
- Social competency development : Learn social skills through shared behavior with caregivers.
3. Experimental basis
Research by psychologists Melanie Klein and John Bowlby shows that early high-quality parent-child interactions are closely related to children's emotional regulation, social skills and autonomy. The lack of such attachment and interaction may lead to emotional instability or dependent personality formation.
4. Realistic application
- Family education : Parents enhance their children's psychological development through patient response, intimate interaction and emotional support.
- Early education : Teachers create a 'safe symbiosis' environment through warm and interactive teaching in kindergartens.
5. Critical Analysis
- The symbiotic effect emphasizes the importance of dependencies, but excessive symbiotic may limit the development of children's independence.
- In different cultural contexts, the balance between dependence and autonomy is different, and adjustments need to be made in combination with the specific environment.
Summarize
Developing psychological effects is not only a theoretical tool in academic research, but also a practical guide for us to understand and improve our lives. From safe attachment in infancy, to critical periods of language acquisition, to the snowball effect of adolescent social behavior, these effects together constitute the psychological trajectory of human growth. Mastering the background, principles and application methods of these effects can not only help parents, educators and psychological counselors make more scientific decisions, but also allow everyone to avoid detours in their self-growth and interpersonal relationships.
Continue to pay attention to the series of articles in 'Complete Psychological Effects' and explore more secret weapons of psychology in depth.
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