An interesting subject came up in my psychology class yesterday. We're talking about child development, and my prof mentioned Ainsworth's "strange situation test" where a child is with its mother, a stranger enters the room, talks with the mom, then the mom leaves and the stranger offers comfort to the mother, then the mother re-enters. Depending on the child's emotional reactions, it is labeled secure, insecure, or insecure ambivalent. Secure children are fine with the stranger when the mother is in the room, uncomfortable when she leaves, and happy when she returns. Insecure children are shy around the stranger, uncomfortable when mom leaves, and are mad at her when she returns. Insecure ambivalents are sociable with the stranger, are not upset when the mom leaves, and don't react positibely when she returns. I asked my prof what percent of children exhibited this third type (secure=~76%), and she said between 5 and 10%.
Now, this could just be coincidence (there may not even by a statistical correlation between the 6%'s), but I found it interesting. Also, this was my prof's description, so she may not be talking about Ainsworth's specific study. It's possible I'm missing some important data in the observations.
However, if psychopaths have to LEARN to mimic emotional responses, it seems to me that as infants they may not know the proper 'etiquette' yet. Just like they aren't nervous about the shock coming as the timer counts down (Hare's study), perhaps as children they do not feel normal anxiety without their caregivers?
Any thoughts?
Now, this could just be coincidence (there may not even by a statistical correlation between the 6%'s), but I found it interesting. Also, this was my prof's description, so she may not be talking about Ainsworth's specific study. It's possible I'm missing some important data in the observations.
However, if psychopaths have to LEARN to mimic emotional responses, it seems to me that as infants they may not know the proper 'etiquette' yet. Just like they aren't nervous about the shock coming as the timer counts down (Hare's study), perhaps as children they do not feel normal anxiety without their caregivers?
Any thoughts?