Attachment Flashcards
Why does temperament appear to be apparent immediately from birth?
Amygdala stucture is complete at birth; most rapid rate of development occurs within early postnatal period
What is attachment?
a close emotional relationship between two persons, characterized by mutual affection and desire to maintain proximity
True or False:
Attachment is bidirectional.
True
What was the design of Harry Harlow’s monkey experiment?
one group of monkeys with their mothers
one group of monkeys with “surrogate” cloth mothers
one group of monkeys completely isolated
What did the results of Harry Harlow’s study suggest?
- love is critical for survival
- healthy social and emotional development is more important than basic needs
Who proposed the attachment theory?
John Bowlby
What is the attachment theory?
children are predisposed to develop attachments with caregivers as a means of increasing the chances of their own survival
What is the evolutionary perspective of the attachment theory?
children are born with attachment tendencies, and these behaviors are adaptive because they help protect the child
What is a secure base?
an attachment figure’s presence that provides an infant or toddler with a sense of security that makes it possible for the infant to explore the environment
What behaviors exhibit a secure base?
children feel the freedom to explore their enviornment, but return to their secure base
What are the four phases of attachment behavior?
- Asocial Phase (0 - 6 weeks)
- Indiscriminate Attachments (6 weeks - 6 months)
- Specific Attachment (7-9 months)
- Multiple Attachments (soon after specific attachment phase)
What is the Asocial Phase?
doesn’t care for socializing; no particular preference for social stimuli
What is the Indiscriminate Attachment phase?
enjoys all people
What is the Specific Attachment phase?
only wants one person; wary of strangers
What is the Multiple Attachments phase?
attaches to multiple familiar people (i.e. father, grandparents, siblings)
When does stranger anxiety emerge?
around 6-7 months; intensifies over next several months
When does separation anxiety emerge?
around 8 months
What was Mary Ainsworth’s “strange situation” study?
a series of separation and reunion episodes to which infants are exposed to in order to determine the quality of their attachments
What were the episodes of the “strange situation” study?
- Experimenter introduces parent and baby to room and leaves
- Parent sits while baby plays
- Stranger enters, sits, and talks to parent
- Parent leaves, stranger offers comfort if baby is upset
- Parent returns, greets baby, comforts if needed. Stranger leaves
- Parent leaves
- Stranger enters and comforts if needed
- Parent returns, greets baby, comforts if needed, tries to interest baby in toys
What did each episode of the strange situation observe for?
- Parent as secure base
- Stranger Anxiety
- Separation Anxiety
- Reunion (Will the baby be comforted by the parent’s return?)
- Separation Anxiety
- Stranger Anxiety
- Reunion