Attachment and Temperament

Question 1

What is attachment and what purpose does it serve?

Answer 1

Attachment is an emotional connection through time.

It serves as a secure base for exploration and safe haven to retreat to in times of distress.

Question 2

What is the Drive reduction theory?

Answer 2

Coined by Clark Hull, the drive reduction theory states that early parent-child relationships develop because the parent satisfies the child’s needs.

Question 3

What were Harlow’s findings?

Answer 3

Infant monkeys preferred the cloth mother over the wired mother (providing milk). This shows that the attachment is based on contact comfort and not only because it satisfies hunger.

Question 4

How will an infant with secure attachment behave?

Answer 4

• Explore freely in caregiver’s presence
• Visibly upset when caregiver leaves
• Can be soothed easily upon caregiver’s return
• Responds to caregiver’s return

Question 5

How will an infant with Insecure-avoidant attachment behave?

Answer 5

• Show little or no distress at separation.
• Avoids eye contact upon caregiver’s return
• May show more positive behavior with stranger than with caregiver.

Question 6

How will an infant with insecure-resistant attachment behave?

Answer 6

• Very distressed upon separation
• Cannot be soothed by caregiver
• Proximity-seeking and angry behaviors.

Question 7

How will an infant with disorganized/disoriented attachment behave?

Answer 7

• Confused/contradictory behaviors
• Dazed, fearful
• Frozen postures

Question 8

How does attachment influence later development?

Answer 8

Attachment affects social functioning and competence.
- Stronger friendships
- Social participation
- Self-image

Emotional understanding and self-regulation
- Better understanding and regulation of emotions

Question 9

What were the major findings of the New York longitudinal study?

Answer 9

• 9 dimensions of temperament
• 4 temperament types
• goodness of fit

Question 10

What temperament types did the 9 dimensions group into?

Answer 10

1. Easy (40% of population)
2. Difficult (10%)
3. Slow-to-warm up (15%)
4. Average (35%)

Question 11

What are the 9 dimensions of temperament?

Answer 11

1. Mood
2. Approach/withdrawal (novelty)
3. Adaptability
4. Intensity (emotional reaction)
5. Rhythm (biological cycles)
6. Persistence (challenges/grit)
7. Sensory threshold (sensitivity to light, noise, touch, temp.)
8. Activity (movement, sleep, fidgety, quiet)
9. Distractibility (Focus, attention)

Question 12

How is temperament in childhood related to temperament in adulthood?

Answer 12

Easy temperament predicts +ve outcomes

Difficult ~ predicts -ve outcomes

Shy ~ predicts moderate -ve risks

Question 13

How does child temperament affect parenting?

Answer 13

Easy children make parents feel more effective in parenting while difficult children make parents feel less effective.

Question 14

What are some criticisms of the New York Longitudinal study?

Answer 14

• Possible “halo” effects from parents answering about their children.
• Interviewers knowledge and relationship with the subject child may have led to biases in interpretation of parent’s responses.

Question 15

What moderated early security and socioemotional adaptation?

Answer 15

1. Gender
   - moderates association between insecurity and externalizing problems
   - Stronger association for boys
   - No link between insecurity and internalizing problems in girls
2. Clinical status
   - Stronger association between insecurity and externalizing problems.
3. Socioeconomic adversity
   - Strong association for economically deprived populations.

Question 16

Advantages of Meta-analysis?

Answer 16

1. Synthesizes a wide range of studies across different dimensions (e.g. culture, demographic)
2. Can analyze results over many different levels.
3. Top of the hierarchy of research designs.

Question 17

What about paternal attachments?

Answer 17

Father-child attachment styles yield similar magnitudes of externalizing and internalizing for children.

While mother-child attachment styles are more important for general behavior problems, father-child attachment styles are more important for specific behaviors.

Question 18

What are the main findings of secure attachment in the paper?

Answer 18

Secure attachments
- Impact peer competence and internalizing symptoms stable over time

• Associated with externalizing problems (increase with age)

Question 19

What are the main findings of insecure attachment in the paper?

Answer 19

• Avoidance is associated with lower social competence, increased risk of externalizing and internalizing problems.
• Resistant insecure associated with lower social competence and temperament.
• Disorganized associated with lower social competence, greater risk for externalizing problems only.