Attachment Development: Childhood

Question 1

What was Bowlby’s perspective on attachment?

Answer 1

Intimate attachments to other human beings are the hub around which a person’s life revolves.

Question 2

Where does attachment theory arise from and what is its relationship to mental representations?

Answer 2

Arises from organising an infants behaviour through proximity with the outcome being felt security.

Mental representations of secure attachment guide an individual’s experiences and responses to attachment figures and others.

Question 3

How does the relationship between attachment influence the formation of strong neural development, what is an infant seeking?

Answer 3

Forming strong neural networks in the brain is experience-dependent. As an infant, we want repeated experiences of secure attachment in order to develop a network of connections that strengthen this brain development.

Question 4

What is Bowlby’s perspective on attachment and through his theory, how have we come to understand the role of attachment figures?

Answer 4

Children are born with a biologically programmed tendency to seek and remain close to attachment figures. This provides nurturance and comfort but aids in the child’s survival. Sticking to a caregiver ensures the child’s needs are met and that they are protected from the environment.

Question 5

Why are a child’s biological behaviours such as crying, and cooing used?

Answer 5

Communicate to the caregiver what they need and for the caregiver to attend to the child.

Question 6

In Bowlby’s systems of attachment relationships (the dyad), what is the care-seeking system (the first system the child holds)?

Answer 6

It is a child’s instinct to seek proximity to a caregiver who provides comfort and protection. This is done by making sense of the child’s feelings.

Question 7

In Bowlby’s systems of attachment relationships, what is the caregiving system (the system the caregiver holds)?

Answer 7

The instinct to monitor a specific person to comfort, protect, and organise their feelings when necessary.

Question 8

In Bowlby’s systems of attachment relationships, what is the seeking system (the second system the child holds)?

Answer 8

The instinct to follow one’s innate curiosity and a desire for mastery.

Question 9

The still-face experiment showed us the foundations of attachment relationships and how children attempt to re-engage their caregiver when there is a rupture, what happens when the caregiver stops giving attention?

Answer 9

There is a rupture always followed by a repair, this repair happens for the sake of the attachment of the relationship to continue.

The child deactivates when the caregiver stops giving attention.

Hyperactivation is used to gain the caregivers attention

Children show distress when the caregiver disengages.

Question 10

In the Zoe clip, a mother is with her daughter, this clip reveals the pillars of attachment, what are these pillars?

Answer 10

Synchronicity

Presence

Reciprocity

Attunement

Question 11

What is the circle of security?

Answer 11

It is an intervention model that is based on attachment theory and research that shows parents a path to secure attachment. It shows how the need for relationships (the great pull) is hardwired into each of us and is often in plain sight.

Question 12

According to the circle of security, what determines secure attachment in a child?

Answer 12

They become securely attached when their primary caregiver recognises when they need comfort and protection (safe haven) and when they need confidence and encouragement (secure base).

Question 13

How are the systems represented in the circle of security?

Answer 13

The caregiving system is represented by the top half of the circle (secure base) where parents support a child’s exploration.

The care-seeking system is represented by the bottom half of the circle (safe haven) - comforting the child after they have returned in order to continue the cycle.

Question 14

In the circle of security, a secure child can safely explore their surroundings, what do they need from the caregiver in order to facilitate exploration?

Answer 14

They need to be watched over
Helped
Reciprocal enjoyment of caregiver and child in the act
Show delight in the child’s exploration

Question 15

At the bottom of the circle of security, the child is returning to the caregiver, activating the care-seeking system, what does the child need from the caregiver to safely create this return?

Answer 15

They need to be protected
Comforted
Delighted
Help organise the childs feelings

Question 16

In the circle of intervention, children cue and miscue their parents with information about their needs. In a securely attached dyad, how would a child cue their parent and what causes this?

Answer 16

When there is a strong relationship with the caregiver the child feels both free to explore and safe with the caregiver. Therefore, their cues are a clear and direct communication of their genuine needs as they know the caregiver will meet them.

Question 17

For children who have indirect paths to getting their needs met, often miscue their parents, what would cause a child to do this?

Answer 17

They have learnt that a parent will not fulfill their needs as previously it has made the parent or themselves uncomfortable. In order to avoid this and maintian connection they will miscue the parent about their needs.

Question 18

Miscues happen in the dyad. What happens when this cue is consistently accepted by the parent?

Answer 18

This consistency is what leads to a child feeling unfullfilled. From an early age children learn what cues will be accepted or not. Parents are to see beyond this miscue and engage in support that fulfills the child, hence security.

Question 19

What are the three classifications of attachment? (remember, one breaks down into two types)

Answer 19

Secure
Insecure - Anxious-Avoidant
Insecure - Anxious-Ambivalent/resistant
Disorganised

Question 20

In the circle of security, what part of the cirlce is absent in a child who is Insecure (anxious-ambivalent/resistant)?

Answer 20

When a parent is consistently uncomfortable with the childs exploration they begin to consistenly miscue the parent about their need to explore. Therefore, this pattern over and over again leads to ambivalence and the child convices the parent that they do not need exploration.

Question 21

In the circle of security, what part of the circle is absent in a child who is Insecure (anxious-avoidant)?

Answer 21

When a parent is consistently uncomfortable with providing a safe haven for the child, the child miscues the parent and convinces them that they are happy to explore and remain distant.

The avoidant child has mastered the miscue, the repeated behaviour of knowing that the caregiver will not provide the comfort needed is what creates this attachment style.

Question 22

In the circle of security, what parts of the circle are missing to create a disorganised style of attachment and how is this created?

Answer 22

When the parents behaviour is sporadic and inconsistent in providng a safe haven and supporting exploration the child has no one to turn to for consistency. This is seen in abuse and neglect samples.

This exists when parents are pre-occupied with romantic partners, enage in substance abuse and have an inconsistency of availability.

Question 22

In the circle of security, what parts of the circle are missing to create a disorganised style of attachment and how is this created?

Answer 22

When the parents behaviour is sporadic and inconsistent in providng a safe haven and supporting exploration the child has no one to turn to for consistency. This is seen in abuse and neglect samples.

This exists when parents are pre-occupied with romantic partners, enage in substance abuse and have an inconsistency of availability.

Question 23

The strange situation is an experiment that observes the attachment dyad between a child and a caregiver, what are the important moments in this experiment that allow us to find what that relationship may be?

Answer 23

The reunion moments.
In this moments we can see the childs behaviour towards the caregiver. If there is an issue with proximity we can see avoidance and an issue with exploration ambivalence. The child shows their need for comfort upon reuinion depending on the relationship dynamic they have with that parent.

Question 24

In an avoidant relationship how may a child exhibit this behaviour in a strange situation?

Answer 24

The caregiver would leave and the child shows little care in the person leaving and arriving, therefore they are masters of the miscue. All kids have elevated heart rates however avoidant children showed the highest even though they are seemingly indifferent.