Attachment I (Developmental Psych.) Flashcards
Define Attachment
- a long-enduring, emotionally meaningful tie to a particular individual.
What are the characteristics of an attachment?
- selective, directed towards specific people
- physical proximity seeking
- provides comfort and security
- may produce separation distress
Describe Bowlby’s (1969) stage theory of attachment.
- Stage 1 (after birth): infant responds without discriminating different people (asocial stage).
- Stage 2 (5-7 months): Infants show preference for one or more persons (indiscriminate attachment).
- Stage 3 (7-9 months): proximity to preferred person(s) is maintained (separation anxiety); infants are increasingly wary/fearful of unfamiliar persons (fear of strangers
- Stage 4 (3yrs)- goals-corrected partnership between child and caregiver, needs of the caregiver are acknowledged.
- Stage 5 (later onset around school age) - attachment becomes a more abstract concept, based on affection, trust and approval for example.
How does attachment link to other developmental processes?
- Bowlby’s attachment account depends on other developmental processes.
- e.g., certain forms of learning in early social interactions (imitation).
- aspects of cognitive sensori-motor development (cause-effect relations, object permanence).
- the largely instinctive storage of newborns.
Who are attachments made with?
- The strongest attachment is formed often with the mother, but not always.
Describe Schaffer and Emerson’s Theory (1964)
- the proportion of babies having more than one attachment figure increases over time, from initially 29% to 87% at an age of 18 months.
- for 1/3 of the babies, the strongest attachment seemed to be to someone other than the mother (e.g., father, grandparent or an older sibling).
- strong attachments were formed with persons who interacted a lot with the infant (rather than just providing care).
Who are attachments made with?
Fox (1977):
- studied attachment in Israeli kibbutzim where young children spend a lot of their time in the charge of a nurse or foster mother (metapelet).
- observed that 1 and 2 yr olds reared in this way were strongly attached to both the mother and the metapelet.
Describe Leiderman and Leiderman (1974)
- studies childrearing practices in east african farming communities.
- babies with MULTIPLE caregivers seemed less emotionally secure than those that had one caregiver.
- babies with MULTIPLE caregivers were found to be more cognitively advanced that those with a single caregiver.
Describe Mary Ainsworth’s Strange Situation paradigm.
- one of the first to systematically characterise behaviours.
- strange situation: standard measure of attachment security, discovered by her and her colleagues (mainly for 12-24 month olds).
- the strange situation consists of 7 short episodes in total.
- involves 3 participants which are the caregiver/mother (M)
- infant (I)
stranger (S)
Describe the Strange Situation Episodes.
M: caregiver or mother, I: Infant, S: stranger.
M and I in room, I explores for three minutes.
S enters, sits for one minute, talks to M for one minute and gets down on the floor to play with I, one minute.
M leaves, S plays with I then withdraws if possible, up to three minutes.
M returns, S leaves unobtrusively, M settles I and then sits down for three minutes.
M leaves, I is alone for up to three minutes.
S comes in, attempts to settle I then withdraws if possible, up to three minutes.
M returns, S leaves unobtrusively, M settles I and sits down.
Extra information on the Strange Situation.
- The Strange Situation subjects the child to increasing levels of stress.
- In episodes 1, 2 and end of episode 4 the infant will use the mother as a base to explore.
- In episodes 3, 5, and 6 the infant will be stressed by the absence of the mother.
- Episodes 4 and 7 involve reunions with the mother/caregiver
Identify the 4 different attachment types found in the Strange Situation.
- Type A: Insecure-avoidant
- Type B: Secure
- Type C: Insecure-resistant/ ambivalent
- Type D: disorganised
Describe the type A (Insecure-avoidant) attachment characteristics .
- Distinctive avoidance of proximity to or interaction with the mother in the reunion episodes.
- Infant may either ignore the mother on her return, or greet her casually.
- Infant mixes his/her welcome with avoidance responses (e.g., turning away, moving past or averting gaze).
- During separation the infant appears not particularly distressed.
Describe the type B (secure) attachment characteristics.
- Infant actively seeks proximity with the mother, especially in the reunion episodes.
- May or may not be distressed during the separation episodes but any distress is related to the
mother’s absence. - Infant gains comfort from the mother’s return.
Describe type C (insecure-resistant) attachment characteristics.
- Visible resistance behaviour to contact and interaction inn the reunion episodes.
- However, this is combined with some seeking of proximity and contact, thus giving the impression of being ambivalent or resistant.
- The infant seems to both seek comfort and at the same time resists the mother’s attention
Describe Type D (Disorganised) Attachment characteristics.
- Infant shows very disorganized or disoriented behaviour in the Strange Situation.
- No clear pattern but inconsistent and often bizarre responses to separation/reunion.
- this was into introduced by Main et al (1985).
Is type B always “best”?
- Oppenheim et al. (1988): found that babies that were securely attached to the mother at 12 months developed curiosity and problem-solving at 2 yrs.
- social confidence at nursery school at 3 yrs.
- empathy and independence at 5 yrs.
- predicted a lack of behaviour problems in boys at age 6 (Lewis et al).
Is type B always “best”? (cont.)
- attachment is a dyadic measure involving 2 people; the infant-mother attachment type only modestly correlates with the infant-father relationship (van IJzendoorn & De Wolff).
- benefits of a given attachment type may also depend on the environment:
- Secure attachment may be of advantage in supportive environments with reliable caregivers and adequate resources.
- Insecure attachment may be more useful when resources (like caregivers) are unpredictable.
Cultural variations in the distribution of attachment types.
- Germany: highest amount of insecure avoidant babies (type a- 49)
- Japan: highest amount of insecure-resistant babies (type c- 32)
Describe the distribution of attachment types (cont.)
- Attachment theory claims that attachment relationships are cross-cultural universals.
- However, there is evidence for cultural variations (van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg).
- These variations may reflect cultural differences in infant care and parenting strategy (e.g. Grossmann et al., 1985; Takahashi, 1990).
Describe the role of nature and nurture.
- twin studies suggest that infants aren’t born with a strong predisposition to develop a certain kind of attachment.
- some possible environmental factors supported by research:
1. quality and sensitivity of mother-infant relation.
2. mothers’ so-called mind-mindedness, i.e. preparedness to recognize their infant as an individual rather than a creature with needs to be satisfied
3. maternal depression
Describe the relevance of the disorganised (type d) attachment.
- it is a sign of unresolved stress and anxiety.
- van IJzendoorn et al: disorganised attachment is higher in infants with:
- with severe neurological abnormalities (e.g., autism, Down syndrome) but not in case of physical disabilities.
- with mothers who have alcohol or drug abuse problems.
- with mothers who have maltreated or abused their infants.
- Type D attachment has been attributed to frightened or frightening behaviour by the mother or caregiver to the infant.
- Type D attachment has been found to predict later aggressive behaviour (for example at school) and child psychopathology (e.g., Carlson, 1998).
- The role of genetics for Type D attachment is still unclear.
