attachment theory Flashcards
john bowlby (1969)
Is one of the biggest, most influential names in attachment theory
Observed homeless children shortly after ww2
Found that it is very important for children to have a warm, intimate and continuing relationship with the mother (or other caregiver) is essential for healthy child development
took an evolutionary perspective, and conceptualized the ATTACHMENT BEHAVIOURAL SYSTEM
JOHN bowlby’s evolutionary perspective
Evolutionary perspective:
- Human/mammalian infants can’t survive on their own
Need to stay close to caregiver - some mechanism has to be in place
this mechanism is a control system
bowlby’s attachment behavioural system
Conceptualized attachment behavioural system as a kind of control system
“A UNIVERSAL, EVOLVED BIOBEHAVIOURAL SYSTEM”
CONTROL SYSTEM: at the most basic, control systems involve something like a thermostat for regulating temperature
Instead of temperature, the attachment behavioural system regulates SAFETY - proximity to caregivers
Kicks in when distance from caregiver reaches some sort of threshold….triggers some behaviours that restore closeness with caregiver (PROXIMITY SEEKING BEHAVIOURS)
→ Restored closeness gives feeling of close proximity, warm and nice
When a child is confronted with a THREAT, they will similarly engage in proximity seeking behaviours
WHAT MAKES AN ATTACHMENT FIGURE?👪
· The person to whom you direct your proximity seeking when in need or distress
· Acts as a safe haven, providing protection, comfort, and support
· Is a secure base for pursuing nonattachment goals in safe environment
· Experiencing/or expecting separation from attachment figure evokes strong feelings of separation distress
These are defining features of attachment relationships. We are drawn to our attachment figures not only by the rewards of their company, but by the pain of separation from them.
RESPONSE TO SEPARATION
Protest: acute distress, desperate attempts to re-establish contact (crying, clinging, calling, searching), generally rejection of contact wit others
Despair: preoccupation with caregiver still evident, depressed mood, appear hopeless and withdrawn
Detachment: develops interest in other things and people - appearing listless and apathetic if reunited with caregiver - may exhibit anger
MARY AINSWORTH…
Was a colleague of Bowlby who really made attachment theory as influential as it is today
- Focused on theory building around normative attachment processes
- Crucial psychometric and empirical contributions - really put the theory to the test
- How are children attached?
- What maternal factors predict this?
Devised a laboratory paradigm for studying attachment dynamics as described by bowlby
STRANGE SITUATION (mary ainsworth)
Devised a laboratory paradigm for studying attachment dynamics as described by bowlby
- Infants brought into unfamiliar environment - Separations and reunions with moms - Study at 1 year old Interview 20 years later about relationship
discovered 3 patterns of attachment - secure, resistant/ambivalent, and avoidant - about 51.6% of babies were secure
STRANGE SITUATION: SECURE PATTERN
· Distressed by mother’s departure
· Seeks contact w mother upon return, readily soothed a reassured by her presence
Uses mother as a secure base to explore
STRANGE SITUATION: RESISTANT/AMBIVALENT PATTERN
· Clingy
· Highly distressed by departure
· Continues to cry and exhibit distress when contact is restored
· Ambivalence towards mom
No interest in exploration, not able to use mother as a secure base
STRANGE SITUATION: AVOIDANT
· Sullen
· Indifferent
· Don’t actively involve mom
Show less distress - but still show signs of physiological distress
ANTECEDENTS OF SECURE PATTERN
→ History of positive interactions
→ Bids for proximity and reassurance and sensitively and consistently attended to (opposites of behaviourists who think that this would make clingy babies)
→ Learns that primary attachment strategy, seeking proximity to caregiver when in distress, is safe and effective
Secure base for exploring
ANTECENDENTS OF INSECURE PATTERN
→ Deficits in caregiving
→ Anxious/ambivalent caregiver is inconsistent (over intrusive, inattentive)
○ Hyperactivation of attachment system for attention
→ Avoidant caregiver is rejecting, discourages closeness
Deactivation of the attachment system
INTERNAL WORKING MODELS
…are schemas of self, attachment figure, attachment relationships
“working” - allows to simulate/predict likely outcomes of attachment behaviours, provisional and subject to updating
Include: specific autobiographical memories: generalized beliefs about oneself, attachement figures, and close relationships, procedural knowledge
This knowledge guides subsequent interactions with attachment figures as well as other people
- Gives us a sense of what to expect
However…… Means that internal working models can also bias the way we interpret information and encode it into memory
“tolerably accurate reflections of what actually happened”
- Why early childhood experiences are thought to be so important for attachment styles
models of self and models of other
Models of other: can others be relied on
Models of self: am I loveable
ATTACHMENT BEYOND CHILDHOOD - similarities
PROXIMITY SEEKING: airport separation, diary studies
SEPARATION DISTRESS: bereavement is hard, intense anger and anxiety in response to threats
SAFE HAVEN: still benefit from a base of support
SECURE BASE: have a greater sense of self efficacy and a higher chance of pursuing and achieving goals
