Chapter 3: Our Social Nature Flashcards
Attachment (Bowlby)
Defined as the innate and adaptive “propensity of human beings to make strong affectional bonds to particular others.”
- infants are predisposed to make attachments and relationships
Attachment Behaviours
Infants evolve predisposition, manifesting in instinctive, goal-oriented responses called attachment behaviours.
- Behaviours promote physical closeness and proximity to primary caregivers (called attachment figures).
- e.g., crying, sucking, smiling, clinging, and following = normal and healthy responses to stressful situations
Harlow’s Monkey Experiment
The experiment aimed to determine whether infant monkeys would prefer a mother figure who provided food (a wire mother) or comfort (a cloth mother) when they were separated from their biological mothers.
The major results of the experiment showed that the infant monkeys spent more time with the cloth mother, even when the wire mother provided food. The infant monkeys would only go to the wire mother when hungry and needed feeding. This suggested that the comfort provided by the cloth mother was more important to the infant monkeys than access to food.
The experiment also showed that when the infant monkeys were subjected to stressful situations, such as a loud noise, they would cling to the cloth mother for comfort. This demonstrated the importance of contact comfort in providing a sense of security and reducing stress.
Bowlby’s Attachment Experiment / Strange Situation Experiment
Bowlby’s Attachment Experiment, also known as the Strange Situation Experiment, was conducted in the 1960s by psychologist John Bowlby to investigate the nature of infant attachment and the role of the caregiver in the development of attachment.
The experiment aimed to observe the behaviour of infants when they were separated from their primary caregivers and then reunited with them. The experiment aimed to identify different attachment styles that infants develop based on their experiences with their caregivers.
The experiment involved observing infants in a laboratory setting during eight episodes, each lasting three minutes. During these episodes, the infants’ reactions to the presence and absence of their caregivers and the presence of a stranger were recorded.
The major results of the experiment revealed three main attachment styles: secure, insecure-avoidant, and insecure-resistant. Infants with secure attachment sought comfort from their caregiver when upset but could explore their environment when their caregiver was present. In contrast, infants with insecure-avoidant attachment avoided their caregivers and showed little distress when separated. Infants with insecure-resistant attachments were clingy and showed extreme distress when their caregiver left but also showed ambivalent behaviour when the caregiver returned.
The experiment also revealed that the quality of the caregiver’s responsiveness to the infant’s needs was a significant factor in the development of attachment. Infants whose caregivers were consistently responsive developed secure attachment, while inconsistent or unresponsive caregivers were associated with insecure attachment.
Secure attachment
Infants with secure attachment seek comfort from their caregiver when upset but can explore their environment when their caregiver is present. They are confident that their caregiver will respond to their needs and provide comfort and support. Children with secure attachments are more likely to develop positive social skills, higher self-esteem, and better emotional regulation.
- often having greater independence and self-reliance
- a greater capacity for emotional regulation
Example: When the caregiver leaves, a securely attached infant may become upset but can be comforted by a stranger. When the caregiver returns, the infant may seek contact and resume playing or exploring the environment.
Insecure-avoidant attachment
Infants with insecure-avoidant attachment avoid their caregivers and show little distress when they are separated from them. They have learned that their caregiver is not consistently responsive to their needs, so they do not seek comfort. Children with insecure-avoidant attachment are more likely to have difficulties forming close relationships and may exhibit emotional detachment.
Example: When the caregiver leaves, an insecure-avoidant infant may not react or may show little distress. When the caregiver returns, the infant may avoid contact or may continue to play and ignore the caregiver.
Insecure-resistant attachment
Infants with insecure-resistant attachments are clingy and show extreme distress when their caregiver leaves but also ambivalent behaviour when the caregiver returns. They are unsure whether their caregiver will provide comfort and support, so they cling to them when they are present but are not comforted when they leave. Children with insecure-resistant attachment are more likely to experience anxiety and have difficulties regulating their emotions.
Example: When the caregiver leaves, an insecure-resistant infant may become extremely upset and cling to the caregiver upon their return. However, they may also show anger or resistance towards the caregiver, indicating their uncertainty and anxiety about their availability.
Stange Situation Experiment Scoring: Proximity Seeking
Efforts to gain or regain physical contact with the mother
- e.g., directly approaching the mother upon return
Stange Situation Experiment Scoring: Contact Maintenance
Efforts to maintain self-initiated physical contact with the mother
- e.g., after approaching the mother, continue to gaze and cling to her skirt or pant leg
Stange Situation Experiment Scoring: Avoidance
Any active avoidance of proximity to to interaction with the mother
- e.g., facing aware when she returns, refusing to make eye contact with her, pouting
Stange Situation Experiment Scoring: Resistance
Negative behaviour (often accompanied by anger) in response to the mother’s contact responses
- e.g., refusing, slapping, throwing toy offered by the mother, clambering for contact, then putting away from the mother when contact is offered.
Internal Working Models
Influence the child’s interpersonal expectations and behaviours, therefore, their subsequent relationship outcomes
- Bowlby theorized that the quality of the child’s early attachment relationship influences later relationships, as they develop a set of internalized expectations and beliefs about what other people are like
Face Perceptual System
Mediated by subcortical structures (e.g., superior colliculus) and that causes newborns to orient toward any stimulus that is sufficiently “face-like.`”
Other-race Effect
This preferential recognition pattern begins at around 3 months and is firmly established by the time the infant reaches 9 months of age.
- 4/5 months: prefer to look at pictures of realistic faces that move
- 7 months: discriminate among faces based on second-order relational information
Second-Order Relational Information
Second-order relational information refers to the spatial relationships between facial features or parts, such as the distance between the eyes or the length of the nose. It is an important aspect of the face perceptual system, which enables us to recognize and differentiate between faces.
Unlike first-order relational information, which refers to the physical features of individual facial parts (e.g. the shape of the eye or the mouth), second-order relational information involves the relationship between these features. For example, we may recognize a face based on the distance between the eyes, the width of the mouth, and the length of the nose, rather than the specific shape of these features.
Studies have shown that the ability to perceive and process second-order relational information is critical for face recognition. Impairments in this ability have been associated with a range of disorders, such as prosopagnosia (face blindness) and autism spectrum disorder.
