Child development - attachment

Question 1

What is attachment theory?

Answer 1

Early life experiences strongly influence later adult functioning and vulnerability to psychopathology.

Question 2

What is secure attachment?

Answer 2

Classified by children who show some distress when their caregiver leaves but are able to compose themselves and do something knowing that their caregiver will return. Children with secure attachment feel protected by their caregivers, and they know that they can depend on them to return.

Question 3

What does secure attachment do?

Answer 3

Provide the child with social competance, expression and recognition skills, avoiding anxiety and dealing with stress, positive self view and self in relation to others.

Question 4

What anxious-resistant insecure attachment?

Answer 4

Explore little (in the Strange Situation) and is often wary of strangers, even when the parent is present. When the mother departs, the child is often highly distressed. The child is generally ambivalent when she returns. The Anxious-Ambivalent/Resistant strategy is a response to unpredictably responsive caregiving.

Question 5

What is anxious-avoidant insecure attachment?

Answer 5

Will avoid or ignore the caregiver – showing little emotion when the caregiver departs or returns. The child will not explore very much regardless of who is there.

Question 6

What is disorganized/disoriented attachment?

Answer 6

Extreme behaviors such as crying during separation, falling to the floor when around mom, and even rocking or hitting themselves.

Question 7

What are the consequences of lack of early secure attachment?

Answer 7

Issues in adult relationship and problems with psychological help.

Question 8

Between what ages is the pre-attachment phase?

Answer 8

0-2 months

Question 9

Between what ages is the attachment-in-the-making phase?

Answer 9

2-7 months

Question 10

Between what ages can clear-cut attachment be observed?

Answer 10

7-24 months

Question 11

At what age do you see goal-corrected partnership?

Answer 11

24 months +

Question 12

At what age do you see stranger anxiety?

Answer 12

Around 10 months

Question 13

At what age do you see seperation distress?

Answer 13

Around 12 months

Question 14

What are the features of pre-attachment?

Answer 14

Evidence of transnatal auditory learning e.g. mirroring expressions, feeding interactions

Question 15

How does secure attachment help the infant develop autonomy?

Answer 15

Helpless infant -> responsive mother -> infant develops trust -> mother more attached -> infant more attached -> mother becomes secure base -> infant explores -> mother encourages exploration and sets limits -> infant develops autonomy, self-concept

Question 16

What are the key maternal qualities as discovered by Harlow and Harlow?

Answer 16

Food, warmth, contact and rocking

Question 17

What are the features of attachments in young children?

Answer 17

Selective, involve physical proximity seeking, provide comfort and security and produce seperation distress.

Question 18

What is the Strange Situation?

Answer 18

Infant explores, mother watches. Stranger enters, talks to mum and plays with infant. Mother leaves, stranger interacts with infant. Mother returns, stranger leaves. Mother leaves infant alone. Stranger enters and interacts. Mother returns, stranger leaves.

Question 19

What is the Minnesota longitudinal study?

Answer 19

1975 - 250 children of moderate-risk mothers (poverty)

At 5-years old insecurely attached as infants - more reliant on teachers, more socially isolated, and more often rated by teachers as passive and easily frustrated.

Question 20

What percentage of infants form attachments to mother at 6 months?

Answer 20

95%

Question 21

What percentage of infants are attached to father at 18 months?

Answer 21

81%