Final Flashcards
Define: ATTACHMENT
an emotional bond w/ a specific person that’s enduring across space and time
Describe Harry Harlow’s experiment on development of attachment.
Results: monkeys deprived of all early social interactions were less able to develop healthy interactions later on
Conclusion: this will be the same in humans, so it’s important for children to develop healthy social interactions early on with parents
Define: ATTACHMENT THEORY
Proposed by: John Bowlby
Children are biologically predisposed to develop attachments with caregivers as a means of increasing the chances of their own survival
Define: SECURE BASE
Bowlby’s term for an attachment figure’s presence that provides an infant/toddler with a sense of security that makes it possible for the infant to explore the environment
What are the 4 phases of Bowlby’s Attachment Theory?
- Preattachment Phase
- Attachment-in-the-making Phase
- Clear-cut attachment
- Reciprocal Relationships
Describe: Pre-attachment Phase of Bowlby’s Attachment Theory
When: Birth-6 weeks
-infant produces innate signals that bring others to his/her side and is comforted by the interaction that follows
Describe: Attachment-in-the-Making Phase of Bowlby’s Attachment Theory
When: 6 weeks- 6/8 months
-infants begin to respond preferentially to familiar people
Describe: Clear-Cut Attachment Phase of Bowlby’s attachment theory.
When: 6/8 months-1.5/2 yrs
-infant actively seeks contact with their regular caregivers and typically show separation protest/distress when the caregiver departs
Describe: Reciprocal Relationships Phase of Bowlby’s attachment theory.
When: 1.5/2 yr and on
-children take an active role in developing working partnerships with their caregivers
Define: INTERNAL WORKING MODEL OF ATTACHMENT
Child develops a mental representation of the self, of attachment figures, and of relationships in general
Function: guides children’s interactions w/ caregivers and other people in infancy and at older ages
Describe: Strange Situation Experiment (Ainsworth)
Objective: Assess infants’ attachment to primary caregivers
Procedure: child is exposed to 7 episodes: 2 separations and reunions with the caregiver and interactions with a stranger when alone and when the caregiver is in the room
Conclusion: 3 Attachment categories
What are the 4 Attachment Categories?
- Secure attachment
- Insecure/resistant (or ambivalent) attachment
- Insecure/avoidant attachment
- Disorganized/disoriented attachment
Define: SECURE ATTACHMENT
A pattern of attachment in which an infant/child has a high-quality, relatively unambivalent relationship with his/her attachment figure
-Child will use caregivers as a secure base for exploration
In the strange situation experiment, how would a SECURELY-ATTACHED child act when the caregiver leaves and returns?
Child will be upset when caregiver leaves but can recover quickly from any distress
Define: INSECURE/RESISTANT/AMBIVALENT ATTACHMENT
Pattern in which infants/young children are clingy and stay close to their caregiver rather than explore the environment
In the strange situation experiment, how would a INSECURELY/RESISTANT/AMBIVALENT-ATTACHED child act when the caregiver leaves and returns?
- Child will be very upset when caregiver leaves and not easily comforted by strangers
- When caregiver returns, child is not easily comforted and will both seek comfort and resist efforts by the caregiver to comfort them
Define: INSECURE/AVOIDANT ATTACHMENT
Pattern in which infants/young children seem somewhat indifferent toward their caregiver and may even avoid the caregiver.
In the strange situation experiment, how would an INSECURE/AVOIDANT-ATTACHED child act when the caregiver leaves and returns?
Child is indifferent when caregiver is in the room, leaves the room, and returns to the room.
-if child becomes upset when left alone, they’re as easily comforted by a stranger as by the caregiver.
Define: DISORGANIZED/DISORIENTED ATTACHMENT
Pattern in which child has no consistent way of coping with stress
-Behavior is often confused or even contradictory, and often appear dazed/disoriented
Infants in the US and Japan differ in types of insecure attachment. All insecurely attached Japanese infants are classified as insecure/resistant. Explain how Japanese culture could have promoted this type of insecure attachment.
Culture emphasizes dependence and closeness between Japanese infants and their mothers.
–>when denied contact w/ their mother in Strange Situation exp, Japanese infants’ response is anger and resentment
How does the degree of secure attachment a parents has to other adults affect the degree their children develop secure attachment?
The more securely attached parents are to other adults, the more securely attached their children become.
PARENTAL SENSITIVITY: function and how it’s exhibited
Function: contributes to the security of an infant’s attachment
Exhibited As:
- responsive caregiving when child is distressed/upset
- helping child to engage in learning situations by providing just enough, but not too much, guidance and supervision
How can temperament of a child affect the security of a child’s attachment?
Differences in temperament may make it more difficult for the parents of some infants to maintain sensitivity over time
What are the long term effects of secure attachment?
- Closer, more harmonious relations w/ peers than do insecurely attached children
- Predicative of positive peer and romantic relationships and emotional health in adolescence
- Predicative of higher graders and involvement in school