Lecture 11 - Attachment

Question 1

What is attachment? (early theories)

Answer 1

Attachment is a learned response

• emphasize feeding/food reinforcement
• attachment is a secondary consequence of food reward
  ex. monkey w/ wire moms

Question 2

What did the monkey with two wire moms experiment tell us?

Answer 2

Monkeys spent significantly more time with cloth mother than wire mother, regardless of who provided milk. Suggested that attachment might be a core primary goal of adaptive value. Source of comfort/support

Question 3

What mechanism ensures non human infants stay close to their primary caregiver?

Answer 3

Imprinting (ex. baby birds upon hatching follow whoever they see first)

Question 4

Preference for mother’s face in humans

Answer 4

1. Bias in newborns to attend to faces over other stimuli speeds learning specific faces (mom’s)
2. W/i a few months, infants show a selective bias for mom’s face over other faces

Question 5

Bowlby’s view of attachment

Answer 5

Infant stores information about the attachment relationship. Stored internal working model of attachment is assumed to be the basis for children’s understanding of relationships later in life.

Question 6

Measuring differences in attachment style

Answer 6

Strange Situation (structure obs.) - asses quality of attachment via looking at a range of behaviors across a sequence of episodes

Question 7

What interactions did the Strange situation look at?

Answer 7

Caregiver - infant interactions
Exploration (use of mother as a secure base)
Brief separations from mother
Encounters with strangers
Reunion episodes

Question 8

Three styles of attachment

Answer 8

Secure (65%), Insecure-Avoidant (20%), Insecure-Resistant (15%)

Question 9

Secure (attachment style)

Answer 9

Actively seek proximity to caregiver upon reunion

Communicate distress openly, readily return to play

Question 10

Insecure-Avoidant (attachment style)

Answer 10

Infants who do not seem distressed during separation

Ignore caregiver upon return

Question 11

Insecure-Resistant (attachment style)

Answer 11

Distressed when the caregiver departs

Not easily soothed on return

Question 12

Causes for variation in attachment

Answer 12

Interaction between features of the child (temperament/personality) and feature of the parent (parental sensitivity)

Question 13

Individual temperament differences

Answer 13

Initial research pointed to early emerging/biological based individual differences…may be related to interactions with caregivers

Question 14

Easy (temperament)

Answer 14

Positive mood, readily adjust to new situations, quickly establish daily routines

Question 15

Difficult (temperament)

Answer 15

More negative mood, slow to adjust to new experiences, react negatively to novel stimuli and events, irregular daily routines, hard to comfort when upset

Question 16

“Slow to warm up” (temperament)

Answer 16

Fussy and apparently difficult at first, but warm up over time with repeated contact with new situations, people and events

Question 17

Parental sensitivity

Answer 17

How responsive parents are to an infant’s needs

Question 18

Studies for manipulating parental sensitivity

Answer 18

For ‘difficult’ children, rates of secure attachment were higher in the group with sensitivity training (62%) than in the non trained group (22%)

Question 19

Outcomes for Secure attachment at 2-3 years

Answer 19

Better problem solvers, more complex play, more positive, fewer negative emotions, more socially competent

Question 20

Outcomes for Insecure attachment at 2-3 years

Answer 20

More socially and emotionally withdrawn, more hesitant to initiate play with peers, less socially competent

Question 21

Outcomes for Secure attachment at 11-15 years

Answer 21

Better social skills and peer relations, more likely to have close friends

Question 22

Outcomes for Insecure attachment at 11-15 years

Answer 22

Poorer peer relations, fewer close friends, more likely to have psychopathological symptoms

Question 23

Most insecure attachment in Northern Germany is…

Answer 23

…avoidant attachment (culture that stresses independence)

Question 24

Almost all insecure attachment in Japan is…

Answer 24

…resistant attachment - higher levels of separation anxiety (culture that stresses interdependence)