Lecture 4: Attachment

Question 1

Name 4 points of Attachment

Answer 1

1 > Child’s first relationship is generally referred to as an attachment
2 > Relationship is usually very strong and reciprocal
3 > Distinction between attachment and attachment behavior
4 > The distinction between attachment as a biologically based system within an individual and a dyadic relationship between individuals

Question 2

Attachment: Child’s first relationship

Answer 2

• Long enduring, life-long, emotionally meaningful tie to a particular person (ex. mother and daughter)

Question 3

Attachment: Relationship

Answer 3

Goes in both directions > perhaps a biological drive behind it given it goes both ways

Question 4

Attachment: Attachment vs Attachment behavior

Answer 4

• Attachment (internal system/mechanism that organizes the child’s feelings)
  VS
• Attachment behavior (external means of expression of these feelings, this is observable)

Question 5

Attachment: Attachment as a biologically based system

Answer 5

• Each individual has this internal system, the dyad is a pair. We observe the interaction between both mom and baby and come to conclusions about the type of attachment between both of them

Question 6

What are four things attachment is characterized by?

Answer 6

1. Selectivity
2. Seeking physical proximity
3. Provision of comfort and security
4. Production of separation distress

Question 7

Selectivity

Answer 7

Selectivity may be predictive of what the rest may be like (according to Bowlby this is the mother)

Question 8

Seeking physical proximity

Answer 8

Seeking proximity is seen when mom and baby seek to be physically close to one another

Question 9

Provision of comfort and security

Answer 9

• The purpose is to provide comfort and security, when the mom is close to the baby she is less anxious about the baby

Question 10

Production of separation distress

Answer 10

• When the baby is separated from the attachment figure we see distress from both baby and parents (ex. Leaving to go work after a short maternity leave)

Question 11

Bowlby’s Theory: Psychoanalytical concepts

Answer 11

• Refers to the importance of satisfaction of children’s drives with an emphasis on the physical rather than on emotional needed
• Once a drive is satisfied, it is reduced, ex. After eating that hunger drive is reduced, satisfying emotional needs through the provisions of physical needs > physical proximity reduces discomfort
  *affection vs physical needs such as food (people need physical contact)

Question 12

Bowlby’s Theory: Ethology

Answer 12

• Emphasizing the evolutionary purposes of behavior
• Claims the child is “biologically based” to develop attachment behavior in order to ensure their survival
• Baby being close to mom in order to ensure protection (mom provides food and protection > protection from predators) ex. kangaroo pouch
• Babies are prewired (biologically based) to demand proximity by: (Signal > crying, smile/laugh and make cute noises to keep parents close, vocalization including babbling) once older they use approach behavior such as they reach out, crawl)

Question 13

Stages in development: 0-2 months

Answer 13

• Refers to pre-attachment, indiscriminate social behavior
• They don’t have the visual acuity to discriminate amongst people, no cognitive ability to differentiate

Question 14

Stages in development: 2-7 months

Answer 14

• Attachment is in the making and there is recognition of familiar people
• Recognition is the basis to form relationship/attachment

Question 15

Stages in development: 7-24 months

Answer 15

• Obvious attachment
• Separation protest, fear of strangers, intentionality
• Separation anxiety, clinging, signaling, fear of strangers < intentional behavior (provides evidence that the child is developing perceptually and cognitively)

Question 16

Stages in development: 24 months

Answer 16

• Goal-corrected partnership
• Two-sided relationship
• Child has an understanding of parental needs where the child is more able to stay put, more tolerant to being separated
• control system mechanism (setting a set point to achieve) ex. Proximity chuckecheese
• internal working model (symbolic mental representations to guide child’s behaviour which includes emotional and cognitive components)

Question 17

The onset of first attachment: key criteria

Answer 17

• Refers to what happens when a child is separated from the mother
• This is studied to know whether or not an attachment has been formed

Question 18

The onset of first attachment: early attachment

Answer 18

-There is little tolerance, especially in unfamiliar situations - typically begins around 7-8 months along with fear of strangers (context, location matters)

Question 19

The onset of first attachment: The development of cognition

Answer 19

• Recognition memory - the ability to differentiate the attachment figure from other people (6-9months)
  AND
• Object (and person) permanence - child remains aware of an object during its absence

Question 20

To whom do infants become attached?

Answer 20

• Bowlby - a single person, usually the mother
  doesn’t have to be parent (develop attachments to others such as siblings or grandparents)

Why should it be the mother? Mother will be there at the time of birth, fully equipped, evolutionary prepared,

• Doesn’t matter if male or female
  satisfaction of physical needs is not necessary
• Continuous daily care is not necessary

WHY - key factor - the quality of interaction - fun and playful stimulation and provision of sensitive and responsive care

Question 21

Why are children increasingly less in need for close proximity with mom?

Answer 21

1 > Curiosity about the outside world
2 > Cognitive ability to form mental representation of mom which permits the development of the Internal working models

Question 22

What are the Internal working models

Answer 22

• They provide rules to guide both behavior and feelings in relation to significant others
• They allow for the ability to predict and interpret other people’s behavior and appropriately plan responses
  EX.
• What is it like when I seek proximity, what are the consequences/results when I engage in this behavior, their schema will guide them in how they behave
• Orphanage child stops crying/no point, not reinforced), may also guide their feelings (what kind of attachment to I have with mom based on how she responds to me seeking proximity)
• Schema of dyadic relationship between the two

Question 23

What are characteristics of the Internal working models? 4

Answer 23

1. Exist outside of consciousness
2. Shaped by outcomes of infant’s proximity-seeking experiences (sensitivity hypothesis), shaped by parenting&raquo_space; How the parent behaves when the child seeks proximity shapes the internal working models that are carried throughout our lives
3. Individual differences exist based on outcomes of proximity-seeking behavior during infancy
4. Stable after the first year but can change as a result of future experiences

Question 24

What are attachment individual differences?

Answer 24

1. Most of the research has focused on the security of attachment (Ainsworth and others)
2. Experimental procedure manipulates the level of exposure of an infant to strange situations

Question 25

The “Strange Situation” paradigm

Answer 25

1. Infant explores, mom watches
2. Stranger enters, silent, talks to mom, plays with infant
3. Mom leaves; stranger interacts with the infant
4. Mom returns and settles the infant; the stranger leaves
5. Mom leaves; the infant alone
6. Stranger enters; interacts with the infant
7. Mom returns; settles infant; stranger leaves

Question 26

Security of Attachment Type A-D

Answer 26

• Type B: Secure (67%)
• Type A: Insecure/avoidant (20%)
• Type C: Insecure/resistant (10%)
• Type D: Disorganized (Main & Solomon, 1990)

Question 27

Characteristics of security of attachment 5

Answer 27

1. Varies to a certain extent by culture (to what extent is the child raised by a broader group of people)
2. May be influenced by the child’s temperament
   (hereditary component/genetic differences)
3. May vary according to the adult to whom the child is attached (ex. one parent waiting to pick a child up when the child cries vs the other picking them up right away (causes different attachments, more fear towards the one that does not pick them up right away)
4. For the most part type of attachment is stable over time (In a typical harmonious middle-class family)
5. For the most part type (security) of attachment is stable across individuals

Question 28

Sensitivity Hypothesis

Answer 28

• States that the security of attachment is determined by the degree to which the mother was sensitive and responsive in handling the infant during the early years
• dependent variable (attachment style), independent variable (observational methods of interaction between child and mom) < not accurate, very hard to prove these things (importance of parenting)

Question 29

Competence Hypothesis

Answer 29

• States that individual differences in security of attachment predict individual differences later in life
• Research findings > 10-12yrs old higher rating by adults for type B kids more competent socially and personal competence and independent, spend more times with friends, more likely to form friendships that are deeper and open/trustworthy (more mature friendships), more likely to follow implicit rules of peer interaction, parents are likely to be consistent in quality of care, they cary it forward in subsequent relationships