Module 15 (Attachment)

Question 1

Developmental Psychology

Answer 1

-examines changes from multiple perspectives (Physical, emotional, cognitive, sociocultural)
-Examines development via continuity vs. stages, stability and change, how both heredity and environment influence these changes (nature vs nurture)

Question 2

Harry Harlow monkey study

Answer 2

-Harry Harlow studied monkeys to determine the importance of physical stimulation
-Two “mothers”, a wire monkey and a cloth monkey
-Infant monkey spent significantly more time with the cloth mother than the wire, would only go to wire mother briefly for food

Question 3

Attachment theory

Answer 3

-argues that children are biologically predisposed to develop attachments with caregivers as a means of increasing the chances of their own survival
-Proposed by John Bowlby

Question 4

Attachment

Answer 4

-a close emotional relationship between child and parent/caregiver; an emotional bond with a specific person that endures across time and location
-lays a foundation for other close relationships

Question 5

Attachment figure

Answer 5

serves as a secure base that provides an infant or toddler with a sense of security (a haven of safety) that makes it possible for the infant to explore the environment

Question 6

Attachment as an organizing system

Answer 6

-Provides a secure base from which to explore the world and a haven of safety in times of distress
-Developing an internal working model (IWM) of self and others

Question 7

Bowlby’s internal working model (IWM)

Answer 7

there exists a cognitive framework built on past experiences that help an individual learn to form expectations of how people will react to them and helps them decide how to respond to certain situations

Question 8

“Strange Situation” experiment

Answer 8

-observes attachment in children
-child would play in room while caregivers leave and strangers enter

Question 9

Strange situation attachment styles

Answer 9

Secure, anxious/ambivalent, avoidant

Question 10

Secure attachment

Answer 10

-A pattern of attachment in which an infant or child has a high-quality relatively unambivalent relationship with his or her attachment figure (~60% of children)
-caregivers are a “secure base” from which to explore the world; children feel confident that caregivers will respond sensitively when needed

Question 11

Anxious-ambivalent attachment

Answer 11

-Pattern in which infants or young children (~15-20% of children) are clingy and stay close to their caregiver rather than explore the environment
-child wants contact, shows excessive distress, is difficult to console, doesn’t feel confident caregiver will respond

Question 12

Avoidant attachment

Answer 12

-Type of insecure attachment in which infants/young children (~20% of infants) seem somewhat indifferent toward their caregiver and may even avoid caregiver
-child shows no interest in contact with caregiver, displays no distress when separated, nor happiness when reunited

Question 13

Avoidant attachment response in Strange situation experiment

Answer 13

Children seem indifferent when caregiver leaves and returns. If upset, are as easily comforted by a stranger as by caregiver

Question 14

Anxious-ambivalent attachment response in Strange situation experiment

Answer 14

insecure/resistant infants tend to become very upset when caregiver leaves and are not readily comforted by strangers. When caregiver returns, they are not easily comforted and both seek comfort and resist efforts by caregiver to comfort them

Question 15

Secure attachment response in Strange situation experiment

Answer 15

Securely attached infant may be upset when caregiver leaves but may be happy to see them return, quickly recovering from any distress

Question 16

Internal working model

Answer 16

-guides children’s interactions with caregivers and others, not just during infancy, but also adolescence and adulthood
-Integrates model of self with model of others

Question 17

Categories of IWMs

Answer 17

Secure, preoccupied/anxious, avoidant-dismissing, avoidant-fearful

Question 18

Secure attachment (IWM)

Answer 18

low attachment anxiety and low attachment avoidance, comfortable with intimacy and autonomy (positive model of self and others)

Question 19

Preoccupied/anxious attachment (IWM)

Answer 19

high attachment anxiety and low attachment avoidance, preoccupied with relationship (negative model of self and positive model of others)

Question 20

Avoidant-dismissing attachment (IWM)

Answer 20

low attachment anxiety and high attachment avoidance, dismissing of intimacy and unconcerned about rejection (positive model of self and negative model of others)

Question 21

Avoidant-fearful attachment (IWM)

Answer 21

high attachment anxiety and high attachment avoidance, fearful of rejection and socially avoidant (negative model of self and others)

Question 22

Long-term effects of Attachment

Answer 22

-Children who were securely attached as infants seem to have closer and more harmonious relationships with peers than do insecurely attached children
-Securely attached children also earn higher grades and are more involved in school than insecurely attached children
-Secure attachment in infancy also predicts positive peer and romantic relationships and emotional health in adolescence

Question 23

Anxious vs Avoidant

Answer 23

-Avoidant: fear of intimacy, prone to ghosting, need for independence, low need for validation, withdraws or creates distance in conflict, caused by a parent who was distant or uninterested or didn’t accept them in moments of intensity
-Anxious: fear of abandonment, clingy of jealous, need for togetherness, high need for validation, partner may feel smothered, concerned with abandonment and looks for partner in conflict, caused by a parent who was absent, inconsistent or unable to regulate their emotions

Question 24

Parenting styles

Answer 24

Authoritarian, Permissive, Neglectful, Authoritative

Question 25

Authoritarian Parenting style

Answer 25

parents impose rules and expect obedience, and may be coercive to achieve desired outcomes (high demandingess, low responsiveness)

Question 26

Permissive Parenting style

Answer 26

parents make few demands, set few limits, and use little punishment (low demandingness, high responsiveness)

Question 27

Neglectful Parenting style

Answer 27

parents are uninvolved, neither demanding nor responsive; they may be careless and inattentive, and often do not seek a close relationship with their children (low demandingness, low responsiveness)

Question 28

Authoritative Parenting style

Answer 28

parents are demanding but responsive, they set rules but explain them and, especially with older children, encourage open discussion and allow exceptions (high demandingness, high responsiveness)

Question 29

Schema

Answer 29

a structured framework or plan (outline)

Question 30

Attachment and IWMs

Answer 30

-IWMs more like schemas than “models”
Linked to models of self as worthy of love, care, protection
-Attachment can change over time
IWMs can changes (with experience, security can increase or decrease)

Question 31

Attachment and security

Answer 31

-Attachment is about felt security (less about objective interactions, much more as how those experiences are internally construed)

Question 32

Attachment and exploration

Answer 32

-Attachment and exploration are related
-Secure base (for exploration when not distressed)
-Haven of safety (to turn to in times of distress)