Section 9: Attachment Flashcards
Smiling is done in response to the environment at
1-2 months
Smiling is done in response to people at
2-3 months
- Big eyes
- Big forehead
- Tiny nose and mouth
- Proportions of child’s face different from adult face
Kewpie doll look
Develops between 7 and 9 months
Attachment
4 signs of attachment:
- Seek to be near primary caregivers
- Show distress if separated from caregivers
- Happy when reunited with person to whom they are attached
- Orient actions to their caregiver
Signals are
responses by infant that bring about proximity through someone else’s actions
Executors are
actions infant can take
infant able to recognize that they can influence the outside world is called
contingency detection
The 4 stages of attachment are:
- Preattachment
- Attachment in the making
- Clear-cut attachment phase
- Reciprocal relationship
In the preattachment phase,
a. 0-6wks
b. Remain in close contact with caregivers, but don’t get upset when left alone with unfamiliar caregivers
In the attachment in the making phase,
a. 6wk-6/8months
b. Begin to respond differently to familiar and unfamiliar people
c. At 6/7 months show preference for familiar caregivers and wariness of unfamiliar objects and people
In the clear cut attachment phase
a. 6/8-18/24 months
b. Mother becomes a secure base from which babies make explorations and come back to to renew contact
c. Display separation anxiety
d. When distance between attachment figures and child becomes too great, one is likely to reduce that distance
in the reciprocal relationship phase
a. 18-24 months
b. Pair share responsibility for maintaining equilibrium of attachment system
c. When in separate activities pair will occasionally stop and renew contact
conducted research with the strange situation test
Mary Ainsworth
The 4 forms of attachment are:
- secure
- insecure avoidant
- insecure resistant
- disorganized
In a secure attachment in the strange situation
i. Children play comfortably and react positively to a stranger as long as their mother is present
ii. Become upset when their mother leaves and are unlikely to be consoled by a stranger
iii. Calm down as soon as their mother reappears
In an avoidant attachment in the SS
i. Infants are indifferent to where their mother is sitting
ii. May or may not cry when their mother leaves
iii. As likely to be comforted by strangers as by their mother
iv. Are indifferent when their mother returns to the room
In a resistant attachment in the SS
i. Infants stay close to their mother and appear anxious even when their mother is near
ii. They become very upset when their mother leaves but are not comforted by their return
iii. They simultaneously seek renewed contact with their mother and resist their mother’s efforts to comfort them
In a disorganized attachment in the SS
i. Infants seem to lack a coherent method for dealing with stress
ii. They may behave in seemingly contradictory ways, such as screaming for their mother but moving away when she moves away
iii. In extreme cases, they may seem dazed
iv. Usually a transitory state
Factors influencing quality of attachment
Outcome variable
Contextual variable
Process variable
Person variable
Outcome variable is
quality of attachment
Contextual variable is
Presence/absence of social support
Process variable is
i. Interactions between mother and infant
ii. Goodness of fit: features of mom and features of child together
Person variable
elements specific to the individual (e.g. teen mom)
