Task 8 - Love? Flashcards
Attachment theory
theory based on John Bowlby’s work that posits that children are biologically predisposed to develop attachments to caregivers as a means of increasing the chances of their own survival
Initial development of attachment takes place in four phases
- ”Preattachment” (birth to age 6 weeks)
- Phase of orienting and signaling: “Attachment-in-the-making” (age 6 weeks to 8 months)
- Person Permanence: “Clear cut attachment” (between 6 to 8 months and 1 ½ years)
- Goal corrected partnership: Reciprocal relationships (from 1 ½ or 2 years on/ from 1 ½ to 3)
- ”Preattachment”
the infant produces innate signals, most notably crying, that summon caregivers, and the infant is comforted by the ensuing interaction – do not have a preference for the caregiver – (8-12 weeks of age, the baby does seem to have a preference for a familiar caregiver)
- Phase of orienting and signaling
Infants begin to respond preferentially to familiar people (smile, laugh and babble more for mothers for example and are easier calmed down by familiar people)
- Person Permanence
infants actively seek contact with their regular caregivers – fear of stranger and have separation anxiety
- Goal corrected partnership
Toddlers’ rapidly increasing cognitive and language abilities enable them to understand their parents’ feelings, goals, and motives and to use this understanding to organize their efforts to be near their parents
Internal working model of attachment
(from 3 years on) a mental representation of the self, of attachment figures, and of relationships in general – the child’s mental representation of the self, of attachment figure(s), and of relationships in general that is constructed as a result of experiences with caregivers. The working model guides children’s interactions with caregivers and other people in infancy and at older ages – it is the outcome of the 4 development phases
Strange situation
(laboratory test for assessing the security of an infant’s attachment to his or her parent – Mary Ainsworth
it is conducted in a context that is unfamiliar to the child and likely to heighten the child’s need for his or her parent (especially in 12-24 months olds)
Three attachment categories identified through this
- Secure attachment
- Insecure/Resistant (or ambivalent)
- Insecure/Avoidant
(4. disorganized/disoriented)
Secure attachment
babies use their mother as a secure base during the initial part of the session, leaving her side to explore the many toys available in the room – a pattern of attachment in which infants or young children have a high-quality, relatively unambivalent relationship with their attachment figure. In the Strange Situation, a securely attached infant, for example, may be upset when the caregiver leaves but may be happy to see the caregiver return, recovering quickly from any distress. When children are securely attached, they can use caregivers as a secure base for exploration – mothers here were found to be more tender, positive, responsive and sensitive to their infants
Insecure/Resistant (or ambivalent)
Infants in this category are often clingy from the beginning of the Strange Situation, staying close to the mother instead of exploring the toys – a type of insecure attachment in which infants or young children are clingy and stay close to their caregiver rather than exploring their environment. In the Strange Situation, insecure/resistant infants tend to get very upset when the caregiver leaves them alone in the room. When their caregiver returns, they are not easily comforted and both seek comfort and resist efforts by the caregiver to comfort them – mothers of insecure-resistant infants are more inept and unsynchronised in their interactions, and more unpredictable, uninvolved, insensitive, and inconsistently responsive
Insecure/Avoidant
Children in this category tend to avoid their mother in the Strange Situation – a type of insecure attachment in which infants or young children seem somewhat indifferent toward their caregiver and may even avoid the caregiver. In the Strange Situation, they seem indifferent toward their caregiver before the caregiver leaves the room and indifferent or avoidant when the caregiver returns. If the infant gets upset when left alone, he or she is as easily comforted by a stranger as by a parent – mothers in this category are more rejecting of their child’s attachment behaviours, more averse to physical contact, and to interact in a more angry, intense, and intrusive manner
Disorganized/disoriented
they want to approach their mother, but they also seem to regard her as a source of fear from which they want to withdraw – a type of insecure attachment in which infants or young children have no consistent way of coping with the stress of the Strange Situation. Their behavior is often confused or even contradictory, and they often appear dazed or disoriented – can appear in securely attached children
Adult attachment models
working models of attachment in adulthood that are believed to be based on adults’ perceptions of their own childhood experiences—especially their relationships with their parents—and of the influence of these experiences on them as adults – based on adults’ perceptions of their own childhood relationships with their parents and on the continuing influence of those relationships
Adult attachment Interview
experiment - they have a dual task - focus first on attachment experiences and also focus on the scores and stay in touch with – only autonomous people will secure attachment styles were able to focus on this - the others struggled
