What is attachment?
The establishment of specific and enduing emotional bonds during the first years of life
Who are targets of attachment?
Targets of attachment are usually those persons who respond most consistently, predictably, and appropriately to the baby’s signals
What are common signs of attachment?
- Greetings and vocalisations
- Smiles
- Bodily postures and gestures, e.g. touches, stretching arms towards target of attachment etc
- Active efforts to make contact
- Distress upon separation
When to attachments form and evolve?
- Forms in second half of first year
- Evolves over first 2 years of life in stages or steps
What is pre-attachment?
Pre-attachment (0-2 months): indiscriminate social responses
What is attachment in the making?
Attachment in the making (2-7 months): recognition of familiar people
What is clear-cut attachment?
Clear-cut attachment (7-24 months): separation protest, wariness of strangers; intentional communication
What is goal-corrected partnership?
Goal-corrected partnerships (24 months onwards): relationships more two sided, children understand parent’s needs
How to mother and fathers attachments differ?
Fathers more physical, mothers more verbal, fathers role affected by culture
When does a fear of strangers emerge in infants?
9 months
How do infants know how to act in uncertain situations?
Infants use social referencing to know how to act in uncertain situations
When does separation anxiety appear in infants?
It appears to be universal and peaks in Western infants at about 15 months, can re appear at other ages
What is attachment linked to in terms of the psychoanalytic theory?
Attachment is linked to gratification of innate drives (hunger, affection)
Where does attachment derive from in terms of the psychoanalytical theory?
- Derives from oral phase of psychosexual development
- The baby first becomes attached to the mother’s breasts and then to the mother
Where does attachment derive from in terms of the social learning theory?
Primary drive of hunger is reduced by primary reinforcer (food) and secondary reinforcer is one who feeds
What does Harlow’s monkey’s experiment indicate?
Research suggest attachment is not dependent upon a child’s feeding
What did Piaget believe attached was based on?
-Specific attachment based on object permanence
What happens to physical proximity as an infant grows older?
- Physical proximity to attachment figures less important as children grow
- Psychological contact maintained through words, smiles and looks
What did Bowlby believe about attachment?
- Infant attachment has roots in instinctual infant responses (biologically determined)
- Both parents and infants are ‘programmed’ to react and respond in a certain way
What is an active role of attachment in Bowlby’s theory?
-Active role of children’s early emotional signalling systems in attachment
What is a secure attachment?
- A kind of attachment displayed by babies who are minimally disturbed by brief separations from their mothers
- These are quickly comforted by their mothers when they return
How many infants displayed a secure attachment?
-Secure attachment (60-65%)
What is an insecure-avoidant attachment?
- A type of attachment shown by babies who do not seem bothered by their mothers’ brief absences
- They specifically avoid them on their return, sometimes becoming visibly upset
How many infants displayed an insecure-avoidant attachment?
20%
