1
Q
Define Attachment
A
- A strong emotional bond that forms between infant and caregiver
- The development of attachment relationships in a major achievement in the infant’s early social life
2
Q
Outline the Psychoanalytic Theory of Attachment
A
Infant become attached to their mother because they associate her with the gratification of their instinctual drive to obtain pleasure through sucking and oral stimulation
3
Q
Outline the Learning Theory of Attachment
A
Mother becomes an attachment object because she is associated with the reduction of the baby’s primary drive of hunger
4
Q
What did Harlow Research?
A
- Baby monkeys preferred to cling to the cloth “mother”
- Especially in moments of stress-even though it dispensed no food
- Similar findings in human research
- Thus, oral gratification and drive reduction are inadequate explanations for attachment
5
Q
Operant Conditioning (learning theory)
A
- Attachment development based on visual, auditory, and tactile stimulation that infants receive from their caregivers
- Parents are the most reliable sources of this type of simulation
6
Q
Central Point (learning theory)
A
- attachment is not automatic;
- It develops over time as a result of satisfying interactions with responsive adults
7
Q
What are the limitation of the learning theory of attachment
A
- Cannot explain why children form attachments to an abusive parent
8
Q
Cognitive Dev. Theory Outline
A
- Importance of ability to differentiate between familiar and unfamiliar other
- Importance of object permanence
- Cognitive shifts in expression of attachment
9
Q
What is Bowlby’s Etiology Theory
A
- The most complete explanation for attachment and The one most used today
- Focused on signalling behaviours that human parents are thought to be biologically programmed to respond to:
- Crying, smiling, vocalizing, sucking, clinging responses (active role of the child)
- Make it likely that child will use the parent as a secure base
10
Q
List the three important features of Bowlby’s Ethological Theory
A
- Emphasis on the active role played by the infant’s early social signalling system
- Stress on the development of mutual attachments of parent and child to each other
- Attachment is a relationship, not simply a behaviour of either the infant or the parent
11
Q
when and what is Pre-Attachment
A
- develops 0-2 months
- Indiscriminate- the baby’s responses are less discriminate as directed to parents or others
12
Q
List the four attachment development phases
A
- pre-attachment
- attachment in the making
- clear-out attachment
- goal-corrected Partnership
13
Q
when and what is Attachment in the Making
A
- 2-7 months
- Can differentiate mother’s voice from other women
- Not yet truly attached to a caregiver
14
Q
when and what is Clear-out Attachment
A
- 7-24 months
- Infant actively seeks contact with certain attachment figures, such as the mother
- Does not show these behaviours to just anyone
15
Q
when and what is Goal-Corrected Partnership
A
- 24+ months
- The child becomes more aware of other people’s needs, goals, feelings and consider them in deciding their own actions
16
Q
What does it mean to be Attached
A
- Usually, form from attachment by age 1
- Seek contact and proximity with attachment figures
- Separation distress or protest- An infant’s distress reaction to being separated from the attachment object, usually the mother
17
Q
Can infants have multiple attachments?
A
- Mother is usually primary, but the infant is capable of forming an attachment to any familiar individual.
Multiple attachments are common. One study showed that 5% were only attached to mothers, fathers 75%
grandparents 45%, siblings 29%.
Number of attachments limited because requires frequent, close, one-to-one interaction
18
Q
Explain the role of the father in attachment
A
- Spend four to five times more time playing with their infants than caring for them
- Engage in more physically arousing and unusual games- especially with their sons
- Fathers enrich infants’ social development by providing unique types of social experiences
- More physical play
- More playing in general
19
Q
List the Ainsworth Classifications of Attachment Types
A
- Insecure-Avoidant (Type A)
- Secure Attachment (Type B)
- Insecure-Ambivalent (Type C)
- Insecure-Disorganized (Beyond: Type D)
20
Q
Explain Secure Attachment
A
- Type B 65%
- Babies are able to explore novel environments,
- Minimally disturbed by brief separations from their mother, and
- Quickly comforted by her when she returns
21
Q
Explain Insecure-Avoidant
A
- Type A 20%
- Babies seem not to be bothered by their mother’s brief absences but specifically avoid her when she returns after the first exit, sometimes becoming visibly upset – but still avoided mother after the second exit
22
Q
Explain Insecure-Ambivalent
A
- Type C 10-15%
- Babies tend to become very upset at the departure of their mother and exhibit inconsistent behaviour on the mother’s return, sometimes seeking contact, sometimes pushing their mother away.
23
Q
Explain Insecure-Disorganized
A
- Beyond A, B, C
- Type D
- Babies seem disorganizes and disoriented with reunited with their mother after a separation
- Babies may freeze of look dazed, or engage in a repetitive rocking
- These children seem fearful or apprehensive of attachment figures
24
Q
What is the Attachment Q-set
A
- another strategies for assessing attachment
- Based on observation or parental assessment based on sorting 90 cards with descriptions of children’s behaviour
- Used for 1-5-year-olds
- Non-parental observations were more valid
25
What is the California Attachment Procedure (CAP)
- another strategies for assessing attachment
- Focuses on how children use the mother as a secure base when they experience stressful events such as a loud noise of scary robot (instead of being separated from parent)
- Provides a more valid measure of attachment than the Strange Situation especially for children involved in children who are accustomed to routine separations from their mother
26
What is The Strange Situation
-Parent and child are separated and reunited and the nature and quality of a parent-infant attachment relationship is assessed (1 yr)
27
What role does Biological Preparation play in parents' role in attachment
- Hormonal changes during pregnancy prepare mothers to be responsive to babies’ needs
- In men, testosterone levels drop after the birth of the baby when they first interact with the baby
- Related to increased responsiveness to cues (e.x., crying) and increased sympathy
28
Explain the link between caregiving and secure attachment
- Secure attachment development depends on close contact between parents and children
- Association between sensitive and responsive caregiving and secure attachment also found within fathers and cross-culturally
- Parental insightfulness (reading baby’s feelings and intentions, not just responding to cues) is associated with secure attachment
These parents appreciated the babies’ cues
29
What are the four features of mother's behaviour associated with quality of attachment
1. Sensitive and responsive
2. Behaviour guided by baby’s cues
3. Accepting of baby and minimal frustration
4. Physically and psychologically available
30
Explain the link between caregiving and insecure-avoidant attachment
Intrusive or irritable/rejecting parenting associated with insecure-avoidant attachment
(i.e., fail to respond to cues, minimal body contact, often irritable)
31
Explain the link between caregiving and insecure-ambivalent attachment
Unaffectionate and inconsistent (kind word or cold glance) parenting associated with insecure-ambivalent attachment.
Children don’t know what to expect from parents.
32
Explain the link between caregiving and insecure-disorganized attachment
Neglectful or abusive parenting associated with insecure-disorganized attachment
33
Explain Bucharest study on Infants' attachment development
- a study done on orphans in Eastern European Countries
- compared Institution raised group to home raised group
- "institution"Low caregiver to child ratio, poor nutrition, low warmth or attention. Developmental needs not met.
- institution has 19% secure attachment compared to 74% of home raised.
- institution has 65% disorganized compared to 22% or home raised
- can compare the attachment style of the children to where they grew up
34
Explain the socioeconomic community Context of Attachment
- Poverty, harsh neighbourhoods - reduce parental sensitivity
- Reduced parental sensitivity, high parental stress
- Not meeting psychological and developmental needs
35
What is continuity in attachment from parent to child?
- type of care a parent received influences their care to child
- Parent by repetition (what you learned from your parents as a child/adolescent)
- Bowlby called this an Internal working model
36
What is Bowlby's internal working model
- A person’s mental representation of himself or herself as a child, his or her parents, and the nature of his or her interaction with the parents as he or she reconstructs and interprets that interaction
- Mothers and fathers tend to re-create relationships with their children that replicate their working models of their own relationships with their parents in childhood
- Exception → Earned Secure individuals
37
continuity of attachment from parent to child: autonomous adults
- They value and have a clear understanding of their parental relationships.
- Stems from secure attachment as a child
38
continuity of attachment from parent to child: dismissing adults
- often claim they cannot remember childhood details, but often say they had the “best parent(s) in the world.”
- Stems from insecure-avoidant attachment as a child
39
continuity of attachment from parent to child: preoccupied adults
- Can recall many conflicts, but cannot organize them into one coherent pattern.
- Stems from insecure-ambivalent attachment as a child
40
How does an earned Secure attachment work?
- Has insecure attachment to parents
- Developed secure attachment with romantic partners, spouses, and/or offspring
-Promoting factors of secure attachment style throughout their life
E.x., grandparents, friends, co-workers
41
Explain the attachment of children in child care study
- Children in full-time care more likely to have insecure attachment compared with children not in full-time care – because the baby did not go to mother upon her return.
42
Explain the NICHD study of early child care
- When parents’ education, income, and attitudes were statistically controlled, infants in child care were:
no more likely to be insecurely attached to their mothers than infants, not in care
- However, poor quality child care did matter,
especially when parents were also not sensitive and responsive at home – more likely to form insecure attachments
- Good quality childcare can actually compensate for poor care and poor infant-caregiver relationship at home – better social competence
43
what kind of attachment do irritable newborns develop?
- Irritable newborns more likely to develop insecure attachment
- The child thinks the parent is irritating
- The parent is easily irritated and doesn’t form an attachment
- links moderated by other factors (social context)
44
Are attachment style stable over time?
- Evidence of associations between infant attachment classification and later (adult/peer) attachment in both short- and long-term longitudinal studies
- Attachment at age 1 year predicted 90% of peer attachment at age 6 years; 72% at age 20
45
How parenting styles predict child/adult attachment style stability
- Parenting style/method/approach produce a certain type of attachment
- In adolescents, we question whether the attachment style in childhood is a predictor of the adult attachment or if something happens in adolescence to change them.
46
Outline Attachment Change
If parenting behaviours or family circumstances change, then attachment classification can also change
47
Explain the link between insecure and secure attachment change
- More likely to change from insecure to secure instead of secure to insecure
- Family conflict or death can cause secure > insecure
- Family therapy or change in parental style/methods/efforts can change insecure > secure.
- For example, increase in family SES leads to less strain on parents and increased attachment
- But, secure can change to insecure should trauma (like a death in the family) or family conflict ensue
48
What is attachment like in older children?
- As children get older, children and parents begin to communicate less (distance, friends)
- Parents must continue to support and facilitate the children’s exploration while providing a sense of protection and security
- Children may also develop attachment relationships with friends and later romantic partners, which co-exist with the parental attachment that already exists
49
What is the goal of attachment in older children
The goal is for the child is to achieve a balance between maintaining close ties with family while gaining the autonomy to expand the social network to include close attachment ties with peers
50
What are the benefits of a secure attachment?
- Exhibit more exploratory behaviour
- Are more interested, persistent, and effective when solving a problem
- Display less frustration and less crying and whining
- Engage in more pretend play
- Display more advanced cognitive abilities at age 7
- Are more attentive in the classroom and had higher grades at ages 9, 12, and 15
- Better study habits in university
51
Explain the process and results of Sroufe's research comparing insecure to securely attached children
- Were rated by teachers as more emotionally positive, more empathic, and more socially competent at ages 4-5
- Continued to be rated as more socially competent when they were 8 and 12 years old
- At age 19: more likely to have:
Close family relationships, long-term friendships, high self-consciousness, determination regarding personal goals
52
Based on the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, compared with insecurely attached children, securely attached children…
- Were rated as being more socially competent and having fewer externalizing and internalizing behaviour problems in preschool and first grade
- Had better social problem-solving skills, were less lonely, and had better quality friendships between ages 4 and 10
53
How does attachment effect emotion regulation?
- The security of attachment affects the way children process emotional information and understand and regulate their emotions
- Preschoolers who are securely attached to their mothers are better than insecurely attached children at understanding emotions
- At older ages, securely attached children are also better at regulating their emotions in challenging situations
54
How does attachment effect the way a child views themselves?
- Securely attached children view themselves more positively, and they are able to acknowledge their less-than-perfect qualities
- Insecure-avoidant children tend to view themselves as perfect
- Insecure-ambivalent children show no clear pattern
55
What can we conclude about self-esteem's impact attachment
Thus, the quality of early attachment is related to the degree to which children view themselves positively and realistically
56
What is a realistic view of self
Realistically: how true their opinions of self are to reality
57
What is a positive view of self
Positively: the degree of happiness and satisfaction with themselves
58
How is the attachment to Mom and Dad related to later development?
- Infants who were securely attached to both parents were more responsive to the clown than those who were securely attached to only one parent, and infants who were securely attached to neither parent were least responsive of all
59
What was Bowlby's etiological theory influenced by?
Theory influenced by Lorenz’s demonstration of imprinting: Ducks develop a preference for the person or object to which they are first exposed during a brief, critical period after birth
60
What is a secure base?
A safety zone that the infant can retreat to for comfort and reassurance when stressed or frightened while venturing outward and exploring the environment
61
Attachment type and the brain: what patterns do insecurely vs. securely attached children show?
- Insecurely attached babies show more activity in the right side of the prefrontal cortex, which specializes in negative emotion
- Securely attached infants show the opposite patterns
