Developmental Psychology Attachment

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Attachment is

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an affectional tie between an individual and a specific other that endures over time and physical separation

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Ainsworth and Bowlby described attachment as

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a relationship characterised by reciprocal affection and a shared desire to maintain physical and emotional closeness

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Attachment theory says that

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once attachment with the mother (or another primary caregiver) is established, the infant uses them as a secure base from which to explore the environment

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Summary of attachment phases:

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birth – indiscriminate sociability; two years – goal-oriented partnerships

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Secure attachment most likely to develop when

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the caregiver responds sensitively and appropriately to the infant and the infant can use the caregiver as a safe base for exploration

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Insecurely attached infants tend to be

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less able than securely attached infants to get help from parents and teachers when they need it, or accept it when it is offered

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Effects of maternal employment and childcare on attachment depend largely

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on how the mother feels about herself and her role as a parent and how the situation helps or hinders her ability to care for and enjoy her baby

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Freud's psychodynamic theory

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mother fulfil's infant's oral needs; food not necessarily all-important

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Learning Theory

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importance mother-infant relationship and feeding; mother and infant mutually reinforced by feeding; does not account for strong emotions accompanying attachment behaviour

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Bowlby – attachment between parent and child must be warm, intimate and continuous for normal development of child

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monotropic theory – attachment to significant other – generally mother, didn't really consider fathers; attachment behaviour usually triggered by separation or the perceived threat of separation from the attachment figure, by pain, illness, fatigue and anything that is frightening

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Mary Ainsworth – the strange situation

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investigated individual differences in type and degree of attachment in infants

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Four types of attachment

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secure, avoidant, ambivalent, disorganised-disoriented

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Secure Attachment occurs in approximately

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70 % of 12 month olds

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Securely attached infant will

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explore, returning to parent, wary of strangers, easily comforted by stranger when parent leaves room, seeks immediate contact when parent returns

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Avoidant attached infant

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pay little attention to parent, react similarly to parent and stranger, not react when parent leaves or enters room, likely to avoid gaze

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Ambivalent attachment

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12%; anxiety pre separation; stays close to parent, no exploration, great distress when parent leaves, close contact at reunion but likely to kick and hit

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Disorganised - disoriented attachment

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inconsistent and contradictory behaviour; parent returns approaches parent but avoids eye contact; unresponsive or turn away when held, frozen posture; may be least securely attached type

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Bowlby - 4 phases

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indiscriminate sociability - birth to two months; attachment in the making - two to seven months; specific, clear cut attachments - seven to 24 months; goal coordinated partnerships - 24 months onwards

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Bowlby's indiscriminate sociability

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infant cries, goos, smiles etc indiscriminately, promotes contact and affection from other people

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Bowlby's attachment in the making

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baby increasingly shows preference for familiar, responsive individuals, preferences reinforce parent's affection, accepts some attention from comparative strangers, tolerates temporary separation from parents

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Bowlby's Specific, clear-cut Attachments

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infant ability to crawl, walk, verbalise means infant can follow parent; preference for person becomes stronger as infant can now draw mental representation of person; separation and stranger anxiety become apparent

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Bowlby's goal-coordinated partnerships

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better representation and memory for objects and events; increasing ability to understand parental feelings and point of view and adjust own accordingly; increasing capacity to tolerate short parental absence, delays and divided attention
these allow cooperation to meet needs; changing abilities relate to secure attachment grounded in trust

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Internal working models are built

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in the first 5 years of live

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Two sorts of internal working models

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1) environmental model (IWM of the world), 2) organismal model (IWM of self, others)

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Internal working models are based on

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everyday interactions between children and their parents

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Internal working models are

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influential cognitive structures that encode the particular attachment style of the individual

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Internal working models allow the child to

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predict, control and manipulate their environment

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Ainsworth and Bowlby maintain that attachment styles are

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static

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Factors influencing changes in attachment style

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quality of attachments; transition between stages of development; vulnerability factors such as a history of abuse, poor mental health, trauma, social support and socioeconomic status; positive life event changes can bring change in attachment type – from insecure to secure; may change as a function of relationship type

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Caregiver-Infant Synchrony is the matching by infant and caregiver of emotional states. Achieved by

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Sensitively tuned responses to infant's signals are appropriate, well timed and rhythmic.

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co-regulation

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infant and parent take it in turns to communicate and pay attention to each other

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co-regulation is important for infant to become

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socially competent in relationships with family and peers

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Depressed mothers negative moods influence their babies moods and can

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affect infants relationships and vulnerability to depression later in life

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goodness-of-fit-model

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interactions between infant temperament and environmental pressures

encourages recognition of child's unique temperament whilst encouraging positive adaptive behaviours