No Slide Titlefaculty.buffalostate.edu/schuetp/202/Attachment.pdf · Ainsworth & Bowlby hypothesized that providing regular contact comfort, responding promptly and sensitively to

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HON 302

Dr. Schuetze

First social relationship; Strong emotional bond between infant and caregiver

An affectional tie that one person or animal forms between himself and another specific one – a tie that binds them together in space and endures over time (Ainsworth, 1991).

Young children bond easily with a wide variety of caregivers in the first two years of life.

Infants in the first six months who cry for food or comfort should not be picked up every time because they’ll be spoiled.

Young children really enjoy interaction but parents need to be careful not to overstimulate them.

Young children who have not formed healthy attachments often can overcome this challenge through intensive and caring attention.

The type of attachment relationship a parent forms with a young child has little effect on how the child’s brain forms.

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Studies Show:

• Children with close bonds to at least one adult are

much better able to comfort themselves when receiving inoculations.

• Children who are picked up when crying during the first six months of life cry less frequently during the second six months.

•Primates who receive good maternal care show fewer indications of physiological stress.

Psychoanalytic Theory: I love you because you feed me.

Freud linked attachment to his oral stage of development, seeing the child gaining pleasure through feeding.◦ Since the mother is usually the feeder, she becomes the

baby’s primary object of security and affection.

Erikson saw feeding as representing a mother’s overall responsiveness to the needs of the child, which fosters a sense of trust.

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Learning Theory: Rewardingness leads to love.

Also emphasizes the importance of feeding for 2 reasons:◦ It elicits positive responses form a contented

baby (smiles/coos) that are likely to increase a caregiver’s affection for the baby.

◦ Mothers is relaxed when feeding and provides many comforts: food, warmth, touch and soft and reassuring vocalizations. Infant, therefore ,associates the mothers with pleasant feelings.

Study biological basis of behavior (evolutionary context): attachment relationship is seen to have adaptive significance.

Born with innate behavioral tendencies to promote attachment between infant and caregiver.

Not based on feeding alone.

Klaus and Kennell: bonding - critical period

Infant rhesus monkeys were placed with two surrogate mothers, one made of wire and one covered with soft cloth

Milk-producing nipple was attached to either the wire or the cloth mother

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Contact Time with Wire and Cloth

Surrogate Mothers

24

0

6

12

18

21-251-56-10

11-1016-20

Age (in days)

. . . ..

. . . ..

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.

.

.

.

....

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Infant monkey fed on

wire mother

Infant monkey fed on

cloth mother

Hours per day spent with wire mother

Hours per day spent with cloth mother

Mean

hours

per

day

Effects of Isolation

Attachment was based on “contact comfort” rather than feeding

Critical period

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsA5Sec6dAI

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Lorenz: critical period for attachment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UIU9XH-mUI&feature=related

Heavily influenced by ethological theory: especially Lorenz’s theory of imprinting.

Centered around two concepts:◦ Monotropy: the innate tendency to attach to one particular

caregiver – usually the mother.

◦ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0LFewt4Zk4◦ A critical period: a brief period in time in which attachment

must happen.

“Mother love in infancy and childhood is as important for mental healthy as are vitamins and proteins for physical health.” (Bowlby, 1951).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igC9R45TS5E&feature=related

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Attachment Formation◦ 1) Preattachment (0-2 months)

◦ 2) Attachment in the Making (2-7 months)

◦ 3) Clear-cut Attachment (7 months)

stranger anxiety

separation anxiety

◦ 4) Multiple attachments

By 7 months: 29% attached to two people.

By 10 months: 60% have more than one attachment.

By 18 months: 87% have more than one and 30% had 4-5 attachments.

Human infants have a biological need to have a close loving bond with their caregiver.

Parents are biologically predisposed to attach themselves to bond with their infants.

If this bond isn’t allowed to form, or is broken, emotional development will be disrupted.

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Critical period view

“Even good mothering is almost useless if delayed until after two and a half years” (1951)

Mary Ainsworth Strange Situation Mother-child dyads were

observed in a playroom under four conditions:◦ initial mother-child

interaction◦ mother leaves infant

alone in playroom◦ friendly stranger enters

playroom◦ mother returns and

greets child

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH_swXJLQI4

Secure Base: comfort provided by attachment figures. Allows individuals to venture forth more confidently and explore the environment.

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Distress experienced when exposed to unfamiliar people.

6-9 months of age

Distress experienced when separated from the primary caregiver (usually the mother).

9 months of age.

Which of the next 3 paragraphs best describes you?

1. I find it relatively easy to get close to others and am comfortable depending on them and having them depend on me. I don’t often worry about being abandoned or about someone getting close to me.

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2. I am somewhat uncomfortable being close to others. I find it difficult to trust them completely, difficult to allow myself to depend on them. I am nervous when anyone gets too close, and often partners want me to be more intimate than I feel comfortable being.

3. I find that others are reluctant to get as close as I would like. I often worry that my partner doesn’t really love me or won’t want to stay with me. I want to merge completely with others, and this desire sometimes scares people away.

Secure trust that others will provide love and support.

Anxious/ambivalent fear abandonment; feel their needs might not be met.

Avoidant withdraw from others.

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Secure: 60-70%

Avoidant: 15-20%

Ambivalent/resistant: 10-15%

Disorganized/disoriented: 5-10%

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High degree of sensitivity.

Generally responsive to infant’s needs.

Engage in consistent patterns of behavior.

Inconsistent in responses

Less attuned to infant

Sometimes rejecting or abusive

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Secure: warm, responsive, affectionate, positive vocalizations.

Avoidant: unavailable, rejecting: child adapts by avoiding closeness.

Ambivalent: inconsistent and, at times, intrusive: child cant’ depend on parent so he/she develops sense of anxiety and feelings of insecurity.

Disorganized: child’s need for emotional closesness is unseen/ignored; parent’s behavior is a source of disorientation/terror.

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Temperament

Caregiver

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E.g, can you over respond to an infant’s cries? (3

months old?)

Ainsworth & Bowlby hypothesized that providing

regular contact comfort, responding promptly and

sensitively to crying promotes secure attachment.

Observation of mothers of infants who are securely

attached shows they are more attentive and

comforting than are mothers of infants who are

insecurely attached (Ainsworth, 1979)

Van den Boom (1994) trained 50 mothers who had 3-

month-old infants with highly irritable temperaments

to perceive, interpret and respond appropriately to

babies’ signals, especially distress.

When the infants were 12 mos., more of them

showed secure attachment (62%),

than a control group of irritable babies whose

mothers had not received such responsiveness

training (22%).

Grossman, 1988◦ Classification of infants at 1 year is 87% successful

in predicting behavior at 6 years of age.

Secure children: greater concentration, more independence, greater resiliency

Sroufe, 1979◦ Children identified as securely attached at 1 year of

age

Rated by preschool teachers as less aggressive, less dependent on teacher.