DEV Lecture 6 - Attachment

Attachment: Introduction

• Attachment is a central concept in psychology, especially in understanding early childhood development.
• Early work in attachment theory, the "Strange Situation" experiment, and the exploration of individual differences in attachment styles contributed to its study.

Early Work on Attachment

• Bowlby, in 1958, suggested infants possess an innate inclination to develop a close relationship with a caregiver.
• Infants have "social releaser" behaviors like sucking, clinging, crying, smiling, and following, which encourage caregiving.
• Bowlby proposed monotropy, suggesting that the attachment figure is typically the mother.
• This early bond with the caregiver serves as a template for future relationships.
• The Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis posits that breaking the bond in the first five years can lead to cognitive, social, and emotional issues like aggression, depression, and delinquency.

Stages of Attachment

• Bowlby, in 1969, outlined stages of attachment:
• Birth to 6 weeks is the Preattachment phase, marked by orienting and signaling behaviors toward anyone.
• Six weeks to 6-8 months is the Attachment in the making phase, where infants increasingly seek comfort from a primary caregiver.
• 6-8 months to 18-24 months: marked by staying close to primary caregiver. Separation protest; fear of strangers
• 18-24 months onward involves a Formation of reciprocal relationship with caregiver, where the child increasingly accommodates the mother's needs; decline in seeking immediate proximity; develops an internal working model of relationships

Internal Working Model

• Internal working model captures beliefs about others' trustworthiness, one's value, and social effectiveness.
• Lorenz's theory of imprinting influenced the idea that attachment has a critical or sensitive period.

Harlow's Research on Primates

• Harlow conducted research in 1961 and 1962:
• Monkeys need 'contact comfort' from their mothers, not just food.

Ainsworth's Contribution

• Ainsworth is a leading figure in attachment theory from 1963 and 1967:
• Initially worked with Bowlby in London.
• Conducted research in cultures like Uganda.
• Studies led Bowlby to acknowledge infants can have multiple attachment figures.
• UK research showed 87% of infants are multiply attached by 18 months.
• Ainsworth introduced the concept of attachment styles.

The Strange Situation

• The Strange Situation is a study from 1970 for exploring attachment styles in infants.
• Conducted with infants aged 12-24 months.
• The procedure:
• Mother, infant, and experimenter are in a room.
• The mother and infant play together.
• A stranger enters.
• The mother leaves.
• The stranger plays with the baby.
• The mother returns; the stranger leaves.
• The mother leaves the infant alone.
• The stranger tries to settle the infant, then stands back.
• The mother returns, and the stranger leaves.
• Reunions are steps 5 and 8.
• Infant reactions are scored every 15 seconds on a scale of 1-7 for intensity.
• Scoring includes proximity and contact-seeking, contact maintaining, and avoidance or resistance to proximity/contact.
• It measures the extent to which the infant uses the mother as a secure base for exploration.
• It considers infant behavior when the mother is absent, such as looking or going to the door.

Attachment Styles: Type A (Insecure Avoidant)

• Infants do not engage in much play with the mother.
• They exhibit no distress when the mother leaves.
• Often play happily with the stranger.
• Interactions with the mother are avoided, even during reunions.
• Infant can be comforted by either the mother or the stranger.
• Operate independently of attachment figure, potentially from a non-responsive caregiver.
• This strategy minimizes negative reactions from the parent.

Attachment Styles: Type B (Secure)

• Infant uses the mother as a secure base for exploration.
• Plays with stranger only when the mother is present.
• Shows distress when the mother leaves.
• Experiences happiness upon the mother's return.
• Is easily calmed down when distressed due to the mother's absence.
• This style of children sees attachment figures as available, responsive, and helpful.

Attachment Styles: Type C (Insecure Resistant/Ambivalent)

• Engage in less exploration than average.
• Experience much distress when the mother is absent.
• Display fear of the stranger.
• Seek contact when the mother returns, while also resisting contact (e.g., pushing away).
• The child is both clingy and resistant.
• This style may be associated with inconsistent responses from the mother.
• This focus demonstrates the need for greater responsiveness.

Attachment Styles: Type D (Insecure Disorganized)

• Introduced by Main & Solomon in 1986.
• There is no consistent strategy for gaining contact with the mother or being soothed.
• Behavior is contradictory, such as crying a lot but then being indifferent, or misdirected (e.g., going to a stranger rather than the parent upon reunion).
• There may be freezing or fear of the parent.
• The parent is both a source of fright and the only potential source of safety.
• Is sometimes related to drug abuse and maltreatment, but not always.

New Data on Attachment Styles

• Ainsworth & Bell (1970) and van IJzendoorn et al (1999) presented new data on the styles
• Meta analysis used and ABCD system implemented
• The percentage of infants in each category were:
• Secure went from 70% to 62%
• Avoidant went from 20% to 15%
• Resistant/Ambivalent went from 10% to 9%
• Disorganised went from (x) to 15%

Individual Differences in Attachment

• Could genes be the origin of the differences?
• When 110 twin pairs were assessed, genetics explained only 14% of the variance (O'Connor & Croft, 2001).

Cross-Cultural Factors in Attachment

• Varying cultural norms may influence classifications in the Strange Situation.
• Studies have reviewed cross-cultural literature.
• Germany has higher Type A (avoidant).
• Japan and Israel have higher Type C.
• Intracultural is 1.5 times higher.

Early Experience in Attachment

• Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis states that:
• Infants need a continuous relationship with the mother, especially from 6 months - 3 years.
• Maternal Care and Mental Health, 1951 examined children in institutions in postwar Europe:
• Children experiencing little sensory stimulation and social contact.
• Lack of jobs in the postwar period.
• Mothers were not encouraged to work.

Current Perspectives on Attachment

• Children attach normally to their parents, even if raised from the beginning (Clarke-Stewart et al 1994).
• Children can attach securely to a caregiver, who is more sensitive than either parent (Goosens, van Ijzendoorn 1990).
• Continuous maternal attachment is not always necessary.

Childcare Effects on Attachment

• According to a study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in 2006:
• High-quality care leads to increased linguistic and cognitive scores in primary school until 11.
• More childcare increased aggression until 12.

Maternal Sensitivity

• The maternal sensitivity hypothesis (Bowlby/Ainsworth) the mother's responses to the infant determine attachment.
• Attributes of response: promptness, appropriateness, and completeness.
• Correlates somewhat with attachment.
• Interventions to improve sensitivity improve attachment.

Mind-Mindedness

• A hypothesis put forth by Meins et al in 2001:
• Sensitivity is a broad measure and insufficient to predict insecure-avoidant or insecure-ambivalent attachment.
• This focuses on the content rather than their promptness.
• Is the mother able to recognize the infant as intentional.
• Can they make appropriate infant-directed responses and actions?
• The measure of maternal responses to changes in gaze , or object-directed actions
• They interpret the infant as an intentional agent.

Mind-Mindedness Results

• Maternal sensitivity relates to attachment security.
• Appropriate mind-related comments correlate attachment security, more so than sensitivity.
• This method discriminates between insecure avoidance and insecure ambivalent groups.

Later Effects of Attachment

• Secure attachment at 12 months can predict problem-solving skills at 2 years and social confidence at nursery at 3 years.
• Secure attachment can predict empathy and independence at 5 years.
• Secure attachment is not stable across 6 months in some cases.
• Classifications saw .46% stability from 15 to 36 months.

Discontinuity in Attachment

• Adult attachment is classified based on interviews as autonomous, dismissing, preoccupied, or unresolved.
• Childhood predicts 72% of adult.
• Experiencing negative life events causes 22% to change classification and 44% if they experience it.
• Changes happened mostly connected to maltreatment, maternal depression, and family functioning by age 13.

Summary of Early Attachment

• Different attachment styles have been proposed
• Styles are commonly based on the Strange Situation.
• Genetics have a small affect on attachment.
• Is mostly dependant on environmental factors.