ATTACHMENT THEORY

Question 1

POST FREUD

Answer 1

Key theorists: John Bowlby: psychoanalyst and Developmental psychologist: Mary Ainsworth (1913-1999)

Melanie klein: psychotherapy can be applied to children too
mother-baby dyad

inter psychic(phantasis)
intra-psychic(mother's mind)

Bowlby/Ainsworth: Attachment theory: external and internal relationships

Question 2

ATTACHMENT

Answer 2

Describes dynamics of long term relationships

bowlby’s definition of attachment theory

study: 44 juvenile thieves

mary Ainsworth study: effect of maternal separation (infancy in Uganda)

attachment is a HOMEOSTASIS regulatory system

Question 3

STUDY OF JUVINILE DELIQUENCY

Answer 3

finding: more than 50% of the thieves were separated from their mother in the first 5 years
hypothesis: maternal separation affects intellectual and social competencies detrimentally

life long consequences: disrupted and disturbed relationships

Question 4

ETHOLOGY

Answer 4

KONRAD LORENZ

imprinting: innate process
chick follow the first moving object he sees after birth, not dependent on feeding

MONKEY EXPERIMENT
harry harlow
finding: baby monkey preferred clothed mother, even though it didn’t provide food
need for tactile, emotional support

Question 5

ETHNOLOGICAL OBSERVATION OF CHILDREN

Answer 5

JAMES ROBERTSON
study: observe children sent to te hospital
effects of separation: protest, despair, detachment

Question 6

FEATURES OF AN ATTACHMENT RELATIONSHIP

Answer 6

Proximity seeking
separation protest/distress
use as a safe haven and secure base

Question 7

MARY AINSWORTH

Answer 7

Infancy in Uganda
observational study of 36 mother-infant relationships that she categorized as secure attached, insecure attach, and non-attached.

strange situation: reliability, validity, and predictive accuracy

Question 8

STYLES/PATTERNS OF ATTACHMENT

Answer 8

Carer emotionally available=secure (free autonomous)
carer rejecting=avoidant(dismissive)
carer inconsistent= anxious/ ambivalent
carer frightening= disorganised (unresolved/fearful)

Question 9

CENTRAL THEORETICAL CONCEPTS

Answer 9

Hypothesis:
universality: cross-cultural attachment to caregivers
sensitivity: secure attachment dependent on responsible caregivers
competence: social competence dependent on attachment styles
continuity: affect adult relationship skills and internal mental representations
mentalization: facilitates reflection of the state of mind of self and others
narrative competence: reflected on how ppl talk about their lives and relationships