PSY311 4. Attachment Flashcards

Question

Development of Attachments in Infancy | Schaffer & Emerson, 1964

Answer 1

``` 1) Asocial – Birth to 6 weeks old – Respond in an equal way to interesting social and nonsocial stimuli 2) Indiscriminate attachments – 6 weeks to 6/7 months old – Prefer social to nonsocial stimuli – Enjoy attention from anyone, protest when denied attention 3) Specific attachment – 7 to 9 months old – First genuine attachment is established – Protest when separated from mother – Somewhat wary of strangers 4) Multiple attachments – 9 to 18 months old – From attachments to other individuals (e.g., fathers, siblings, grandparents, nanny) ```

Answer 2

-followed scottish infants and asked parents about babies in different situations defined attachement as whether baby protested upon seperation 1) asocial: not much attachment 3) most babies would start to protest stranger anxiety starts

Answer 3

Schaffer and Emerson (1964) - hierarchy of attachment objects Mother Father Sister Grandma Nanny Schaffer (1977) – “Being attached to several people does not necessarily imply a shallower feeling toward each one, for an infant’s capacity for attachment is not like a cake that has to be [divided]. Love, even in babies, has no limits.

Answer 4

-thought there was a hierarchy each attachment has their own role infants capacity for attachment is not divided can form strong attachments for multiple people different roles and different kinds of attachment e.g. mothers for comfort and fathers for playing

Answer 5

Devised the most widely used technique to measure attachment quality – The Strange Situation procedure • Mother as secure base – Infants need to rely on the mother to feel comfortable about exploring the world • Mother as a safe haven – Infants need to know that they can return to the mother for comfort when afraid

Answer 6

-analyzed Robertson’s data at Tavastok e.g. cloth monkey mother - secure base feel comfortable exploring, get scared then come back to the mother once comfortable will use mother as a secure base once again

Answer 7

1) Experimenter takes mother and baby to playroom, then leaves 2) Mother allows baby to explore and play 3) Stranger enters room and is silent, then talks to mother 4) Mother leaves and stranger interacts with baby 5) Mother returns and greets baby, stranger leaves, then mother leaves 6) Baby is alone 7) Stranger enters and interacts with baby 8) Mother enters and greets baby

Answer 8

-secure attachment: when baby is comforted by mother’s return and shows interest in environment insecure attachment: avoidant, not engaging her, her return is not the solution resistant: still upset on her return - angry both want her back but can’t use contact inconsistent responsiveness

Answer 9

``` Attachment style Use of mother as secure base Separation anxiety Reunion behaviors Stranger anxiety Comforted by stranger? Group A) Secure (60-65%) Yes Usually some distress upon separation Greets mother warmly, if distressed will seek comfort Outgoing with strangers Somewhat, but clearly wants mother Group B) Insecure – Resistant (10%) No Extremely distressed upon separation Ambivalent; will remain near mother but passive or resists her attempts at comfort, can be angry Wary of strangers, sometimes appears angry ?? Likely no Group C) Insecure – Avoidant (20%) Maybe Little distress upon separation Will turn away and ignore mother, appearing angry Can be sociable with strangers or may ignore them Yes, reunion with stranger typically alleviates distress ```

Answer 10

-resistant: don’t use mother as a secure base resist attempts of comfort avoidant - sometimes use mom as secure base sociable to strangers

Answer 11

``` Group D) Insecure - disorganized attachment – 5-15% of infants – Combination of resistant and avoidant patterns – “fear without solution” – Upon reunion often look fearful, exhibit contradictory behaviors, rapid shifts – 80% of maltreated infants ```

Answer 12

-when abused children put in stranger situation they didn’t fit specific characteristics of types of attachment 5-15% didn’t into the categories unclassifiable infants tended to show range of inexplicable, odd, conflictual behaviours when parents were around - disorganized attachment e.g. scream by door, move away upon reunion, take comfort in the wall 80% of abused develop a disorganized attachment dilemma of being harmed by parents but at same time have no one else to turn to both the cause and alleviation of distress they don’t have good coping behaviours

Answer 13

``` 1) Mother is sensitive, responsive, and insightful § Responds promptly and appropriately to infant § Expresses positive affect and affection § Reciprocal interactions § Mutuality, attends to the same thing as the infant § Attends closely to the infant’s activities § Stimulates the infant = secure attachment Mother is impatient and rejecting Ø Infant learns to ignore mother = avoidant attachment Mother is intrusive and overstimulating Ø Infant learns to ignore mother = avoidant attachment Mother is inconsistent Ø Infant tries harder to obtain emotional support from mother, becomes angry when efforts fail = resistant attachment ```

Answer 14

times they are unresponsive, infants works harder to obtain support and gets angry when they don’t get it avoidant: learned to get by without mother

Answer 15

``` 2) Infant temperament • Jerome Kagan (1984, 89) – Strange Situation actually measures individual differences in temperament, not attachment style – His hypothesis is too extreme ```

Answer 16

``` Temperamental profile Percentage of infants Easy 60% Difficult 15% Slow to warm up 23% ```

Answer 17

``` Attachment style Percentage of infants Secure 65% Resistant 10% Avoidant 20% ```

Answer 18

don’t do well in strange situation because they are overwhelmed slow to warm up may get classified as avoidant Kagan: maybe people with similar temperaments react similarly to the same situation while temperament may influence way they interact, but not the same thing as the attachment to mothers difficult and slow to warm up infants can form secure attachment to mothers

Answer 19

3) Integrative theory • Grazyna Kochanska (1998) • Maternal sensitivity à attachment style – but not the specific type of insecurity • Fearful children à resistant attachments • Fearless children à avoidant attachments • Secure attachment happens when there is a good fit between the infant’s temperament and the mother’s level of sensitivity • Sensitivity = tailoring caregiving to infant’s temperament

Answer 20

-maternal sensitivity didn’t predict resistant or avoidant by itself, fearful temperament did not predict attachment style, but fearful infants with insecure attachment likely had resistant fearless temperament tended to have avoidant attachment able to tailor caregiving to infant’s temperament

Answer 21

• Securely attached infants display better developmental outcomes – Problem solving skills – Symbolic play – More positive and fewer negative emotions – Popularity – Social skills • Insecurely attached infants display worse developmental outcomes – Peer rejection – Socially withdrawn – Less interested in learning – More deviant behaviors

Answer 22

-children influenced by infant attachment for the rest of their lives

Answer 23

``` • Cognitive representations of you + others • Used to interpret events and form expectations about relationships Positive working model “I’m lovable” People can not be trusted versus Negative working model “I’m unworthy of love” People are generally dependable ```

Answer 24

how you think about you and oter ppl based it on ability to get attention or comfort when they need it couldn’t get attention or comfort or inconsistent trust vs mistrust - stage that needed to be resolved in ppl with negative working model, this stage is not resolved

Answer 25

``` • People who develop positive working models of themselves and of others: – have had secure primary attachments – have the self-confidence to approach and master new challenges – establish secure, mutualtrust relationships with friends and romantic partners later in life ```

Answer 26

``` Model of Self Positive Negative Model of Others Positive Secure (secure primary attachments) Preoccupied (resistant primary attachments) Negative Dismissing (avoidant primary attachments) Fearful (disorganized primary attachments) ```

Answer 27

dismissing: avoidant used to categorize attachment model in adulthood ppl with positive working models of selves and others - tend to have secure attachment, trust and form relationships, ability to explore and problem solve without positive working model, it’s easier to feel sense of hopelessness when things become difficult

Answer 28

Scoring based on: – Descriptions of childhood experiences – Language and discourse style – Ability to give an integrated, believable account of experiences and their meaning Adult attachment classifications: A. Secure - Autonomous - value attachment relationships, view attachmentrelated experiences as influential in development, describe history coherently and with appropriate feelings (positive or negative), do not idealize parents or feel angry about past B. Insecure - Dismissing - deny or devalue the impact of early attachment relationships, have difficulty with recall of specific events, often idealize experiences and parents without evidence, describe an early history of rejection C. Insecure - Preoccupied – incoherence and confusion about past experiences, current relationships with parents are marked by active anger or with passivity, still very much preoccupied with the past D. Unresolved – attachment-related traumas of loss and/or abuse have not been reconciled

Answer 29

=reflects internal working model of attachment e.g. choose 5 words that reflect relationships secure: neutral - some positive + negative preoccupied: chronology mixed up don’t have good current relationships with parents measure mother’s attachment so find attachment transmission

Answer 30

``` Time of assessment During pregnancy Child age 11 months Child age 12 months Who was assessed Mother Mother Child Assessment used Adult Attachment Interview Adult Attachment Interview Strange Situation Grandmother Adult Attachment Interview ```

Answer 31

Results: - Grandmother + Mother (during pregnancy) = 75% match - Mother (during pregnancy) + Child = 81% match - Mother (child age 11 months) + Child = 82% match - Grandmother + Mother + Child = 80% match (Benoit & Parker, 1994)

Answer 32

during pregnancy - as a control attachment classification could change between pregnancy and child age 11 months match between predelivery and grandmother’s attachment not much of a change in attachment pre and post delivery difficult to conceptualize how it may be transmitted state of mind in regards to attachment communicated somehow to children mothers are blamed for bad attachment learned internal working model in part from her mother

Answer 33

Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver (1987, 1990) – Secure intimate relationships (50%) – enjoy closeness, find intimacy easy to establish • Work and love in balance – Avoidant intimate relationships (33%) – uncomfortable with closeness and find it difficult to trust partners • Work more important than love – Resistant intimate relationships (17%) – constant worry about being abandoned • Love more important than work

Answer 34

``` items out of typical ways they would behave on likert scale e.g. how much do you enjoy closeness? percentages similar to reported in stranger situation asked them about work and jobs correlation between work and love secure: balance, but prioritize love avoidant: avoid close relationships resistant: insecure jobs romantic relationships are prioritized ```

Answer 35

• Working model means our representations can be changed by later experiences – Secure relationship with someone else (father, grandparent) can protect against consequences of insecure attachment to mother – If mothers can improve sensitivity, attachments improve – Secure attachments can also become insecure (see Waters et al., 2000 and Weinfield et al., 2000 readings) Bottom line à secure attachment is an important advantage, but it isn’t everything, and insecure attachment doesn’t mean you are doomed

Answer 36

-representations can be changed based on experience having a secure relationship with someone else can protect from insecure attachment with mother interventions to improve mothers’ parenting outcome studies show that improving sensitivity improves attachemnt secure attachments can become insecure 64% had same attachment style when they were young no stressful life events, only 50% could change attachment having an insecure attachment doesn’t necessarily mean you are doomed

Answer 37

``` Length of time in orphanage is very important • Those adopted after age 3 (as compared with before age 1) – Lower IQ – Socially immature – Dependant on adults – Poor language skills – Behavior problems (aggression and hyperactivity) – Difficulty with peer relationships ```

Answer 38

confined children in cribs without social contact not much opportunity to form attachments or bonds number of institutionalized children with above 60% disorganized attachment never institutionalized had similar breakdown as seen in NA samples those adopted after 3 - lack of attachment causes developmental delays in children due to lack of stimulation

Answer 39

A. Markedly disturbed and developmentally inappropriate attachment behaviors, beginning before age 5, with both: 1. Rarely or minimally seeks comfort when distressed 2. Rarely or minimally responds to comfort offered B. Persistent social and emotional disturbance with at least 2 of: 1. Relative lack of social and emotional responsiveness 2. Limited positive affect 3. Episodes of unexplained irritability, sadness, or fearfulness evident during nonthreatening interactions with caregivers C. Not accounted for by an autism spectrum disorder D. Pathogenic care as evidenced by ≥ 1 of: – Persistent disregard of child’s basic emotional needs for comfort, stimulation, and affection – Persistent disregard of child’s basic physical needs – Repeated changes of primary caregiver that prevent formation of attachments – Rearing in unusual settings such as institutions that limit opportunities to form attachments E. The care in Criterion D is responsible for the behavior in Criteria A/B (or presumed to be) F. Developmental age ≥ 9 months

Answer 40

lack of emotional reciprocity, more aggressive when older, lack of conscience, unpredictable - 8/12 children 8/26 children formed specific attachment some went with strangers 1 clinical presentation in DSM-V needs to have had greater than 1 bad parenting example assumption is that attachment disorder is caused by pathogenic care F. if child is developmentally disabled, it’s hard to diagnosed with this disorder attachment forms normally at around 9 months extremely rare - rarely diagnosed more pathological lack of attachment that translates to emotional and developmental disturbance than a disorganized attachment

PSY311 4. Attachment Flashcards

(138 cards)