Week 3b: An Introduction to Attachment Flashcards
(20 cards)
What did Bowlby argue about attachment in 1958?
Bowlby argued that attachment is an innate drive, with behaviors like crying, clinging, and smiling serving to elicit responses from caregivers
What is the ‘Goal-Oriented System’ in attachment theory?
Bowlby proposed that attachment behaviors are activated depending on environmental cues, forming a goal-oriented system where proximity to the caregiver is the goal.
How does cognitive development relate to attachment?
Bowlby believed that attachment depends on the infant’s cognitive ability to recognize that a caregiver exists even when out of sight, a concept linked to object permanence.
What are Bowlby’s phases of attachment development?
- Pre-attachment (0–2 months): Little differentiation between familiar and unfamiliar people.
- Attachment in the making (2–7 months): Infants begin to recognize attachment figures.
- Clear-cut attachment (7 months+): Infants protest at separation and show ‘stranger anxiety.’
- Goal-corrected partnership (around 2 years): Increased independence and recognition of caregivers’ needs.
What are the characteristics of attachment according to Bowlby?
Safe haven: Seeking comfort from the caregiver when threatened.
Secure base: The caregiver provides a foundation for exploration.
Proximity maintenance: Desire to stay close to the caregiver.
Separation distress: Anxiety when separated from the caregiver.
Who was Mary Ainsworth and what was her contribution?
Mary Ainsworth was a student of Bowlby who developed the ‘Strange Situation’ procedure to observe attachment behaviors in infants and identified different attachment styles.
What is the Strange Situation procedure?
Ainsworth’s method involves 8 episodes of separation and reunion between caregiver and infant to assess attachment security
What are the main attachment types identified by Ainsworth?
- Secure (Type B): Distressed at separation, seeks and is easily comforted upon reunion.
- Insecure-avoidant (Type A): Shows little distress at separation, avoids contact upon reunion.
- Insecure-resistant (Type C): Highly distressed at separation, ambivalent upon reunion.
- Insecure-disorganised (Type D): Shows inconsistent and confused behaviors; later identified by Mary Main and Judith Solomon.
What did Van Ijzendoorn’s meta-analysis find about attachment types?
The study found the following prevalence rates:
Secure: 62%
Insecure-avoidant: 15%
Insecure-resistant: 9%
Insecure-disorganised: 15%
What is the Internal Working Model in attachment theory?
It’s a cognitive framework comprising mental representations for understanding the world, self, and others, influencing future relationships and behaviors.
What was the Van den Boom (1994) intervention study?
An experiment where enhancing maternal sensitive responsiveness improved the quality of mother-infant interaction and led to more secure attachments.
How does attachment relate to anxiety?
Insecure attachment, especially resistant and disorganised types, may act as risk factors for anxiety disorders.
What did the study by Brumariu & Kerns (2010) conclude?
The study concluded that attachment insecurity plays a key role in the development of anxiety.
What did Moss et al. (2006) find regarding disorganised attachment?
Children with disorganised attachment at age 5–7 exhibited significantly more anxiety symptoms two years later.
How do life events interact with attachment in predicting anxiety?
Dallaire and Weinraub (2007) found that attachment at 15 months moderated the effect of negative life events on children’s anxiety at age 4.5 years.
What did Hudson & Dodd (2012) identify as predictors of child anxiety?
The study identified temperament (inhibition), maternal overinvolvement, and maternal anxiety as predictors of anxiety disorders at age 9.
How is attachment assessed in preschool children?
Using a preschool version of the Strange Situation procedure, which includes episodes of separation and reunion between mother and child.
What did Belsky, Spritz & Crnic (1996) find about attachment stability?
Attachment security was stable in only half of infants over a 6-month period.
What did Booth, LaForce & Roisman (2014) find about attachment stability?
There was little stability in attachment security at 15, 24, and 36 months.
What did Bar-Haim et al. (2000) find about attachment stability?
There was no correspondence between attachment behaviors in infancy and attachment representations at age 4.
