Attachment & ParentingEarly Social Development

Mr. KochAP Psychology

Forest Lake High School

Attachment

• A deep and enduring relationship with the person with whom a baby has shared many experiences

• Typically begins forming during 1st year of life

– John Bowlby • British psychoanalyst drew attention to importance

of attachment after observing depression and other emotional scars in children orphaned in WWII– Inspired researchers to study how attachments are formed

and what happens when they’re absent or broken

ImprintingKonrad Lorenz (1937)• Some animals (i.e. ducks, geese)

develop attachment during a “critical period” shortly after birth– Imprinting – instinctively

becomes attached to first moving thing seen at this time

Konrad Lorenz - Imprinting

Harry Harlow (1959)

• Tested two opposing hypotheses on what leads to developing attachment:

1. Attachment occurs because mothers feed their babies2. Attachment is based on the warm, comforting contact

from the mother

Harlow Monkey Studiesclip #1

Harlow Monkey Studiesclip #2

Harlow Monkey Studiesclip #3

Harlow Monkey Studies• Also investigated what happens when

attachments do not form– Isolated some newborn monkeys from all

social contact – dramatic disturbances after one year• When visited by normal monkeys, huddled in

corner and rocked• Unable to have normal sexual relations• Artificially inseminated females tended to ignore

own babies– Would sometimes abuse/kill them when babies

were distressed

• Tragically similar situations observed in Romanian and Russian orphanages

Harlow Monkey Studies

Mary Ainsworth (1978)(student of John Bowlby)

• “Strange Situation” experiment– Infant interacts with mother and

stranger in unfamiliar room• Plays with both → mother leaves

briefly → baby alone briefly → mother returns

Mary Ainsworth – “Strange Situation”

• “Secure Attachment” – most infants– Use mother as home base, leave side to explore,

but return periodically for comfort/contact– When mother returns from separation, infant

happy to see her and receptive to contact

Mary Ainsworth – “Strange Situation”

• “Insecure Attachment”1. Avoidant – avoid or ignore mother upon return2. Ambivalent – upset when mother leaves, switch

between clinging and angrily rejecting mother upon return

3. Disorganized – behavior is inconsistent, disturbed, and disturbing (i.e. – cry after mother returns and comforts; reach out for mother while looking away from her)

• Secure attachments correlated with more positive social relationships later in life

Mary Ainsworth – “Strange Situation”

Parenting Styles

Parenting Styles

• Authoritarian– Strict, punitive, unsympathetic• Value obedience from child and authority for selves• Try to curb child’s will, discourage independence• Detached and seldom praise

– Their children tend to be:• Unfriendly, distrustful, withdrawn, less empathic, more

aggressive, more likely to cheat, less likely to feel guilty or accept blame

Parenting Styles

• Permissive– More affectionate, give lax discipline, great deal of

freedom

– Children tend to be:• Immature, dependent, unhappy, prone to tantrums,

act helpless

Parenting Styles

• Authoritative– Fall between previous two extremes• Reason with child, encourage give and take, sets limits

but encourages independence, firm but understanding, demands are reasonable and consistent, give children more responsibility as they mature

– Children tend to be:• Friendly, cooperative, self-reliant, socially responsible,

better in school, more popular

Parenting Styles

• Uninvolved– Indifferent to their children• Invest as little time, money, effort as possible• Focus on own needs before child’s

– Children tend to be:• Less likely to form secure attachments, more impulsive,

aggressive, noncompliant, moody, low in self-esteem

Parenting Styles

• But, research is correlational– Does parenting cause traits in child? or do child’s

traits influence parenting style used by parents?