John Bowlby A 20th century English educator

who was trained in both medicine and psychoanalysis

Became interested in the behavioral disturbances of institutionalized children in the 1930s

Turned to ethology for answers

Environment of adaptedness Bowlby’s term for the basic

environment from which human behavior evolved.

Humans have always stayed in groups because it enhances survival.

Attachment behavior has evolved because it improves chances of survival.

Phase 1 of Attachment Birth to 2 or 3 months Infants like to listen to human

voices and focus on faces Social smiling begins around 6

weeks old—powerful elicitor of attachment

Phase 2 of attachment 3-6 or 7 months Attachment becomes focused on one

figure, usually the mother. Cooing and babbling begin, which

strengthen attachment. Baby shows clear preference for familiar

people. “Imprinting” behavior develops as baby

“follows” Mom.

Phase 3 of attachment 6 to 36 months Babies actively pursue contact with regular

caregivers. Separation anxiety develops around 6

months old. Separation anxiety develops around 7 or 8

months. Baby uses mom as a secure base from which

to explore. Baby develops schema for interactions with

Mom.

Phase 4 3 years + Children start taking others’ feelings, goals,

and plans into account; isn’t as self-centered

Break away from parental dominance during adolescence but form new attachments

As adults, we seek independence but also affiliation with others.

Being alone is considered one of the greatest fears in life.

Kewpie-doll syndrome Coined by Lorenz Baby’s kewpie-doll appearance

makes them cute, and parents respond positively to this cuteness.

Attractive babies get more positive interaction from parents than unattractive babies do.

Picture of a kewpie doll

How important is feeding to attachment? Harlow & Zimmerman’s study with

monkeys—half were fed by a soft cloth “mother” monkey; other half fed by wire monkey

Both groups had access to both cloth and wire “mothers”

All monkeys preferred the cloth mother, even those who were fed by the wire ones.

Showed that feeding is not most important determinant of an infant’s attachment to caregivers.

Harlow & Zimmerman (1959)

Effects of Institutional Care (Bowlby) Suffer from a basic lack of emotional

attention. There may be a sensitive (or even

critical) period for attachments to develop.

Therapeutic interventions can help children who are adopted before age 2, but some Romanian infants have still had emotional difficulties 2 years later.

Phases of distress during prolonged separations 1st—children protest—cry, scream,

refuse all substitute care 2nd—despair—get very sad, quiet,

withdrawn, and inactive; appear to be in mourning

3rd—detachment; child is very lively and may accept alternate care.

When parent returns, child may appear to have lost all interest in her. May recover but may not.

Mary Ainsworth A student of Bowlby’s who

collaborated with him for 40 years Studied attachment behavior in

Ugandan infants Developed the Strange Situations

Test in Baltimore, MD.

Strange Situations Study Ainsworth and others observed babies

and mothers in their homes for first year of babies’ lives.

At 12 months old, she put them through Strange Situations Test.

Wanted to see how babies would use their moms as a secure base from which to explore and also how they’d handle 2 brief situations and reunions with mom.

Secure attachment 65-70% of sample Baby happily explored while using mom

as secure base. Protested separations; explorations

decreased while mom was gone. Happy to see Mom on return; resumed

explorations. Mom had previously been rated as

responsive, sensitive, and “lovingly available” at home.

Insecure-Avoidant 20% of sample Babies appear very independent Don’t care about Mom; not bothered by

separations. Moms had been rated as insensitive,

interfering, and rejecting. Babies had often seemed insecure at

home. Knew they couldn’t count on Mom.

Insecure-resistant 10-15% of sample Also known as anxious-ambivalent or

insecure-ambivalent Very clingy baby, preoccupied with Mom’s

whereabouts Extremely upset with separations When Mom returned, they acted angry and

avoidant. Moms were inconsistent at home—

sometimes emotionally available and other times not.

Disorganized attachment style Disorganized/disoriented—5%; greatest

insecure attachment style. Variety of confused, contradictory behaviors. May have flat, depressed gaze, unexpected crying, odd frozen postures, or refusal to look at parent. Usually associated with abuse or neglect.

Often known as “reactive attachment disorder” today—outcomes are very poor.

Outcomes of secure attachment Many studies correlate secure attachment

with all sorts of good outcomes—higher self-esteem, score higher on measures of persistence and self-reliance; friendlier; better leadership ability

Definitely the most healthy pattern of development

Most prevalent pattern throughout world.

Stroufe et al. (2005) Extensive longitudinal study of

attachment Found that early secure attachment

is linked to positive emotional health, high self-esteem, self-confidence, and socially competent interactions with peers, teachers, romantic partners, etc. through adolescence

Insecure avoidant outcomes Bowlby said they become avoidant,

defensive adults—overly self-reliant, detached, can’t trust others ot have relationship.

Evidence that avoidant children become avoidant parents.

Avoidant adults dismiss their own need for love; dismiss own attachment experiences as important.

Insecure-ambivalent outcomes Ambivalent adults are still

struggling with the need to win parents’ love and approval.

Their own neediness may interfere with their ability to care for their babies.

Easily fall in and out of love in quest to find soul mate

How to get secure attachment Mothers must be emotionally

available to children. Must follow children’s cues and

maintain interactional synchrony—not be overly intrusive but respond when needed.

Following babies’ cues is very important.

Should mothers always meet baby’s needs, or will this spoil him? Bowlby and Ainsworth believe moms

should always meet the baby’s needs. Babies cry for a reason; it’s an evolved

survival mechanism. Ignoring it doesn’t make sense.

You can spoil a baby by responding when h/she doesn’t need you. Parents who spoil their children don’t respond to their needs but rather intrude when they’re not needed.

New way to be overly intrusive with children Overstimulation with things like flash

cards and computer programs Ainsworth says this takes control

away from the child. What you should do instead—Give

the child the opportunity to explore his own interests, not your own.

Traditional vs. Attachment Parenting Debate still rages today Should parenting be “child-

centered” or “parent-centered” Affects all sorts of decisions,

ranging from breastfeeding to day care to whether to let your child “cry it out” at night

Jury is still out as to which is best.

Stability of Attachments Children can be securely attached to one

parent and insecurely attached to the other (occurs about 30% of the time)

Attachment style can change over time, becoming either more or less stable.

Before 2004, it was thought that by the time a child is 4-5 years old, attachment style was permanent and resistant to change. Longitudinal studies show otherwise now. Correlation between childhood & adult attachment style is just .17 in one study.

Attachment and Adult Relationships Correlation between attachment to parent

and attachment to romantic partner is .20 and .50…a moderate range.

Hazan & Shaver (1987) classified adults as secure, anxious-ambivalent, and avoidant.

Two securely attached adults have the best probability for staying married.

See handout/Vista (supplemental reading) for more detail.

Criticisms of Attachment Research Not all research shows a link between

infant attachment and later development. In one study, the best predictor of

insecure attachment at 18 was parental divorce, not childhood attachment.

Consistent positive caregiving over many years is likely to predict later development, especially when combined with early secure attachment.

Kagan’s criticism Kagan believes attachment research is

overinflated. Says that children are evolutionarily

programmed to stay on a positive development course, even in the face of poor parenting.

Believes that genetic and temperamental differences play more of a role in a child’s social competencies than attachment does.

Final criticism of attachment research It ignores the diversity of cultural

influences. In some cultures, children are

raised by multiple people and form attachments to all of them, not just to the parents.

Bonding There’s a sensitive period for bonding in

the first hour after birth; baby is alert and responsive then

Early research (Klaus & Kennell, 1976; 1982) suggested that first 6-12 hours after birth was a critical time for bonding.

Later research said that bonding can occur at any time; bonding in the first few hours only increases maternal responsiveness toward baby for the first 3 days.

Studies with monkeys (Maestripieri, 2001) When mother and infant are separated

during the sensitive period, mom will probably accept her own infant or one with similar characteristics if reunion occurs before end of sensitive period.

When mother and infant are separated during the sensitive period, mom is likely to reject own infant and any other one if reunion occurs after sensitive period.

Maestripieri, 2001, cont. When mom and infant are separated after

sensitive period and then reunited, mom will probably accept her own infant but no one else’s.

With monkeys, the sensitive period of caregiving motivation seems to be a hormonal thing associated with childbirth and lactation.

Doesn’t seem to apply as well to humans.

Gender differences in caregiving In non-human mammals, females are

clearly much more involved in caregiving than males are.

Why do male animals show a lack of caregiving? Probably because of prenatal hormones and also socialization.

If female animals are exposed to prenatal androgens, they behave like males do regarding caregiving. Not interested.