Attachment

1
Attachment

• Strong emotional bond one individual forms for
  another
• Endures across time
• Expressed in behaviors that promote proximity and
  contact
• Purpose
• Survival
• emotional survival
• cognitive stimulation
• social Synchronized routines

2
Theories of Attachment

• Freud/psychoanalysis First to emphasize
  importance of emotional ties to mothers for
  psychological development.
• Learning theories emphasize basic drives (e.g.,
  hunger) become attached to those who meet those
  needs.

3
Harlows Study of Attachment

• Infant rhesus monkeys were placed with two
  surrogate mothers, one made of wire and one
  covered with soft cloth
• Milk-producing nipple was attached to either the
  wire or the cloth mother
• Regardless of who fed, monkeys preferred terry
  cloth mom when needing comforting

4
Infant monkey fed on cloth mother
24
.
Infant monkey fed on wire mother
.
.
.
.
.
18
.
Hours per day spent with cloth mother
.
Contact Time with Wire and Cloth Surrogate
Mothers
12
.
Mean hours per day
.
6
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Hours per day spent with wire mother
0
21-25
1-5
11-10
6-10
16-20
Age (in days)
5
Harlow studies

• Effects of Isolation
• Attachment was based on contact comfort rather
  than feeding
• Critical period

6
Normal Play Behaviors
7
Effects ofIsolation
8
Ethologists

• Study biological basis of behavior (evolutionary
  context)
• Conrad Lorenz imprinting
• Klaus and Kennell bonding - critical period

9
Bowlby

• Children who form attachment to adult more likely
  to survive
• Infants become attached to those who respond
  consistently and appropriately to behaviors meant
  to elicit help and care

10
Measuring Attachment

• Mary Ainsworth
• Strange Situation measures quality of attachment

11
Categories of Attachment

• Secure attachment
• Most likely when parents respond predictably and
  appropriately ? trust
• Sensitive and responsive parents at 3 months ?
  secure attachment at 12 months
• Study in Netherlands secure attachment more
  likely if mother had 3 months training
  emphasizing how to respond appropriately and
  promptly

12
Categories of Attachment

• Insecure avoidant
• Insecure ambivalent
• Recent 4th category disorganized

13
Separation Episode
14
FRIENDSHIPS AND PEER RELATIONS

• Friendship A close, mutual, and voluntary
  relationship between peers
• Reciprocal and persist over time
• Functions include support, companionship,
  affection, and stimulation
• Functions change over time
• Help children learn relationship skills

15
FRIENDSHIPS AND PEER RELATIONSSocial Relations
among Infants/Toddlers

• Young infants show mutual gaze
• By 6 months, infants interact with each other by
  babbling, smiling, and touching
• Great individual variability among infants in
  social responsiveness
• By 12 months, infants imitate each others
  actions and share and play together with toys

16
FRIENDSHIPS AND PEER RELATIONS Social Relations
Among Infants/Toddlers

• With emerging language and motor skills, toddlers
  interact with increasing complexity
• Coordinated imitation becomes much more frequent
• Early interactions help children learn important
  social skills
• Playmates often chosen by convenience
• By age 2 mutually preferred playmates seen

17
FRIENDSHIPS AND PEER RELATIONS The
Preschool and Childhood Years

• Social contacts increase dramatically as children
  enter school
• Larger peer group, less adult supervision
• Main ingredients in forming friendships are
  opportunity and similarity
• Number of best friends increases until about
  age 11 when children become more selective

18
FRIENDSHIPS AND PEER RELATIONS The
Preschool and Childhood Years

• Childrens close friendships typically progress
  through three stages
• Play-based friends (ages 3 to 7 years)
• Loyal and faithful friends (ages 8 to 11 years)
• Intimate friends (adolescence and beyond)
  

19
FRIENDSHIPS AND PEER RELATIONS Gender
Segregation among Friends

• Prominent feature of childrens friendships is
  gender segregation - tendency to associate with
  same sex peers
• Occurs in every cultural setting
• Clear preference for same-sex play partners
  evident by 2 to 3 years of age
• Gender segregation very prominent after age 3

20
GENDER PREFERENCES IN PLAY PARTNERS
21
FRIENDSHIPS AND PEER RELATIONS Gender
Segregation among Friends

• As consequence of gender segregation, boys and
  girls grow up in different gender cultures
• Boys tend to play in larger groups and are more
  active and physically aggressive
• Girls develop closer ties in smaller groups
  emphasize social closeness and sensitivity

22
SOCIAL STATUS AMONG PEERS Categories of
Popular/Unpopular Children

• Peer nomination technique frequently used to
  measure social status in childhood
• Five categories typically result from peer
  nominations popular, rejected, average,
  controversial, and neglected

23
SOCIAL STATUS AMONG PEERS Categories of
Popular/Unpopular Children
24
SOCIAL STATUS AMONG PEERS Categories of
Popular/Unpopular Children

• Category of rejected children includes two very
  different subtypes
• About 50 are considered rejected-aggressive, 20
  rejected-withdrawn
• Controversial children receive large number of
  both positive and negative nominations
• Associations between category and characteristics
  only correlational dont know cause and effect

25
SOCIAL STATUS AMONG PEERS Social Cognition
Model of Peer Relations

• Ken Dodge and associates have developed a social
  cognition model to explain differences in social
  behavior
• Consists of perceiving information in social
  setting, interpreting the situation, and then
  considering responses and enacting one
• Related to peer popularity
• Factors such as infant temperament and attachment
  relationships may lead to positive or negative
  patterns of social cognition

26
SOCIAL STATUS AMONG PEERS Consequences
of Peer Rejection

• Early negative social experiences may cause
  continuing problems in later years
• Peer rejection associated with academic
  difficulties, higher rates of delinquency,
  arrest, violence, and substance abuse
• Often implicated in school violence
• Withdrawn children are at greater risk for
  depression, loneliness, negative self-worth
• Intervention programs helpful