CAS PS 241 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Mental Model, American Middle Class, Kibbutz
14 Dec 2017
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April 25th, 2017
Developmental Psychology — Lecture 20
The Strange situation: Ainsworth (researcher in the 1960s) developed a laboratory procedure
called “the strange situation” to asses infants’ attachment to their primary caregivers:
-in this procedure the child is exposed to seven episodes, including two separations and
reunions with the caregiver and interactions with a stranger when alone and when the
caregiver is in the room
-The object is to see how the child behaves and reacts when he or she is separated from the
caregiver and in the presence of a stranger
Using this method Ainsworth was able to establish three Attachment Categories:
1. Secure attachment. This is the most common. It is a pattern to attachment in which an infant
or a child has a high-quality, relatively unambivalent relationship with his or her attachment
figure. In the Strange situation, a securely attached infant may be upset when the caregiver
leaves but may be happy to see the caregiver return, recovering quickly from any distress.
Balance has been restored. Children here use caregivers as a base for exploration. About
two-thirds of american middle class children are securely attached.
2. Insecure/resistant attachment. It is a pattern in which infants or young children are clingy
and stay close to their caregiver rather than explore the environment. In the strange
situation, insecure and resistant infants tend to become very upset when the caregiver
leaves them alone in the room, and not readily comforted by stranger. When the caregiver
returns, they are not easily comforted and both seek comfort and resist efforts by the
caregiver to comfort them. The child feels like there had been a violation of trust. He is
angry.
3. Insecure/avoidant. This is a type of insecure attachment in which infants or young children
seem somewhat indifferent toward their caregiver and may even avoid the caregiver. In the
strange situation, these children are indifferent toward their caregiver before the caregiver
leaves the room and indifferent when the caregiver returns. If the child is upset, he is easily
comforted by the stranger.
There is also another category, which is very small, and it is the fourth category: disorganized
and disoriented attachment. Infants in this category seem to have no consistent way of coping
with stress of the strange situation. Their behavior is often confused or even contradictory, and
they often appear dazed or disoriented.
This is a pattern that has been associated with abuse from the caregiver. In fact, the child fells
like he should be attached to the mother, but because of the past abusive experiences, he is
confused.
There is no solution to the fear that the child has for the mother/abuser and seeks an emotional
figure for comfort but because it is the same figure of fear, he or she is confused.
The relationships in the first years of your life will determine your future relationships. There are
therefore consequences coming from early experiences that a child has.
Caregivers need to create an internal working model of how relationships work. Our early
relationships create the template of how relationships in the future should work for us.
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Babies were presented with a video:
-there are two blobs, one small one which is crying (making human crying noises), and one is
larger and minding its own business, not helping the small blob.
The securely attached babies were looking at the video for a longer period of time. By 12
months of age, we have expectation of how the world out there works and how people interact
amongst each other.
The insecurely attached babies had no reaction.
Attachment across cultures:
To a great extent, infants’ behaviors in the strange situation are similar across numerous
cultures, including China, Western Europe and various part of Africa.
There are however some important differences in behavior in the Strange situation in certain
other cultures.
Types of insecure attachment in the US and Japan differ, with all insecurely attached infants
classified as insecure/resistant. Japanese kids are almost never insecure/avoidant, they are
never indifferent. Why is this? The hypothesis is that in some cultures, there is focus on inter-
connectiveness, a feeling of connect to others socially. If the child is in the situation that the
caregiver does not meet his expectation, he feels like the trust is broken.
Children reared in a kibbutz are somewhat more likely to show insecure/resistant attachment
that Israeli children who sleep in their own homes.
Kids here are living in a very connected community and if the caregiver leaves, trust is violated.
Do early attachment patterns affect relationships later in life?
Some evidence to suggest that being securely attached has benefits… teaches rate such
children as more curious and self-dieted in school.
By 10 or 11, children also tend to have closer and more mature relationships with peers that
insecurely attached.
BUT take these result with caution:
-This is correlatory research: there may be other factors (such as home environment rather
than attachment) that are causal.
-Early patterns of attachment are not perfect predictors of behavior because attachment
patterns can often be unstable
-What is going to be a huge influence on attachment?
-the child himself brings something to the attachment category, not only the parenting. In
fact, if the kid smiles, the reaction of the parent is going to be different rather if the child is
not as “easy”.
Temperament
Temperament is biologically based behavior styles that are stable across situations and time. If
you are person who is laid back, you are pretty much paid back about everything, by
temperament. Temperament is the root of our personality.
Personality is the pattern of behavioral and emotional propensities, beliefs and interests that
characterize an individual and are shaped by physical and social experience (for example,
family socialization, cultural practices). Personality is who you are and how you describe
yourself.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
The strange situation: ainsworth (researcher in the 1960s) developed a laboratory procedure called the strange situation to asses infants" attachment to their primary caregivers: In this procedure the child is exposed to seven episodes, including two separations and reunions with the caregiver and interactions with a stranger when alone and when the caregiver is in the room. The object is to see how the child behaves and reacts when he or she is separated from the caregiver and in the presence of a stranger. Using this method ainsworth was able to establish three attachment categories: secure attachment. It is a pattern to attachment in which an infant or a child has a high-quality, relatively unambivalent relationship with his or her attachment. In the strange situation, a securely attached infant may be upset when the caregiver leaves but may be happy to see the caregiver return, recovering quickly from any distress. Children here use caregivers as a base for exploration.
