PSY2071 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: John Bowlby
15 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Week 2
Part 4
Attachment
-Positive emotional bond that forms between a child and an individual
-Provides child with pleasure & security
-Models of attachment stay with us and influence our relationships as adults
Animal studies:
•Attachment based on biologically determined factors:!
- Lorenz : imprinted goslings!
- Harlow: contact - seeking monkeys!
(Harlow’s research showed that monkeys prefer the warm, soft ‘mother’ than the wire ‘mother’
that provided food)
Human Research:
J Bowlby:
• attachments provides a bond with an individual who best provides safety and security
•as children become more independent, they progressively room further away from their secure
base
Measures of attachment: Ainsworth Strange Situation
Types of attachment:
Avoidant
Secure
Anxious-ambivalent
Disorganised
Fathers
-Children can form secure attachments with more than one person
-Parenting roles have changed
-Compared with mothers, fathers:!
- spend more time playing!
- play is more physical, rough + tumble
Factors that influence attachment:
•Caregiver Factors:!
- sensitive caregiver = secure attachment!
- caregiver’s mental health
•Genetic factors
•Infant factors:!
- temperament
Temperaments:
1. easy - positive disposition, regular eating & sleeping, adaptive, curious , not very emotional
2. slow to warm up - generally negative mood, calm, withdraw from new situations, adapt slowly
3. difficult - negative mood, very slow to adapt, tend to withdraw
The rest are variations and combinations
