KHA302 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: John Bowlby, Personality Disorder, Critical Period
30 Jun 2018
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Lifespan developmental week 2
Attachment:
- An affectional tie between an individual and another enduring over time and
separation
oMust also consider emotions associated with it
behaviours
oThink about the attachment figures in your life:
Who do you worry about
Who illicit strong emotional responses
Who you are most strongly attached to changes over time
Focuses change over the lifespan: differences between infants
and adults
o
- Develops during the first year of life
- Not limited to humans
- Attachment behaviours:
oSignaling (crying, babbling) and approach (signals illicit approaches)
behaviours bring infant and caregiver together
Approaches are things that attract caretaker to the infant
(smiling etc)
oHow we observe attachment
- Drive for closeness is biologically determined
oOccur very early on
oIndividual differences occur in specific behaviours
- Essential to normal development
- Harlow’s experiment as an example
oMonkeys deprived of cuddly mother grew up with abnormalities
oPreferred cuddly mother
- Freud’s psychodynamic theory:
oMother fulfills infant’s oral needs by suckling and this forms the basis
of attachment
oPrototypical: infant and mother attachment determines later
attachments
If mother attachment not strong, then other later attachments
are not built upon a strong grounding, and therefore suffer
oContemporary theorists acknowledge Freud’s ideas but include
ongoing attachments to other figures in childhood as important
determinants of later attachments
In adolescence and adulthood
- Learning theory:
oImportance of mother-infant relationship and the role fo breastfeedign
in attachment
Shared ideas with Freud
Behavioural approach
oMother infant are positively reinforced by breastfeeding
Positive experience for both
oCannot breastfeed without close attachment
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oDoes not account for strong emotions associated with attachment
behaviours
oCan only explain what you observe
- Ethological theory:
oBased on cross species commonalities
Animal models can explain human behaviour
Looking at animal behaviour in animal kingdom to find simple
explanations
oCentral is the idea of imprinting
Innate tendency to stay in close proximity to mother
Seen in many species
Born with this
oAttachment to the first object seen was demonstrated by Lorenz with
baby geese
Intrinsic nature demonstrated this
oCritical period:
For imprinting
Shortly after birth
oMothers programmed to stay close to infant to facilitate imprinting and
promote survival
Young animals that don’t stick close to mother and don’t
imprint are at risk of predators and death
A two way relationship
- Bowlby’s attachment theory:
oEthological principles to explain how infants become attached to adults
Also Freudian influenced
oUN commission to investigation effect of early separation of infant and
child from caregiver
Came out of chaos of WW2
Orphans
Institutionalized children
oBased on clinical observations of children deprived of maternal care
oDetrimental effects from prolonged maternal deprivation
In 1-5 years of life
Major cause of abnormal child development and basis for later
mental illness
oComplete deprivation: character development, prevent the capacity of
making relationships
oPartial deprivation
oBelieved that attachment development developed in distinct stages:
Determined by cognitive development
Similarities to Piaget’s stages
oPhase 1: indiscriminate sociability
Birth-2 months
Infant responds actively with cries, smiles, coos and gaze
Promotes contact and affection from mother in
particularly
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Promotes contact and affection form other people
Uses limited attachment behaviours less selectively than when
older
oPhase 2: attachment in the making
2-7 months
Increasing preference for familiar, responsive individuals
Pinpointing preferences
Preferences reinforce parents affection
Irresistible for parents
Accepts some attention from comparative strangers
Tolerates temporary separation from parents
oPhase 3: specific, clear cut attachments
7-24 months
Preference for specific people becomes stronger
Ability to represent individuals mentally
Ability to crawl and walk
Infant can use caregivers as a secure base for
exploration
Increasing verbal skills
Greater involvement with parents and others
Separation anxiety and stranger anxiety
Appear near the beginning of this phase
Separation anxiety: upset when apart from usual
caregivers
oSecure to strange situation
oScreaming, clinging
oSometimes cannot be comforted
oMay then withdraw
oImproves with familiarity with new caretakers
oMay be extreme reactions if only one caretaker
before this period
Stranger anxiety:
o6-9 months
oEvolutionary/survival
oBig individual differences
Familiarity of the setting
Temperament of the child
Approach of the stranger
Previous approach from strangers
Caregiver reactions
oPhase 4: goal coordinated partnerships
24 months onward
Better memory for objects and events
Cognitive changes
Increasing ability to understand parental feelings
And adjust own behaviours
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
An affectional tie between an individual and another enduring over time and separation: must also consider emotions associated with it behaviours, think about the attachment figures in your life: Who you are most strongly attached to changes over time. Focuses change over the lifespan: differences between infants and adults o. Develops during the first year of life. Attachment behaviours: signaling (crying, babbling) and approach (signals illicit approaches) behaviours bring infant and caregiver together. Approaches are things that attract caretaker to the infant (smiling etc: how we observe attachment. Drive for closeness is biologically determined: occur very early on, individual differences occur in specific behaviours. Harlow"s experiment as an example: monkeys deprived of cuddly mother grew up with abnormalities, preferred cuddly mother. Freud"s psychodynamic theory: mother fulfills infant"s oral needs by suckling and this forms the basis of attachment, prototypical: infant and mother attachment determines later attachments. Learning theory: importance of mother-infant relationship and the role fo breastfeedign in attachment.
