PY 352 Lecture Notes - Lecture 33: Mary Ainsworth, Social Change, Binge Eating
22 May 2018
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Social development
1. At about 8 months old, babies have developed schemas for familiar faces. When given
over to someone who does not fit the schema (an unfamiliar person) they often grow
upset and reach out to the familiar person. This is called stranger anxiety.
2. Mary Ainsworth studied attachment in her famous "strange situation" experiment.
The secure attachment bond between a 12 month old and a parent is strong and
obvious.
1. Attachment is aided early-on by physical contact. We respond positively to
softness, rocking, feeding, and patting.
2. Being social creatures, all through life we attach ourselves to others who will
always “be there for us.”
3. We also grow attached to what’s familiar.
1. Animals grow attached to their parent during what’s called the critical
period – the best time for bonding. Think of the critical period as an open
window, the only time it can happen.
1. The attachment that occurs at this time is called imprinting. It’s
hard-wired into the critter during the critical period time.
2. Animals can sometimes bond with anything. Birds bond just after
hatching to whatever’s moving. Normally it’s the mother, but they
can be trained to bond with almost anything that moves, such as a
dog or even a tin can dangling on a string.
1. This was illustrated by Konrad Lorenzwho imprinted baby
geese onto other "mothers".
2. People don’t have the critical period imprinting. We have a “sensitive
period” that’s less written-in-stone. Children like what’s familiar – same
faces, same stories, same routines. These things mean safety and
comfort.
4. When put in strange situations, children react differently.
1. Children with mothers or parents that are very interactive do the best in
strange situations.
1. "Harlow's monkeys became a famous experiment.
1. The Harlow couple raised monkeys with either a wire mesh
“mother” or a wire mesh mother covered with a furry
carpet.
2. The baby monkeys with the furry fake-mothers adjusted
better. The physical contact seemed to make all the
difference.
3. The monkeys with the metal “mothers” became panic-
stricken with fear.
4. The conclusion was that physical contact is very important
to healthy child-parent attachment.
2. Mary Ainsworth studied the attachment of an infant and mother
in her “Strange Situation.”
1. The “Strange Situation” had a mother and child at about 12
months playing in a room.
2. Another unknown adult entered, then the mother left the
room, the child became distraught, then the mother
returned.
3. Some parents responded consolingly to the child, other
parents not-so-much. The children of responsive parents
showed a more "secure attachment"than children of less-
responsive parents.
2. A person’s temperament is a person’s genetic tendency as to how they
react and how intensely they react to a situation.
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