PSYC100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Neurogenesis, Overproduction, Myelin
●Nature-Nurture
○"children with difficult temperaments are often the most affected by the quality of
their relationships with their caregivers"
■Child temperaments are thought to be primarily due to genetics. On the
other hand, the level of attachment security is thought to be a product of a
history of certain interpersonal interactions with a caregiver.
●The Strange Situation- Attachment Categories
○Folks come into a lab (mother and child) and go through a sequence of strange
situations to separate from each other and come back together
■Way to understand categories of attachment behaviors
■Research done on western societies
○Secure - (65%)
■Child’s behavior during separation
●Child starts moderately crying; gets upset and fairly distressed
■Child’s behavior during reunion
●Child reaches up to mother, cry goes away very quickly (easily
comforted); afterwards, child wants to go back to playing
●Child sees the parent as a secure base; someone to always come
back to
■Pattern of caregiver/interaction history that leads to those child’s
behaviors
●Caregiver has been consistently sensitive to signals of the child
●Ability to see, recognize, and interpret signals from a child
○Insecure - avoidant (20%)
■Child’s behavior during separation
●Child acknowledges parents absence, no extreme crying/response
■Child’s behavior during reunion
●Child doesn’t approach parent; avoids eye gazing; unresponsive
●Caregiver is not a secure base to derive comfort from
■Pattern of caregiver/interaction history that leads to those child’s
behaviors
●Comes from parents who are emotionally unengaged
○Insecure - ambivalent (10%)
■Child’s behavior during separation
●Child has extreme level of distress; inconsolable crying
■Child’s behavior during reunion
●Child is still crying and approaches mother for support; child does
not want to play (angry) but still wants mother