Essay About Infancy Attachment Phase And Parent Make Contracts

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Post-Infancy Attachment Phase 4 (Early Childhood) Starts at about age 2Their attachment behaviors become less observable (we’re less needy) They aren’t sending out as many signals because they aren’t as needyIt doesn’t mean that they are less attached, it means that they have found other ways of copingBecause they are able to form mental representations of their attachment figure, they are able to self-soothe more often and are less frightened by separation They can also use social referencing in scary situations If Mom looks okay, then the situation is probably not scary If Mom looks scared, then maybe this is a scary situation They can also engage in collaborative planningThey and the parent make contracts/deals together Parents will tell their child, “I’ll be back in x time” and the child will understand that their parent is coming back They can use the child’s ability to use mental representation to make new/scary situations less frightening by making deals/agreements Middle Childhood (starts at ages 4-5) Attachment behaviors are even less observable But they still seek physical proximity when under stress Attachment never stops, it continues throughout the lifespanThey are your template for how relationships with people go and your sense of value Attachment Style Attachment style refers to individual differences in the quality of attachment Given that you have attached to a figure, what does that tell you about yourself and your relationships? Internal working models of relationships Form by about age 5 and stay with you throughout life Developing until age 5, so if they start out bad and get better you will be okayBut if they stay bad, then that bad model will stick with you An internal working model is a cognitive construction of how relationships work It reflects a child’s confidence or lack thereof that an attachment figure will be reliable, available, and is a safe base In some cases, these things aren’t true Our working models of relationships are based on experience with parents If you have a model that’s bad, that tells you that you are not worth of love and affectionInternal working models show us what to expect from relationships with others and give us rules for interacting with others The model tells us if something goes badly with someone else how we should interpret it and move forward Quotation talks about how attachment styles will affect how children will act in social situations If one child gets rejected to play by another, one might sulk, while the other might happily move onto another child and ask to playThe same rejection will be interpreted very different by different childrenChildren with a secure attachment to their parents will handle rejection well, they will uphold a positive sense of self and value Children with an insecure attachment will not handle rejection well, and will feel that the experience validates their feelings of worthlessness and not worth love Internal working models shape and explain experiences Information processing biasesRejection example Interpretation of encounters of others Rejection example The Strange Situation In Harlow’s experiment, we saw how the monkey reacted to the “strange” environment/situation This idea was taken up by Mary Ainsworth and modified to experiment with toddlers Eight short episodes during which the baby is separated from and reunited with Mom Sometimes the baby will be put with a stranger, sometimes not We look at how baby reacts to these situationsWe look most closely at how baby reacts when mom comes back Then we rate infant’s behaviors on several scales from 1 (no effort) to (very active) effort Proximity and contact seekingFinding contact with mom Contact maintaining Keeping contact with momResistancePushing away from and squirming from adult who offers contact, or rejecting toys that an adult uses to try and interact with the child Avoidance Baby’s actively avoid proximity and interaction with mom Common response is to seek proximity and interaction usually A “whatever” attitude to seeing Mom come back Search Behavior through which the baby tries to regain proximity with mom (other than crying) e.g. crawling to momAinsworth’s method has become a standardized way of investigating attachments between children and their parents Looking for the type of balance the child strikes between interacting with the parent and exploring the new environment Once the child is playing, a stranger enters and starts reading a magazine Then the stranger tries to interact with the child Then mom leaves the room and the baby tries to follow her. When the baby can’t follow her, the baby cries The stranger tries to comfort the baby, but the baby is having none of it Mom comes back and settles the baby down Then, Mom and the stranger leave together and the baby is quite distressedThe stranger returns and tries to comfort the baby but the baby has a basically “screw you” attitude When Mom comes back, the baby calms down right away The video shows a secure attachment between the baby and mom The internal working model of secure attachment says that: The attachment figure is available and loving Complementary model of worthy of that love from attachment figure Second child: Doesn’t try to regain proximity with Mom, just keeps playing with ball even though she’s distressed Insecure avoidant attachment: A mother who has communicated to the child that if they are distressed they should try to “have a stiff upper lip” and try to be independent and deal with it on your own Some psychologists have reservations about this method: It’s a strange situation so is it a good way of inferring a relationship between the child and mother? For a child used to going to daycare for example, this situation may represent something completely different to them than to a child who is with mom all the time But, most situations are strange to children since most experiences are new Seems like the experiment is a pretty good indicator of what the relationship is like between parents and children Children with secure attachments are able to resolve difficult tasks without help from teacher, work better with peers, have better problem solving skills, etc. when they get a little older  Secure attachment (about 60-65% of children)Mom is a safe base Prefer mom to a stranger Cope well with separation Happy reunion with Mom Kids who are securely attached have a great relationship with Mom, and it predicts having good relationships with other people in the future Insecure attachments (35-40% of children) Three types1. Avoidant/detached Little preference for mom over a stranger At reunions, the kid will avoid Mom If Mom tries to seek contact, the kid is very passive – they don’t resist but they aren’t seeking much contact The child isn’t getting much comfort from proximity with Mom Says something about their relationship with Mom: Mom didn’t want to be with the child when they are upset Mom isn’t helpful in distressing times Sometimes this could be a bad parent, but also perhaps someone dealing with depression or other stressors 2. Ambivalent/resistantthey are more upset by the stranger than a child with a secure attachment They get very upset when Mom leaves, but can’t be comforted by Mom Mom can’t comfort the child when they are upset, no matter what Mom doesCuddling, cooing, giving toys, etc. doesn’t work In this case, the childhood involved times when Mom was a secure base and times when mom was rejecting The ambivalent child doesn’t know when Mom will be a secure attachment or when they will be rejected It makes them very anxious and they don’t know what to expect They can be very histrionic when they are upset and they get confused about whether they are angry at Mom, whether they want comfort from Mom, etc. Usually this is also a Mom who has been depressed Sometimes you are able to be a good parent, sometimes you aren’t when you are depressed 3. Disorganized/disoriented Usually children of abusive parents or are children of parents who were abused and don’t seem confident of their relationship with their child (they seem almost afraid of their child) The children seem dazed, confused, and afraid in the strange situation They behave strangely with Mom, they will seek proximity with Mom but won’t look at the in the strange situation They want contact but also don’t This style is a bit more rare, because it is a somewhat newer classification There are very negative outcomes for children that are abused You can still live a normal life, but it isn’t great for success for most children Predictors of Attachment StyleEmotional availability of the parentAbsolutely critical Is the parent willing and able to be emotionally available for the child when they are distressed? Willing to soothe them when they are upset, but also have happy moments with them as well Might be more likely in impoverished families or families with depressed parentsMight be stressed for time or don’t have the emotional energySynchrony Are there parents responding properly to the child’s signals? They need the opportunity to engage in useful interactions with their parents where they feel that parents understand their needs Van den Boom (1994) on training sensitivity Trained parents to learn child’s signals Got 100 low SES moms These moms had been rated as low in the hospital for responsiveness The babies were rated high in irritability, which makes things even harder for mom Difficult to be emotionally available and sensitive with babies that are very irritable or have a difficult temperament Randomly assigned the Moms to some training on how to be responsive to signals What to do when the child does certain things Some did not get the training initially, but all were trained eventually Hopefully this did not have negative effects on the children The trained Moms improved in their relationships, they had more secure relationships with their child when observed at home 12 months later The moms that were trained had more secure attachments at 12 months, and the more secure attachment lasted when they were observed again at 18 months The babies had difficult temperaments, and most people will have more trouble with this type of child We can teach parents what the difficult temperaments means It’s hard to respond a child that is always angry with youOnce parents understand that the child is not angry at them, they can develop better responsiveness and create secure attachments with their babies