HDFS 129 PROFESSOR CORNEAL EXAM 2 STUDY GUIDE Infancy o Trust is a state of feeling confident that they are valued and their needs will be met i e Erikson s first stage trust vs mistrust this feeling experience of whether they can trust of not is stored in memory as an implicit memory it will drive their future behavior as an adolescent and as an adult capacity to trust gives us an attitude with which we meet the world trust is fostered in infancy and established by 18 months of age through mother infant interactions o Biologically infants are programmed to be very aware of harsh stimuli Wired to be wary careful i e loud noises o Socially infants are either protected or they are not protected from the harsh stimuli by their caregiver b c they do not have the capacity to soothe themselves need the caregiver i e when they hear a loud noise and get startled either the mother will run over and pick them up or leave them there in fear the ability of a caregiver to soothe the infant is central to developing trust and a secure attachment to the caregiver o Psychologically infants learn that the world is either generally a safe place or it is not o Two components are found in infant mother interactions to foster trust Matching presence of same or similar behaviors Matching the expression on the baby s face i e baby smile s so you smile back Mother Infant interactions mother stops smiling and baby stops too i e still face experiment Synchrony movement from one emotional state to another in a fluid patter Mother will change her emotional state behavior depending on the baby i e the baby becomes calm so the mother becomes calm o Matching and synchrony become very coordinated infant feels satisfaction of shared communication with caregiver o As time goes on mother and baby learn to regulate amount of time that passes between expression of a need and satisfying that need When mothers respond quickly and consistently over the course of the year babies begin to cry less When mothers let babies cry it out over the course of the year babies cry more Trust is the key ingredient in forming a secure attachment o Attachment the strong emotional bond that children form with their mothers Intense emotional relationship that emerges over time o John Bowlby originator of attachment theory Mary Ainsworth student of Bowlby kept his work going o Attachment is based on ethological theory Ethological theory two factors that babies of any species need for survival Need for protection o Ability of or caregivers to meet our needs feed us when were hungry change us when we need to be give us warmth when were cold etc Exploration we have to leave our caregivers at some point o Must learn independence in order to survive Mother or motherly figure is the secure base o She is the one who protects the baby and gives the baby the courage to go Attachment theory tells us that off and explore caregiving The quality of infant attachment will be determined by the quality of early o There are different types of attachment secure vs insecure Secure use the mother as a secure base may or may not exhibit distress at mother leaving and usually stop exploring seek contact during reunion and crying is reduced Roughly 60 of children Insecure 3 categories Insecurely attached avoidant unresponsive to parent rarely cry during separation and avoid mother at reunion indifferent to dislike physical contact roughly 15 children o Caregivers are unavailable sometimes rejecting and unresponsive to infants needs Insecurely attached resistant intensely distressed by separation yet during reunion they see to be ambivalent toward mother they are clingy but angry and are not easily comforted by mother sought contact but pushed mother away roughly 10 o Caregivers are inconsistent in their responses to the infant sometimes they pick them up when they cry sometimes they do not baby being inconsistent in their reactions to caregivers I want you sometimes but sometimes I do not Insecurely attached disorganized look away from mother or approach her with flat depressed emotion 15 o Caregivers are often neglectful and or abusive Quality of early attachment will affect the child s later relationships o Attachment with caregiver attachment with friends significant others o Test a child s attachment through the strange situation etc Strange situation have mom and baby enter strange foreign room baby is okay because they are with mom stranger comes in baby is confused but okay because mom is there mom leaves baby with stranger done 2x Healthy baby will get upset b c they get separation anxiety o When mom comes back the baby will reach for mom and then the baby calms down If the baby does not get upset when with the stranger then the mother is not the secure base Attachment consequences o Secure kid they tend to be less dependent on teachers in preschool more cooperative and peaceful and responsive to friends requests o Insecure kid tend to be more dependent aggressive with peers and more withdrawn o Can I child form multiple attachments Infants about a year old are highly selective in their choices of attachment figures Usually not equally attached to more than one person Not all attachment figures are equally important Typically there is a principle attachment figure one o Usually the mom dad would be secondary attachment Not all of their social relationships can be identified as attachment i e you can be comfortable with other familiar adults smile around them not upset by them does not make them an attachment figure o We are born to form attachments our brains are physically wired to develop in tandem with another s through emotional communication beginning before words are spoken Dr Allan Schore Brain science imaging has provided empirical evidence that attachment is biologically based o The brain develops in tandem with another usually the mother o Mother child bond knits together the neural filaments of the baby s brain that regulates the i e Dr Schore quote baby s emotions The baby s experience is actually forming the structure of the baby s brain Securely attached infants receive the kind of neural imprinting that helps baby s to cope with and regulate emotions It is very important to be able to regulate our emotions especially as we grow and gain new experiences Need to have a floor and ceiling on our emotions max and min o i e we can be happy but don t let it get to manic ceiling o i e we can be sad but don t let it get to depression floor