PSYC 4220 1st Edition Lect ure 16 Outline of Last Lecture I II III IV V VI VII Theories of Language Development Social and Personality Development in Infants Temperament Stability of Temperament Causes of Temperament Erikson s Psychosocial Stages Caregiver s attachment to Infant Outline of Current Lecture I II III IV V Caregiver s Attachment Development of Infant s Attachment to Caregiver 4 Phases Attachment Related Fears Quality of Attachment Current Lecture Caregiver s Attachment to Infant Attachment emotional tie that binds us to special people with whom we seek proximity and security Attachment relationships are reciprocal formed from interaction between caregiver and child Some caregiver attachment may form before birth Infant characteristics may help attachment form Reciprocal socialization process in which infants behaviors invite further responses from caregivers which in turn bring about further responses from the infants Responsive parents teach infants they have some control allow time to practice emotional regulation Caregiver s attachment to infant can be affected by infant s temperament Development of Infant s Attachment to Caregiver 4 phases Asocial phase lasts from birth to 6 weeks o o o o o o Responsive to anything social or not Part of this is because they don t see very well at this age Most things just look like lights and shadows It doesn t matter if the stimulation is human it will probably still interest them Phase of indiscriminate attachments 6 weeks to 6 7 months At beginning prefer social stimuli but aren t picky By 3 6 months some preferences for familiar people still happy to interact with strangers as long as it is a person paying attention to them they will be cool Specific attachments phase 6 7 months to 9 months Form first attachment In the past was almost always referred to as the mother Mostly because the person who spends the most time taking care of you is the one you will form the first attachment to They LOVE that person A LOT This is the person the baby will use for a sense of security when exploring new things The caregiver is their secure base Ex you are in the military in Europe and need to go out exploring on a mission the people that are back at your base giving you Intel are like a babies secure attachment person 4 Phases Asocial phase birth to 6 weeks o Responsive to anything social or not Phase of indiscriminate attachments 6 weeks to 6 7 months o At beginning prefer social stimuli but aren t picky o By 3 6 months some preferences for familiar people still happy to interact with strangers Specific attachments phase 6 7 months to 9 months o Form first attachment o Attachment facilitates exploration caregiver becomes secure base Phase of multiple attachments 9 18 months o Within weeks form other attachments o Choose different attachment figured for different needs o In the U S there are inherent differences with how a mom plays with and a dad plays with their child dad s wild crazy and everywhere moms are more structured o Children regardless of who the primary caregiver is typically go to mom for nurturing and dad for play because of the above reason how they play Attachment Related Fears Stranger anxiety fear when approached by unfamiliar individual o Begins with first attachment peaks between 8 10 months gradually declines over 2nd year o Strangers less scary if attachment figure close by responds positively mom should smile and be encouraging because child will look to them for social cues situation is familiar stranger is sensitive to child s cues isn t weird looking Separation anxiety fear when separated from attachment figure o Starts at 6 8 months peaks at 14 18 months fades throughout preschool o i e if you leave your child at school they freak because partially don t understand object permanence and may not think the parents are ever coming back o this is not just true for small children teenagers at camp sometimes still feel anxious when away from parents for long or 5 6 year olds at a sleepover Quality of Attachment Assessment strange situation method used to assess strength and quality of attachment o Mary Ainesworth o used to assess the balance between an attachment need and security