Infant Social Development: Attachment Theory

Insecure-Resistant Attachment

- 10% of 1-year-olds in U.S. - Exploration: Low, clingy - Stranger: Fearful, even when caregiver present - Separation: High distress - Reunion: Ambivalent; wants contact but is angry How does it happen? - Inconsistent - Tendency for non-responsiveness

Insecure-Avoidant Attachment

- 15% of 1-year-olds in U.S. - Exploration: High, unfocused - Stranger: Indifferent - Separation: Low distress - Reunion: Ignore, avoid How does it happen? - Impatient - Unresponsive - Rejecting

Insecure-Disorganized Attachment

- 5-10% of 1-year-olds in U.S. - Exploration: Chaotic - Stranger: Uncertain, fearful - Separation: Variable - Reunion: Distress How does it happen? - High unpredictability - Mother has unresolved OR recent trauma - Abuse, neglect

Secure Attachment

- 65-70% of 1-year-olds in U.S. - Exploration: High - Stranger: Generally Outgoing - Separation: Distress - Reunion: Joy How does it happen? - Responsive Caregiver - Consistently caring interactions

Intro to Attachment Theory

- Attachment: A strong bond that binds one person to another - Bowlby: Attachment is an evolutionary adaptive system that evolved to ensure survival, protection, and care of offspring

What is social development in infancy?

- Learning how to interact with other people - Social development in infancy: -> Forming a healthy bond with caregiver(s) -> This entails the establishment of trust

Erikson's Psychosocial Theory

- Optimal development involves successful resolution of 8 stages across the lifespan - Each stage presents a psychosocial conflict - Successful navigation of each stage results in health and wellbeing

Internal Working Models

- Our internal working models guide: -> How we interpret interactions -> Our expectations of our environment -> Our behaviors Secure Attachment - More likely to: -> Have trusting expectations of others; see self as deserving of love and care -> Seek and expect trusting, loving relationships Insecure Attachment - More likely to: -> Have uncertainty, distrust of others; see self as less deserving of love and care -> May behave in ways that deter love and care, and/or provoke negative response from other person - which confirms expectations

What shapes social development in infancy?

- Reason One: Instinct -> Babies instantly and instinctively bond with their mothers based on instincts - Reason Two: Learning -> Babies bond with parents because parents become associated with relief of hunger, cold, pain - Reason Three: Interaction -> Bond between baby and caregiver occurs over time -> Baby and mom are both 'active' in building bond

What Babies Come With

- Reflexes: Automatic muscle responses to particular types of stimulation (grasping, clinging, rooting) - Communication: Communicating hunger, pain, discomfort (whimpering, crying, facial expressions) - Sociability: Interest in, responsive to people (gazing, prefer human voices, can be comforted by humans) - "Babyness": Size, facial features, movements, 'baby smell', feel (cuteness)

Functions of Attachment

- Regular times: Child feels safe, allows for exploration and play - Times of distress: child will act in ways to create close physical proximity (crying, whimpering) - Secure attachment -> Exploration, play - Insecure attachment -> anxiety, inhibited behaviors, less exploration

What Caregivers Come With

- Responsiveness to infant cries, sounds, looks - Interest in interactions - Fierce protectiveness

Studying Attachment

- Strange situation experiments show that some children are securely attached and others are insecurely attached - Biological predisposition for attachment + Level of responsive = Contextual Metatheory

Developmental Task of Infancy

- Trust vs. Mistrust -> Infant's first goal is to learn to trust parents; to learn that parents will take care of them - Success = Learning Trust -> Infants learn they are loved, will be cared for -> Larger Lesson: Trusts that world is a good, safe place

Attachment Styles

Four Observed Attachment Styles: 1) Secure 2) Insecure Avoidant 3) Insecure Resistant 4) Insecure Disorganized