Multiple choice

Attachment
Psychology of the Person
Professor Yulia Kovas
Goldsmith’s College
y.kovas@gold.ac.uk
• Which of the following is not
relevant to Attachment?
• 1) Maternal deprivation hypothesis
• 2) Strange situation paradigm
• 3) Ethology
• 4) Participant fall-out

Passer, M., Smith, R., Holt, N., Bremner, A., On VLE

Sutherland, E., & Vliek, M. (2009). Psychology:
The science of mind and behaviour. McGraw- • Custance, D. In Brace, N. & Byford, J. (2010).
Hill: Madenhead, UK. Chapter 13 Discovering Psychology).

OR
http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/
Holt, N., Bremner, A., Sutherland, E., Vliek, M.,
Passer, M., Smith, R., (2012) Psychology: The
science of mind and behaviour. McGraw-Hill:
Maidenhead, UK. Chapter 13
OR
Relevant chapters in other editions

Aims
• To consider the background to attachment Attachment Theory is most closely
theory associated with John Bowlby.

• To consider the nature of attachment and
how it is measured in childhood and
adulthood
Bowlby was a psychiatrist who was
influenced by psychoanalysis and
ethology*

*analysis of behaviour
• To consider critiques of Bowlby’s maternal using naturalistic observation
deprivation hypothesis

1
 Psychoanalysis assumes that the root of human
personality lies in the earliest childhood
relationships.
Early significant trauma or relationship failure will
negatively affect a child’s development.
Bowlby’s early theorising was focused on the
Mother/Child relationship because he believed
that this was the most important one.
• Ethology
• Ethology brings evolutionary concepts to
bear on the study of development.
• Bowlby believed that affectional ties have
a biological basis that is best understood
in an evolutionary context.

Lorenz’s Geese. Geese have a critical

period immediately after they leave their
egg when they imprint onto whatever they
see.

Lorenz’s (1935) study of imprinting

• Humans have a relatively long period of • Infants proximity promoting behaviours

helplessness and their survival depends on the care include crying, arm lifting, smiling,
or others approaching and clinging.

• Bowlby described infant behaviours that enhance

proximity to caregivers and elicit their attention and
investment.
• He proposed a genetic basis for these behaviours
• He proposed that babies are active participants in
the interactions that occur between themselves and
their carers
• These behaviours become organised into a
goal oriented system focused on a specific
carer, usually but not necessarily Mother.
• Bowlby believed that adults are biased to
respond to these kinds of infant signals.

2
 Bowlby described stages in the
development of attachment.
The infant orientates and signals without
discriminating different people.
The infant preferentially orientates to and
signals at one or more discriminated
persons. This marks the beginning of
attachment. This is seen at 5 – 7 months.
The infant maintains proximity preferentially
to a discriminated person by means of
locomotion and signals. Occurs around 7 –
9 months, when fear of stangers also
emerges
The formation of a goal-corrected
partnership between child and caregiver.
Occurs around 2 years.
Lessening of attachment as measured by
child maintaining proximity.

Strange situation (Ainsworth, 1978)

Attachment as a working model
• Social components Observations of how children between the
• Emotional components ages of 12 to 18 months responded to a
• Cognitive components “working model of the situation in which they were briefly left
relationship” alone and then reunited with their mother
• Behavioural components (Ainsworth, 1978).

The nature and interrelationship of these

components reflect developmental change.

Mother and child enter room

↓ Strange Situation ratings obtained for:
Stranger enters
↓ Seeking contact
Mother leaves
Maintaining contact
↓
Mother returns: stranger leaves Maintaining distance
↓ Interaction
Mother leaves Avoidance
↓
Stranger returns
Resistance to contact.
↓
Mother returns; stranger leaves. Reunion behaviours are the most
(Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters & Wall, 1978) important in terms of the classification.

3
Ainsworth et al., initially identified three
patterns at 12 – 18 months After studying videos of earlier studies Main
& Solomon (1990) added a fourth
Type A (Anxious/avoidant)
Avoidant behaviour is shown in reunion episodes. Often
category.
the child appears to be exploring without concern for
security. During alone periods it does not appear
distressed. Type D (Disorganised). The children
appeared to be disorientated during the
Type B (Secure). On reunion the child will greet the
mother and make visual or physical contact. It will then
procedure and sometimes showed a fear
settle down for independent play. of the mother.
Type C (Anxious/Resistant) The child appears to be
ambivalent in that she avoids contact and interaction in
reunion phase. But seeks proximity and contact at times.

Bowlby said: “mother love in infancy and childhood
is as important for mental health as are vitamins
and proteins for physical health”
and
• “What is believed to be essential for mental
health is that the infant and young child should
experience a warm, intimate and continuous
relationship with his mother (or permanent
mother substitute – one person who steadily
‘mothers’ him) in which both find satisfaction and
enjoyment”
What influenced Bowlby’s view?
1) Critical period for attachment
formation (imprinting)
(2) Fear of strangers functioning to
maintain exclusivity.
(3) Klaus and Kennel (1976) ‘skin
to skin contact hypothesis’
(4) Films by J. & J. Robertson
(1967 – 1973) about young
children in hospital and other
institutions. They observed:
Protest →despair → inconsolable
→ denial → detachment

(5) The work of the

Harlows with
isolated
monkeys.
(6) Children from orphanages showing
impairments in different aspects of
Isolation for 6 – social, language and cognitive
12 months
development.
appeared to
produce
irreversible (7) Evidence linking delinquency with
effects. early separation experiences (Rutter,
1981).

4
 Other types of deprivation experienced in
Critique of Bowlby’s hypothesis orphanages (confounding the causal
interpretation)
Imprinting not characteristic of primates.
Improvements in isolation reared monkeys
Problem with ‘monotropism’ - one main (Harlow).
attachment figure (i.e. monotropy) - a
typical feature of autism, is when an
individual has a restricted range of Unclear relationship between delinquency
interests) and separation (Rutter, 1981).
Other attachments. Kibbutz reared children.
Fathers...

http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/
An important and positive outcome of Bowlby’s
theorising was that the emotional life of the
child was put on the map.

This influenced practise in organisations dealing

with children.
But sometimes – conclusions without clearly
established causal links. E.g. Benefits of early
child care institutions, especially for ‘at risk’
families (Boivin, M. et al.)
Feminist critique

Multiple choice
• Which of the following is not
relevant to Attachment?
• 1) Maternal deprivation hypothesis
• 2) Strange situation paradigm
• 3) Ethology
• 4) Participant fall-out
Self-Study
• The following slides cover:
• Adult attachment & links with child
attachment (revise for exam)
• Epigenetics as it relates to early mother-
child processes (will not be examined in
this course)

5
 George, Kaplan & Main, (1985)
The adult attachment interview (AAI)
(1) Autonomous person
Secure adults who value attachments and
are able to talk coherently and
realistically about them. Positive
relationships with own parents can be
described realistically and they can
acknowledge past unhappiness in
unhappy relationships
3) Enmeshed/Preoccupied person
These adults are still caught in struggles
with parents.
They lack a sense of personal identity and
have difficulty evaluating their own role
within relationships
Main et al (1985) adults AAI
codings and their infants Strange
Situation codings
Autonomous Adults ↔ secure infants.
Dismissive Adults ↔ avoidant infants
Enmeshed Adults ↔ ambivalent infants
Unresolved Adults ↔ disorganised infants
(2) Dismissive person
These adults downplay the importance of
intimate relationships. They may idealise
their childhoods or give contradictory
reports about it.
They might describe negative experiences
but fail to acknowledge their emotional
effects
4) Unresolved person
These adults show unresolved mourning
over the loss of an attachment figure,
through death, divorce, abuse or neglect
Autonomous Adults ↔ secure
infants.
Adults who value On reunion the child will
attachments and are able greet the mother and
to talk coherently and make visual or physical
realistically about them. contact. It will then settle
Positive relationships with down for independent
own parents can be play.
described realistically and
they can acknowledge
past unhappiness in
unhappy relationships
6
 Dismissive Adults ↔ avoidant
Enmeshed Adults ↔ ambivalent
infants
infants
These adults downplay the Avoidant behaviour is
importance of intimate shown by infant in
relationships. They may reunion episodes. Often These adults are still • The child appears to
idealise their childhoods the child appears to be caught in struggles be ambivalent in that
or give contradictory exploring without concern with parents. she avoids contact
reports about it. for security. During alone and interaction in
periods it does not reunion phase.
appear distressed. They lack a sense of
They might describe • But seeks proximity
negative experiences but
personal identity and
have difficulty and contact at times.
fail to acknowledge their
emotional effects evaluating their own
role within
relationships

Unresolved Adults ↔ disorganised

infants
These adults show The children appeared
unresolved mourning
over the loss of an
attachment figure,
through death,
divorce, abuse or
neglect
Van Ijzendoorn (1995) also found this
linkage and suggested that
‘Intergenerational transmission’ of
to be disorientated
attachment may be via parental
during the procedure
and sometimes
responsiveness although temperament
showed a fear of the might also be influential.
mother.
Other potential causes?
Mechanisms (epigenetic?)

Example: Epigenetic programming by Why?

• Tactile stimulation provided by mothers is
maternal behaviour in rats critical for pup physiology and central nervous
• Maternal nursing behaviour: licking and system (CNS) development
grooming (LG); ‘arched back nursing’ (ABN)
LG-ABN
• Offspring of high LG- È
ABN mothers are less hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) responses to stress
fearful than offspring of
low LG-ABN mothers
Reflects methylation state of the hippocampal
Francis et al. (1999). Science
glucocorticoid receptor (HGR) promoter

7
 High nurture behaviour
Methylation Ç LG-ABN
È HPA responses to stress
• Type of chemical
modification of DNA È Fearfulness
that can be inherited Reflects hypomethylation of
without changing the HGR promoter

DNA sequence. Low nurture behaviour

È LG-ABN
Ç HPA responses to stress
Ç Fearfulness Reflects hypermethylation of
HGR promoter
But is Aetiology Environmental?

• Cross-fostering the biological off-spring

of high or low LG-ABN mothers Gene expression: Summary
completely reverses this pattern
• Direct link between maternal behaviour and the
development of stress reactivity
Raised by È LG-ABN mothers
Pups born to Ç
LG-ABN mothers Ç HPA responses to stress • Effects of environmental adversity (low nurturing)
Ç Fearfulness can be transmitted through a nongenomic
mechanism
Raised by Ç LG-ABN mothers
• Also relevant to cognitive development? Evidence
Pups born to È È HPA responses to stress for effects of maternal care on synaptic
LG-ABN mothers development of neural systems that mediate
È Fearfulness
cognitive development
Zhang et al. (2006). Biological Psychology