Lecture Notes: Attachment in Infancy

Overview of Infant Attachment

• Stranger Anxiety
  • Begins around 8 months of age.
  • Babies may become uncomfortable around strangers and even familiar people.
  • Varies among different children.

Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation Experiment

• Purpose: To study variations in attachment behavior.
• Setup:
  • Consists of a mother, child, and a stranger in a new environment (psychology lab).
  • Focus on mother-child interactions (primary research focus).
  • Mother is instructed to leave the room quietly, leaving the child with the stranger.
  • Mother returns after a period of time.
• Observations:
  • Exploration by the child in the mother's presence.
  • Reaction of the child when the mother leaves.
  • Reaction of the child upon the mother's return.

Findings from the Experiment

• Types of Attachment:
  • Secure Attachment (60% of children)
    • Children explore the room freely, using the mother as a secure base.
    • Distress when the mother leaves, comforted upon her return.
  • Insecure Attachment
    • Children less likely to explore, cling to the mother.
    • Continued distress even after the mother returns, or indifference to her absence.

Factors Influencing Attachment

• Parenting Style
  • Sensitive and responsive mothers tend to have securely attached children.
  • Insensitive or inconsistently responsive mothers tend to have insecurely attached children.

Long-term Implications of Attachment Styles

• Impact on Adult Relationships
  • Securely attached infants often become securely attached adults, comfortable with intimacy and trust.
  • Insecurely attached infants may become anxious or avoidant in adult relationships.
• Intergenerational Transmission of Attachment
  • Secure attachment in childhood often leads to secure attachment with one's own children.
  • Insecure attachment in childhood often leads to insecure attachment in parenting.

Conclusion

• Early attachment experiences have lasting effects on personal development and relationships.
• The attachment style developed in infancy can influence behavior and relationships in adulthood.