PSYC121 Developmental Psychology - Part II

Today’s Lecture Objectives

1. Formation of human attachment

2. What attachment actually looks like in human behaviour

3. Individual differences in attachment (attachment styles)

4. How Attachment plays into emotional well-being later in life

A quick heads-up about today’s content:

• Going to be talking about the effect that our parents/caregivers have on people during infancy and childhood, including what happens when a parent or caregiver is not a source of comfort, and may even be a source of fear or anxiety.

• According to research, ~30% of you may find that some of this content will sound upsettingly familiar to you.

• For those people, I offer the following three reminders:

  • You are not doomed by the kind of attachment you formed early in life. Attachment changes throughout the entire lifespan as you enter into relationships with different kinds of people.

  • You are in good company.

  • The only way to fight against these upsetting realities is by recognizing that they are happening (in our own experiences, and in others’ experiences). So, even if it is unpleasant, we must strive to see it and understand it.

Formation of Human Attachment (first 2 years of life)

How predictions shape attachment

• All brains (even a baby’s brain) are constantly making predictions

• Over time, infant is developing expectations about the parent’s behaviour

  • How quickly do they respond to the infant’s needs

  • How likely they are to ignore the infant

  • How likely they are to respond with anger

  • How likely the parent is to be unpredictable

• According to Cognitive Developmental Psychologists, those expectations create an internal working model in the mind of the infant.

• But this internal working model is not only applied to the infants’ expectations about that caregiver

• Instead, infants generalize their expectation to form general expectations about how relationships work (“this is how I should act”, “this is how others will act”)

  • This generalizing is an example of Inductive reasoning:

    • using a specific observation to form a general conclusion

Hypotheses & Predictions - Secure Attachment

• Ainsworth hypothesized that infants who are securely attached to their caregiver experience distress when they are separated from the caregiver, and will attempt to alleviate their distress by crying (i.e., communicating their needs to the caregiver).

• 4 specific predicted behaviours signalling secure attachment in the Strange Situation procedure:

  1. They should seek to be near their caregiver whenever possible

  2. They should show distress when they are separated from the caregiver

  3. They should not be soothed by the stranger, when the caregiver is away

  4. They should be soothed when the parent returns

  5. They should orient their actions more toward the caregiver when they are present

Why attachment matters: Outcomes later in life

1. Securely attached: higher self confidence, self esteem, social competence, better able to cope with challenges, greater sense of curiosity, better relationships with their peers and adults

2. Insecure avoidant: lower on above dimensions, more likely to:

   1. prioritize independence and self-sufficiency instead of former close relationships

   2. have difficulty with intimacy and emotional expression

   3. have difficulties with commitment in intimate relationships

   4. experience toxic or abusive relationships

3. Insecure resistant: lower on above dimensions, more likely to:

   1. develop dependency

   2. have difficulty trusting others

   3. be preoccupied with concerns of abandonment

   4. have a fear of intimacy

   5. be extremely sensitive to perceived rejection

   6. have difficulties resolving conflict

   7. have difficulties with self-esteem

   8. need assurance and validation from others

4. Disorganized: more likely to dissociate, struggle with managing emotions, very disrupted by other people’s emotions.

But can anything be done to change our attachment?

• Yes! (for better AND for worse)
• Attachment is shaped by experience throughout our lifespan
• If a securely attached infant experiences traumas/tragedy/disruptions during childhood or adolescence, they may develop insecure attachment in adulthood
• If an insecurely attached infant becomes more exposed to warmth, responsiveness, reliability in others (significant other), their attachment can become more secure.