PSYC1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: John Bowlby, Dwarfism, Attachment Theory
12 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Methods in Social and Emotional Development
Effects of Atypical Social and Emotional Experience on Human Development
METHODS IN SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
How do relationships develop?
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What are the consequences of social and emotional deprivation?
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What is the social world like to an infant?
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Want to be close to caregiver
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Seek security from caregiver
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Exhibit distress when caregiver is absent
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Relationship that infants form with primary caregiver
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How does the attachment relationship develop?
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Is it food or comfort?
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Infant rhesus monkeys
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Wire monkey with bottle
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Soft monkey without bottle
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Raised by inanimate mothers
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Baby monkeys spent most of their time clinging to soft mother
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Results:
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Experiment: Harlow's Monkeys
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Attachment:
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Attachment in humans = imprinting in animals; adaptive bond
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Attachment figure = safe base from which children can explore the world
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Disruptions to attachment may have long term impact on emotional and cognitive development
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Attachment theory: John Bowlby
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Newborns recognise their mother's voice --> show visual preferences for faces over objects
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Infants recognise their mother's face within the first few days
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First seen in 6 - 7 months
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Peaks early in second year
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Separation anxiety
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How attachment develops:
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Mother is in room, playing with child
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After a while, mother leaves the room with the baby alone with toys
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Another situation --> mother leaves the room with the baby until a stranger comes in and plays with baby
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Mary Ainsworth's strange situation (3:14)
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Welcomes return, seeks closeness, comforted
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Secure attachment
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Not phased by mum leaving, ignores mother on return
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Insecure-Avoidant attachment
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Very upset on leaving, angry/rejecting on return, desires closeness but is difficult to sooth
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Insecure-Anxious attachment
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Behaviour is contradictory e.g. approach mother but look away
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Disorganised attachment
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Child's response when their mother returns is coded
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Measuring attachment:
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EFFECTS OF ATYPICAL SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
What happens to when early social/emotional experience is not typical?
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Problem: not ethical to experimentally deprive children of typical experience
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Solution: "experiments of nature" --> orphans raised in institutions
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3B - Developmental Psychology
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
9:00 PM
PSYCH 1001 Page 1
Document Summary
Effects of atypical social and emotional experience on human development. Baby monkeys spent most of their time clinging to soft mother. Attachment in humans = imprinting in animals; adaptive bond. Attachment figure = safe base from which children can explore the world. Disruptions to attachment may have long term impact on emotional and cognitive development. Newborns recognise their mother"s voice --> show visual preferences for faces over objects. Infants recognise their mother"s face within the first few days. After a while, mother leaves the room with the baby alone with toys. Another situation --> mother leaves the room with the baby until a stranger comes in and plays with baby. Child"s response when their mother returns is coded. Not phased by mum leaving, ignores mother on return. Very upset on leaving, angry/rejecting on return, desires closeness but is difficult to sooth. Behaviour is contradictory e. g. approach mother but look away. Problem: not ethical to experimentally deprive children of typical experience.
