Social Development�Attachment, Peers, Adulthood, & Parenting

Mr. Koch

AP Psychology

Andover High School

Attachment

• A deep and enduring relationship with the person with whom a baby has shared many experiences
• Typically begins forming during 1^st year of life

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• John Bowlby
• British psychoanalyst drew attention to importance of attachment after observing depression and other emotional scars in children orphaned in WWII
• Inspired researchers to study how attachments are formed and what happens when they’re absent or broken

Imprinting

Konrad Lorenz (1937)

• Some animals (i.e. ducks, geese) develop attachment during a “critical period” shortly after birth
• Imprinting – instinctively becomes attached to first moving thing seen at this time

Konrad Lorenz - Imprinting

Harry Harlow (1959)

• Tested two opposing hypotheses on what leads to developing attachment:
• Attachment occurs because mothers feed their babies
• Attachment is based on the warm, comforting contact from the mother

Harlow Monkey Studies�clip #1

Harlow Monkey Studies�clip #2

Harlow Monkey Studies�clip #3

Harlow Monkey Studies

• Also investigated what happens when attachments do not form
• Isolated some newborn monkeys from all social contact – dramatic disturbances after one year
• When visited by normal monkeys, huddled in corner and rocked
• Unable to have normal sexual relations
• Artificially inseminated females tended to ignore own babies
• Would sometimes abuse/kill them when babies were distressed
• Tragically similar situations observed in Romanian and Russian orphanages
• Echoed in modern research on ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences)

ACEs�(Adverse Childhood Experiences)

Important: ACEs do not guarantee any outcome. Many factors are involved. Positive experiences and overcoming adversity can also help build resilience.

3 Types of ACEs

High ACEs score can disrupt development and increase health risks

Quick Discussion

• What do you think of the ethics of the Harlow studies?
• Should these studies have been allowed?
• Considering that these studies had a major impact on how we think about love, parenting, and attachment – do the “benefits” outweigh the “costs”?

Mary Ainsworth (1978)�(student of John Bowlby)

• “Strange Situation” experiment
• Infant interacts with mother and stranger in unfamiliar room
• Plays with both → mother leaves briefly → baby alone briefly → mother returns

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“separation anxiety”:

increased anxiety/fear when away from

caregiver or in presence of stranger

(especially prominent 6-10mo age)

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Mary Ainsworth�“Strange Situation” Experiment

• “Secure Attachment” – most infants
• Use mother as home base, leave side to explore, but return periodically for comfort/contact
• When mother returns from separation, infant happy to see her and receptive to contact

Mary Ainsworth�“Strange Situation” Experiment

• “Insecure Attachment”
1. Avoidant – avoid or ignore mother upon return
2. Anxious – upset when mother leaves, switch between clinging and angrily rejecting mother upon return
3. Disorganized – behavior is inconsistent, disturbed, and disturbing (i.e. – cry after mother returns and comforts; reach out for mother while looking away from her)

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• Secure attachments correlated with more positive social relationships later in life
• Secure attachments seem to be connected to sensitive, responsive parenting (respond when kids cry, are hungry, need attention, etc)
• But may also be related to a child’s temperament (emotional disposition and reaction – speed & intensity)

Mary Ainsworth�“Strange Situation” Experiment

Peer Relationships

• Developmental psychologists study how peer relationships develop over time

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• Children – socialize through play
• “Parallel play”
• “Pretend play”

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• Adolescents – rely more on peer relationships as they age
• Demonstrate a type of egocentrism:
• “Imaginary audience”
• “Personal fable”

Adult Social Development

• Social clock
• Culture dictates the timeline of expected age for major life events (i.e. marriage, having children, starting a career, retirement, etc.)
• “Emerging Adulthood” – period of transition from adolescence to adulthood in some cultures

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• Relationships with other adults lead to forming “families” providing mutual support/care
• Childhood attachment can affect relationships/attachment with other adults

Parenting Styles�(Diana Baumrind)

Parenting Styles

• Authoritarian
• Strict, punitive, unsympathetic
• Value obedience from child and authority for selves
• Try to curb child’s will, discourage independence
• Detached and seldom praise

Their children tend to be:

Unfriendly, distrustful, withdrawn, less empathic, more aggressive, more likely to cheat, less likely to feel guilty or accept blame

Parenting Styles

• Permissive
• More affectionate, give lax discipline, great deal of freedom

Children tend to be:

Immature, dependent, unhappy, prone to tantrums, act helpless

Parenting Styles

• Authoritative
• Fall between previous two extremes
• Reason with child, encourage give and take, sets limits but encourages independence, firm but understanding, demands are reasonable and consistent, give children more responsibility as they mature

Children tend to be:

Friendly, cooperative, self-reliant, socially responsible, better in school, more popular

Parenting Styles

• Uninvolved
• Indifferent to their children
• Invest as little time, money, effort as possible
• Focus on own needs before child’s

Children tend to be:

Less likely to form secure attachments, more impulsive, aggressive, noncompliant, moody, low in self-esteem

Parenting Styles

• But, research is correlational
• Does parenting cause traits in child? or do child’s traits influence parenting style used by parents?