Ainsworth & Bell - background

• attachment


  an affectionate tie to one person or animal, does not have to be reciprocal
• behaviourist theory on attachment


  babies are born blank slates with no innate behaviours, instead behaviour is learned
• evolutionary theory of attachment

  children come into the world biologically pre-programmed to form attachments with others, because this will help them survive
• lorenz


  took large clutch of goose eggs, half eggs placed under mother, lorenz kept other half beside himself for hours, when geese hatched lorenz imitated quacking sound, birds regarded him as his mother and followed him - geese follow the first moving object they see during a 12-17 hour critical period, this is a process called imprinting
• harlow


  studying monkeys bond with mother, 2 different fake mothers, cuddly soft mother with monkey facial features, and wire mother which fed them, if monkey was scared they'd run to cuddly mother, 'tactile comfort' innate attachment in need of comfort
• bowlby social releasers


  babies are born with the tendency to show innate behaviours, social releasers, which help contact with mother or contact figure, e.g crying
• bowlby maternal deprivation hypothesis

  children form 1 primary attachment, and this is a secure base for them to explore the world, this reflects all future relationships, reflects how they will be when having own children, if this is disrupted or broken during critical 2 year period, the child will suffer irreversible long term cognitive, social and emotional difficulties
• bowlby 2 outcomes to failure to form attachment

  based on self-report study with 88 adolescents, 44 thieves, 44 non thieves

  affectionless psychopathy: inability to feel empathy, guilt or affection towards others

  developmental retardation: intellect is delayed without attachment
• bowlby 4 stages of attachment

  1. pre attachment: 0-2 months, no fear of strangers
  2. attachment in the making: 2-8 months, infant prefers particular person, recognises parents, does not protest to separation
  3. clear cut attachment: 8-18 months, separation anxiety, can have multiple attachments
  4. formation of reciprocal attachment: 8 months-2 years, understanding of caregiver's schedule, separation protests decline
• bowlby evaluation


  may be too simplistic, cannot be generalised to everyone, secure upbringing does not equal good parent, abuse does not equal a continuous cycle