Psychology
Stages of Attachment
The stages of attachment refer to the sequence of emotional bonds that infants form with their primary caregivers. The stages include pre-attachment (birth to 6 weeks), attachment-in-the-making (6 weeks to 6-8 months), clear-cut attachment (6-8 months to 18 months), and formation of reciprocal relationships (18 months and beyond). These stages are crucial for the development of secure and healthy attachments in childhood.
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10 Key excerpts on "Stages of Attachment"
eBook - PDFDifferent Faces of Attachment
Cultural Variations on a Universal Human Need
- Hiltrud Otto, Heidi Keller(Authors)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
Introduction: understanding relationships – what we would need to know to conceptualize attachment as the cultural solution of a universal developmental task Heidi Keller The definition of attachment as a primary bond between infants and caregivers emerging at around 1 year of age as an evolved adaptation for ensuring survival and development was the seminal contribution of the British psychiatrist and psychoanalyst John Bowlby and his (later) Canadian-American counterpart Mary Ainsworth (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters et al., 1978; Bowlby, 1969). Attachment theory has initiated a tremendous body of research over the last decades, particularly expand- ing its focus on neurophysiological regulations, and extending it to adult- hood and clinical applications. Nevertheless, the theoretical and method- ological foundations have remained amazingly unaffected, although the basis of knowledge concerning the infant’s socioemotional development has increased substantially since the publication of Bowlby’s well-known trilogy Attachment and Loss and Ainsworth and collaborators’ summary of their empirical research on the emergence of attachment during the first year of life (1978). The first encompassing proposal for the refine- ment of conceptual and methodological issues of attachment theory and research was published by Michael Lamb and collaborators in 1984 in the renowned journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences – though without any observable notice by other attachment researchers. Attachment theory is grounded in evolutionary theory with its basic tenet that every human characteristic is shaped through selection pro- cesses and represents an adaptation to contextual demands. Bowlby stressed explicitly the contextual nature of attachment in his early writ- ings.
eBook - PDFChild Psychology
Developments in Knowledge and Theoretical Models
- Jean-Pascal Assailly(Author)
- 2022(Publication Date)
- Wiley-ISTE(Publisher)
5 Attachment The theme of love of the mother or father – and the difficulties linked to their uncertain presence or absence – haunts mythology, feeds literature and fills the offices of psychoanalysts. Let us briefly recall, from the point of view of our discipline, the three main stages of the psychology of attachment between the child and the parent. 5.1. The concept of attachment In 1969, an English psychiatrist, John Bowlby, in a book entitled “Attachment and Loss”, presented his theory of attachment, which is based on ethological work: the observation of the similarity of the reactions of rhesus macaques (Harlow’s experiments) and human infants (Spitz’s experiments) to the loss of the mother (sequence of reactions in three phases: protest, despair, detachment) and the long- term consequences of separation. The other ethological dimension supporting attachment theory is the observation of attachment behaviors (behaviors aiming at obtaining or maintaining a certain proximity with the maternal organism or its substitute: screaming, crying, moving towards, embracing, smiling), which have a protective function. This protection is a function for the individual in question, as well as more generally, in a Darwinian perspective, for the survival of the species: it is necessary for the young to reach the age of reproduction. These behaviors are obviously reminiscent of a concept from animal ethology, more precisely Lorenz’s Imprinting Theory relating to birds, that is, the innate behavior of pursuit and recognition of the mother, or whatever takes its place. However, the difference lies in the fact that, while imprinting works immediately, attachment is constructed. Child Psychology: Developments in Knowledge and Theoretical Models, First Edition. Jean-Pascal Assailly. © ISTE Ltd 2022. Published by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
eBook - PDFChildhood and Adolescence
Voyages in Development
- Spencer Rathus(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
• The quality of attachment is related to the quality of the caregiver– infant relationship (Ainsworth). • Attachment in humans occurs in stages or phases (Ainsworth): 1. The initial pre-attachment phase: birth to about 3 months; indiscriminate attachment. 2. The attachment-in-the-making phase: 3 or 4 months; preference for familiar figures. 3. The clear-cut attachment phase: 6 or 7 months; intensified dependence on the primary caregiver. Nina Leen/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images Nina Leen/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. CHAPTER 7 INFANCY: SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT 225 When Attachment Fails What happens when children are reared in group settings, such as some orphanages, where they have little or no contact with parents or other caregivers? What happens when parents neglect or abuse their children? In both cases, children’s attachments may be impaired. Attachment may also fail in some children because of the develop-ment of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). In this section, we consider the effect of social deprivation, child abuse, and ASDs on the development of attachment. What Are the Effects of Social Deprivation on Child Development? Children who are reared in institutions where they receive little social stimulation from caregivers exhibit various problems and delays in their physical, intellectual, social, and emotional development.
- Tricia Johnson(Author)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
It would appear that Bowlby’s analysis of the complexity and many variables within each situation when assessing the levels of attachment, whether it be secure or inse- cure, are being proven through continuing research and advances in technology. The focus of this chapter has been on attachment between baby and Mother or first carer. It has been recognised for decades that children are able to form attach- ments to more than one adult or Mother figure. Stern (1998) has spoken about attachments changing and developing throughout life, so that attachments do not remain static. These ’selective attachments’ (Rutter and Rutter 1993) begin to occur between the ages of one and three years and continue throughout life. Reflection 4 ■ Consider the different forms of attachment that you yourself have experienced. ■ List them in order of importance to you ■ Ask yourself why they were important ■ How did you feel when some of the attachments changed? ■ What events may cause changes in attachment levels? Attachment to secondary care givers is considered specifically and in detail in Chapter 3 when the role of the Key Person is addressed, including the management of separation anxiety, insecure attachments and the impact that these situations can have, not only on the child but also on the Key Person. The emotional needs of babies and very young children have been included in the content of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) since 2008, this has resulted in the inclusion of statements such as ‘must ensure support for children’s emotional well-being to help them to know themselves’ (DfFS 2008 p. 12). It is one of the three prime areas of learning, ‘personal, social and emotional development’, in the DfE 2012 and is, thankfully, still included in the most recent EYFS Statutory Framework (DfE 2017). 58 Attachment theory It is statutory for each child to be allocated a ‘Key Person’.
eBook - ePub- Martha E. Arterberry, Marc H. Bornstein(Authors)
- 2023(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
Chapter 2 .KEY TERMSAttachmentsspecific, enduring emotional bonds, the first of which are often with parentsCHAPTER OVERVIEWDevelopment of attachmentIndividual differences in attachmentAttachment across cultural contextsParent–infant interactionGender stereotypes and socializationWhat are the phases of caregiver–infant attachment?
A number of developmental theories emphasize the importance of child–caregiver interactions, but no theory has been as enduring as that formulated by Bowlby (1969 ; Grojman-de-Millan et al., 2017 ; Thompson et al., 2021 ). Bowlby, a psychoanalyst, was impressed by the capacity of ethological theorists to explain early emotional communications and the formation of social bonds in nonhuman species. (Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior, often making cross-species comparisons.) One assumption of the ethological perspective is that the behavioral propensities of infants and parents are best considered in the context of the “environment of evolutionary adaptedness” in which our species evolved. There the survival of infants depended on their ability to maintain proximity to protective adults to obtain nourishment, comfort, and security. Unlike the young of many other species, human infants are unable to move closer to or physically follow adults for several months after birth, and they are even incapable of clinging to adults to stay in contact. Instead, human infants have to rely on signals of various sorts to entice adults to approach and stay near them. For these signals to be effective, adults must be predisposed to respond to them. A good example of such a signal is crying, which very effectively entices adults to approach, pick up, talk to, and soothe infants (Bornstein et al., 2017 ; Esposito & Bornstein, 2019 ; Yoo et al., 2018
eBook - PDFUnderstanding Emotional Development
Providing insight into human lives
- Robert Lewis Wilson, Rachel Wilson(Authors)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
Attachment originates with the infant and develops into a reciprocal interchange between the child and his or her caregiver that satisfies the child’s most basic dependency needs and allows the child to explore his or her surroundings. The attachment relationship is the baby’s first emotional relationship and if satisfactory is the one from which the child draws emotional comfort and security. Children will seek out the caregiver to whom they are most closely attached whenever they need comfort or when they are injured. Attachment has very close links with a child’s sense of security. Security for the child is based on predictability. The child and the caregiver have had a long period of reciprocal interaction, and they know each other intimately. This allows the child to be able to predict what will happen in the caregiver’s presence. This ability to predict creates a sense of security in the infant and allows the child to explore his or her environment with confidence using the caregiver as a secure base. A sense of security counters anxiety, the emotion that is fuelled by unpredictability. According to Bowlby, the founder of attachment theory, attachment is an enduring emotional tie between infant and caregiver (Bowlby, 1982). Bowlby saw attachment as a way in which infants can reconcile their desire to explore with their wish to be secure and safe. The child uses the caregiver to whom they are attached as a secure base from which to venture into the world, but also as a person to whom they can run whenever danger or strangeness (we would say unpredict- ability) threatens. Attachment and bonding Bonding is a word used in the literature in several senses. Sometimes it is used to mean attachment. At other times bonding is used to mean the attraction that the adult feels for the child, more specifically the feelings of attraction that a mother has towards her newborn infant.
eBook - PDFA Matter of Security
The Application of Attachment Theory to Forensic Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
- Friedemann Pfafflin, Gwen Adshead(Authors)
- 2003(Publication Date)
- Jessica Kingsley Publishers(Publisher)
During the ‘attachment boom’ there has been an explosion of terms relating to different theoretical constructs of attachment. A review of the recently published attachment literature abstracts from January 2000 until May 2002 revealed a multitude of terms used in a rather confusing way. In this chapter the usage of terms is discussed with respect to their core meaning, and the adequacy of their application is evaluated. In order to provide a basis for empirical comparisons, social science requires a clear and specific conceptualisation of terminology. The terms ‘attachment style’, ‘– representation’, ‘– pattern’, ‘– quality’, ‘– status’, ‘– organisation’, ‘– class/classification’, and ‘– type/prototype’ are discussed in some detail and suggestions for further usage are made. 57 INTRODUCTION In his writings about attachment John Bowlby integrated elements of psy-choanalysis, ethology, and control-and learning theory into a theory which has greatly influenced theoretical concepts of developmental psychology, clinical psychology, psychoanalysis, and psychiatry. In his works on 1. ‘at-tachment’, 2. ‘separation’, 3. ‘loss, sadness and depression’ he focused on the central role of interpersonal relationships for social development and psychological functioning throughout life (Bowlby 1969, 1973, 1980). His theoretical considerations of attachment relationships were led by one central observation: in case of perceived physiological or psychological threat or danger, children tend to preserve their psychological integrity by seeking protection with primary caregivers. He developed two major hypotheses regarding the origin of inter-individual differences of attach-ment: 1. Through a history of responsive care, children will evolve expectations (inner working models) of their caregivers’ likely responses to signs of distress or other signals of the desire for contact.
eBook - PDF- Alan Slater, J. Gavin Bremner, Alan Slater, J. Gavin Bremner(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- BPS Blackwell(Publisher)
Bowlby, J. (1969/1982). Attachment and loss, vol. 1: Attachment (2nd edn). London: Hogarth Press. Cassidy, J., & Shaver, P.R. (Eds.) (2008). Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (2nd edn). New York: Guildford Press. Ekman, P., & Davidson, R.J. (Eds.) (1994). The nature of emotion: Fundamental questions. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Harris, P.L. (1989). Children and emotion. Oxford: Blackwell. REFERENCES Ainsworth, M.D.S. (1963). The development of infant–mother interaction among the Ganda. In B.M. Foss (Ed.) Determinants of infant behaviour (Vol. 2). London: Methuen; New York: Wiley. Ainsworth, M.D.S. (1967). Infancy in Uganda: Infant care and the growth of love. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. Ainsworth, M.D.S., Bell, S.M., & Stayton, D.J. (1971). Individual differences in Strange Situation behavior of one year olds. In H.R. Schaffer (Ed.) The origins of human social relations. New York: Academic Press. Ainsworth, M.D.S., Bell, S.M., & Stayton, D.J. (1974). Infant–mother attachment and social development: Socialisation as a product of reciprocal responsiveness to signals. In M.P.M. Richards (Ed.) The introduction of the child into a social world. London: Cambridge University Press. Ainsworth, M.D.S., Blehar, M.C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: Assessed in the strange situation and at home. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Ainsworth, M.D.S., & Marvin, R.S. (1995). On the shaping of attachment theory and research: An interview with Mary D.S. Ainsworth (Fall 1994). In Caregiving, cultural, and cognitive perspectives on secure-base behavior and working models: New growing points in attachment theory and research (pp. 3–21). Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 60 (2–3, Serial No. 244). Bar-Haim, Y., Sutton, D.B., Fox, N.A., & Marvin, R.S. (2000). Stability and change of attachment at 14, 24, and 58 months of age: Behavior, representation, and life events.
eBook - PDFSocial Psychology
Handbook of Basic Principles
- Paul A. M. Van Lange, E. Tory Higgins, Arie W. Kruglanski(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- The Guilford Press(Publisher)
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 317–331. Sroufe, L. A. (2016). The place of attachment in de- velopment. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (3rd ed., pp. 997–1011). New York: Guilford Press. Sroufe, L. A., Egeland, B., Carlson, E., & Collins, W. A. (2005). The development of the person: The Minnesota Study of Risk and Adaptation from Birth to Adulthood. New York: Guilford Press. Sroufe, L. A., & Waters, E. (1977). Attachment as an organizational construct. Child Development, 48, 1184–1199. Stern, J. A., Fraley, R. C., Jones, J. D., Gross, J. T., Shaver, P. R., & Cassidy, J. (2018). Developmental processes across the first two years of parenthood: Stability and change in adult attachment style. Developmental Psychology, 54, 975–988. Szepsenwol, O., & Simpson, J. A. (2019). Attach- ment within life history theory: An evolution- ary perspective of individual differences in at- tachment. Current Opinion in Psychology, 25, 65–70. van IJzendoorn, M. H. (1990). Developments in cross-cultural research on attachment: Some methodological notes. Human Development, 33, 3–9. van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Sagi-Schwartz, A. (2008). Cross-cultural patterns of attachment: Universal and contextual dimensions. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (2nd ed., pp. 880–905). New York: Guilford Press. Waters, E., & Cummings, E. M. (2000). A secure base from which to explore close relationships. Child Development, 71, 164–172. Zeifman, D. M., & Hazan, C. (2016). Pair bonds as attachments: Mounting evidence in support of Bowlby’s hypothesis. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theo- ry, research, and clinical applications (3rd ed., pp. 416–434). New York: Guilford Press.
- Martin Reite(Author)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
That the stranger, given familiarity with the in-fant, can become an attachment figure in short order is demonstrated by a comparison of the longitudinal development of interactions between mothers and infants and the same infants with their nursery school teachers (Field, 1983b). All these attachments, to mother, father, and peers, appear to de-velop in the very early months of life despite the notion advanced by Bowlby and others that attachments only develop later in the course of the first year. One of the criteria posited by Bowlby and Ainsworth for the development of a primary attachment is that the infant be able to recognize its mother or to differentiate the mother from other figures. Evidence from our laboratory suggests that rec-ognition of the mother's face occurs as early as the first day of life (Field, Cohen, Garcia, & Greenberg, 1983). In this study, neonates as young as 36 hours discriminated their mothers' faces from that of a stranger. As early as the first day of life, neonates also recognize their mothers' voices (DeCasper & Fifer, 1980). Thus, at least that criterion for development of early attachments is met as early as 436 TIFFANY FIELD the first days of life. That the infant shows more smiling and cooing toward its mother or father than toward a stranger during the early weeks of life (Field, 1977.) Fogel, 1977) may be as unequivocal evi-dence for a preference or attachment to the parent as the later be-haviors, such as greeting and clinging, typically used as an index of differential attachment to the mother at 1 year of age (Ainsworth, 1967). It is also in the context of very early interactions between infants and parents that we observed behaviors that suggested to us that attachment is a process of attunement by the dyad to each other's stimulation and arousal-modulation needs.
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