Introduction to Attachment
PSY344
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Attachment defined
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What are the developmental stages of attachment?
What are the evolutionary functions of attachment?
Describe the attachment system.
What are key attachment concepts and what evidence is
there that monkeys evidence these concepts (review
Harlow film)?
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Attachment’s Function/Goal:
Keeping Caregivers Close
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Environment of evolutionary
adaptiveness
Protection from
predators and . . .
conspecifics
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Attachment Development Stages
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1st, indiscriminate, 0-2 months
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Whatever obtains/promotes proximity
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Both crying and smiling.
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2nd, discrimination, 2-7 months
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Discrimination of figures/signals
3rd, 7-24 months, classic attachment stage.
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Using locomotion to attain/maintain proximity.
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But is there research showing that this is the case?
Secure base phenomenon.
4th, goal-corrected partnership, 2 years
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language
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Behavior Systems
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The attachment system.
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The fear/wariness system.
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Coordinates avoidant, wary, or fearful responses to
strangers.
The affiliative system.
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Attaining and maintaining proximity to caregivers.
Social behaviors and interactions.
Exploratory system.
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Engagement in physical environment.
Levels of attachment organization
Attachment behaviors - Promote proximity
(function/goal)
 Attachment system - Organization of
behaviors to achieve goal
 Attachment bond - Child’s affectional tie
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Attachment system
Inherent motivation
 Organization of different behaviors
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Doesn’t matter how you get to caregiver
With single function
 In a goal-corrected manner
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Attachment as an organizational
construct
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Attachment bond
Felt bond between mother and child
 Balance between exploration & proximity
 Child’s working model of mother
 Based on perceived accessibility and
responsivity of mother
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Multiple attachments
Infants form attachments to many
caregivers
 A hierarchy is assumed
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In which infant turns first to primary caregiver
Role of fathers
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Attachment makes social contact
a psychological reality
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You carry feelings of being with other
inside you
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Attachment motivates behaviors
through feelings
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Forming attachment
Maintaining
attachment
Threat of loss
Actual loss
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Falling in love
Loving someone (joy)
Anxiety
Sorrow/mourning
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What forms the basis for
attachment relationships? (cont)
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Harlow’s studies and the rejection of “drive
reduction” explanations
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Spitz (1946) noticed that infants in orphanages
(who were adequately nourished but had no loving
attention) did very poorly
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Harlow’s surrogate mother studies examined
relative influence of feeding vs. contact/comfort on
attachment
Intellectual History
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Old dominant theory:
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Affection/attachment to mother originate because
mother is the source of food
Behaviorist: Contact becomes conditioned reinforcer
because it is paired with food, an unconditioned
reinforcer
 Learning theory: Primary drive toward food (oral)
becomes secondary drive toward contact
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Harlow demonstrates this is incorrect
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Harlow movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsA5Sec6dAI
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Harlow’s Surrogate Mother
Studies (cont)
From Blum
Time is spent on cloth mothers
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Both wire and cloth
fed spend most of their
time on cloth
surrogate mother
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Regardless of which
“mother” fed you
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Secure Base
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Secure
attachment to
surrogate allows
for exploration of
feared situation
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Key Attachment Concepts
examined by Harlow
Contact with attachment figure
 Retreat to attachment figure when afraid
 Become less afraid
 Use attachment figure as secure base from
which to explore
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Difference
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Presence of attachment is usually a
biological given
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almost all infants attached
Security of attachment is an individual
difference
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2/3 of infants securely attached, 1/3 anxiously
attached (some avoidant, some resistant)
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Attachment disorders:
Romanian adoptees
http://www.chrisgibbs.com/pages/romania.html
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Exposure to institutional rearing 
disinhibited attachment disturbance
< 18 months: 16% (13/84)
24-42 months: 33% (15/45)
Stable & little decrease 2-years.
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Disturbance (from interview) means
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Lack of differentiation among adults;
Clear indication that child would readily go off with a stranger;
Lack of checking back w parent in anxiety-provoking situations.
•
Rutter, M. and T. G. O'Connor (2004). "Are There Biological Programming Effects for
Psychological Development? Findings From a Study of Romanian Adoptees."
Developmental Psychology 40(1): 81-94
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Describing secure and insecure
attachment
Brunner & Messinger
Measuring attachment security
A construct (secure attachment)
Is different than its measurement or
operationalization
 Attachment security can be measured with a
Q-sort (an intricate rating system)
 Prototypically measured with the Strange
Situation (12 – 36 months at least)
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Measuring Attachment
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Ainsworth’s (1978) Strange Situation
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Seven episodes increasing amount of stress (e.g., unfamiliar
environment, unfamiliar adult, brief separation from parent)
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Of interest is how attachment behaviors are organized around
parent
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Attachment classification based primarily on reunion behaviors
See example at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTsewNrHUHU (van Ijzendoorn)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH1m_ZMO7GU (different attachment types)
Attachment Classifications
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Secure Attachment (Type B; 65% in NA)
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Ambivalent/Insecure-Resistant (Type C, 15% in NA)
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Insecure/Avoidant (Type A, 20% in NA)
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Disorganized (Type D, very rare)
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Attachment system
Stress activates the attachment system &
reveals the child’s strategy
 Security is an equilibrium
 Avoidance is deactivation/shutting down
 Resistance is over-activation/acting up
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Cross-cultural assessment
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2,000 Ainsworth strange situation classifications
obtained in 8 different countries.
Intracultural variation was nearly 1.5 times the
cross-cultural variation.
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Some samples from one country resembled those in
other countries more than they did each other.
Cross-cultural differences
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Avoidant classifications emerge relatively more
prevalent in Western European countries
resistant classifications relatively more frequent in
Israel and Japan.
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Strange Situation protocol
8 episodes, 3 min. each
1: mother given instructions outside room
 2: mother & child in room
 3: stranger enters
 4: 1st separation (stranger present)
 5: 1st reunion
 6: 2nd separation (baby alone)
 7: stranger reunion
 8: 2nd reunion
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Reunion coding scales
Proximity seeking
 Contact maintenance
 Avoidance
 Resistance
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 1(low)
-7 (high)
 Disorganization
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1 to 9
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Overall strategy
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A – Avoidant
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B – Secure
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Seek and be comforted by caregiver
C – Resistant
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Avoid caregiver
Seek caregiving without surcease
D – Disorganized
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Lack a coherent strategy
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Videos
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Proximity seeking behaviors
Immediate (vs. Delayed) approach to mom
 Purposeful and effective approach
 Going all the way to mother and making
contact
 Reaching for pick up
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Contact Maintenance Behaviors
Resisting release, clambering up after being
put down
 Protesting release by crying
 Clinging on attempted release
 Remaining in contact after being put down
i.E. Holding on to mother’s knee
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Avoidance Behaviors
Delay in responding to mom’s entrance
 Ignoring mom’s entrance; No greeting
given
 Busying self with toys at point of reunion
 Gaze aversion when mom bids
 Trying to go past mom out the door
 Orienting body away from mom
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Resistance Behaviors
Angry mood, pouting, petulance, distress,
cranky fussing, temper tantrum
 Squirming when held
 Rejection of toys when mom offers
 Not easily calmed
 Crying after being calmed
 Crying in response to increased proximity
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Disorganization
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Inexplicable behavior
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No goal/strategy
Behavior suggests infant fears caregiver
 Disorganized behavior should occur with
caregiver and is given more weight if it
occurs early in reunion
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Coding disorganization
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“Behavior indicative of conflict, fear, and
confusion in relation to their attachment figure . . .
Sequential or simultaneous display of
contradictory behavior patterns; undirected,
misdirected, incomplete, and interrupted
movements and expressions; stereotypes,
asymmetrical movements, mistimed movements,
and anomalous postures; freezing, stilling, and
slowed movements and expressions; and direct
indexes of apprehension, disorganization, or
disorientation.” (Belsky et al., 1996)
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Disorganized behavior
Sequential/simultaneous displays of
contradictory behaviors
 Incomplete and stereotypic movements
 Freezing/stilling/slowing
 Indices of apprehension
 A 9-point Disorganization scale where
scores of 5+ indicate disorganization.
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Physiology
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Disorganized infant have higher stress
reactions (salivary cortisol) than other
infants
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in the Strange Situation– two studies
Reasonably stable categorization
R=.34 over x 25 months
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Meta-analysis: Van Ijzendoorn, Schuengel, & Bakermans-Kranenburg
(1999)
Higher heart rate for avoidant infants
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