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Social Development in
the Family
Chapter 11
Attachment
A strong emotional bond that forms between infant
and caregiver in the second half of the child’s first
year
Theories of Attachment

Psychoanalytic Theory
 Infants
become attached to their mother
because they associate her with gratification of
their instinctual drive to obtain pleasure through
sucking and oral stimulation

Learning Theory
 Drive-reduction
learning theorists suggested that
the mother becomes an attachment object
because she is associated with the reduction of
the baby’s primary drive of hunger
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Theories of Attachment

Harlow’s Research

Baby monkeys preferred to cling to the cloth “mother”—
especially in moments of stress—even though it dispensed no
food
Thus, oral gratification and drive
reduction are inadequate
explanations for attachment
Video of Harlow experiments: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrNBEhzjg8I
Theories of Attachment
Learning Theories

Operant Conditioning
 Attachment
development based on visual, auditory, and
tactile stimulation that infants receive from their
caregivers
 Limitation: does not explain why abused and
maltreated children still form attachments to their
abusive caregivers.
Theories of Attachment


Ethological Theory – Bowlby

Theory influenced by Lorenz’s demonstration of
imprinting

Secure base: A safety zone that the infant can
retreat to for comfort and reassurance when stressed
or frightened while exploring the environment
Three important features of theory:

Emphasis on the active role played by the infant’s
early social signaling systems

Stress on the development of mutual attachments

Attachment is a dyadic relationship, not simply a
behavior of either the infant or the parent
Internal Working Model: a person’s mental representation and interpretation
of the type of parenting that he or she received as a child
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Phases in Early Attachment
Development
Phase
Age
Observed Behavior
1) Preattachment
0-2 months
Indiscriminate social responsiveness
2) Attachment in the making 2-7 months
Recognition of familiar people
3) Clear-cut attachment
Separation protest; wariness of
strangers; intentional
communication
7-24 months
4) Goal-corrected partnership 24+ months
Relationships more two sided;
children understand parents’
needs
Attachment Meaning and Figures

Usually form first attachment by 12 months of age

Seek contact and proximity with attachment figure

Separation distress or protest - An infant’s distress
reaction to being separated from the attachment figure
which typically peaks at about 15 months of age
Multiple attachments are common
 Mother - primary
 Father
 Grandparent
 Sibling

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