Psychology - Attachment Theory

In this video, we're learning about attachment theory. So we'll cover Bowlby's attachment theory and the four main types of attachment. Let's start by looking at Bowlby's attachment theory. We use the term attachment to describe the emotional bond that forms between an infant and their caregiver. Bowlby proposed that attachment is absolutely essential for healthy development. He suggested that it's innate, meaning babies are born with a biological drive to form attachment and that they have this drive because this increases their chances of survival. There are several key parts to Bowlby's theory and one is the idea of a sensitive period, which refers to a critical window in the first two to three years of life when attachment is most likely to form. If a strong attachment doesn't develop during this time, Bowlby believed it could have lasting effects on the child's emotional and social development. Bowlby also proposed the concept of monotropy, which is the idea that infants have an innate tendency to form one primary attachment, usually with their mother or main caregiver, and this figure is seen as the most important relationship in the child's early life. Another important aspect of Bowlby's theory is the internal working model, or IWM. This is essentially a mental template that children develop based on their early attachment experiences and it shapes how they view themselves, others, and relationships throughout their lives. If a child has a secure, loving relationship with their caregiver, they're likely to develop a positive internal working model, seeing themselves as worthy of love and expecting others to be trustworthy and responsive. On the other hand, if they have inconsistent or neglectful early experiences, they may develop a more negative internal working model that affects their future relationships. Supporting evidence for the importance of this early bonding comes from research by Harlow in 1958. They conducted a study using rhesus monkeys to investigate attachment, where infant monkeys were separated from their mothers and placed in cages with two surrogate mothers. One surrogate was made of wire and provided food through a bottle, and the other surrogate was covered in soft cloth but provided no food. Harlow found that the infant monkeys spent significantly more time clinging to the soft cloth mother, even though it didn't provide any food. When the monkeys were frightened, they would run to the cloth mother for comfort rather than the wire mother. The findings from this study support the idea that attachment is about more than just being fed, and that contact comfort, which is the warmth and security of physical closeness, is crucial for forming attachment bonds. There's a clear limitation with Harlow's study, though, because it used monkeys rather than humans, so we need to be cautious about generalizing these findings to human infants, because their attachment behaviors may be influenced by more complex social and cognitive factors. Next, let's look at the different types of attachment that children can develop, and most of what we know about this comes from research by Ainsworth in 1970. She developed a procedure called the strange situation, which was designed to assess the quality of attachment between infants and their caregivers by observing how infants responded to a series of separations and reunions with their caregiver whilst in an unfamiliar environment. Throughout the experiment, the researchers observed how the infant reacted to their mother exiting and entering the room throughout their play session. Based on how the infants behaved during these different situations, Ainsworth identified three different attachment types. The first type is secure attachment, which is characterized by infants who are happy to explore their environment when their caregiver is present, become distressed when the caregiver leaves, but are quickly comforted when they return. These infants use their caregiver as a secure base from which to explore the world, and this type of attachment is typically associated with caregivers who are sensitive and responsive to their child's needs. The second type is insecure avoidant attachment, where infants show little interest in their caregiver, don't seem particularly distressed when the caregiver leaves, and tend to avoid or ignore the caregiver when they return. These infants appear quite independent, but may have learned that their caregiver is unresponsive to their needs, and this type of attachment is often associated with caregivers who are emotionally unavailable or who discourage crying and dependence. The third type is insecure resistant attachment, which is sometimes called insecure ambivalent attachment. Infants with this attachment type are often clingy and reluctant to explore, as well as becoming very distressed when the caregiver leaves, but are difficult to comfort when the caregiver returns, often showing a mix of seeking contact and resisting it at the same time. This type of attachment is typically associated with caregivers who are inconsistent in their responses, sometimes being attentive and responsive, but other times being unavailable or neglectful. A fourth attachment, disorganized attachment, was identified by researchers later on after Ainsworth's experiment. Infants with disorganized attachment show inconsistent and confused behaviors, such as approaching the caregiver whilst looking away, or freezing and looking dazed. This type is often associated with caregivers who are frightening or unpredictable, leaving the infant with no clear strategy for seeking comfort. One of the strengths of this strange situation is that it's a standardized procedure, which means it can be replicated by other researchers so they can test the reliability of the findings, and this is actually how the fourth attachment type was discovered when later researchers used the same procedure and identified disorganized attachment. However, a limitation to the procedure is that research has shown that attachment behaviors can vary across cultures, and as this procedure was developed in the USA, what's considered secure attachment there might look very different in a different culture, which raises questions about whether the strange situation is equally valid for assessing attachment in all cultural contexts. If you haven't heard yet, you can find all of our videos on our website, cognito.org. 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