1. Attachment: An enduring emotional tie that unites one person to another, over time and across space

2. Attachment Behaviors:
Behaviors that function to bring the infant/child physically closer to the caregiver
Exs: crying, following, clinging

3. Why is parent-child attachment important?
First relationship that infants experience
May serve as a model for other relationships
May affect the development of self-concept

4. Individual Differences in Attachment Security
Infancy: Strange Situation
Mother and infant in laboratory playroom
Stranger enters, talks to mothers, engages infant
Mother leaves (stranger stays)
Mother returns (stranger leaves)
Mother leaves (baby alone)
Stranger returns
Mother returns

5. Secure (B)
About 60-65% of American middle-class samples
May or may not be distressed by separation
Respond positively to parent’s return
If distressed by separation, easily comforted by parent and able to return to play (parent = secure base)

6. Insecure-Avoidant (A)
15-20% of American middle-class samples
Usually not distressed by separation from parent
Avoid the parent during reunion (to different degrees)

7. Insecure-Resistant or Ambivalent (C)
10-15% of American middle-class samples
Usually distressed by separation
Show a combination of angry, resistant behavior and proximity-seeking behavior during reunion with parent
Have difficulty being comforted by parent and returning to play

8. Insecure-Disorganized (D)
10-15% of American middle-class samples
More common in infants who have been maltreated
Infants’ behavior does not reflect an organized strategy for dealing with the stress of separation
Contradictory behaviors
Expressions of fear or disorientation when caregiver returns

9. Influences on Infant Attachment Security
According to attachment theory, the major influence is parental behavior (especially sensitivity) during infancy
Sensitivity: Consistent, prompt, and appropriate responses to infant signals

10. Infants’ behavior in the Strange Situation is hypothesized to reflect their past experiences with that parent
Secure infants expect caregiver to be sensitive
Insecure infants expect caregiver to be insensitive

11. Evidence for Parental Behavior as the Major Influence on Infant Attachment Security:
Parental sensitivity is correlated with infant attachment security, but the correlation is not strong
Disagreement about the importance of parental sensitivity in influencing attachment security
Other factors also affect attachment security

12. Attachment and Later Development
A secure attachment in infancy is related to:
More positive interactions with parents in the second year of life
More positive relationships with others (e.g., day care teachers, peers) when children are toddlers and preschoolers

13. Associations between infant attachment security and the quality of older children’s relationships are not as consistent, but some studies do find associations