Attachment Theory Explained!
Summary
TLDRThis video explores attachment theory, focusing on how early relationships with caregivers shape future interactions. The presenter discusses key concepts from psychologists like Konrad Lorenz and John Bowlby, explaining stages of attachment from infancy through early childhood. The 'Strange Situation' experiment by Mary Ainsworth is highlighted, revealing four attachment styles: secure, anxious-ambivalent, avoidant, and disorganized. Viewers are encouraged to reflect on their childhood attachment patterns and their effects. The video also promotes 'Learn My Tests' for study tools and encourages viewers to subscribe for more psychology content.
Takeaways
- 📚 Practice tests are an effective study method. You can create them for free on Learn My Tests.
- 👶 Attachment theory studies how relationships with primary caregivers during infancy impact future relationships.
- 🐥 Konrad Lorenz's research on geese showed the concept of imprinting during a sensitive period in development.
- 👨👩👦 John Bowlby adapted Lorenz's work into human attachment stages involving infants and their caregivers.
- 🍼 Pre-attachment stage occurs from 0-2 months, where infants can't differentiate between caregivers and other humans.
- 👶 The attachment-in-the-making stage (2-6 months) is when infants recognize caregivers but don't show distress if they leave.
- 😢 Clear-cut attachment (6 months-4 years) is marked by separation anxiety when the caregiver leaves.
- 👨👦 In goal-corrected partnership (3-4 years onward), children understand that caregivers leave and return.
- 🔬 Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation experiment helped identify different attachment styles in children.
- 💔 Four attachment styles observed are secure, resistant (anxious-ambivalent), avoidant, and disorganized.
Q & A
What is attachment theory?
-Attachment theory is the study of how relationships with primary caregivers, starting in infancy, influence future relationships in adulthood.
What did Konrad Lorenz discover about geese that contributed to attachment theory?
-Konrad Lorenz discovered that baby geese, after hatching, would follow the first thing they saw, believing it to be their mother. He called this a 'sensitive period,' where geese are wired to learn who their mother is.
How did John Bowlby build on Lorenz's work to develop human attachment theory?
-John Bowlby adapted Lorenz's findings and created a theory describing stages of human attachment to primary caregivers, which starts in infancy and lays the foundation for future relationships.
What are the four stages of attachment in Bowlby’s theory?
-The four stages are: 1) Pre-attachment (0-2 months), where infants cannot differentiate between their mother and others; 2) Attachment in the making (2-6 months), where infants recognize their parents but do not experience distress when they leave; 3) Clear-cut attachment (6 months-4 years), where children experience separation anxiety; 4) Goal-corrected partnership (3-4 years and onward), where children understand that parents will leave and return.
What was Mary Ainsworth’s 'Strange Situation' experiment?
-The 'Strange Situation' experiment involved observing a child's behavior in a room with their parent and a stranger to assess how the child reacts to separations and reunions with the parent, identifying different attachment styles.
What behaviors did researchers observe in the 'Strange Situation' experiment?
-Researchers observed how the child explored the room, reacted to a stranger entering, and how the child responded to separations and reunions with the parent, focusing on signs of separation anxiety and stranger anxiety.
What are the four attachment styles identified by Ainsworth?
-The four attachment styles are: 1) Secure attachment; 2) Anxious-ambivalent attachment; 3) Avoidant attachment; 4) Disorganized attachment.
What is a secure attachment style and how does it manifest in children?
-Children with secure attachment experience distress when their mother leaves but are generally friendly with strangers if the mother is present. They are happy when their mother returns and feel comfortable exploring their surroundings.
How does anxious-ambivalent attachment differ from secure attachment?
-Children with anxious-ambivalent attachment experience more intense distress when their mother leaves and are often angry when she returns. They are afraid of strangers and stay close to their mother, showing less willingness to explore.
What is disorganized attachment, and what might it indicate?
-Disorganized attachment is when a child shows inconsistent and confused behavior, often due to child abuse. These children may feel relief when their mother leaves and prefer strangers, signaling potential issues in the caregiving environment.
Outlines
📚 Introduction and Overview of Study Tips and Attachment Theory
Brian Collins introduces himself and encourages viewers to practice taking tests as the best study method. He mentions his website (learnmytests.com) where viewers can create practice tests for free. Brian also invites users to add him as a study buddy and promises to send practice tests. He previews the topic of attachment theory, which explores how relationships with parents or caregivers in infancy shape future relationships. The paragraph introduces Konrad Lorenz's discovery about baby geese imprinting and its significance in development, laying the groundwork for the exploration of human attachment.
🧠 Bowlby’s Four Stages of Attachment Development
John Bowlby’s adaptation of Lorenz's work led to his theory of attachment stages in human infants. These stages are: 1) Pre-attachment (0-2 months) where infants can't differentiate between caregivers; 2) Attachment in the Making (2-6 months) where infants start recognizing their caregivers without showing distress in their absence; 3) Clear-cut Attachment (6 months-4 years) where children experience separation anxiety when caregivers leave; and 4) Goal-Corrected Partnership (3-4 years onward) where children understand that caregivers will return, reducing anxiety. The paragraph provides a structured view of how infant-caregiver attachment evolves over time.
🔬 Ainsworth’s Strange Situation Experiment
The Strange Situation experiment, developed by Mary Ainsworth, builds on Bowlby’s theory and involves observing a child’s interaction with a parent in a playroom setting. The experiment consists of several steps: the introduction of a parent and child into a room, the parent leaving the room, and the reaction of the child being observed. The researchers look for behaviors like how the child explores the room, interacts with strangers, and reacts to the parent’s departure and return. The experiment is designed to evaluate the child’s attachment style by observing their distress, anxiety, or comfort level in various situations.
😟 Four Types of Attachment Styles
Before diving into the attachment styles identified by Ainsworth, the paragraph asks viewers to reflect on their own childhood experiences with separation anxiety and interactions with strangers. The four attachment styles are: 1) Secure attachment, where children are distressed when a caregiver leaves but happy upon return, and feel comfortable exploring with the caregiver as a secure base; 2) Resistant or Anxious-Ambivalent, where children experience intense distress upon separation and are upset at the caregiver’s return; 3) Avoidant attachment, where children show little distress when the caregiver leaves and minimal interest upon return; and 4) Disorganized attachment, often associated with child abuse, where children are relieved when an abusive caregiver leaves and prefer the stranger.
🔄 Recap and Call to Action
The final paragraph summarizes the attachment styles and encourages viewers to ask their parents about their own attachment patterns as children. Brian Collins promotes his platform, learnmytests.com, as a resource to create practice tests and reiterates the invitation to connect as a study buddy. He closes by encouraging viewers to subscribe to his channel for weekly updates and new video content, reinforcing his commitment to posting more psychology-related videos.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Attachment Theory
💡Konrad Lorenz
💡Sensitive Period
💡John Bowlby
💡Pre-attachment Stage
💡Strange Situation Experiment
💡Secure Attachment
💡Anxious-Ambivalent Attachment
💡Avoidant Attachment
💡Disorganized Attachment
Highlights
Introduction to the video on the theory of attachment and practice tests offered at LearnMyTests.
Attachment theory explains how early relationships with parents or caregivers shape future relationships in adulthood.
Konrad Lorenz's experiment with baby geese led to the discovery of the sensitive period in development when animals recognize their mother.
John Bowlby adapted Lorenz's work to human attachment and developed the four stages of attachment in children.
Pre-attachment stage (0-2 months): Infants cannot differentiate between their mother and other people.
Attachment-in-the-making stage (2-6 months): Infants begin to recognize their parents but do not show distress when separated from them.
Clear-cut attachment stage (6 months to 4 years): Children show separation anxiety when separated from their primary caregiver.
Goal-corrected partnership (3-4 years and onward): Children understand that their parents will leave and return, reducing separation anxiety.
Mary Ainsworth extended Bowlby's work with the 'Strange Situation' experiment to study children's attachment patterns.
Insecure attachment patterns include resistant or anxious-ambivalent attachment, where children show intense distress when separated from their mother.
Avoidant attachment: Children show little separation anxiety and are okay with strangers, indicating potential difficulty forming close relationships.
Disorganized attachment is often associated with child abuse, where children feel relieved when the abusive parent leaves and prefer the stranger.
About 70% of children form secure attachments, which are considered the healthiest and most adaptive attachment style.
The video encourages viewers to reflect on their own childhood attachment patterns and how it affects their current relationships.
Reminder to sign up for LearnMyTests to access practice tests and stay updated on new psychology videos every other week.
Transcripts
hi I'm Brian Collins learn my test
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on the latest today's topic is the
theory of attachment attachment theory
is the study of how your relationships
with your parents or primary caregivers
starting in infancy lay the foundation
for your future relationships in
adulthood super ologist Konrad Lorenz
watch baby geese hatch from their shells
he was the first face that the goose saw
once they hatched from their shell
Konrad realized that after the geese
hatched they would follow him wherever
he went the geese were wired to believe
whatever they saw when they hatched was
their mother Konrad Lorenz realized the
time geese hatch is an important period
in development for them because they
realized their motherís but he defined a
sensitive period as in as any period in
development where you were wired to
learn something or you're sensitive to
something Bowlby adapted Lawrence's work
to his own coming up with a theory for
the stages of human interactions with
their parents or their primary
caregivers state one is the pre
attachment stage and usually occurs from
zero to two months and it's where the
infant is unable to tell the difference
between his or her mother and other
humans that he or she interacts with
state two is attachment in the making
and usually occurs between two and six
months it's when the infant is able to
recognize who his or her parents are but
does not get upset or distressed when
they are gone Stage three is
we're cut attachment usually occurs
between six months and four years the
child finally in this stage develops
separation anxiety forgets visibly upset
when the mother or attachment figure
leaves the fourth and final stage of
Bobby's theory is called a goal
corrected partnership and usually lasts
from three to four years and onward the
child finally understands that the
parents will leave and come back and so
the child doesn't get as upset when
parents leave hurryings both came up
with a brilliant study idea called the
strange situation experiment that
extended the work of Don Baldy the first
step of Ainsworth study is that the
researcher would introduce a parent and
child to a playroom where they would be
spending most of the study the child's
interactions with the parent will be are
being observed by the researchers
throughout the duration of the study
step two is the parent will go ahead and
sit down and then the child will play
with toys and the researchers are
looking for how far away or how close
the child goes and reference to the
mother if the child stays around where
the mother is this is called
establishing her as a secure base step 3
the stranger comes in sits down and
starts talking to the parent and now
they're looking at how the child is
going to react the stranger coming in
the room is the child going to not mine
the stranger is the child going to get
scared and move closer to the mother how
is the child going to react episode 4
the mother leaves the room and leaves
the child alone with the stranger and so
now we're looking at does the child get
stress and shows separation anxiety when
the mother leaves the room so in step 5
the stranger leaves the room and then
mom comes back in the room and so now
the researchers are looking for the
child's reaction of the mother for
example it does the child not care or is
the child
agree with the mother for leaving or it
is the child just happy to see their
mother step six is when the parent
leaves the room and then the child is
left all alone and so what the
researchers are looking for here is
again separation anxiety so as the child
look is this child start crying and get
really distressed or does he not really
care when the mother leaves
step 7 the stranger re-enters and tries
to comfort the child and what the
researchers are really looking here is
to see if the child is able to be
soothed by a stranger in step 8 the
parent returns to the room and tries to
comfort the child and introduces some
toys and what they're really look what
the researchers are looking for is
really how the child reacts to the
reunion when the parent is the child
getting angry at the parent believing or
is he happy to see them up north
identified four attachment styles but
before we get into those I want you to
think about if you were distressed when
you had to leave your mother or father
did you experience separation anxiety
how are you toward strangers are you
generally friendly or not as friendly
when your parents left were you happy to
see them or not as happy to see them did
you feel more comfortable exploring your
surroundings or did you feel like your
parents needed to be with you a lot of
the time as a child so think about those
questions and then we're going to go
forward and discuss the four different
attachment patterns that Ainsworth
observed in her research
first Isle of attachment is called
secure attachment and so secure
attachment children are definitely
distressed when the mother leaves the
room and when the stranger comes in
they're definitely avoided of the
stranger or they avoid the stranger
unless the mothers in the room and then
if the mothers in the room they're
friendly they're generally happy when
the mother comes back into the room and
when they're in the room of the mother
they generally feel free to explore the
room but they always glance back to see
where the mother is they're definitely a
tenant where the mother is in the room
about 70 percent of children are
securely attached if you think about the
attachment bonds you have with friends
or family you know it's normal to get
sad and healthy to get sad when they
leave and it's also normal to feel
really really happy when you get to see
them again and you haven't seen them in
a while
normal and healthy who want to meet new
people while you're with friends and
people that you have an attachment with
it's a lot harder to meet strangers by
yourself and so this is completely
normal and so this is why secure
attachment is the most common and also
the healthiest according to two
psychological research the ex attachment
pattern is called resistant or anxious
ambivalent these children experience
intense distress when the mother leaves
the room even more so than secure
attached and the infant is generally
afraid of the stranger and when the
mother returns in the room the child is
generally upset at the mother for
leaving her or him children with
resistant or anxious ambivalent
attachment generally have trouble
exploring the room they generally stay
really close to the mother about 15
percent of children have anxious
ambivalent attachment and it's been
associated with child abuse is generally
less adaptive than secure attachment
avoidant attachment pattern usually
occurs in 15% of children and avoidant
attachment is the child doesn't really
get separation anxiety when the mother
leaves and is okay with the stranger
plays normally with the stranger and
shows interests shows little interest in
the mother when she
turns in the room children with avoidant
attachment patterns may be more likely
to engage in antisocial behavior and
also have you know difficulty forming
close relationships with others so
disorganized attachment is commonly seen
when there's some sort of child abuse
going on and so what happens is the
child is actually relieved when the
mother leaves because the mother may be
abusive and is warm and happy to see the
stranger and even happier to see the
stranger than the mother psychologists
in some cases will look for disorganized
attachment patterns among the children
to help identify if there's any child
abuse going on now may be a good time to
call your parents and ask what your
attachment pattern was as a child
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