'Child Psychology Specifics Summary'
BUT will signpost a counterpoint / development point
Bowlby’s Theory of Attachment
● Bowlby sent to boarding school at 8, 1 hour a day with mum,
middle class family = trauma
● Attachment is a two-way process between two people, emotional
bond enduring over time, promotes psychological well-being and
baby protection via clinging + proximity seeking
● Evolved with behaviours like social releasers (crying) to promote
proximity and ensure survival, thus passed down in genes, now is
an image.
● Lorenz supports critical period: greylag geese imprint on Lorenz
or mother goose immediately after hatching, irreversible after 12-
24 hours (BUT slower process in humans)
● Initially indiscriminate attachment, but at 6-9 months develops
monotropic attachment to primary figure, most sensitively
responsive
● Safe base is a secure and reliable source of comfort as foundation
to explore the world
● Harlow & Zimmerman monkeys support contact comfort and safe
base; monkeys preferred cloth mother, spending only 2h/day on
wired mother for food (green: strong empirical support)
● Internal working model theory: mother who provides safe base
promotes competence and resilience; attachment memories form
mental representation influencing later romantic relationships +
attachments with child (continuity hypothesis)
● Hazard & Shaver (1987) ‘Love Quiz’ questionnaire supports
internal working model: securely attached more trusting, enduring
in romantic relationships, insecure attached show obsession,
jealousy (green: good application)
, Ainsworth’s Strange Situation Procedure
(SSP)
● Structured staged observation assessing attachment type in
mother-infant pairs, approx 20 mins, 8 episodes of 2-3 mins each
● Parent + infant play (safe base), stranger enters (stranger anxiety),
parent leaves (separation anxiety), reunion comfort offered, etc.
● Time sampling every 15 seconds covertly via two-way mirror,
scored 1-7 on intensity including categories
● 22% Type A insecure avoidant: indifferent to separation + return,
high willingness to explore, low stranger anxiety (weakness:
ignores potential distress)
● 66% Type B secure: use safe base, low separation anxiety, some
stranger enthusiasm on reunion (strength: sensitive responsive
parenting)
● 12% Type C insecure resistant: high anxieties, low willingness to
explore, angrily resist on reunion (inconsistent parenting)
Deprivation
Loss of emotional care from primary caregiver, breaking of attachment
bonds due to separation
● Robertson & Bowlby’s 1952 PDD model explains short term
effects:
○ Protest: cry profusely, seek mother figure, reject comfort
BUT will signpost a counterpoint / development point
Bowlby’s Theory of Attachment
● Bowlby sent to boarding school at 8, 1 hour a day with mum,
middle class family = trauma
● Attachment is a two-way process between two people, emotional
bond enduring over time, promotes psychological well-being and
baby protection via clinging + proximity seeking
● Evolved with behaviours like social releasers (crying) to promote
proximity and ensure survival, thus passed down in genes, now is
an image.
● Lorenz supports critical period: greylag geese imprint on Lorenz
or mother goose immediately after hatching, irreversible after 12-
24 hours (BUT slower process in humans)
● Initially indiscriminate attachment, but at 6-9 months develops
monotropic attachment to primary figure, most sensitively
responsive
● Safe base is a secure and reliable source of comfort as foundation
to explore the world
● Harlow & Zimmerman monkeys support contact comfort and safe
base; monkeys preferred cloth mother, spending only 2h/day on
wired mother for food (green: strong empirical support)
● Internal working model theory: mother who provides safe base
promotes competence and resilience; attachment memories form
mental representation influencing later romantic relationships +
attachments with child (continuity hypothesis)
● Hazard & Shaver (1987) ‘Love Quiz’ questionnaire supports
internal working model: securely attached more trusting, enduring
in romantic relationships, insecure attached show obsession,
jealousy (green: good application)
, Ainsworth’s Strange Situation Procedure
(SSP)
● Structured staged observation assessing attachment type in
mother-infant pairs, approx 20 mins, 8 episodes of 2-3 mins each
● Parent + infant play (safe base), stranger enters (stranger anxiety),
parent leaves (separation anxiety), reunion comfort offered, etc.
● Time sampling every 15 seconds covertly via two-way mirror,
scored 1-7 on intensity including categories
● 22% Type A insecure avoidant: indifferent to separation + return,
high willingness to explore, low stranger anxiety (weakness:
ignores potential distress)
● 66% Type B secure: use safe base, low separation anxiety, some
stranger enthusiasm on reunion (strength: sensitive responsive
parenting)
● 12% Type C insecure resistant: high anxieties, low willingness to
explore, angrily resist on reunion (inconsistent parenting)
Deprivation
Loss of emotional care from primary caregiver, breaking of attachment
bonds due to separation
● Robertson & Bowlby’s 1952 PDD model explains short term
effects:
○ Protest: cry profusely, seek mother figure, reject comfort
