Tamis-LeMonda-05-14-2021-7

Attachment   271

TABLE 7.1  ■  The Eight Events of the Strange Situation (1) Introduction of the infant and caregiver to the unfamiliar room (2) Infant and caregiver are left alone in the room (3) Stranger enters the room (4) Caregiver leaves the infant with the stranger (5) Caregiver re-enters the room and the stranger departs (6) Caregiver leaves infant alone in the room

the stranger, the ability to be soothed by the stranger, and reactions to the reunion with the caregiver through attempts for closeness and contact versus avoidance or resistance. Of paramount importance was the infant’s behavior upon reunion, such as whether the infant sought comfort from and was comforted by the care- giver, was unable to be comforted, avoided the caregiver, and so forth. From her observations, which she replicated in larger samples, Ainsworth and colleagues identified three groups of infant attachment (Ainsworth & Bell, 1969; Bretherton & Ainsworth, 1974):  ● Secure attachment . Securely attached infants (the majority of babies) explored the unfamiliar room and used their caregivers as a secure base for exploration. They protested their mothers’ departure and were more likely than insecure infants to greet their mothers positively on reunion.  ● Insecure resistant attachment (or ambivalent). Ambivalent infants (a small percentage of babies) stayed close to their caregivers upon entering the unfamiliar room and became very upset when the caregiv- ers left the room. They were not easily comforted when the caregivers returned, often alternating between seeking comfort and resisting the caregivers’ attempts to console them.  ● Insecure avoidant attachment . Avoidant infants (a small percentage of babies) explored the room freely and were not distressed by the caregivers’ departure. If they became distressed, they were as easily comforted by the strangers as by the parents and were indifferent or avoidant toward the caregivers upon their return. Years later, researchers Main and Solomon (1990) identified a fourth attach- ment style that did not fit withAinsworth’s three groups: disorganized attach- ment. Infants with disorganized attachment displayed contradictory behaviors and emotions (such as fear followed by laughter) and disorganized movements, freezing, and apprehension toward the mother. Subsequent research identi- fied associations between infants’ disorganized attachment and experiences of abuse or neglect (Baer &Martinez, 2006; Granqvist et al., 2017). Infants’ experi- ences of their caregivers as psychologically unavailable and a source of alarm or fear may explain why some infants develop disorganized attachment (Hesse & Main, 2006; Solomon & George, 2011). CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING 7.16 1. What four attachment styles/categories do researchers identify from the Strange Situation? ✓ (7) Stranger enters the room (8) Caregiver enters the room Source : After M. D. S. Ainsworth et al. 1978. Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation . Erlbaum: Hillsdale, NJ. PROPERTY OF OXFORD secure attachment  An attachment status initially identified by Mary Ainsworth in which infants display a strong connection or bond with their caregiver(s) and use their caregivers as a safe base from which to explore their environment; securely attached infants become upset when their caregivers leave the room, are happy when their caregivers return, and seek comfort from their caregivers insecure resistant  An attachment status (also called ambivalent), initially identified by Mary Ainsworth that is characterized by infants who become very upset and anxious when the caregiver leaves the room and are not easily comforted on caregiver return insecure avoidant  An attachment status initially identified by Mary Ainsworth that is characterized by infants who do not become dis- tressed by the caregiver’s departure, freely explore the room, are easily comforted by the stranger, and show indifference during reunion with the caregiver disorganized  An infant attachment style characterized by an infant’s contradictory emotions and behav- ior and disorganized movements, freezing, and apprehension toward caregiver

U IVERSITY PRESS