Infant Attachment
Overview of the Study The longitudinal study conducted by Stupica, Sherman and Cassidy (2011) examined whether there was a correlation between infant irritability (maximally vs. moderately irritable) and infant attachment (secure vs. insecure). Researchers wanted to reveal whether the two were associated when infants took part in exploration and sociability with unfamiliar adults. Stupica et al. points out many factors that may contribute to an infant’s wariness in exploration and sociability. Some influences include, natural child development through stages, which was founded by Jean Piaget, parental attachment introduced by John Bowlby and finally the differential-susceptibility hypothesis developed by Jay Belsky. All of these theories
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is the Strange Situation experiment, originally done by Mary Ainsworth. In 1973, Ainsworth developed this lab procedure with infants to measure attachment to their caregiver. The child, parent (usually the mother), and observer (stranger) enter a playroom. Once the child is comfortable and playing with the toys, the caregiver leaves the room and the child is left with the stranger. Ainsworth then assessed the child’s reaction according to the usage of toys they played with, their initial reaction once the caregiver leaves and finally, their reaction once the caregiver returns (Berger, 2012). Once the experiment is finished, the infant is placed within one of four categories; secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-resistant/ambivalent, and disorganized. Secure children cry when their mother leaves and is happy when she returns. Insecure-avoidant children continuing playing with the toys and do not notice their mother has left. When she returns, the child ignores her. Insecure-resistant/ambivalent children cannot let go of their mothers; when she leaves the room, the child is unhappy and when she returns, the child is angry with her. Finally, disorganized children are cautious and scared when their mother leaves. When she returns, the child may act strange and scream and hit themselves (Berger, 2012). The research study done by Stupica, et al. used Ainsworth’s Strange Situation as a backbone to their own study. They measured the infant’s attachment to their caregiver before and after the return in the laboratory
is the Strange Situation experiment, originally done by Mary Ainsworth. In 1973, Ainsworth developed this lab procedure with infants to measure attachment to their caregiver. The child, parent (usually the mother), and observer (stranger) enter a playroom. Once the child is comfortable and playing with the toys, the caregiver leaves the room and the child is left with the stranger. Ainsworth then assessed the child’s reaction according to the usage of toys they played with, their initial reaction once the caregiver leaves and finally, their reaction once the caregiver returns (Berger, 2012). Once the experiment is finished, the infant is placed within one of four categories; secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-resistant/ambivalent, and disorganized. Secure children cry when their mother leaves and is happy when she returns. Insecure-avoidant children continuing playing with the toys and do not notice their mother has left. When she returns, the child ignores her. Insecure-resistant/ambivalent children cannot let go of their mothers; when she leaves the room, the child is unhappy and when she returns, the child is angry with her. Finally, disorganized children are cautious and scared when their mother leaves. When she returns, the child may act strange and scream and hit themselves (Berger, 2012). The research study done by Stupica, et al. used Ainsworth’s Strange Situation as a backbone to their own study. They measured the infant’s attachment to their caregiver before and after the return in the laboratory