Psycho Pathology Week 5 9-27

Psychopathology Week #5 - 9/27/2006 Attachment Theory -

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A complex, flexible and adaptable mental network that is grounded in neuronal connections o Adaptive and necessary for healthy development relationship and personality development from infancy to adulthood people have a biological behavior pattern to maintain proximity btw themselves & other human beings people are social beings, hard wired for intimacy and connection Babies brains are 70% undeveloped o Leaves most of brain able to be shaped by environment o Early experiences have huge impact Harlow’s Monkeys Study o Shows that there is another drive outside Freud’s (the drive to be gratified – food)  The need for nurturing, warmth, security o Brains were not fully developed if the natural attachment was disrupted  They sought isolation, did not seek socialization Abused/neglected children have less brain mass, underdeveloped brains Bulbe’s idea o Important in childhood, but important through lifespan Needed to teach babies how to regulate their emotions & express their emotions Child develops an internal working model from early interactions o Relates to this model to relate to the world o Harsh, critical parents leads to harsh, critical view of future relationships Learns how to regulate in several ways o Seeks proximity to caregiver to help deal o Leads to the caregiver inside for self regulation Goal: Felt Security o Maintaining proximity to attachment figure  Biologically predisposed o Look to attachment figure for safety haven, a secure base for exploration Strange situation experiment o Observe baby with mother in room, observe baby when mother left, observe baby with stranger in room, observe baby when mother comes back into the room w/ stranger o Categorizations: o Secure – initially distressed, able to explore  Seeks mother when in distress – as a secure base  Easily soothed  Mother tended to be more accessible to children & attuned, helped them regulate their affect

Stranger entrance – apprehensive, playful w/ stranger Mother comes back – back went back to mother Tend to be more empathic and secure w/ interpersonal relationships o Anxious/Avoidant  Played w/ toys when mother around, didn’t have interaction w/ mother  Mother left – didn’t display distress  Emotions are rigidly regulated, typically redirect emotions to environment – avoidant, withhold desire for closeness  Stranger – avoidant  Mother comes back – don’t seem to care  Adults – unavailable/unresponsive. Avoidant emotionally  Don’t have positive models of people o Anxious/Resistant  Clingy w/ caregivers before separation  Mother leaves – distressed  Stranger – guarded  Mother comes back – ambivalent  Don’t use caregiver to regulate emotions  Express exaggerated emotions to get response  Experience caregivers as unavailable & unresponsive o Disorganized/Disoriented  Don’t show a clear pattern Adult attachment interview o Narrative interview about relationships, 4 categories o Secure/Autonomous  Value attachment relationships, aware of relationships impact on life  Others were discussed as believable characters – not all good or all bad  More open and direct o Dismissing  Links to anxious/avoidant babies  Responded incoherently  Idealized childhood  Denied early attachment influences  Don’t see link from childhood to who they are in adulthood o Preoccupied  Links to resistance babies  Responded incoherently  Exhibited confusion, oscillating about past experiences (good & bad)   

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Tend to describe parents as either angry or passive. Also describe them as involved but non-loving o Unresolved/Disorganized  Disorientation of process and content of interview  Most likely experienced trauma, abuse in childhood  Links to disorganized/disoriented babies o Parents tended to have babies in the same categories “Attachment applies to all humans from the cradle to the grave” ~Bulbe Focuses on separation, loss & togetherness - explains how loneliness and love are related Similar emotional/behavioral dynamics from mother-child and adult romantic relationships 

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