Question

What was the typical behavior observed in infants with an anxious attachment to their mothers when their mothers momentarily departed from them?

Answer 1

Infants with this type of attachment explore their environment (explorative behavior) and are moderately distressed when their mother leaves the room (separation anxiety). They also show moderate stranger anxiety and some distress when they are approached by a stranger.

Answer 2

Infants with anxious or resistant attachment show clingy yet resistant behavior upon their caregiver's return after a separation, revealing their complex response due to inconsistent caregiver responsiveness.

Step-by-step explanation:

Infants with an anxious attachment, also referred to as resistant attachment, typically exhibit clingy behavior and tend to reject their caregivers upon reunion after a separation. During the Strange Situation experiment conducted by Ainsworth and Bell in 1970, these children were noted to have difficulty exploring their environment and displayed extreme distress when their caregiver left them alone. Upon the caregiver's return, these infants were often difficult to comfort and showed both a desire for closeness and a tendency to resist the caregiver's attempts at interaction, highlighting the complexity of their emotional responses.

These behaviors reflect the inconsistent responsiveness of their caregivers to the child's needs, leading to a conflicted reliance on the caregiver as a source of both safety and frustration. This type of attachment is one of several identified by Ainsworth, including secure, avoidant, and later on disorganized attachment, which helped deepen the understanding of early childhood emotional development and the importance of caregiver sensitivity in forming healthy attachments.