1.3 attachment Flashcards
attachment
an emotional bond between two people that can be studied through developmental psychology.
caregiver-infant interactions
reciprocity and interactional synchrony
reciprocity
reciprocity is also referred to as turn-taking. it is a two-way, mutual process, where the behaviour/signals of each party elicits a response from to the other to sustain interaction.
studies have demonstrated that infants coordinate their actions with their caregiver’s actions in a kind of conversation.
the regularity of an infant’s signals allows a caregiver to anticipate the infant’s behaviour and respond appropriately. this sensitivity to infant behaviour lays the foundation for later attachment between the caregiver and the infant.
interactional synchrony
interactional synchrony is when adults and babies respond in time to sustain communication.
the caregiver and the infant interact in such a way that their actions and emotions mirror each other.
research has found that infants as young as 2-3 weeks old imitated specific facial and hand gestures that they saw adults do.
interactional synchrony: study
an adult model displayed one of three facial expressions or hand movements.
a dummy was placed in the baby’s mouth during the display to prevent any response. following the display the dummy was removed and the infant’s expression was filmed.
they found that there was an association between the infant’s behaviour and the adult model.
strength of caregiver-infant interaction: murray and trevarthen (1985)
+ murray and trevarthen (1985) got mothers to interact with babies over a video monitor and then played a tape of their mother so she was not responding to them.
the babies tried to attract their mothers attention but when this failed, they gave up responding. this proves that babies want their mothers to reciprocate
strength of caregiver-infant interaction: abravanal and deyong (1991)
+ abravanal and deyong (1991) observed infant behaviour when interacting with a puppet that looked like a human mouth opening and closing.
infants made little response to this, which shows they are not just imitating what they see and interactional synchrony is a specific social response.
two weaknesses of caregiver-infant interaction
research into babies is difficult to consider scientific .
- babies cannot use language to communicate so psychologists are relying on their inferences. they cannot be sure that infants are actually trying to communicate with their caregiver
- the expressions tested (tongue sticking out, yawning, and smiling) are ones that infants frequently make so they may not have been deliberately imitating what they see
difficulties in investigating caregiver-infant interaction
- lab setting: studies have found that babies’ attachment behaviours are much stronger in lab settings than they are in their home. so, studies should take place in a natural setting (e.g. the child’s home) to increase validity
- observer bias: most studies are observational, may be bias in the observer’s interpretation. can be countered by using more than one observer (inter-rater reliability).
- practical issues: infants are often asleep/feeding when observing. researchers need to use fewer, shorter observation periods because have babies limited waking periods
- ethics: extra care needs to be taken is relation to ethics when investigating caregiver-infant interactions so as not to affect the child or parent in any way e.g. protection from harm, confidentiality etc.
stages of attachment
shaffer and emerson (1964) investigated the development of attachment in infants using a longitudinal study where they followed 60 infants and their mothers for two years.
they decided that there were four stages in the development of attachment in infant: pre-attachment, indiscriminate attachment, discriminate attachment, multiple attachments
pre-attachment
(0-3 months)
from six weeks of age infants become attracted to humans, preferring them to objects and events. this preference is demonstrated by their smiling at people’s faces
indiscriminate attachment
(4-7 months)
infants begin to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar people, smiling more at people they know. they will still allow strangers to handle them.
discriminate attachment
(7 months onwards)
infants develop a specific attachment to their primary attachment figure (usually the mother) staying close to that person.
they show separation protest, which is the distress an infant shows when their primary attachment figure leaves them. they display stranger anxiety, which is the distress an infant shows when approached by someone they do not know.
schaffer and emerson (1964) noticed that the infant’s primary attachment figure was not always the person who spent the most time with the child. they concluded that it is the quality of the relationship, not quantity that matters the most in the formation of an attachment.
multiple attachments
(7 months onwards)
very soon after developing their first attachment, infants develop strong emotional ties with other major secondary caregivers, such as the father and grandparents, and non-caregivers, such as siblings.
the fear of strangers weakens but their attachment to their primary attachment figure remains the strongest.
5 weaknesses of shaffer and emerson’s stages
- the data collected may be unreliable because it was based on mothers’ reports of their infants. some mothers might have been less sensitive to their infant’s protests and therefore been less likely to report them.
- biased sample: it only included infants from a working-class population and thus the findings might not apply to other social groups.
- culture bias: only included infants from individualist cultures, infants from collectivist cultures could form attachments in a different way.
- temporal validity: it was conducted in the 1960s and parental care of children has changed considerably since then. more women go out to work and more men stay at home.
- stage theories such as this one are inflexible and do not take account of individual differences, some infants might form multiple attachment first, rather than starting with a single attachment.
the role of the father
at around 7 months of age, babies form secondary attachments to other family members, including the father.
75% of infants studied had formed an attachment with their father by the age of 18 months in a study conducted by shaffer and emerson (1964)
child’s primary attachment figure
fathers are less likely to be their child’s primary attachment figure. there are several reasons this could be:
- perhaps they spend less time with their infants.
- maybe most men are not as psychologically equipped to form an intense attachment because they lack the emotional sensitivity that women have. this could be due to biological factors, as the female hormone oxytocin underlies caring behaviour. so, women are more orientated to interpersonal goals than men.
- alternatively, it could be due to societal norms. in some cultures, there is also the stereotype that it is feminine to be sensitive to the needs of others.
father complements the mother
some researchers believe that the father fulfils a qualitatively different role from that of the mother.
fathers provide play and stimulation to complement the role of the mother, which is to provide emotional support.
the father’s role is considered just as crucial to the child’s wellbeing.
weakness of the role of the father: same-sex couples
- there is inconsistency in the research as to the importance of the role of the father.
research investigating the effects of growing up in a single female or same-sex parent family shows there is no effect on development, and therefore suggests the role of the father is not important.
weakness of the role of the father: grossman (2002)
- it seems the father is less important to later development than the mother in terms of nurture.
grossman (2002) found that the early attachment to the mother was a better predictor of what the teenage relationship was like than the early attachment to the father.
however, if the father had engaged in active play with the child when they were young, the adolescent relationship with BOTH parents was strengthened.
weakness of the role of the father: single-parent families
- research also questions whether the father plays a distinct role.
studies show that the father in a single-parent family is more likely to adopt the traditional maternal role and can be their child’s primary attachment figure.
weakness of the role of the father: field (1978)
- field (1978) conducted research which compared the behaviours of primary caregiver mothers with primary and secondary caregiver fathers.
face-to-face interactions were analysed from video footage with infants at four months of age.
- it was observed that fathers engaged more in game playing and held infants less.
- primary caregiver fathers engaged in significantly more smiling, imitative grimaces and imitative vocalisations than secondary caregiver fathers.
- the behaviour of primary caregiver fathers was comparable with that of mothers’ behaviour. this demonstrates that there is flexibility in the role of the father and how men can respond to the different needs of their children.
the strange situation
ainsworth (1970) investigated differences in attachments between infants and their caregivers. it was a controlled observation that took place in a room that had been furnished with some toys.
the investigators observed the infants in a series of three-minute episodes:
mother and baby, stranger enters, mother leaves, mother returns, etc.
they recorded an infant’s proximity seeking, stranger anxiety, separation protest, and reunion joy.
type A
20% of babies had attachments that were classified as insecure-avoidant.
they largely ignore their caregiver (low proximity seeking) and play independently while they explore the room.
they show no signs of distress when the caregiver is absent (no separation protest) and continue to ignore them when they return (no reunion joy).
the baby is distressed when left completely alone but is comforted by the stranger as easily as their caregiver (no stranger anxiety).
the caregiver and the stranger are treated in much the same way
type B
70% of babies were described as securely attached.
securely attached babies play happily while the caregiver is present and use them as a safe base while they explore the room and play with the toys.
the baby is clearly distressed when the caregiver leaves (high separation protest), even if they are not left completely alone, and seeks immediate contact with their caregiver when they return (high reunion joy). their caregiver easily comforts them.
the baby is wary of the stranger (stranger anxiety) but accepts some comfort from them when the caregiver is absent.
type C
10% of babies were put in the insecure-resistant category.
babies who have an insecure-resistant attachment to their caregivers are fussy and cry more than other babies.
they will not explore the room or play with the toys very much, instead they are clingy (high proximity seeking).
the baby is distressed when the caregiver leaves (extreme separation protest), however, they resist comfort from the caregiver upon reunion (no reunion joy).
they strongly resist the stranger’s attempts to make contact (extreme stranger anxiety).
weakness of the strange situation: culture bias
- this methodology was developed in the US and so may be culturally biased. attachment behaviour that is seen as healthy in the US may not be seen as such in all cultures.
eg. few mothers worked in germany in the 1960-70’s (less than 1 in 5) but children were encouraged to be independent and self-reliant.
german parents view some of the behaviour exhibited by securely attached infants, such as crying when their mothers leave the room, as being spoilt and so do not reward this behaviour.
this is why these children may have shown less anxiety when separated from their mothers and been classed as avoidant.
weakness of the strange situation: ecological validity
- its an artificial situation and may not reflect the infant’s real-world behaviour (lacks ecological validity). studies have found that babies’ attachment behaviours are much stronger in the lab than they are in their home
weakness of the strange situation: validity
- the validity of some of the parameters has been questioned, eg. it could be argued that proximity seeking could be a measure of insecurity rather than security
weakness of the strange situation: gender biased
- gender biased. they only used mothers as the caregiver.
children might be insecurely attached to their mothers but securely attached to their fathers.
therefore it does not measure a child’s overall attachment style but their attachment to one individual.
main and weston (1981) found that children behave differently depending on which parent they are with.
strength of the strange situation
+ has been replicated many times over the years. it’s easy to replicate because it has a high level of control and standardised procedures. it has successfully been carried out in many different cultures
cross cultural variations in attachment
van ijzendoorn and kroonberg (1988) conducted a meta-analysis of 32 studies into attachment to see if attachment occurs in the same way across all cultures.
all of the studies they included used the strange situation to measure attachment, looking at the relationships between mothers and their babies (under 24 months)
the studies were conducted in eight countries, some individualistic cultures (USA, UK, and germany) and some collectivist cultures (japan, china, and israel).
van ijzendoorn and kroonberg (1988) findings
- secure was the most common attachment style in all of the eight countries studied.
- this was followed by insecure-avoidant, except in israel and japan where resistant was the most common (and avoidant was rare).
- the lowest percentage of secure attachments was in china, and the highest was the UK.
- the highest percentage of insecure-avoidant attachments was in west germany
- overall variations WITHIN cultures were 1.5 times greater than BETWEEN them
analysis of the findings
the similarities between cultures suggest that caregiver and infant interactions have universal characteristics and so may be partly instinctive.
however, the variations within cultures show that the cultural differences in child-rearing practices also play an important role in attachment styles.
the variations within cultures indicate that sub-cultural differences, such as social class, play an important role in an infant’s attachment style. these factors are possibly more important than culture.
strength of cultural variation in attachment
+ this study is a meta-analysis, which includes a very large sample. this increases the validity of the findings.
weakness of cultural variation in attachment: flawed methodology
- the strange situation methodology was developed in the US and it may not be valid in other cultures.
ainsworth assumed that a willingness to explore means a child is securely attached but this may not be the case in other cultures.
this means the methodology is culturally biased.
weakness of cultural variation in attachment: israel
- the infants from israel in this study lived in a Kibbutz (closed community) and did not come into contact with strangers.
this could be the reason why these children showed severe distress when confronted with strangers and so were classed as insecure-resistant.
weakness of cultural variation in attachment: cultures vs countries
- this study was not actually comparing cultures but countries.
eg. they compared the USA with japan. both countries have many different sub-cultures that have different child rearing practices.
a study of attachment in tokyo found similar attachment style distributions to the USA, whereas studies in more rural areas of Japan found many more insecure-resistant infants.
weakness of cultural variation in attachment: gender biased
- all the studies in the meta-analysis looked at studies that only used mothers as the caregiver.
children might be insecurely attached to their mothers but securely attached to their fathers.
therefore it does not measure a child’s overall attachment style but their attachment to one individual.
main and weston (1981) found that children behave differently depending on which parent they are with.
learning theory
according to learning theory, all behaviour is learned rather than being innate or inherited from parents.
people learn behaviour through classical and operant conditioning.
classical conditioning
an infant is born with certain reflex responses.
the stimulus of food is a UCS and it produces the reflex of pleasure, a UCR. the person providing food is a NS but over time they become associated with the pleasure gained from food. the person becomes a CS that produces pleasure as a CR.
according to classical conditioning this is how the attachment bond develops and is the reason children feel pleasure in their caregiver’s presence.
operant conditioning
operant conditioning strengthens attachment.
the baby receives positive reinforcement (when behaviour produces a pleasant consequence) for crying when they are hungry as the caregiver feeds them.
the caregiver receives negative reinforcement (when behaviour removes something unpleasant) for feeding their baby when they cry as feeding the baby makes the crying stop.
strength of learning theory
+ learning theory is plausible and scientific as it is founded in established theory. likely, the association between the provision of needs and the person providing those needs can lead to strong attachments.
weakness of learning theory: harlow (1959)
- harlow (1959) separated infant rhesus monkeys from their mothers and put them in cages.
milk was provided either by a wire mesh ‘surrogate mother’ or one made of comfortable soft cloth. the monkeys clung to the soft cloth ‘mother’, especially when scared by an aversive stimulus, even if it did not provide milk.
this suggests that comfort is more important than food in determining whom a baby will attach to.
weakness of learning theory: schaffer and emerson (1964)
- schaffer and emerson (1964) also found that food is not necessary for attachment to form. they discovered that babies are often attached to people who play with them, rather than people who feed them.
in 39% of cases even though the mother was the one who fed the baby the baby was more attached to someone else.
weakness of learning theory: bowlby
- this theory explains how attachments form but not why they form. bowlby’s theory of attachment states that infants form an attachment to their caregiver to ensure they are protected.
weakness of learning theory: deterministic/reductionist
- environmentally reductionist as it explains complex human behaviour in an overly simplistic way. the infant and caregiver relationship is a very varied, sophisticated and complicated behaviour, and there are many different types of infant and caregiver attachment. it is very unlikely that attachment is merely the result of the caregiver providing the infant with food.
also environmentally deterministic because it states that early learning determines later attachment behaviours.
bowlby’s monotropic theory: why attachments form
bowlby’s theory states that attachment between infants and their caregivers is an instinct that has evolved because it increases the chances of both the babies’ survival and the parents’ passing on their genes. it is therefore adaptive.
infants who are attached to their caregiver will stay close to them and so are well protected and will survive.
parents who are attached to their children will ensure they are well cared for and so survive, meaning that they will have successfully passed on their genes.
bowlby’s monotropic theory: critical period
infant’s have an innate drive to become attached to an adult - these behaviours usually have a critical period in which they must occur or they never will. the critical period for attachment is before a child is two years of age. infants who do not have an opportunity to form an attachment during this time will have difficulty forming attachments later on.
bowlby’s monotropic theory: social releasers
bowlby proposed that attachment is determined by the caregiver’s sensitivity.
infants who are the most strongly attached tend to have a caregiver who is responsive, cooperative, and more accessible compared to less closely attached infants.
social releasers like smiling and crying (behaviours that elicit caregiving) are important during this time to ensure that attachments develop between caregivers and their infants. babies display them to encourage their caregivers to look after them.
bowlby’s monotropic theory: monotropy
bowlby argued that infants will have one special emotional bond: he referred to this as monotropy. this bond is often with the biological mother but not always.
infants also form secondary attachments that provide an important emotional safety net and are vital for healthy psychological and social development.
bowlby’s monotropic theory: no internal working model
an insecure monotropic bond is associated with fear of intimacy and lack of commitment in adult relationships.
if an infant does not have an opportunity to form a monotropic bond than they are not provided with an adequate internal working model for later relationships.
according to bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory, disruption to the monotropic bond before the critical period leads to later emotional problems (e.g. lack of intimacy/commitment).
bowlby’s monotropic theory: internal working model
the importance of the monotropic bond is that the infant uses this relationship to form a mental view of all relationships called an internal working model.
if the monotropic bond is secure it results in a positive internal working model and means that current (with other children), future (with the individual’s own children), and romantic adult relationships will be positive and secure.
the continuity hypothesis proposes that individuals who are securely attached in infancy continue to be socially and emotionally competent. this is because a secure childhood leads to a positive internal working model.
bowlby’s monotropic theory: continuity hypothesis
the continuity hypothesis proposes that individuals who are securely attached in infancy continue to be socially and emotionally competent. this is because a secure childhood leads to a positive internal working model.
weakness of bowlby’s monotropic theory: schaffer and emerson (1964)
- schaffer and emerson (1964) suggest that multiple attachments are more common in babies than monotropy. they found that by 18 months only 13% of the infants had only one person they were attached to.
weakness of bowlby’s monotropic theory: sexist
- feminists like erica burman have pointed out that the idea of monotropy is socially sensitive.
it places a terrible burden of responsibility on mothers, setting them up to take the blame for anything that goes wrong in their child’s life. it also puts pressure on mothers to stay at home and give up their careers.
bowlby also underestimated the role of the father – he saw father’s role as primarily economic. this is an outdated sexist view, many families view both parents as equally responsible for childcare, and in many families the father is the primary caregiver.
weakness of bowlby’s monotropic theory: tizard and hodges (1989)
- tizard and hodges (1989) found that children who had never formed any attachments by the age of four, and were then adopted, could still form attachments to their new adopted parents.
this goes against the idea of a critical period before two years of age during which an attachment must form or it never will.
weakness of bowlby’s monotropic theory: unscientific
- it is impossible to test bowlby’s argument that attachment has persisted in the same form throughout our evolutionary history, making it unscientific.
weakness of bowlby’s monotropic theory: kegan (1984) and rovine (1987)
- kegan (1984) disagreed with bowlby about the quality of an infant’s attachment being determined by the caregiver’s sensitivity.
he explained infant’s attachments to their caregivers in terms of their innate temperament. according to his theory, some infants are better suited to forming attachments then others due to their innate characteristics.
rovine (1987) found that infants who had been judged to have signs of behavioural instability 1-3d old were later more likely to have an insecure attachment.
bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation (1953)
bowlby (1953) proposed that children who suffer from prolonged emotional deprivation, caused by the absence of their primary attachment figure (usually the mother) will have long-term intellectual, social and emotional issues. for example, lower IQ, delinquency and affectionless psychopathy, and even mental health issues (such as depression).
according to the continuity hypothesis these effects are irreversible and will continue into adulthood due to a lack of an internal working model, which could even lead to an inability to be a good parent.
maternal deprivation risk period
the negative impact of maternal deprivation could occur if the separation occurs before the child is two and a half years old (critical period). although there is a risk up to five years old (sensitive period) and there is no substitute mother-figure available to take over the emotional care of the child.
bowlby (1944): 44 thieves
bowlby analysed the case histories of a number of his patients in the ‘child guidance clinic’ in london where he worked. all the children attending this clinic were emotionally maladjusted.
he studied 88 of these children, half of whom had been caught stealing (44 thieves), the other half were a control group. bowlby suggested that 14 of the thieves were affectionless psychopaths, meaning they lacked affection, shame, and responsibility for their actions.
affectionless psychopaths
bowlby found that 12/14 individuals who had been diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths had experienced frequent early separations from their mothers (repeated stays in foster care, time in hospital etc.), compared to 5/30 of the thieves who were not classed as affectionless psychopaths.
almost none of the control group had experienced early separations from their mothers.
strength of bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation: hospitals
+ before bowlby’s (1953) theory hospitals would not allow parents to visit their children during stays in hospital (or would only allow infrequent visits – e.g. once a week). this often had a profound and damaging effect on the child. nowadays parents are actively encouraged to stay in hospital with their children.
strength of bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation: spitz (1945)
+ spitz (1945) examined children raised in a poor-quality orphanage in south america. staff were overworked, under-trained and rarely gave the children any attention or affection. the children displayed anaclitic depression (loss of appetite, sleeplessness, and sadness).
strength of bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation: skodak and skeeles (1949)
+ skodak and skeeles (1949) found that children placed in institutions that only looked after them physically scored poorly on intelligence tests. however, when the same children were transferred to a different institution which gave the children emotional care the IQ scores improved by almost 30 points.
weakness of bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation: tizard et al (1989)
- the effects of maternal deprivation have been proven to be reversible. children who had never formed attachments and were adopted after the age of four were still able to form attachments to their new parents.
weakness of bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation: deprivation?
- bowlby did not distinguish between deprivation (when the attachment figure is lost) and privation (when the child has never formed an attachment). it could be the latter that causes the extreme negative effects observed in some studies.
institutional care
when a child’s living arrangements are outside of the family. some children are raised in institutions, such as children’s homes, hostels, hospitals etc. children raised in institutions can adopt the rules and norms of the institution, which could impair functioning and lead to a loss of personal identity (deindividuation).
romanian orphans: procedure
rutter et al (2010)
this study involved 165 romanian children who spent their early lives in romanian orphanages, before being adopted, and thus suffered from the effects of institutionalisation.
the adoptees were tested at regular intervals (ages 4, 6, 11 and 15) to assess their physical, cognitive and social development. their progress was compared to a control group of 52 british children adopted in the UK before the age of six months.
romanian orphans: findings
at the time of adoption, the romanian orphans lagged behind their british counterparts on all measures of physical, cognitive and social development.
by the age of four, the romanian children adopted before the age of six months had caught up with their british counterparts.
however, a significant number of individuals adopted after the age of six months still had significant deficits at age four.
romanian orphans: conclusions
this study suggests that the long-term consequences of institutionalisation may be less severe than was once thought if children are adopted before six months and receive sensitive parenting.
however, if children are not adopted by six months then the consequences of institionalisation are likely to be severe.
effects of institutionalisation
delayed intellectual development, disinhibited attachment, emotional development, lack of internal working model, quasi-autism, delayed physical development
delayed intellectual development
children raised in institutions can have a low IQ and concentration problems. this means they may struggle at school because they cannot learn new behaviours and concepts as quickly. they can also have delayed language development.
disinhibited attachment
children raised in institutions may not know what appropriate behaviour towards strangers is. they can be overly affectionate and attention-seeking.
emotional development
children raised in institutions can have difficulty managing their anger (e.g. they have more temper tantrums than other children).
lack of internal working model
children raised in institutions may have difficulty interacting with peers and forming close relationships. as adults they will have impaired adult relationships and can struggle to parent their own children.
quasi autism
they struggle to understand the meaning of social contexts and can have obsessional behaviours. they can have a lower frequency of pretend play and reduced empathy.
delayed physical development
children in institutional care are usually physically small.
research has shown that a lack of emotional care rather than poor nourishment is the cause of what has been called deprivation dwarfism.
strength of effects of institutionalisation: practical application
+ studies that have investigated the effects of institutionalisation have enhanced our understanding of the potential negative consequences of institutional care and has led to the establishment of key workers in institutions to provide emotional care for children.
strength of effects of institutionalisation: adoption
+ studies that have investigated the effects of institutionalisation have also led to changes in the adoption process. on the past mothers were encouraged to nurse their children for as long as possible before giving them up for adoption. today most babies are adopted within their first week of life (certainly before six months).
weakness of effects of institutionalisation: other risk factors
- there are problems when generalising findings of studies of romanian orphans as standards of care were particularly poor in the orphanages.
the orphans were faced with much more than emotional deprivation - physical conditions were appalling and there was a lack of cognitive stimulation.
it is likely that long-term damage from institutional care only occurs when there are multiple risk factors.
weakness of effects of institutionalisation: le mare and audet (2006)
- it is possible that the negative effects of institutional care can be reduced by sensitive parenting.
le mare and audet (2006) conducted a longitudinal study of 36 romanian orphans adopted to families in canada.
the adopted orphans were physically smaller than a matched control group at age four but this difference had disappeared by age ten. the same was true for psychological health.
weakness of effects of institutionalisation: no random allocation
- adoption and control groups were not randomly allocated to conditions in studies of romanian orphans. this means that participant variables between the children could influence the findings in unanticipated ways.
the adopted children might have been adopted because of personal characteristics such as resilience or being more sociable. these characteristics might explain why they were less affected by institutional care, which lowers the validity of the research
harlow’s monkeys (1959): procedure
8 infant rhesus monkeys were separated from their mother at birth and were studied for 165 days. they were placed in a cage with the two wire ‘mothers’, one wrapped in cloth and the other bare.
4 of the monkeys received milk from the cloth mother, and the other 4 received milk from the exposed wire mother.
during the 165 days, the time that the monkeys spent with each of the two mothers was measured - observations were based on (1) monkey’s responses to being frightened by a mechanical teddy bear and (2) how they coped with exploring a new room full of unfamiliar toy
harlow’s monkeys (1959): findings
all 8 monkeys spent most of their time on the soft cloth mother, regardless of whether this mother was the one with the feeding bottle or not. those who were fed by the exposed wire mother only stayed on it long enough to get milk and then returned to the soft cloth mother.
when frightened by a mechanical teddy bear all monkeys clung to the soft cloth mother, and when playing with new objects the monkeys kept one foot on the soft cloth mother.
when placed in a new environment they were not confident enough to explore the room unless the soft cloth mother was with them.
harlow’s monkeys (1959): long term effects
harlow (1959) continued to study the 8 monkeys as they grew up. they developed abnormally - they froze or fled when approached by other monkeys and did not show normal mating behaviour/did not cradle their own babies.
if the monkeys spent time with other monkeys then they could recover but only if this happened before they were three months old.
having more than three months with only a wire mother was something they could not recover from.
strength of harlow’s monkeys: schaffer and emerson (1964)
+ schaffer and emerson (1964) found that food was not necessary for attachment to form. babies often attach to people who play with them rather than feed them. 39% of cases showed even though the mother fed the baby, they were more attached to someone else.
strength of harlow’s monkeys: maternal dep. theory
+ this study highlights the implications of early neglect and the long-term consequences of poor attachment in childhood for future relationships. this fits with bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory.
however, in humans, this may be more of a sensitive period as studies have demonstrated how children have been able to recover from early deprivation (e.g. romanian orphan studies).
weakness of harlow’s monkeys: unethical
- unethical because the monkeys were removed from their mothers (traumatic) and they were deliberately scared to see how they would react. led to long-term emotional harm because when the monkeys saw other monkeys when they grew up they froze or fled, and didn’t cradle their young because they weren’t cradled themselves
weakness of harlow’s monkeys: monkeys
- problematic to extrapolate findings from this study to human babies. what happens to a non human species doesn’t necessarily apply to human infants. humans are physiologically very different from monkeys + several other influences that monkeys do not have, such as culture, society, peers, upbringing etc.
lorenz (1935): procedure
konrad lorenz was an ethologist (they study animal behaviour in their natural environment).
he wanted to investigate imprinting, which is the instinct in several species of animals to attach to the first moving thing they see after they are born.
lorenz (1935) took a clutch of gosling (goose) eggs and divided them into two groups. one group was left to hatch with their natural mother present, while the other eggs were placed in an incubator.
when the eggs in the incubator hatched the first moving thing they saw was lorenz. he marked the two groups to distinguish between them and placed them all together again.
lorenz (1935): findings
the goslings quickly divided themselves up, one group following their natural mother and the other (incubator babies) following lorenz. the goslings that had been in the incubator showed no recognition of their natural mother.
animals imprint on consistently moving objects during their first two days. if the animal is not exposed to a moving object during this early critical period then the animal will not imprint. imprinting is similar to attachment in that it binds an animal to a caregiver in a special relationship.
lorenz (1935) had to teach the goslings how to swim and they would always return to him when he called.
lorenz (1935): long-term effects
lorenz (1935) found that imprinting is irreversible and long-lasting. one of the geese that imprinted on him (martina) used to sleep on his bed every night.
he also discovered that this early imprinting affected later mate preferences, called sexual imprinting. animals (especially birds) will choose to mate with the same kind of object upon which they were imprinted.
strength of lorenz (1935): critical period
+ imprinting is similar to the idea of a critical period in bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory. in both cases there is a ‘window of opportunity’ in which attachments must be formed otherwise there will be negative long-term consequences.
strength of lorenz (1935): gutton (1966)
+ other studies support the idea that animals are born with an instinct to attach to the first moving object they see. gutton (1966) demonstrated that chickens exposed to yellow rubber gloves during feeding in their first few weeks of life imprinted on the gloves.
weakness of lorenz (1935): gutton (1966)
- imprinting is more reversible than lorenz thought.
gutton (1966) found that he could reverse the imprinting in chickens that had initially tried to mate with the yellow rubber gloves. after spending time with their own species they were able to engage in normal sexual behaviour with other chickens.
weakness of lorenz (1935): geese
- it is problematic to extrapolate the findings from animal studies to attachment in human infants. what applies to a non-human species does not necessarily apply to human infants.
humans are physiologically very different from monkeys/geese as well as having several other influences that monkeys/geese do not have, such as culture, society, peers, upbringing etc.
the attachment bond between human infants and their attachment figures is far more complex than it is in monkeys/geese. eg. there are several different types of attachment styles that human infants can have (e.g. secure, avoidant, resistant).
it’s argued that harlow’s study may be more relevant to human experience as it uses a mammalian species.
sroufe et al (2005): procedure
minnesota parent-child project (1975) - mother-child pairs were studied and continue to be today.
their behaviour has been assessed using questionnaires and observations. they were videotaped (intra-observer reliability) while playing for 10-15 minutes at home.
the mothers were aware that they were being videotaped (possible social desirability bias). two observers analysed the recordings (inter-observer reliability).
sroufe et al (2005): findings
the securely attached children rated the highest for social competence, were less socially isolated, were more popular with their peers, and were more empathetic.
an infant’s early attachment creates their internal working model of what relationships are, how partners in a relationship behave towards each other and what they should expect of a relationship.
securely attached children will have a positive internal working model for relationships and so are better at forming and maintaining relationships with others.
sroufe et al (2005): long term effects
if infants do not have an early attachment during the critical period this would result in a lack of an internal working model for attachment.
this could lead to attachment disorder where children have no preferred attachment figure, and an inability to interact and relate to others.
this becomes evident from the age of five and is usually caused by severe neglect or frequent change of caregivers.
strength of sroufe’s experiment: simpson et al (2007)
+ this study is reliable. simpson (2007) found similar results when they assessed infant attachment styles at one year of age. several studies have found that children who were securely attached as infants were rated as having higher social competence as children and were closer to their friends aged 16.
weakness of sroufe’s experiment: deterministic
- the study claims that early experiences have a fixed effect on later childhood relationships and therefore children who are insecurely attached as infants are doomed to experience emotionally unsatisfactory relationships as children.
it is therefore deterministic (does not take account of people’s free will to make conscious decisions about their behaviour).
weakness of sroufe’s experiment: tizard and hodges (1989)
- there are lots of studies which contradict the claim that early attachment affects later childhood relationships.
tizard and hodges (1989) found that children raised in care who had never formed any attachments by the age of four, and were then adopted, could still form attachments to their new adopted parents.
hazan and shaver (1987): procedure
they designed a study to test the connection between a person’s infant attachment style, their internal working model, and their adult attachment style.
they placed a ‘love quiz’ in an american small-town newspaper. the quiz asked questions about their relationship with their parents (to identify infant attachment style), attitudes towards love (to assess their internal working model), and their current relationship experiences (to determine their adult attachment style).
they analysed 620 responses, 205 from men and 415 from women, from a fair section of the population.
hazan and shaver (1987): findings
- the prevalence of ADULT and INFANT attachment styles were similar. 56% were classified secure, 25% insecure-avoidant and 19% insecure-resistant.
- relationship between an individual’s INTERNAL working model and their ADULT attachment style – adults with a positive internal working model tended to be securely attached.
- positive correlation between ADULT attachment style and LOVE experiences. securely attached adults described their love experiences as happy, friendly and trusting. they emphasised being able to accept and support their partner despite faults. these relationships were most enduring – ten years on average compared six years for avoidant and five years for resistant
weakness of hazan and shaver: fraley (2002)
- this study is unreliable, several other studies have failed to find the strong correlation between infant attachment style and adult attachment style.
fraley (2002) conducted a review of 27 samples where infants were assessed in infancy and later reassessed (ranging from one month to 20 years later). he found correlations ranging from .5 to as low as .1
weakness of hazan and shaver: correlational
- this study is correlational rather than experimental and therefore we cannot determine cause and effect. it is impossible to say that infant attachment styles determine adult attachment styles. it could be that there is a third variable that affects both, such as a person’s innate temperament.
weakness of hazan and shaver: memory
- this study relies on participants’ memories of their early lives to assess their infant attachment style. such recollections are likely to be flawed because our memories of the past are not always accurate, making the study not valid
