3. attachment

Question 1

Attachment

Answer 1

A close two-way emotional bond between a caregiver and infant in which each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security

Question 2

Reciprocity

Answer 2

Caregiver-infant interactions is reciprocal in that both caregiver and a baby respond to each other’s signals and each elicts a response from the other

Question 3

Brazelton’s still face experiment

Reciprocity

Answer 3

Parents were instructed to interact with their children as normal. They were then asked to pause and ‘still face’ for two minutes.
When there was a lack of response from the caregiver, the infant tried to engage the parent and became distressed.
This suggests the infant has an active role in initiating interaction.

Reciprocity is important to caregiver-infant relationships

Question 4

Interactional synchrony

Answer 4

Caregiver and infant reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a synchronised way

High levels of synchrony were associated with better quality attachments

Question 5

Meltzoff and Moore’s study

Interactiona synchrony

Answer 5

They observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in babies as young as two weeks old; caregivers opposite displayed one of three distinctive facial gestures.
The infants mirrored their parent more times than chance would predict
They found that high levels of interactional synchrony were associated with better quality caregiver-infant attachment

Question 6

Stages of attachment

Answer 6

― Asocial stage (0 to 8 weeks)
― Indiscriminate attachment (2 to 7 months)
― Specific attachment (7 to 12 months)
― Multiple attachments (12 months onward)

Question 7

Asocial stage

Answer 7

Babies show signs that they prefer to be with other people, but show a preference for the company of familiar people and are more easily comforted by them.

Question 8

Indiscrimiate attachment

Answer 8

Babies show a clear preference for humans rather than objects. They also recognise and prefer the company of familiar people and can be comforted by anybody

Question 9

Specific attachment

Answer 9

Babies develop a specific attachment to one particular person and show high levels of separation and stranger anxiety. They are known as the primary attachment figure and it tends to be the person who offers the most interactiona nd response to the baby’s signals

This is the mother in 65% of cases

Question 10

Multiple attachment

Answer 10

Babies begin to develop multiple attachments with other people they regularly spend time with. These relationships are called secondary attachments

Question 11

Schaffer and Emerson’s research

Conducted in Glasgow

Answer 11

The study involved 60 Glasgowian babies from mainly working-class families. Researchers visisted mothers in their homes every month during the first year and again at 18 months, measuring stranger and separation anxiety

Question 12

Lorenz’s research

Imprinting (goose eggs)

Answer 12

Lorenz divided a large clutch of goose eggs. Half the eggs were hatched with the mother and the other half were hatched in an incubator where the first moving object they saw would be Lorenz
The incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere and the control group (naturally hatched) followed around the mother goose. When the two groups were mixed up, the control group followed the mother and the experimental group followed Lorenz

Question 13

Harlow’s research

Comfort contact (rhesus monkeys)

Answer 13

Harlow reared 16 monkeys with two wire mother models. In one condition, milk was dispensed by a wire-monkey, whereas in a second condition, the milk was dispensed by the cloth-covered mother.
The baby monkeys sought comfort from the cloth mother when frightened, regardless of which mother dispensed food. This showed that ‘contact comfort’ was of more importance to the monkeys than food when it came to attachment behaviour.
Harlow found that monkeys that had been deprived of a real mother had a permanent effect. The monkeys with maternal deprivation were more agressive and less sociable and had problems with mating and bringing up their offspring

Question 14

Classical conditioning

Explanations of attachment: learning theory

Answer 14

A caregiver starts as a neutral stimulus. When the caregiver provides food over time they become associated with food; when the baby sees this person, there is an expectation of food. The neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus and the caregiver produces a conditioned response of pleasure (love).

Question 15

Operant conditioning

Explanations of attachment: learning theory

Answer 15

Crying leads to a response from the caregiver (e.g. feeding). As long as the caregiver provides the correct response, crying is reinforced. The baby then directs crying for comfort towards the caregiver who responds.
This reinforcement is a two-way process. It is positive reinforcement for the baby, but negative reinforcement for the caregiver

Negative reinforcement because the caregiver escapes from crying

Question 16

Monotropic

Answer 16

A term used to describe Bowlby’s theory. It indicates that one particular attachment is different from all the others and of central importance to a child’s development

Question 17

Law of continuity

Answer 17

The more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better the quality of their attachment

Question 18

Law of accumulated separation

Answer 18

The effects of every separation from the mother add up ‘and the safest dose is therefore a zero dose’

Question 19

Critical period

Answer 19

The time in which an attachment must form if it has to form at all. Bowlby extended Lorenz and Harlow’s theory and propsed that babies have a sensitive period after which it will be much more difficult to form an attachment

Question 20

Internal working model

Answer 20

Our mental representations of the world (e.g. the representation we have of our relationship to our primary attachment figure). This model provides the framework for future relationships because it carries our perception of what they are like

Question 21

Strange Situation

Mary Ainsworth

Answer 21

A controlled observation designed to measure the security of attachment a baby displays towards a caregiver. It takes place in a room with quite controlled conditions.
― The baby is encouraged to explore
― A stranger comes in, talks to the caregiver and approaches the baby
― The caregiver leaves the baby and stranger together
― The caregiver returns and the stranger leaves
― The caregiver leaves the baby alone
― The stranger returns
― The caregiver returns and is reunited with the baby

Question 22

Insecure-avoidant attachment (Type A)

Answer 22

An attachment type characterised by low anxiety but weak attachment. In the Strange Situation, this is shown by low stranger and separation anxiety and little response to reunion, maybe even avoidance of the caregiver.
They explore freely but do not seek proximity or show secure-base behaviour.

About 20-25% of babies are classified as insecure-avoidant

Question 23

Secure attachment (Type B)

Answer 23

Generally thought of as the most desirable attachment type, associated with psychologically healthy outcomes. In the Strange Situation, this is shown by moderate stranger and separation anxiety and little response to reunion, maybe even an avoidance of the caregiver.
The babies explore happily but regularly go back to their caregiver (proximity-seeking and secure-base behaviour)

About 60-75% of British babies are classified as secure

Question 24

Insecure-resistant attachment (Type C)

Answer 24

An attachment type characterised by strong attachment with high anxiety. In the Strange Situation this is shown by high levels of stranger and separation anxiety and by resistance to being comforted at reunion.
These babies seek greater proximity than others and so explore less

About 3% of British babies are classified as insecure-resistant

Question 25

van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg's research | Cultural variations in attachment

Answer 25

The researchers located 32 studies of attachment where the Strange Situation had been used to investigate babies with different attachment types. The data for these 32 studies were meta-analysed ― The most common attachment type across all countries was secure by a significant amount. ― Insecure-avoidant tended to be the most common in individualist countries, such as Germany and the Netherlands ― Insecure-resistant tended to be the most common in collectivist countries, such as Japan and China. ― Insecure-resistant was the least common attachment type overall

Question 26

Italian Strange Situation study | Alessandra Simonelli et al.

Answer 26

The researchers assessed 76 babies aged 12 months using the Strange Situation ― 50% of babies were classified as secure ― 36% were classified as insecure-avoidant The researchers suggested that a higher rate of insecure-avoidant attachment was because increasing mothers of very young children work long hours and use professional childcare

Question 27

Korean Strange Situation study | Mi Kyoung Jin et al

Answer 27

The Strange Situation was used to assess 87 babies. ― The overall proportions of insecure and secure babies were similar to those in most countries; most babies were secure ― More of those were classified as insecure-resistant attachment and one baby was avoidant. This distribution is similar to the distribution of attachment types found in Japan

Question 28

Maternal deprivation

Answer 28

The emotional and intellectual consequences of separation betwen a child and their mother/mother-substitute. Bowlby proposed that continuous care from a mother is essential for normal psychological development, and that prolonged separation from this adult causes serious damage to emotional and intellectual development

Question 29

Separation vs deprivation

Answer 29

Separation is the child is not in the presence of the primary attachment figure. However, deprivation is prolonged separation that leads to emotional damage

Question 30

Critical period | Bowlby's maternal deprivation theory

Answer 30

Bowlby saw the first 2.5 years of life as a critical period for psychological development. If a child is separated from their mother in the absence of suitable substitute care and so deprived of her emotional care for a long period of time during this critical period then Bowlby believed psychological damage was inevitable. He also believed there was a continuing risk up to the age of five

Question 31

Maternal deprivation effect on intellectual development | Bowlby's maternal deprivation theory

Answer 31

Bowlby believed that if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period, they would experience delayed intellectual development, characterised by abnormally low IQ. ― William Goldfarb found lower IQ in children who had remained in institutions as opposed to those who were fostered and had a higher standard of emotional care

Question 32

Maternal deprivation on emotional development | Bowlby's maternal deprivation theory

Answer 32

Bowlby identified affectionless psychopathy as the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion towards others. This prevents a person developing fulfilling relationships and is associated with criminality. Affectionless psychopaths cannot appreciate the feelings of victims and so lack remorse for their actions

Question 33

Bowlby's 44 thieves study

Answer 33

This sample consisted of 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing. All 'thieves' were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy. Their families were interviewed in order to establish whether the 'thieves' had prolonged early separations from their mothers. The sample was compared to a control group of 44 emotionally-disturbed young people. ― 14 of the 44 thieves could be described as affectionless psychopaths (12 had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers during the critical period) ― Only 5 of the remaining 30 had experienced separations ― Only two participants in the control group of 44 had experienced long separations Bowlby concluded that prolonged early separation/deprivation caused affectionless psychopathy

Question 34

Rutter et a.l's research | Institutionalisation

Answer 34

Michael Rutter and colleagues followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans for many years as part of the English and Romanian adoptee study. The orphans had been adopted by families in the UK. Physical, cognitive, and emotional development was assessed at 4, 6, 11, 15, and 22-25 years old

Question 35

Rutter et al.'s research findings | Institutionalisation

Answer 35

― The mean IQ of those adopted before six months was 102 ― The mean IQ of those adopted between six months and two years was 86 ― The mean IQ for those adopted between after two years was 77 ― These differences remained at age 16 ― ADHD was more common in 15- and 22- to 25-year-old samples ― Children adopted after six months showed signs of disinhibited attachment

Question 36

Zeanah et al.'s research | Institutionalisation

Answer 36

Charles Zeanah et al. conducted the Bucharest early intervention project, assessing attachment in 95 Romanian children aged 12 to 31 months who had spent most of their lives in institutional care. They were compaiered to a control group of children who had never lived in an institution and attachment type was measured using the Strange Situation. Carers were asked about traits of disinhibited attachment ― Researchers found that 74% of the control group were classed as securely attached in the control group ― Only 19% of the institutional group were securely attached. ― The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children as opposed to less than 20% of the controls

Question 37

Internal working model | Influence of early attachment on later development

Answer 37

John Bowlby suggested that a baby's first relationship with their primary attachment figure leads to a mental representation of this relationship. This IWM acts as a template for future childhood and adult relationships ― A baby whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable attachment figure will tend to assume this is how relationships are meant to be and seek out functional relationships and behave functionally within them ― Insecure-avoidant may be uninvolved or emotionally close ― Insecure-resistant may be controlling and argumentative

Question 38

Relationships in childhood | Influence of early attafchment on later relationships

Answer 38

Securely attached babies tend to go on to form the best quality childhood friendships whereas insecurely attached babies later have friendship difficulties. ― Wilson and Smith assessed attachment type and bullying involvement using standard questionnaires in 196 children aged 7 to 11. ― Secure children were unlikely to be involved in bullying; insecure-avoidant were most likely to be victims; and insecure-resistant were most likely to be bullies

Question 39

Relationships in adulthood | Influence of early attachment on later relationships

Answer 39

Internal working models affect two major adult experiences: romantic relationships and parental relationships with your own children ― McCarthy studied 40 adult women who had been assessed when they were babies to establish their early attachment type. ― Those assessed as securely attached babies had the best adult friendships and romantic relationships ― Those classed as insecure-resistant had particular problems maintaining friendships while those classed as insecure-avoidant struggled with romantic relationships