3 - Attachment Flashcards
What does ‘attachment’ mean?
A close, two-way emotional bond between two individuals in which each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security
What 3 things do people display when they have an attachment?
- Proximity
- Separation anxiety
- Secure-base behaviours
What does ‘proximity’ mean?
When we want to feel physically close to our attachment figures
What does ‘separation anxiety’ mean?
What is displayed when we become distressed when away from our attachment figures
What does ‘secure-base behaviour’ mean?
Even when we choose to be independent, we check regularly with our attachment figures
What does ‘caregiver’ mean?
Any person who provides care for a child
What are 2 types of caregiver-infant interactions?
Reciprocity and interactional synchrony
What does ‘reciprocity’ mean?
A two-way, mutual process where each person responds to the other’s actions
What does ‘interactional synchrony’ mean?
When a caregiver and infant reflect the actions and emotions of the other in a coordinated way
What was the aim of Meltzoff and Moore’s still face study (1977)?
To observe the behaviour of infants in response to a stimulus (caregiver)
What were the IV and DV of Meltzoff and Moore’s still face study (1977)?
IV - type of stimulus (3 different faces and 1 hand gesture)
DV - how many times the infant protruded their tongue and moved their head, using 4 behavioural categories (mouth opening, termination of mouth opening, tongue protrusion and termination of tongue protrusion)
What were the findings of Meltzoff and Moore’s still face study (1977)?
A clear association between infant and caregiver’s behaviour
What was the conclusion of Meltzoff and Moore’s still face study (1977)?
The findings suggest that interactional synchrony is natural
What was the aim of Schaffer and Emerson’s Glasgow babies study (1964)?
To investigate attachment formation
What was the method of Schaffer and Emerson’s Glasgow babies study (1964)?
- 60 babies from working-class Glaswegian families (5-23 weeks old at the start of the study)
- Researches visited the babies in their homes, every months for 12 months, and once at 18 months
- Researchers interviewed the mothers and observed the children
What were the findings of Schaffer and Emerson’s Glasgow babies study (1964)?
- At 25-32 weeks, 50% of the babies showed separation anxiety towards their mothers
- By 40 weeks, 80% of the babies had a specific attachment
- 30% had started to form multiple attachments
What was the conclusion of Schaffer and Emerson’s Glasgow babies study (1964)?
- The results provide some support for Schaffer’s stages of attachment
- Suggested that attachments form through a series of stages across the first year of life
What are the names of Schaffer and Emerson’s Stages of Attachment?
- Indiscriminate stage
- Beginnings of attachment
- Discriminate attachment
- Multiple attachments
Describe the ‘indiscriminate stage’ of attachment
- From birth → 2 months
- No preference to any objects/people
- Preference to social stimuli
Describe the ‘beginnings of attachment’ stage of attachment
- From 2 → 6 months
- Can distinguish familiar people from strangers
- No stranger anxiety - comforted by anyone
Describe the ‘discriminate stage’ of attachment
- From 7 → 12 months
- Separation and stranger anxiety start to be seen
- Preference to primary attachment figure
Describe the ‘multiple attachments’ stage of attachment
- 1 year +
- Discriminate attachments are formed with others
- Secondary attachment figure is often the father
What does imprinting mean?
An innate readiness to develop a strong bond with the mother during the critical period
What does sexual imprinting mean?
The idea that imprinting can affect mating and mate choice
What was the aim of Lorenz’s gosling study (1935)?
To investigate infant attachment in geese
What were the IVs and DV of Lorenz’s gosling study (1935)?
- IV (1) - chick raised from birth by mother
- IV (2) - chick raised from birth by Lorenz
- DV following the mother or Lorenz
What were the findings of Lorenz’s gosling study (1935)?
- Chicks always followed the first adult they saw
- The effect seemed permanent
- They chose to mate with Lorenz’s boots
What was the conclusion of Lorenz’s gosling study (1935)?
There is a critical period just after birth when infants imprint on the first adult they come into contact with
What was the aim of Harlow’s monkey study (1959)?
To investigate infant attachment in monkeys
What were the IVs and DVs of Harlow’s monkey study (1959)?
Experiment 1 - choosing mother:
- IV (1) - food on wire mother
- IV (2) - food on cloth mother
- DV (1+2) - time spent with each mother
Experiment 2 - scary toy:
- IV (3) - stranger anxiety/secure-base behaviour
- DV (3) - secure base behaviour and mother choice
What were the findings of Harlow’s monkey study (1959)?
- All monkeys spent much longer with the cloth mother, regardless of food location
- All used the cloth mother for comfort and explored new toys more willingly with cloth mother in the room
What was the conclusion of Harlow’s monkey study (1959)?
- Infants seek comfort over food
- There’s a critical period for attachment, and attachment is crucial
- Lack of mother resulted in abnormal development
- Recovery was only possible if mother attachment happened in the first 3 months
What are the stage of classical conditioning for attachment?
STAGE 1 - UCS (food) → UCR to food - baby feels pleasure
NS (mother) → baby doesn’t respond
STAGE 2 - NS (mother) + UCS (food) → UCR to food - baby feels pleasure
STAGE 3 - CS (mother) → CR to mother - baby feels pleasure
What does positive reinforcement do?
It increases the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated because it involves a reward for the behaviour
What does negative reinforcement do?
It increases the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated because it involves the removal of/escape from unpleasant consequences
What is an example of positive reinforcement?
Baby performs action (cries) → baby receives reward (food relieves hunger)
The reward reinforces the action, so the baby repeats it
What is an example of negative reinforcement?
Baby cries and mother performs action (feeding and cuddling) → mum receives reward (baby stops crying)
Removal of distress reinforces the action, so the mother repeats it
What does drive reduction mean? Give an example
When we feel discomfort, this creates a drive to reduce this discomfort (dollard and Miller, 1950)
Need for something (food or water) → drive for something (hunger or thirst) → drive-reducing behaviours (eating)
What does Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory of Attachment mean?
Children are born with an innate tendency to form attachments with their parents in order to increase chances of survival
What are 5 key terms from Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory of Attachment, represented in the pneumonic ‘A Snap Chat Makes Images’?
A - daptive S - ocial releasers C - ritical period M - onotropy I - nternal working model
In the pneumonic ‘A Snap Chat Makes Images’, what does the ‘A’ stand for and mean?
Adaptive - attachments are adaptive, meaning that they give humans an advantage and making them more likely to survive
In the pneumonic ‘A Snap Chat Makes Images’, what does the ‘S’ stand for and mean?
- Social releasers - infants possess social releasers
- They can be:
- physical - ‘baby face’ traits that make a baby appear
cute - behavioural - crying, cooing and smiling to get
attention
- physical - ‘baby face’ traits that make a baby appear
In the pneumonic ‘A Snap Chat Makes Images’, what does the ‘C’ stand for and mean?
Critical period - infants must form an attachment with their caregiver during the critical period
In the pneumonic ‘A Snap Chat Makes Images’, what does the ‘M’ stand for and mean?
Monotropy - infants form one very special attachment with their primary caregiver
In the pneumonic ‘A Snap Chat Makes Images’, what does the ‘I’ stand for and mean?
Internal working model - an internal template for future relationships expectations
What is the continuity hypothesis?
People who are securely attached in infancy continue to be socially and emotionally competent and are likely to have secure adult relationships
What are the 8 stages of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation?
1 - mother and her child go into a room and sit on the floor
2 - a stranger enters and talks to the mother
3 - stranger tries to engage with the child
4 - mother leaves the room and the baby is alone with the stranger - stranger tries to comfort the baby
5 - mother returns and stranger leaves
6 - mother leaves the room and leaves the infant alone
7 - the stranger returns and tries to comfort the baby
8 - mother re-enters and the stranger leaves
What behaviours are being assessed during Ainsworth’s Strange Situation?
1 - exploration
2 - stranger anxiety
3 - stranger anxiety
4 - separation and stranger anxiety
5 - reunion behaviour
6 - separation anxiety
7 - stranger anxiety
8 - reunion behaviour
What were the findings of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation?
3 types of attachment were found:
- Secure
- Insecure-avoidant
- Insecure-resistant
According to Ainsworth’s Strange Situation, what are some characteristics from a secure attachment?
- Infants explore happily but regularly go back to the caregiver
- Show moderate separation and stranger anxiety
- Require and accept comfort during reunion stage
According to Ainsworth’s Strange Situation, what are some characteristics from a insecure-avoidant attachment?
- Explore freely but don’t seek proximity
- Show little reactions when caregiver leaves
- Show little stranger anxiety
- Don’t require comfort when reunited
According to Ainsworth’s Strange Situation, what are some characteristics from a insecure-resistant attachment?
- Seek greater proximity that others and explore less
- Show huge separation and stranger anxiety
- Resist comfort when reunited with caregiver
What is a culture?
A set of norms, traditions, beliefs and values shared by a large group of people
What is an individualist culture?
A (typically Western) culture that emphasises independence and individuality at the expense of group goals, resulting in a strong sense of competition
What is a collectivist culture?
A (typically Eastern) culture that emphasises group membership, interdependence and cooperation
What does cultural variation mean?
The differences in norms and values that exist between in different groups
What was the aim of van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s meta-analysis (1988)?
To investigate cross-culture variations in attachment
What was the method of van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s meta-analysis (1988)?
van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg conducted a meta-analysis of 32 studies from 8 different countries that had used Ainsworth’s Strange Situation
What were the findings of van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s meta-analysis (1988)?
- Secure attachment was the most common type of attachment, in all cultures examined
- Japan and Israel (collectivist) showed higher levels of insecure-resistant attachments
- Germany (individualist) showed higher levels of insecure-avoidant attachment
What was the conclusion of van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s meta-analysis (1988)?
Since the global trend seems to reflect the US norm of secure attachment being the most common, it adds weight to the argument that secure attachment is the optimal attachment type for healthy development
What does separation mean?
The child is not with the attachment figure
What does deprivation mean?
The child loses an element of the primary attachment figure’s emotional care
What does maternal deprivation mean?
The long-term separation/loss of emotional care from the mother
What did Bowlby think that deprivation in the critical period lead to?
- Delinquency
- Depression
- Affectionless psychopathy
What was the aim of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study (1944)?
To see if early separation from the primary caregiver was associated with behavioural disorders
What was the method of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study (1944)?
- 88 children aged 5-16, who had been referred to a clinic where Bowlby worked, were examined
- 44 children were criminals and 44 were not criminals (control group)
- Them and their families were interviewed based on early life experiences
What were the findings of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study (1944)?
- 14 of the 44 were affectionless psychopaths
- 12/14 APs had experienced early/prolonged deprivation
- 17% of the other thieves had experienced deprivation
- 4% of the control group had early separations
What was the conclusion of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study (1944)?
There is a link between early separations and later social maladjustment
What is institutionalisation?
The effects of living in an institutional setting (eg. hospital or orphanage) where children live for long and continuous periods of time, where there is often little emotional care provided
What was the aim of Rutter’s Romanian orphans study (2010)?
To examine the long-term effects of institutionalisation in a longitudinal study, starting in the early 90s
What was the method of Rutter’s Romanian orphans study (2010)?
- 165 children, who had spent their early years in a Romanian orphanage formed the sample
- 111 of the children were adopted by 2 years old, 54 were adopted by 4 years old
- They were compared to a control group of 52 British children, who were adopted before 6 months old
- They studied the orphans’ social, cognitive and physical development at aged 4, 6, 11 and 15
- Interviews were conducted with adoptive parents
What were the findings of Rutter’s Romanian orphans study (2010)?
- At adoption, the Romanian orphans showed delayed social, cognitive and physical development
- However, almost all the Romanian orphans that were adopted before 6 months caught up on these measures
- Romanian orphans adopted after 6 months continued to show significant deficits with development
What was the conclusion of Rutter’s Romanian orphans study (2010)?
Institutionalisation can have severe long-term effects on development
What was the aim of Hazan and Shaver’s love quiz (1987)?
To test the internal working model to assess if each attachment type formed as an infant influences friendships and adult relationships
What was the method of Hazan and Shaver’s love quiz (1987)?
- The ‘Love Quiz’ was published in an American newspaper
- 620 volunteer participants
- The first section assessed the ppts’ most important relationships
- The second section assessed general love experiences
- The third section assessed ppts’ opinions, in relation to some statements
What were the findings of Hazan and Shaver’s love quiz (1987)?
- 56% of respondents were ‘securely’ attached - they were more likely to have lasting relationships
- 25% had an ‘insecure-avoidant’ attachment type - they were more likely to dislike intimacy
- 19% had an ‘insecure-resistant’ attachment type - they were more likely to have shorter relationships
What was the conclusion of Hazan and Shaver’s love quiz (1987)?
Specific attachment type behaviours are reflected in adult romantic relationships because of an internal working model formed in infancy to guide expectations
What behaviours are influenced by an IWM?
- Childhood friendships
- Poor parenting
- Romantic relationships
- Mental health
