4.1.3 attachment 🐒 Flashcards
define attachment
attachment is a close two way emotional bond between two individuals in which each sees the other as essential for emotional security.
what are the three attachment behaviours
proximity
seperation distress
secure-base behaviours
define proximity as an attachment behaviour
proximity - how close somebody is to who they are attached to. People try to stay physically close to whom they are attached to.
define seperation distress as an attachment behaviour
seperation distress- people are distressed when an attachment figure leaves their presence.
define secure base behaviours as an attachment behaviour
secure base behaviours- evene when we are independent of our attchment figures we tend to make regular contact-based behaviour when they regularly return to their attachment figure while playing.
what are the two types of caregiver-infant interaction
reciprocity
interactional synchrony
define reciprocity as a type of caregiver-infant interaction
reciprocity is a description of how two people interact. mother and infant interaction is reciprocal in tn that both mother and infant respond to each others signals and each elicts a response from the other. the baby takes an active role in attachment.
define interactional synchrony as a type of caregiver-infant interaction
interactional synchrony is when mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a coordinated (synchronised) way.
how does meltzoff and moores study support interactional synchrony
meltzoff and moore found that two week old babies an association was found between the expression or gesture that adult model had displayed and the actions of the babies
how does isabella study support interactional synchrony
isabella et al found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-infant attachment e.g emotional intensity of the relationship.
one strength of meltzoff and moores study to support interactional synchrony- observation
its an observation that was filmed , observations capture fine details and it was filmed from multiple angles- higher internal validity
one limitation of meltzoff and moores study to support interactional synchrony - observation
because it is an observation it shows us what is happening but it doesnt give us perspective in to why it happens , why is the infant responding in a synchronised way . It is also hard to observe infants as we dont know whether actions are conscious are not.
what was the aim of schaffer’s study into the stages of attachment
schaffer and emerson aimed to investigate the form of early attachments , in particular , the age of which they developed their emotional intensity and to whom they are directed.
outline the procedure of scahffers study into stages of attachment
longitudinal of 60 babies in glasgow from working class families. babies were visited in their homes every month for a year and then again at 18 months the mothers were questioned about the babies seperation anxiety and stranger anxiety.
outline the results of schaffers study into stages of attachment
between 25-32 weeks of age - 50% of babies showed seperation anxiety to a particular adult.(usually the mother)
attachment tended to be towards the carer that was most interactive and sensitive e.g reciprocity
by 40 weeks - 80% of babies had a specific attachment
what are the four stages of attachments
stage 1- pre-attachment stage
stage 2-indiscriminate attachment
stage 3-discriminate attachment
stage 4-multiple attachments
outline stage 1 of scahffers stages of attachment - pre attachment stage
this is up to 6 weeks of age , infants show little discrimination or preference towards humans (asocial) there is some preference for familiar adults.
outline stage 2 of schaffers stages of attachment - indiscriminate attachment
approximately 1-7 months old . they start to show a greater preference for social stimuli e.g a smiling face rather than inanimate objects
outline stage 3 of schaffer’s stages of attachment - discriminate attachment
from the age of 7 months , infants form one special attachment with their primary attachment figure and show seperation anxiety when seperated
outline stage 4 of schaffers stages of attachment - multiple attachments
soon after a main attachment is formed an infant develops a wider circle of multiple attachments . 29% of infants had a secondary attachment within a month of forming a primary attachment.
by the age of one year the majority had developed multiple attachments.
outline one strength of schaffers stages of attachment study - ecological validity
one strength is that this study has ecological validity and mundane realism , they were tested in their own homes and observations were made by parents - means that babies activities unlikely to be affected by researchers.- more natural behaviour
outline one strength of schaffers stages of attachment study- longitudinal study
this study is longitudinal - it studies the children as they age - this means children will not have been affected by confounding variables or individual differencesbetween participants which would of been present if it was a cross sectional design.
outline one limitation of schaffers stages of attachment study- unrepresentative sample
the study is an unrepresentative sample - it is using only working class families in the 1960’s it doesnt represent other groups or time periods.
outline one limitation of schaffers stages of attachment - - problems with measuring multiple attachments
there are problems with measuring multiple attachments , just because a baby gets distressed when an individual leaves doesn’t mean that they are attached, this behaviour is also displayed when a playmate leaves- this highlights problems with internal validity.
what percentage of infants formed an attachments to their father by the age of 18 months according to schaffer and emerson
schaffer and emerson claim 75% of all infants formed an attachment to their father by 18 months.
define degree of of sensitivity as part of the role of the father.
fathers who show sensitivity to the needs of the infant develop more secure attachments
what did grossman find in his study about the role of the father
fathers have a different role in attachment , quality of fathers play with infants was related to the quality of adolescents attachments.
what did tiffany find about the role of the father
the level of parental response engagement is more important than the gender of the parent.
in the study they found that primary caregiver fathers spent more time holding , smiling than secondary caregiver fathers
outline one limitation of research into the role of the father - inconsistent findings
there are inconsistent findings when researching into the role of the father , researchers are often interested in different theories and questions e.g primary v.s secondary caregivers . there is no clear answer about why fathers dont generally become the primary attachment figure . could be because of socialised gender roles or biological factors e.g higher oestrogen levels in women
outline one strength into the research of the role of the father - importance of paternal relationships
research into the role of the father highlights the importance of paternal relationships e.g their role in stimulation , or their ability to be a primary caregiver
what are the two animal studies of attachment
Lorenz study on imprinting
Harlow study on contact comfort
outline the procedure of Lorenz animal study of attachment - imprinting
Divided a clutch of gosling eggs into two groups.
Group one- hatched with natural mother.
Group two- placed in an incubator and first moving object they saw was Lorenz.
outline the results of Lorenz animal study of attachment- imprinting
group 1 followed the mother around , group 2 followed lorenz around even when the two groups were mixed together. they had imprinted.
define imprinting
imprinting is when bird species that are mobile from birth attach to the first moving object they see for safety .
what did lorenz identify about a critical period for imprinting
lorenz identified a critical period in which imprinting needs to take place , this can vary between species. if imprinting does not occur within that time lorenz found that chicks did not attach to a mother figure.
outlin one strength of lorenz research into animal study’s of attachment- influential in the development of pyschology
findings have been highly influential within the field of developmental psychology.
Lorenz research suggests imprinting is irriversible and is under biological control and it happens under a specific time frame.
lead developmental psychologists (such as Bowlby) to develop well recognised theories of attachment suggesting the attachment formation takes place during a critical period and is a biological process
outline one limitation of lorenz research into animal study’s of attachment - generalisability?
lorenz can be criticised for extrapolation.
Lorenz conducted his study on imprinting on animals
humans and animals are physiological different. The way a human infant develops an attachment with their primary caregiver could be different to the way a goose forms an attachment with their primary caregiver, therefore the findings cannot be generalised.
outline one strength/limitation of lorenz research into animal studys of attachment - other research
guiton replicated lorenz research , chicks exposed to a yellow rubber glove imprinted on them - supports imprinting . as the chicks were older they tried to mate with the rubber gloves however when they were exposed to their own species again this behaviour stopped , questions how flexible imprinting is, not as permanent as lorenz suggests?
outline the procedure of harlows animal study into attachment - contact comfort
16 baby monkeys reared with two wire mothers.
in one condition - milk dispensed from plain wire mother
in another condition - milk dispensed from cloth covered mother
he measured how long they clung to the mother for and frightened them to see which mother they ran to for comfort
outline the results of harlows animal study into attachment - contact comfort.
In both conditions, baby monkeys cuddled the soft ‘mother’ in preference to the wire ‘mother’ and sought comfort from the cloth ’mother’ when frightened.
This showed that ‘contact comfort’ was more important than food in attachment.
what did harlow find about the monkeys involved in his research when he followed them into adulthood
Followed the monkeys who had been deprived of a real mother in childhood to adulthood to assess the effects of maternal deprivation.
These monkeys were the most dysfunctional:
Highly aggressive
Less sociable,
Unskilled parents- neglected/ killed young.