4.1.3 ATTATCHMENT Flashcards
define the term attatchment
a close, two-way emotional bond between two individuals
what are the two specific caregiver-infant interaction
reciprocity
interactional synchrony
define reciprocity
when things are exchanged between people for mutual benefit
name the two stages of reciprocity in caregiver-infant interactions
alert phases - active involvement
describe alert phases as a stage of reciprocity in interactions
babies signal - eg make eye contact - to show they are ready for interaction
mothers pick up on this around 2/3 of the time
interaction becomes increasingly frequent from around 3 months
describe active involvement as a stage of reciprocity in interaction
babies and cares take on an active role in initiating interactions and take turns doing so
brazelton et al described this as a dance
who described reciprocity as ‘a dance’
brazelton et al
define the term synchrony
two or more people acting simultaneously
define interactional synchrony as a caregiver-infant interaction
caregivers and babies reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a coordinated way
describe isabella et als procedure
observed 30 mothers and babies together
assessed the degree of synchrony and the quality of the mother-baby attachment
describe isabella et als findings
high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attatchment
describe meltzoff and moores procedure
observed interactional synchrony in infants
adult displayed one of three distinctive gestures
the babies response was filmed and labelled by independent observers
describe meltzoff and moore’s findings
babies expression and gestures were more likely to mirror those of the adults than what would have been expected from chance
what does feldman suggest
ideas like synchrony are just robust phenomena
they can be reliably observed
not useful in understanding development as it doesn’t tell us the purpose of these behaviours
outline the aim of schaffer and emerson’s study
to investigate the age at which children develop emotional intensity and towards whom it’s directed at
outline schaffer and emerson’s study
sample consists of 60 babies (31male29female)
working class families in glasgow
aged between 5-23 weeks
visited in own homes every month for first 12 months and then at 18 months
researchers interviewed mothers and asked questions about separation anxiety and stranger anxiety
outline schaffer and emerson’s findings
between 25-32 weeks: 50% of infants showed separation anxiety towards an adult
by 40 weeks: 80% of children had specific attatchment, 30% started to form multiple
what are schaffer’s stages of development
asocial stage
indiscriminate attatchment
specific attatchment
multiple attatchment
outline the asocial stage as a stage of development
babies recognise and form bonds, behave similarly towards objects and humans, prefer to be in the presence of humans
outline indiscriminate as a stage of attatchment
between 2-7 months, more social behaviour, prefer people to objects, recognise familiar people, accept comfort from any person and don’t show signs stranger or separation anxiety
outline specific attatchment as a stage of attachment
from around 7 months, babies display anxiety around strangers when separate from a particular adult
in 65% of cases this is the biological mother, or who participates most with reciprocity
outline multiple attatchment as a stage of attatchment
attatchment behaviour expands from one specific person to multiple, secondary attachments
what is the definition of a father
anyone who takes on the role of the main male caregiver
they do not need to be related biologically
what did grossman et al conclude about the role of the father
attachments to mothers are the most important in steering subsequent attachments, fathers have a different role
what did schaffer and emerson conclude about the role of the father
mothers are usually the first attachment, but strong attachments to fathers usually follow
what did tiffany field conclude about the role of the father
the quality of the attachment is more important than who the attachment is with
outline klaus grossman’s procedure
carried out a longitudinal study where attachment was studied into teens, looked at both parents behaviours and the relationship the quality of babies later attachments to others
outline klaus grossman’s findings
found attachment to mothers related to attachment in later life
suggests attachment to mothers is more important
found quality of fathers play relayed to quality of later attachments
what does grossman’s research suggest about fathers being the primary caregiver
suggests that a primary caregiver is the emotionally significant caregiver
as fathers roles are about play and stimulation rather than emotional attachment, this isn’t possible
outline tiffany field’s method
filmed 4 month old babies face to face interactions with:
primary caregiver mothers
secondary caregiver fathers
primary caregiver fathers
outline tiffany field’s findings
primary caregiver fathers and mothers spent more time smiling and interacting with the babies than the secondary caregiver fathers which suggests they are able to be more emotion focused in their role
ao3: what did mccallum and golombok suggest
found that even though fathers are suggested to have a specific role, children in same sex or single mother households did not turn out differently
define animal studies
studies carried out on non human animals for ethical or practical reasons
name the two key animal studies in attatchment
lorenz’s geese
harlow’s monkeys
outline lorenz’s procedure
randomly divided a clutch of geese eggs
half the eggs were hatched with the mother goose in their natural environment
the other half hatched in an incubator where the first moving object was lorenz
outline lorenz’s findings
the goslings imprinted on whoever they saw upon hatching, they would follow either lorenz or the mother goose, even when mixed
what is a critical period
a time where the first strong attachment must occur
what percentage of schaffer and emersons sample had a specific attachment to their father
3%
define sexual imprinting
relationship between imprinting and adult mate preferences
what did lorenz observe about sexual imprinting
birds that imprinted on a human, would often display courtship behaviour towards humans in later life
did further research on peacocks who imprinted on tortoise, as an adult they showed courtship to tortoises
ao3: outline guiton et al’s study and findings
observed that chickens imprinted on yellow washing up gloves and would try to mate with them, however they eventually learnt to mate with other chickens
outline harlow’s study
reared 16 baby monkeys with a surrogate mother
condition 1: a metal wire mother dispensed milk
condition 2: a cloth heated mother dispensed milk
in another condition the cloth mother did not dispense milk
outline harlow’s findings
the monkeys preferred the cloth mother over the wire mother, they ran to the cloth mother for comfort and protection no matter which mother dispensed milk
outline harlow’s conclusion
comfort is more important than food in attatchment
outline harlow’s study and findings into maternal deprivation
studied monkeys who had been deprived in adulthood
maternal deprivation had effects on behaviour:
agressive and antisocial
autistic like behaviour
unable to mate normally
neglected and attacked their own young
what critical period did harlow suggest
90 days
ao3: what did howe suggest about harlow’s study
highlighted the importance of he research in helping social workers understand risk factors in child neglect and abuse helps to prevent it
what nicknames did harlow give the cage and wire mothers
cage: pits of despair
wire mothers: iron maidens
who introduced the idea of cupboard love
dollard and miller
what theory does cupboard love support
behaviourist
define cupboard love
the infant learns to love whoever feeds them
what are the 3 features of the learning theory in attachment
classical conditioning
operant conditioning
attachment as a secondary drive
define classical conditioning
learning to associate stimuli together so that you respond to one in the same way you respond to the other
relate classical conditioning to attatchment
the caregiver transforms from the neutral stimulus to the conditioned one, and the infant relates the caregiver to food
what is the unconditioned stimulus in attatchment
food
what is the unconditioned response in attatchment
happy baby
who conducted the original classical conditioning study
pavlov
define operant conditioning
learning to repeat a behaviour based on the consequences
relate operant conditioning to attatchment
the infant receives positive reinforcement for crying, food
the caregiver receives negative reinforcement through feeding, the baby stops crying
who conducted the original operant conditioning study
skinner
define a primary drive
an innate biological motivator
what is a babies primary drive
hunger
what did sears et al suggest
caregivers provide food which lead infants to relate them with hunger reduction, making attatchment the secondary drive
association with the caregiver is the satisfaction of the primary drive
ao3: what did hay and vespo suggest
parents teach children to love through modelling behaviour such as hugging
who rejected learning theory in attachment
bowlby
what explanation did bowlby propose
an evolutionary explanation
attachment is an innate system designed to increase survival
what approach is evolution
a form of the biological approach
outline bowlby’s theory of attatchment
children typically develop one strong attachment early on
the more time spent with this attachment the better, and any time apart presents challenges
what two factors shape bowlby’s theory
law of continuity
law of accumulated separation
define the law of continuity
the more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better quality of attachment there is
define the law of accumulated seperarion
every time the mother and baby are separated, the effects add up
outline the timeline of bowlby’s theory
child is born
child uses social releasers to encourage attachment
child and primary caregiver develop monotropic attachment
each subsequent separation damages wellbeing
define social releasers
a set of innate ‘cute’ behaviours infants are born with which activate adult attachment systems
define monotropic
the idea that there is one particular attachment which is distinct and central to child development
what did bowlby predict the critical period to be
the first two years of an infants life
what will happen if no attachment is made in the critical period
an attachment may not form at all
outline bowlby’s theory of the internal working model
believed our early attachments shape our later attachments shape our attachments in later life
he argues if we have a strong attachment, we will have strong attachments later on
bowlby argues it particularly effects parenting
ao3: outline bailey et al’s research
conducted research on 99 mothers
those with poor mother figures were more likely to have poor attachments to their children
ao3: outline brazelton et al’s research
observed babies and mothers and found interactional synchrony
created an experiment where the attachment figures were instructed to ignore babies’ signals and found the babies showed distress until they crawled into the fetal position
ao3: what did kagan propose
proposed a temperament hypothesis which suggests child’s genetically inherited personality traits have a role to play when attachments form
some are more sociable and easy whereas some may be more anxious and difficult
who conducted the strange situation
mary ainsworth
outline the aim of the strange situation study
to assess the quality of a child’s attachment to a caregiver by observing key behaviours in distinct and measurable categories of attachment
what type of observation is the strange situation
covert, controlled and non participant
where was the strange situation study conducted in
conducted in a laboratory with a two way mirror so the psychologists could observe without disruption
where was the strange situation study conducted in
conducted in a laboratory with a two way mirror so the psychologists could observe without disruption
in the strange situation, how were attatchment behaviours measured
the psychologists ranked the infants attatchment behaviours on a scale of 1-7
what atttachment behaviours were judged in the strange situation study
proximity seeking
exploration/secure base behaviour
stranger anxiety
separation anxiety
reunion response
what were the three attatchment types concluded from the strange situation
A insecure-avoidant attatchment
B secure attatchment
C insecure-resistant attatchment
outline the seven stages of the strange situation
child encouraged to explore
stranger enters and tries to interact
caregiver leaves and strangers stays
caregiver returns and stranger leaves
caregiver leaves child alone
the stranger returns
caregiver returns and is reunited with child
outline the characteristics of insecure-avoidant attatchment
characterised by low anxiety and weak attachment
children explore freely, but don’t display proximity seeking or secure base behaviour
do not show distress when alone or seeing a stranger, they do not require comforting
describe the behaviour of parents of type A children
emotionally unavailable and unresponsive
discourage crying and encourage premature independence
disregard needs
how many children were classified as insecure-avoidant in the strange situation
22%
how many children were classified as insecure-avoidant in the uk
20-25%
outline the characteristics of secure attatchment
associated with psychologically healthy outcomes
explore happily but regularly return back to their secure base
show moderate separation distress and stranger anxiety
need and accept comfort upon reunion
describe the behaviour of parents of type B children
nurturing, emotionally available and consistent
how many children were classified as secure in the strange situation
65%
how many children were classified as secure in the uk
60-75%
outline the characteristics of insecure-resistant attachment
characterised by strong attachment and high anxiety
seek greater proximity and explore less
show extreme separation and stranger anxiety
resist comfort upon reunion
describe the behaviour of parents of type C children
inconsistent parenting
responsive and unavailable, leading to confusion in the child
how many children were classified as insecure-resistant in the strange situation
12%
how many children were classified as insecure-resistant in the uk
3%
ao3: what was the agreement between the observers of the strange situation
94%
ao3: outline mccormick et al’s findings
found that securely attached infants were more likely to achieve better in school, less likely to be involved in bullying and more likely to have better mental health
ao3: outline main and solomans research
conducted research that analysed several hundred strange situation studies via videotape and suggested that ainsworth overlooked a fourth type: insecure-disorganised, infants who show inconsistent behaviour types
ao3: outline van ijzendoorn et al
conducted a meta-analysis of strange situations, found that 15% of infants were type D attatchment
define culture
the norms and values that exist within any group of people
what is cultural variation
different groups have different norms and values
what was the aim of van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg
to investigate cross cultural variations in attatchment
proportions of secure, insecure avoidant and insecure resistant across countries
what was the procedure of van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg
meta analysis of 32 studies of the strange situation
conducted over 8 countries, with results for 1990 children
what was the most common attatchment across all countries
secure attatchment was most common across all countries
what was the variation of secure attachments across countries”"”c
75% in britain to 50% in china
what was the second most common attatchment type across countries and where was it most and least common
insecure avoidant, most common in germany and least common in japan
what was the variation of insecure resistant attatchment across countries
3% in britain to 30% in israel
what were the attatchment differences across cultures
rates of insecure resistant attatchment in individualistic cultures were similar to ainsworth’s findings but this wants true for collectivist cultures such as japan china and israel
what was found about variations within countries
they were more common than variations between countries
what were variations in attatchment across the usa
46% secure in one study compared to 90% in another
outline simonella et als study
conducted a study in italy on 76 infants to see if proportion in attatchment types still matches previous findings
what percentage of infants were secure attached in simonella’s study and how does this compare to other studies
50%
lower than usual
what percentage of infants were insecure avoidant attached in simonella’s study and how does this compare to other studies
36%
higher than usual
what do researchers suggest about the difference in attachment types in italy (simonella)
secure is lower and avoidant is higher because the of the change in working hours
outline jin et al’s study
conducted a strange situation study on 87 infants to compare proportions of attachment types in korea
what were the findings of jin et al’s study
overall was most similar with secure attachment being most common
however most of the insecure children were classified as resistant with only one being avoidant
what does secure attatchment being most common across all cultures tell us
attachment is innate
what does differences in attachment across cultures tell us
cultural attitudes/practices can impact attatchment
what did bowlby say about mother love
‘mother love in infancy is as important for mental health as are vitamins and proteins for your health’
define seperation
an infant not being in the presence of primary attachment figure
define deprivation
a loss of emotional care (can happen, even if the mother is present)
why is brief separation fine
as the infant is normally with a substitute caregiver
what does bowlby see the critical period to be
2 and a half years
what does bowlby suggest happens if a child is deprived from emotional care in a critical period
damage is inevitable
what are the two types of development deprivation has an effect on
intellectual development
emotional development
what is delayed intellectual development characterised by
an abnormally low iq
outline goldfarb’s study into maternal deprivation
studied 30 orphans, half had been fostered by 4 months and the other half remained in an institution
assessed their iq score at 12
what were the findings of goldfarbs study into maternal deprivation
fostered children: iq of 96
institutionalised children: iq of 68
what did bowlby suggest the effect of maternal deprivation on emotional development was
affectionless psychopathy
describe affectionless psychopathy
inability to experience strong guilt or strong emotions towards others
name some characteristics of affectionless psychopathy
lack of affection, guilt/remorse for their actions and a lack of empathy for their victims
what does affectionless psychopathy prevent
an individual from forming normal relationships and has been associated with criminality
who conducted the 44 thieves study
bowlby
outline the procedure of the 44 thieves study
sample consisted of 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing. all of the ‘thieves’ were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy
the families were also interviewed in order to establish whether the ‘thieves’ had prolonged early separations from their mothers
a control group of non-criminal yet emotionally disturbed young people was set up to see how maternal deprivation occurred in young people who lacked criminality.
how many of the 44 thieves were ap
14 of the 44 thieves could be described as affectionless psychopaths
how many of the 44 thieves had prolonged separation
12 of the 14 had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers in the first two years of their lives
only 5 of the remaining 30 ‘thieves’ had experienced separations.
what were the conclusions made from the 44 h thieves study
prolonged early separation/deprivation caused affectionless psychopathy
ao3: what did rutter suggest about deprivation
distinguished between two types of negative early experience, deprivation and privation
deprivation: the loss of the primary attachment figure once the attachment has been established
Privation: the failure to form any attachment in the first place
ao3: what does koluchova suggest
reported the case of twin boys in czechoslovakia
the boys experienced severe emotional and physical abuse from the age of 18 months until they were 7 years old
the boys then received excellent care by two loving adults, by their teens, the twins appeared to have recovered fully
critical period may be a sensitive period
ao3: outline levy et als findings
found that separating baby rats from their mother for as little as a day had a permanent effect on their social development (although not other aspects of development)
ao3: what did gao et al show to support bowlby’s theory
has partially supported bowlby by showing that poor quality maternal care was associated with high rates of psychopathy in adults
what are the three stages of attatchment that have been researched
childhood relationships
relationships in adulthood
parental relationships with own children
describe the internal working model
the mental representation of our attachment to our primary attatchment figure
how does the internal working model affect our relationships
carries perception of what we think relationships should look like
what are the likely consequences for a baby whose first relationship is loving and reliable
seek functional relationships, eg. being warm and loving comes naturally, effectively communicate,
don’t get easily upset
what are the likely consequences for a baby whose first experiences of a relationship are negative
bring bad experiences to later relationships
struggle to form relationships or behave appropriately within them, eg. too uninvolved/emotionally close or controlling and argumentative
what did kerns suggest about attachment type and friendships
securely attached babies tend to go on to form higher quality friendships
insecurely attached babies tend to have friendship difficulties in childhood
outline the findings of myron-wilson and smiths findings
securely attached children: unlikely to be involved
insecure-avoidant children: victims of bullying
insecure-resistant children: bullied others
outline myron-wilson and smith’s procedure
assessed attachment types and bullying in 196 children aged 7-11 in london with standard questionnaires
what did hazan and shaver study
influence of atttatchment in relationships in adulthood
what did myron-wilson and smith study
early attachment influence on peer relationships in childhood
what did kerns study
early attachment influence on peer relationships in childhood
outline hazan and shaver’s procedure
analysed 620 replies to the ‘love quiz’ published in american local newspaper
it included 3 sections: current, most important relationship, general love experiences and choosing which of three statements best described their feelings
outline the findings of hazan and shavers study
56% - secure - good and lasting relationships
25% - avoidant - fear of intimacy and jealousy
19% - resistant - fear of intimacy and jealousy
what did mccarthy study
attachment type influence on relationships in adulthood
outline mccarthy’s procedure
studied 40 adult woman and their attachment types in infancy
why do early attachments have an affect on parental relationships
adults base their parenting style on how their own, so attachment types can be passed through generations
outline mccarthy’s findings
securely attached = best adult friendships and romantic relationships
insecure-avoidant = struggled with intimacy in romantic relationships
insecure-resistant = problems maintaining friendships
outline bailey et al’s procedure
attachment types of 99 mothers to their babies and their own mothers.
mother-infant attachment assessed through the strange situation and the mother’s attachment assessed using an adult attachment interview
outline bailey et al’s findings
majority had the same attachment classification to both their babies and own mothers
ao3: outline fearon and roisman’s findings
found that early attachment type consistently predicts later attachments and emotional wellbeing
define institutionalisation
a term for the effects of living in one of the such places where there is often very little emotional care
define institution
refers to a place such as a prison, hospital or orphanage where people live for a long, continuous period of time
define orphan studies
concerns children placed in care because their parents cannot look after them, eg. after passing away or abandoning them permanently
why are romanian children studied in orphan studies
former president, nicolai ceaucescu required romanian women to have five children
many of the parents could not afford to keep the children and thus were placed into large orphanages, in very poor conditions
outline rutter et al’s procedure
followed a group of 165 romanian orphans for many years as part
at ages 4, 6, 11, 15 and 22-25 years old, the orphans had their physical, emotional and cognitive development assessed
a group of 52 british children adopted around the same time served as a control group
what was the aim of rutter et al’s study
the aim of the era was to investigate to what extent good care could make up for poor early experience in institutions
what ages were the romanian children assessed in rutter et al’s study
4, 6, 11, 15 and 22-25 years old
how many romanian orphans showed delayed intellectual development when they arrived in the uk
half
what were the mean iq’s found in rutters romanian orphan study
before six months: 102
six months - two years: 86
after two years: 77
what were the mean iq’s found in rutters romanian orphan study
before six months: 102
six months - two years: 86
after two years: 77
what did beckett and kennedy find as a result of rutter’s study
beckett: difference in iq remained at age 16
kennedy: adhd more common by 15 and 22-25 years
what did rutter find about children adopted after 6 months
showed disinhibited attachment
describe disinhibited attachment
attention seeking behaviour and clinginess towards both familiar and unfamiliar adults indiscriminately
what does rutter’s research suggest about the effects of institutionalisation on intellectual disability
that intellectual development can recover, provided adoption takes place before the age of 6 months - when attachment forms
what does rutter’s research suggest about the effects of institutionalisation and disinhibited attatchment
suggested that disinhibited attachment is a typical adaptation to living with multiple caregivers during sensitive periods for attachment formation
who conducted the english and romanian adoptee study
rutter et al
who conducted the bucharest early intervention project
zeneah et al
outline zeneah et al’s procedure
attachment was assessed in 95 romanian children aged 12-31 months who had spent most of their lives in institutionalised care
they were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never spent time in an institution.
the children were assessed using the strange situation, in addition to this, carers were also asked about unusual social behaviour (measure of disinhibited attachment)
what did zeneah find about secure attatchment in institutional groups
only 19% of the institutional group were securely
attached, compared to 74% of the control group
what did zeneah find about disorganised attatchment in institutional children
65% of the institutional group were found to have disorganised attachment
type D, where attachment behaviours could veer between needing closeness and rejecting it, and not trusting others
what did zeneah find about disinhibited attatchment in institutionalised groups
in addition, from the interviews disinhibited attachment was described in 44% of the institutionalised group, compared to less than 20% of the control group
ao3: what did langton et al say about rutter’s research
has informed psychologists’ understanding of the effects of institutional care and how to prevent the worst of these effects and inform the way that children are cared for in institutions
