Attachment 1 Flashcards
Caregiver infant interactions
Reciprocity
Interactional synchrony
Reciprocity
Both caregiver and infant respond to each others signals and elicits a response from the other
Alert phases - babies ready for interaction mother pick up 2/3 time
Active involvement- babies and caregiver active role initiating interactions - like a dance
Interactional synchrony
When caregiver and baby interact their actions and emotions are mirrored by the other
Meltzoff and Moore begin in babies of 2 weeks old babies response was filmed and labelled
Isabella et al high levels of synchrony = better quality mother baby attachment
Stages of attachment
Schaffer and Emerson identify a sequence of different behaviours linked to ages
Stage 1- Asocial
Stage 2- Indiscriminate
Stage 3- specific
Stage 4- multiple
Schaffer and Emerson procedure
60 babies 31 boys 29 girls Glaswegian working class families
Researchers visited after 1 year and 18 months
Mothers questioned about protest of their babies after leaving room for example designed to measure attachment
Also assessed stranger anxiety
Stage 1 asocial
First few weeks
Behaviour towards humans and objects fairly similar
Prefer to be w people- familiar ones easily comfort
Stage 2 - indiscriminate
2-7 months
Clear preference of humans and prefer familiar ones
Accept comfort from anyone
Don’t show stranger or separation anxiety
Stage 3- Specific
7 months
Baby displays stranger and separation anxiety when attachment figure is absent ( primary af)
mother 65% of time
Stage 4- multiple
Show attachment behaviour towards multiple strong attachments whom spend time w
30% within a month of forming primary af
At 1 yr majority developed attachments
Role of father
Anyone who take on the role of main male caregiver
Attachment to fathers
Fathers less likely to become first attachment figure compared to mothers
Schaffer Emerson at 7 months 3% primary af and 27% joint af
Babies form attachment within 18 months - protest when walked away
Distinctive role for fathers
Grossmann et al - attachment studies until teens
quality of attachment w mothers and not fathers was related to attachments in adolescence - less important
Quality of fathers play was related to attachments made - father to play and stimulate less emotions involved
Fathers as primary attachment figures
Tiffany field et al - 4 month interactions between primary caregiver father/ mother and secondary caregiver fathers
Primary caregiver fathers showed reciprocity and interactional synchrony like mothers
Fathers have the potential to be more emotionally focussed primary caregiver
Lorenz research
Imprinting - infant follows around first moving thing they see
1/2 hatch w mother 1/2 hatch w Lorenz
If imprinting doesn’t occur within critical period chicks didn’t attach to mother figure
Sexual imprint- courtship towards imprinted adult species peacock and tortoises
Hallows research
2 wire mothers 16 baby monkeys milk dispensed from one plain wire other cloth covered
Monkeys seek comfort from cloth when frightened regardless of milk - contact comfort > important than food
90 day critical period
Maternal deprivation Harlows monkeys
Followed monkeys who never had a real mother
Found severe consequences- reared with plain wire mothers most dysfunctional
More aggressive and antisocial less skilled at mating and some neglected and killed offspring
Learning theory attachment - classical conditioning
Food =unconditioned stim
Caregiver = neutral
Associate w food
Caregiver => conditioned stim
Conditioned response from child this is love
Operant conditioning attachment
Crying for comfort
Baby is positively reinforced as caregiver responds w food for example
Caregiver negative reinforced baby stops crying
interplay strengthens attachment
Attachment as a secondary drive
Hunger- primary drive
As caregivers provide food primary drive generalised to them this secondary drive learned by association between caregiver and satisfaction of primary drive
Bowlbys mono-tropic theory
Evolutionary theory that attachment was an innate system to give a survival advantage
Monotropic bowlby
One particular caregiver far more important than others
More time w mother the better
Law of continuity - more constant care the better
Law of accumulated separation.- every separation adds up so safest dose is zero dose
Social releasers
Set of innate cute behav like smiling and cooing to encourage attention
Activate adult social interaction
Reciprocal both mother and baby hard wired to attach
Critical period
6 months when attachment system is active
More of a sensitive period possibly extending to 2 years old
If attachment not formed child will struggle making one’s in future
Internal working model
Mental representation of relationship with primary attachment figure
Model affects our future relationships because it carries our perception on what relationships are like
Ainsworths strange situation procedure
Controlled observation
Take place in quite controlled conditions (lab) with 2 way mirror and camera
Behaviours used to judge were: -exploration and secure base
-stranger anxiety
-proximity seeking
- separation anxiety
- response to reunion
Types of attachment
Secure
Insecure avoidant
Insecure resistant
Secure
Happy exploration regularly go back to caregiver
Moderate separation/stranger anxiety
Accept comfort upon reunion
Insecure avoidant
Explore freely do not seek secure base
No separation/stranger anxiety
Make little effort for contact upon reunion
Insecure resistant
Explore less seek greater proximity
High stranger/separation anxiety
Resist comfort she reunited
Ijzendoorn and kroonenbergs research
Strange situation attachments across range of countries to assess cultural variation
Ijzendoorn kroonenbergs procedure
Conducted in 8 countries over 1990 children and was meta analysed
Ij and kroon findings
Majority secure attachment varied from 75% (uk) to 50% (China)
Individualist cultures v similar to ainsworths type A below 17%
Collectivist cultures China Japan Israel type was 25%
Other cultural studies
-simonelli in Italy 50% secure 36% avoidant due to mothers using professional childcare and working long hrs
Maternal deprivation
Continual presence of care from mother is essential for normal psych development of babies and toddlers
Bowlbys theory
Separation v deprivation
Critical period
Effects on development
Separation v deprivation
Desperation means child not in presence of primary caregiver
Causes harm when child is deprived of emotional care extended separations can lead to this
Critical period
2.5 years critical period for psych development
If mother is separated and absence of substitute care during this time psych damage was inevitable
Risk continued to 5 yrs old
Intellectual development
Deprived of maternal care for too long would experience delayed development low IQ
Adoption studies lower iq in institute rather than foster
Emotional development
Affectionless psychopathy- inability to experience guilt or strong emotions towards others
Prevents developing relationships and resulting to crime
Lack remorse for actions
Bowlbys thief study
14/44 thieves affectionless psychopaths
12/14 experienced prolonged separation from mother during childhood
Rutter et al Institutionalisation
165 Romanian orphans prt of English Romanian adoptee study
Extent of good care make up for poor experiences in institutes
Ages 4,6,11,15 22-25
rutter findings
50% showed signs of delayed intellectual development
Showed deferential rates of recovery related to age of adoption
Iq adopt at 6 months 102 between 6 and 24 months 86 77 after 2 yrs
Disinhibited attachment - attention seeking clinginess and indiscriminate social behaviour (after 6 months adopt)
Effects of institutionalisation
Disinhibited attachment
intellectual disability
Disinhibited attachment
Type D
equally friendly and affectionate towards friends family and strangers due to living with multiple carers during sensitive period
Intellectual disability
Low IQ can be recovered depending on the adoption date
attachment on later relationships
Internal working model
Relationships in childhood
Relationships in adulthood
Internal working model later
first attachment acts as a template for nature of later relationships
Bad experience would struggle to form relationships displaying insecure resistant and avoidant behaviours towards friends and partners
Relationships in childhood
Securely attached make best friends
insecurely attached have difficulties
Wilson and Smith bullying secure little experience res likely to be bullies avoid bullied /victims
Relationships in adulthood
McCarthy 40 adult women who were secure best friendships and relationships
Resistant struggle most w friendships
Avoidant struggle w relationships
Bailey et al mothers study
Bailey et al
99 mothers to babies and those babies mothering their own children
majority of women have the same attachment to babies and own mothers
