Attachment Flashcards
4 words that describe attachment
Strong Enduring Emocional Reciprocal bond between two people
What is reciprocity?
Responding to the actions of another
Kind of conversation
One action elicits a response from another
What is interactional synchrony?
The way people mirror each others actions
Who did the study into interactional synchrony?
Mettzoff and Moore
When was the study into interactional synchrony?
1977
Who were the participants in the study into interactional synchrony?
Babies aged 3-4 weeks and their parents
What 4 actions did the parents show their babies in the study into interactional synchrony?
Mouth open
Mouth closed
Tongue out
Tongue in
What was the role of the researcher in the study into interactional synchrony?
Babies responses were recorded and shown to the researcher who tallied the babies responses into behavioural categories, without knowing the parents actions
What were the findings of the study into interactional synchrony?
Results of 0.92
Strong correlation
What is a strength of the study into interactional synchrony?
Highlights importance of…
Highlights the importance of early care and attachment as it proves attachment occurs immediately
What is a limitation of the study into interactional synchrony?
Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget called this study pseudo (false) as she proposed infants are only capable of true imitation at the end of their first year
Before this, its response training which is when an infant repeats behaviour because it gets rewarded with smiling and attention (operant conditioning) rather than consciously translating what they’ve seen
What is response training?
When an infant repeats behaviour because it gets rewarded with smiling and attention (operant conditioning) rather than consciously translating what they’ve seen
What is a limitation of the study into interactional synchrony?
Testing infant behaviour
As babies mouths are constantly in motion, it is difficult to distinguish between whether the tested expressions happened consciously or naturally
Who did the study into stages of attachment?
Schaffer and Emerson
When was the study into stages of attachment?
1964
Who were the participants in the study into stages of attachment?
60 infants aged 5-23 weeks to 1 year old From working class families in Glasgow
Who and when was the information supplied in the study into stages of attachment?
Data was supplied from the mothers every 4 weeks
What is stage 1 of the stage model?
Indiscriminate attachment
When does stage 1 of the stage model occur?
Up to 3 months
What are key features of stage 1 of the stage model?
Infant is not attached to a particular caregiver
Babies respond equally to all caregivers
Does not display separation or stranger anxiety
What is stage 2 of the stage model?
The beginnings of attachment
When does stage 2 of the stage model occur?
Around 4 months
What are key features of stage 2 of the stage model?
Infants learn to distinguish between primary and secondary caregivers
Accept care from anyone
Does not display separation or stranger anxiety
Characterised by general sociability (enjoys being with people)
What is stage 3 of the stage model?
Specific/ discriminate attachment
When does stage 3 of the stage model occur?
After 7 months
What are key features of stage 3 of the stage model?
Infant looks to particular people (primary and secondary caregivers) for security and protection
Displays separation and stranger anxiety
At what stage of the stage model does separation and stranger anxiety begin?
Stage 3
Specific/ discriminate attachment
What is stage 4 of the stage model?
Multiple attachments
When does stage 4 of the stage model occur?
By the age of 1 year
What are key features of stage 4 of the stage model?
Infant becomes increasingly independent
Forms several attachments, such as to siblings and grandparents
Displays separation and stranger anxiety
Displays separation anxiety with both primary and secondary caregiver
What is a strength of the stage model?
Allowed them to…
Allowed them to make a stage model which is still used today to identify and analyse behaviour and underdevelopment
What is a limitation of the stage model?
Mothers reports
The results are based on mothers reports of their infants
This means they could be affected by social desirability bias as they may of stated false information to look better
Evidence wasn’t gained scientifically which decreases validity
What is a limitation of the stage model?
Out of date research
Arguably out of date research as the study was conducted in the 1960s
At this time, there was a patriarchal society in which the father had long working hours and mothers were left at home to be the primmer caregiver
As society has changed substantially in the last 60 years, there may be different results if the study was repeated today
What is a limitation of the stage model?
Psychological harm
The stage model states what a child should be achieving at a certain age
If they are not, this could lead the parents to believe they are ‘bad parents’, causing emotional and psychological harm
What is a limitation of the stage model?
Can’t be generalised
The study used a small sample of 60 babies from working class families in Glasgow This means there is a cultural and class bias so cannot be generalised to the wider population
What did Lamb propose was the role of the father?
1977
The patriarchal society meant that men had longer working hours and so spent less time with their infants, meaning the mother was most often the primary caregiver
Biological factors include the production of oestrogen in women (and not men) making fathers less sensitive to infants cues
What did Geiger propose was the role of the father?
More of a playmate
Stimulates Childs adventurous side and helps with role playing and risk taking characteristics
What is ethology?
The scientific and objective study of animal behaviour in natural conditions
What is Lorenz definition of imprinting?
The evolved and innate ability of animals to make attachments to the first thing they see
Provides protection and encourages learning of survival behaviour
Usually the biological mother
What year was Lorenz’ study into imprinting?
1935
What was the aim of Lorenz’ study into imprinting?
To investigate imprinting in grey lag geese
Who were the participants in Lorenz’ study into imprinting?
A clutch of grey lag geese
How many groups were the geese split into in Lorenz’ study into imprinting?
The geese were split into two groups:
Half were returned to the natural mother and the other half were placed in an incubator
What was the procedure of Lorenz’ study into imprinting?
A clutch of grey lag geese were split into 2 groups
Half were returned to the natural mother and the other half were placed in an incubator
When the incubator eggs hatched, the first thing the geese saw was Lorenz
They then continually followed him around which indicated imprinting had occurred
To test this further, Lorenz later put all the geese and their natural mother in the same room
Whoever was present at hatching was who the goslings followed
What were the findings of Lorenz’ study into imprinting?
Lorenz found that imprinting occurred in a critical period of 48 hours, although his geese imprinted within 14 hours
If the animal is not exposed to a moving object within the critical period then imprinting will not occur
What is a strength of Lorenz’ study into imprinting?
Natural experiment
As an ethologist, Lorenz used a natural experiment in which he studied the geese in their natural conditions and environment
This increases the ecological validity of the study
What is a strength of Lorenz’ study into imprinting?
Further support by…
(cheep cheep)
Further support by Guiton (1960) exposed leghorn chicks to yellow rubber gloves whilst feeding so that they imprinted on them
What is a limitation of Lorenz’ study into imprinting?
Cannot be generalised
The results of this study cannot be generalised to other animals or humans as only one breed of geese were used
There is no evidence that other species would display the same results
What is a limitation of Lorenz’ study into imprinting?
Extraneous variables
There was no control over extraneous variables as this was a natural experiment
Who studied the origins of love and attachment?
Harlow
When was the study into the origins of love?
1958
What was the aim of the study into the origins of love?
To disprove the learning theory (which proposed attachments occurred due to a feeding bond)
Who were the participants in the study into the origins of love?
8 rhesus monkeys that were studied for a period of 165 days
What was the procedure of the study into the origins of love?
The 8 rhesus monkeys were each exposed to 2 ‘mothers’ which were dome- shaped wire figures with constructed monkey- like faces
There was a cloth mother and a wire mother
In condition 1, a milk bottle was placed on the wire mother and in condition 2 it was put on the cloth mother
The time spent on each mother was measured
Reactions of the infant monkeys when scared (e.g. mechanical bear introduced) were also measured to see which mother the monkey would run to
What were the findings of the study into the origins of love?
All 8 monkeys spent the most time on the cloth mother regardless of where the milk bottle was- often up to 18 hours a day
They often went to the wire mother to drink, then straight to cloth mother
They all ran straight to cloth mother when scared
This disproves the learning theory as it proves that comfort is more important than food
What is a strength of the study into the origins of love?
Disproves…
Research into attachment that disproves the learning theory
What is a strength of the study into the origins of love?
Animal studies
Harlow was able to do studies that can’t be done on humans
What is a strength of the study into the origins of love?
Lab study
This was a lab study so not affected by extraneous variables
High internal validity
What is a limitation of the study into the origins of love?
Confounding variables
There are confounding variables which cannot be planned for but affects the measurements/ DV
This refers to the different ‘faces’ of the mothers which the monkeys may have perceived as more or less comforting or natural
This could explain why the monkeys preferred the cloth mother, but cannot be tested
What is a limitation of the study into the origins of love?
Cannot be generalised
The results cannot be generalised to humans as animals have different cognitive functions and physiology (bodies)
If done on humans, the results of the study may differ
What is a limitation of the study into the origins of love?
Animal studies
Ethical issues as the infant monkeys suffered emotional harm
Also effected their later ability to mate and form bonds
What is a limitation of the study into the origins of love?
Lab study
As this was a lab study that took place in an artificial setting, the results have low ecological validity as the monkeys may have acted unnaturally
What approach is the learning theory as an explanation
for attachment?
Biological, behaviourist or cognitive
Behaviourist
Suggests we learn from our environment and through nurture
What is the learning theory as an explanation for attachment?
We learn all behaviours from our environment
Children are ‘blank slates’ (tabula rosa)
Everything they have learnt can be explained by experiences they have had
Includes cupboard love theory
Can be explained by classical and operant conditioning
What is the cupboard love theory?
Attachment is based on provision of food
How can the learning theory be explained through classical conditioning?
Before conditioning
Before conditioning:
The food is a UCS (unconditioned stimulus) that causes a UCR (unconditioned response) of feeding pleasure and the mother is an NS (neutral stimulus) as she causes no response
How can the learning theory be explained through classical conditioning?
During conditioning
The mother (NS) is consistently paired with the food (UCS) which causes pleasure (UCR)
How can the learning theory be explained through classical conditioning?
After conditioning
The mother and milk both become a CS (conditioned response) that causes a CR (conditioned response) of pleasure, so the infant will seek the mother
How can the learning theory be explain through operant conditioning?
Positive reinforcement
Any behaviour that produces a pleasant consequence or reward which makes it more likely for the behaviour to be repeated
How can the learning theory be explain through operant conditioning?
Negative reinforcement
Behaviour that switches off something unpleasant is likely to be repeated
Who proposed the drive reduction theory and when?
Dollard and Miller
1950
What type of conditioning is the drive reduction theory a part of?
Explains how attachment occurs due to operant conditioning
What is the process of the drive reduction theory?
- Hungry infant feels uncomfortable which creates a drive (motivation) to reduce this discomfort
- When the infant is fed, this discomfort of hunger is reduced (negative reinforcement) and feelings of pleasure are produced (positive reinforcement)
- Food becomes the primary reinforcer because it supplies the reward
- The person who supplies the food (primary reinforcer) is associated with avoiding discomfort so becomes a secondary reinforcer
An attachment occurs because the infant seeks the person who can supply the reward
