Attachment Flashcards
Attachment
emotional response between two people where each person seeks closeness and feels secure in the presence of the attachment figure
Stages of attachment
Schafer and Emerson
asocial- similar response to people and objects
indiscriminate- preference for human company
discriminate- preference of one caregiver- stranger+ separation anxiety
multiple- attach to multiple people
Schafer and Emerson
60 babies from working families in Glasgow
interviewed mothers and observed children
provided support for stages and showed that attachment happens in a series of stages
at 40 weeks- 80% specific attachment and 30% multiple
issues with questionnaires- demand characteristics, social desirability
Evaluation- S+E
high external validity- own homes, natural env lacks pop. validity as only in Glasgow crude measures (not specific) so not very accurate social desirability from mothers in interviews
Strange situation
standardised procedure assessing types of attachment
mum and infant enter room- explore
stranger enters and talks to mum- stranger anxiety
mum leaves + stranger interacts with child- stranger an
mum returns + stranger leaves - reunion
mum leaves + leaves child - separation anxiety
stranger returns- stranger anxiety
mum returns + stranger leaves- reunion
7 stages
Attachment types
secure (70%)- mother is safe base, moderate sep and str anxiety, positive reunion behaviour insecure av (15%)- mother not safe base, no reaction when parent left and no stranger anx, no reaction on reunion insecure res (15%)- stay close to mother, high sep and str anxiety, not easily comforted, reject comfort
Evaluation - SS
controlled observation so standardised with high reliability, control of variables, high internal vailidity but lacks ecological val.
high inter rater reliability (agreed in 94%) of cases; due to strict behavioural categories
observation was overt- demand characteristics/social desirability (mother)
may be affected by childs’ temperament or mood
new environment mat affect how child behaves
culturally relative due to the behaviours it tests as children in some cultures may have a lot of exposure to strangers
Types of cultures
individualistic- emphasises personal independence and achievement, strong sense of competition
collectivist- emphasises family and work goals above individual needs, interdependence between people
Cultural differences
Van Ijzendoorn+ Kroonenberg- completed meta analysis on 32 studies using strange situation- 8 countries
- secure attachment most common in all cultures
- secure highest in GB
- insecure avo highest in west Germany
- insecure res highest in Japan
found more variation within culture compared to between
intra cultural variation
Evaluation- VI+K
high validity as was secondary research, collected by people of same culture so researchers would understand the language, types of behaviour and culture
confounding variables eg different availability of equipment/room size could affect behaviour
more studies done in usa compared to other countries
Silmonella found lower rates of secure and higher avoidant in Italy- more recent and may be due to differences in childcareetc
strange situation may have been slightly different in different cultures eg room may have been different
Animal studies- Lorenz
studied imprinting using a batch of goose eggs, split into two batches- one control, with mother, one in an incubator who saw Lorenz as first moving object
- control followed mother, other followed Lorenz
- second group showed no recognition of real mother
-imprinting occurs 4-25hrs after hatching
shows attachment is innate, for survival and programmed genetically
once they imprint on something it cannot be reversed or they can’t imprint on anyone else
Evaluation- L
hard to generalise to humans as we don’t know that they act the same way- different caring process
Guiton found that chickens will imprint on a yellow washing up glove which supports lorenz as it is also what he found + the chicks tried to mate with the glove which shows sexual imprinting
supports how the imprinting cant be reversed/ cant imprint on anyone else
long lasting effects on geese- ethical issues
Animal studies- Harlow
used 16 rhesus monkeys with 8 in each cage
one cage got milk from wire mother
one cage got milk from cloth mother
both groups spent more time with cloth mother
separated monkeys- couldn’t interact with other monkeys
- difficulty mating and some killed their offspring
- contact comfort more important than food
- maternal deprivation can be reversed within 90 days
Evaluation-H
Howe used knowledge of Harlow’s research to help social workers understand risk of neglect with children and also with monkeys in zoos or sanctuaries
problems with generalisability
ethical issues and can have lasting effects on monkeys’s health
Role of the father
role of men and women in families has changed
S+E- most infants attach to mothers at 7 months and a second attachment forms about a month later
father was primary attachment- 3%
father was joint attachment- 27%
by 18 months 75% had attachment with father
Studies- rof
Grossman longitudinal study of babies through to their teens
mothers attachment was related to attachment with others in adolescence
fathers play role is related to attachments in adolescence- more of a play and stimulating role rather than emotional
Evaluation- rof
Field found fathers can also be nurturing- filmed babies interacting face to face with parents - spent more time smiling with PC father
- women are predisposed to be PA figures due to oestrogen levels
- mothers feel pressured to stay home with children due to traditional gender roles and research support
Learning theory- classical
infants learn to become attached to their caregiver- do not have an innate tendency - due to food
CC- mum is neutral stimulus, food is UCS which leads to pleasure (UCR), mum is associated with food so mum becomes CS to pleasure (CR)
formation of attachment through conditioned response
Learning theory- operant
Dollard and Miller- applied principles of reward and reinforcement to explain human attachment
- child is hungry, unpleasant feeling, cry
- caregiver gives them food- positive reinforcement
- caregiver experiences neg reinforcement when baby stops crying
hunger= primary drive food= primary reinforcer
caregiver= secondary drive attachment= second. rein.
Evaluation- LT
Harlow found that monkeys attach to comfort mother even if they didnt feed the monkey- undermining
S+E found that infants form strong attachments to their mothers even if they were fed by other carers - food is not the main driver of attachment
reductionist as it reduces complex behaviour to SR
Maternal deprivation
separation- not being in presence + deprivation- losing an element of care = bond disruption
mothering is useless if delayed after 2.5 years
if attachment figure is broken the child will suffer long term consequences- delinquency, reduced intelligence, affectionless psychopathy (no affection, withdrawn)
Study- MD
Bowlby 44 thieves- interviewed 44 thieves (and families) from a clinic where he worked and a group of 44 control- 14 children diagnosed with AP and 12 of them had experienced prolonged separation before the age of 2
Lewis replicated the study with 500 thieves and found no such link
Evaluation- MD
theory is flawed as evidence to back it up is biased as he used children from his own clinic and was trying to back up his own theory
knew which children showed signs of AP so could have interviewed them
cases may be unique and could be other variables
retrospective interviews may not be accurate
all from same country so bad pop. validity
Institutionalisation
effects of living in an institution setting eg hospital/ orphanage, little emotional care provided
Romanian orphanages- children fed themselves, had no toys, were tied to beds, abused by staff
Study - ERA
Rutter et al- to see if quality care can make up for institutionalisation
studied 111 RO adopted before the age of 2 and 54 before the age of 4
compared to 54 British adoptees- before 6 months
RO were undernourished and were intellectually deprived
differences remained at age 15
IQ was worse the later they were adopted
before 6m= 102
between 6m and 2y= 86
after 2y= 77
British showed normal emotional development
RO showed disinhibited attachment (adopted after 6 months)- where child doesn’t have one strong attachment but attaches to anyone, clingy
Evaluation- RO
longitudinal study so gathered lots of info over a long period of time
children may have had different experiences
problems with intellect may be due to english not being first language
Zeenah- strange situation among institutionalised children- 44% disinhibited 19% secure compared to 74% secure in control group
quinton et al compared 50 women who had been brought up in institutions to women who had been bought up in normal homes
ex institutionalised had extreme difficulties acting as parents
socially sensitive- research was published as the children were growing up so they would know they are less intellectual etc and may become self fulfilling prophecy
Monotropic theory
Bowlby (1958) proposed that infants have an innate tendency to form an attachment to their primary caregiver- survival advantage
- attachments are Adaptive
- babies have Social Releasers which ‘unlock’ the innate tendency of an adult to care for them
- Critical Period of 2.5 years where an attachment has to be formed
- infants form one special, strong attachment called Monotropy
- Internal Working Model is a model for relationships- future relationships based on that with mother
ASCMI
Influence of early attachment on future relationship
IWM acts as a template for later relationships- attachment type is associated with quality of peer relationships
Myron Wilson + Smith - ins. av. most likely to be bullied (lonely) ins. res. more likely to bully (want power+ control)
Hazen + Shaver- love quiz published in newspaper (620)
secure attachment (56%)- love is enduring, less likely to divorce
ins. av. (25%) res.(19%)- love was rare, more likely to divorce
Evaluation- EA
may be correlation rather than causation
parenting style may affect child’s attachment type
child’s temperament could be a factor in type of attachment as it affects how parent responds to child
issues of validity in quiz
hartup- in nursery securely attached children are more popular and engaged in more social interactions compared to resistant who relied on teachers for interaction and emotional support
Bailey et al- assessed 99 mothers and their attachment to their mother along with their attachment to their child using strange situation and found majority had same attachment with both
deterministic
effects of institutionalisation
quinton et al compared 50 women who had been brought up in institutions to women who had been bought up in normal homes
ex institutionalised had extreme difficulties acting as parents
critical period
time within which an attachment must form if it is going to form at all
2.5 years bowlby
90 days monkeys
4-25 hours geese
internal working model
mental representation/ perception of what relationships look like which affects all future relationships
with friends, family, children and significant others
maternal deprivation
emotional and intellectual consequences of separation between child and mother
institutionalisation
effects of living in an institution eg orphanage, hospital for long periods of time with little emotional care
secure attachment
moderate stranger and separation anxiety
accept comfort on reunion
explore happily but regularly return to caregiver
insecure avoidant
low separation and stranger anxiety
little response on reunion and may completely avoid caregiver
explore freely but do not come back to caregiver
insecure resistant
high separation and stranger anxiety
resistant to comfort on reunion (high distress)
don’t explore very freely and often seek proximity to caregiver
Bucharest early intervention project
Zeenah et al assessed attachment types in 136 RO aged 12-31 months who had spent 90% of their lives in institutionalised settings
assessed by strange situation
control group- 74% secure attachment less than 20% disorganised
insti group- 19% secure attachment and 44% disorganised attachment
- may have been other factors that led to this, not just emotional deprivation
very bad physical conditions and lack of cognitive stimulation may also affect development
disinhibted attachment
children don’t discriminate between people they choose as attachment figures
they do not prefer attachment to their parents over strangers
they are able to/try to form attachments to anyone they meet- seek comfort from anyone
disorganised attachment
type of insecure attachment
inconsistent pattern of behaviour
sometimes child shows strong attachment and other times they completely avoid the caregiver
love quiz secure
love is enduring and trusting, can depend on others, accept partners even with their faults
love quiz avoidant
love is rare, jealous, fear love + relationships, can’t depend on other people
love quiz resistant
extreme sexual attraction, love is an obsession, jealousy
