Attachment Flashcards
What is attachment?
Emotional bond between two people in which each seeks closeness and feels more secure when in the presence of the attachment figure.
Define reciprocity.
Form of interaction between infant and caregiver involving mutual responsiveness, with both infant and mother responding to each other’s signals and each elicits a response from the other.
Give an example of reciprocity.
Smiling - when a smile occurs in the infant it triggers a smile in the caregiver, and vice versa.
Harlow’s animal study.
Aim.
To study the mechanisms by which new born rhesus monkeys bond with their mothers.
Harlow’s animal study.
Procedure
He used rhesus monkeys. Two wires monkeys with different heads one wire and the other wrapped in cloth were placed with eight infant monkeys. With four of the monkeys the milk was on the cloth covered wire monkey and the other four the milk was attached to the plain wire covered monkey.
Harlow during the time measurements found the amount of time the monkeys spent with each wire monkey.
Harlow’s animal study.
Findings
The monkeys spent the majority of their time with the cloth covered monkey which provided contact comfort.
Harlow’s animal study.
1 weakness
Unethical
Anxiety in female monkeys
Harlow’s animal study.
1 strength
The research influenced the theoretical work of John Bowlby, the most important psychologist in attachment theory.
Lorenz animal (imprinting) study. Procedure
He divided a clutch of gosling eggs with one half once incubated seeing Lorenz as their first moving thing.
He later placed the marked ducklings together to show which had imprinted on the duckling’s mother and Lorenz and they quickly divided themselves up. The animals exposed to Lorenz during the critical period of imprinting.
Lorenz animal (imprinting) study. Findings
Geese follow the first moving object they see, during a 12-17 hour critical period after hatching. This process is known as imprinting, and suggests that attachment is innate and programmed genetically.
Evaluation of Lorenz imprinting theory.
Strength
Guiton (1966) using chicks showed yellow rubber gloves to feed them during the critical period and the chicks imprinted on the glove. Suggests that young animal imprint on any moving thing present during the critical period of development. The chicks were then later found trying to mate with the yellow rubber glove.
Evaluation of Lorenz imprinting theory.
Weakness
There are criticisms of imprinting as the concept of imprinting within Lorenz’s study suggests that within this context the object leads to an irreversible situation on the nervous system.
Evaluation of Lorenz imprinting theory.
Counterargument
Hoffman (1976) suggested that this is not an irreversible change which is then further supported by Guiton which suggested that after spending time with their own species they were able to engage in normal sexual behavior suggesting that imprinting is moderately reversible.
Explanations of attachment - Learning theory
Dollard & Miller (1950)
Attachment is a learned behavior that is acquired through both classical and operant conditioning. It is a nurture theory.
What does the learning theory of attachment proposes?
That all behavior is learnt rather than an innate biological behavior as children are born blank slates.
What is the secondary drive hypothesis?
It explains how primary drives which are essential for survival, such as eating when hungry, become associated with secondary drives such as emotional closeness.
Evaluation of the Learning theory.
2 limitations
- The reliability is questioned as it is based on research with animals.
- It suggests that food is the predominant factor in forming attachment. (Harlow and Schaeffer and Emerson)
Evaluation of the Learning theory.
Strength
It explains that infants learn through association and reinforcement.
Attention and responsiveness from a caregiver and sensitivity to the child’s needs allows an attachment to be formed. The sensitivity which the main caregiver provides is then mimicked by the infant teaching the child how to act.
Explain Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory.
It suggests attachment is important for a child’s survival. Attachment behaviours in both babies and their caregivers have evolved through natural selection. This means infants are biologically programmed with innate behaviours that ensure that attachment occurs.
Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory: what is the critical period?
(0 - 2.5 years)
If an attachment has not developed during this time period then then it may well not happen at all.
Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory: what is monotropy?
A child has an innate (i.e. inborn) need to attach to one main attachment figure. This suggests that there is one relationship which is more important than all the rest.
What is the internal working model?
A cognitive framework comprising mental representations for understanding the world, self and others.
What are the 3 main features of the internal working model?
- A model of others as being trustworthy.
- A model of the self as valuable.
- A model of the self as effective when interacting with others
Evaluation of Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory.
2 strengths
- Evidence to support: Efe tribe of Congo.
- Evidence to support: Mary Ainsworth’s Strange Situation study.
Evaluation of Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory.
Limitation
The importance of monotropy is overemphasised – Thomas questions the benefits of monotropy and suggests having a network of attachments to support infants and their needs.
