Attachment Flashcards
Just for cap 2 Doesn't include bullet point 2, 5 or 6
Caregiver-infant interactions in humans
-Reciprocity
- Interactions between caregiver and infant involving mutual responsiveness
- Baby and caregiver reciprocal interaction
- Evidence: Tronick et al (1975) ‘Still face’ experiment
Caregiver-infant interactions in humans
-Interactional synchrony
- Interactions between caregiver and infant are ‘synchronised’ so that their responses reflect each other
- Evidence: Meltzoff and Moore (1997)
Schaffer’s stages of attachment (1964)
1. Pre-attachment
- Babies are attracted to humans and can pick them out in their vision
- Smiling becomes main way of communicating
- Birth to 3 months
Schaffer’s stages of attachment (1964)
2. Indiscriminate attachment stage
- Babies can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people in their lives, though they still allow themselves to be handled
- 3 to 7/8 months
Schaffer’s stages of attachment (1964)
3. Discriminate
- Specific attachments start to be made, mainly to the primary caregiver
- Infants become distressed when in the sole company of strangers
- 7 to 8 months onwards
Schaffer’s stages of attachment (1964)
4. Multiple attachments
- Other important caregivers become more important to the infant and they can be handled with more ease by strangers
- The primary attachment is still the strongest attachment
- 9 months onwards
Multiple attachments
- Schaffer’s and Emerson’s research found that infants form multiple attachments around 10-11 months and by the age of 18 months, only 13% had a single attachment
- This suggests that infants are capable of forming multiple attachments if the opportunity arises, however the attachments may not be equal
The role of the father
-In 2013, there were 5.3 million working mothers and stay at home fathers were on the increase, comprising of nearly 10%
-Key factors which affect relationship between father and child:
~Degree of sensitivity
~Type of attachment with own parents
~Marital intimacy
~Supportive co-parenting
Explanations of attachment
-Learning theory
- This proposes that attachments are formed when an infant receives food; they learn to ‘love’ the person who feeds them
- Behaviourism in the learning theory is split into 2 parts:
- > Classical conditioning= Learning through associated stimulus with a response
- > Operant conditioning= Involves learning through rewards/punishment
Explanations of attachment
-Bowlby’s monotropic theory
- Bowlby suggested that is important for infants to have 1 primary attachment figure whom they have a close bond with. This is because it allows for continuous care and keeps separations from primary caregiver to a minimum
- Bowlby also suggested that infants use social releasers, such as crying and laughing, to elicit caregiving
Explanations of attachment
-Critical period
- Bowlby proposed that an infant must form an attachment within the first 2 years of their life. Once this passes, an attachment can never be formed (or it will be very difficult)
- During this time, infants are particularly sensitive to forming attachments
- Bowlby was heavily influenced by Lorenz
- This is a ‘window of development’ when an infant is most easily and quickly able to form an attachment
Explanations of attachment
-Internal working model
- The concept that a child’s attachment to a caregiver, provides them with a ‘model’ of what relationships are like and how they work
- Therefore, if they form a loving, sensitive attachment then they will bring these qualities to other relationships they have in later life, with friends or romantic partners. This can act the opposite way if the quality of attachment is poor
Types of Attachment
-Secure attachment
- An infant obtains both comfort and confidence from the presence of his or her caregiver
- Typical percentage found in UK studies = 70%
Types of Attachment
-Insecure-avoidant attachments
- An infant avoids connection with the caregiver, as when the infant seems not to care about the caregiver’s presence, departure or return
- Typical percentage found in UK studies = 15%
Types of Attachment
-Insecure-resistant attachment
- An infants anxiety and uncertainty are evident, as when the infant becomes very upset at separation from the caregiver and both resists and seeks contact on reunion
- Typical percentage found in UK studies = 15%
Maccoby’s (1980) 4 key behaviours which show attachment
-Seeking proximity
The infant will try to stay close to the attachment figure (caregiver)
Maccoby’s (1980) 4 key behaviours which show attachment
-Separation anxiety
Both caregiver and infant will experience and demonstrate signs of distress when seperated
Maccoby’s (1980) 4 key behaviours which show attachment
-Pleasure when reunited
There will be obvious signs of pleasure from the child and caregiver upon being reunited
Maccoby’s (1980) 4 key behaviours which show attachment
-General orientation of behaviour towards primary attachment figure (PAF)
The infant and caregiver will direct attention to each other and try to engage each other in activities and interaction. For example they engage in mutual gazing
Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation
- The term ‘maternal deprivation’ refers to the loss of maternal care with no substitute caregiver
- Bowlby’s theory proposed that: ‘Mothers love in infancy is just as important for a child’s mental health, as vitamins and minerals are for physical health’
- Separation from the mother (maternal deprivation) would - he believed - result in severe damage to a child’s social, emotional and cognitive development
- Bowlby proposed that the effects of maternal deprivation were irreversible and could not be counteracted by later care
Long term effects of maternal deprivation
-Affectionless psychopathology
The inability to show affection or concern for others. Such individuals act on impulse with little regard for the consequences of their actions
Long term effects of maternal deprivation
-Developmental retardation
Defined as cognitive ability that is marked well below average level and a decreased ability to adapt to one’s environment
Long term effects of maternal deprivation
-Delinquency
Delinquency is behaviour violating social rules or conventions
Long term effects of maternal deprivation (5)
- Affectionless psychopathology
- Developmental retardation
- Delinquency
- Increased aggression
- Depression
Definition of institutionalisation
Placement of an individual in an institution for therapeutic or correctional purposes
Effects of institutionalisation
-Disinhibited attachment
-An attachment disorder in which a child has little to no fear of unfamiliar adults and may actively approach them
Effects of institutionalisation
-Developmental retardation
- Abnormally slow maturation in any or all areas-> intellectual, motor, perceptual, linguistic or social
- Initially, all 165 Romanian Orphans were struggling with developmental delays and malnourishment but they slowly improved
Effects of institutionalisation
-Deprivation dwarfism
-A syndrome of physical and psychological abnormalities characterised by the triad of extreme short stature, voracious appetite and marked delay in sexual maturation
The influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships, including the role of an internal working model
-The continuity hypothesis and role of internal working model
- Bowlby argued that the nature of relationship we form with our main caregiver in our first years of life provides a model for future relationships
- The continuity hypothesis proposes that the type of attachment we have in infancy, will remain constant throughout our lives and characterise our future relationships
- Our internal working model consists of stable, consistent beliefs about: oneself, others and relationships
The influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships, including the role of an internal working model
-Attachment and childhood relationships
- According to findings of research, secure attachments in infancy, leads to the following characteristics in childhood: closer friendships with peers, greater emotional and social competence in adolescence
- In contrast, insecurely attached infants have later friendship difficulties, with insecure-avoidant children more likely to be bullied, by insecure-resistant children
The influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships, including the role of an internal working model
-Attachment and adult relationships
-Ainsworth’s research with the Strange Situation established different types of attachment that infants can develop.
-Our attachment types in infancy, can create an attachment style in adulthood
Secure= 56% in adult relationships
Insecure-avoidant=25% in adult relationships
Insecure-resistant=19% in adult relationships
The role of the father - Research Evidence
-Field + McCallum and Golombok
-Filed found that when fathers have the main caregiver role, they adopt behaviours more typical of mothers, therefore the key to attachment is the level of responsiveness, not the gender of the parent
-McCallum and Golombok found that children growing up in single or same sex families didn’t develop differently from those in two parent families -> evidence undermines the ideas of fathers having distinct roles
Theory of attachment - Research Evidence
-Bowlby’s monotropic theory
-Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment 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 theory of maternal deprivation - Research Evidence
-The 44 Juvenile Thieves
-The main aim was to investigate the long-term effects of maternal deprivation
-88 children were involved which attended a ‘clinic’
-Group 1 -> Thief group -> 31 boys and 13 girls in the ‘theft’ group were referred to him because of their stealing
-Group 2 -> Control group -> 34 boys and 10 girls were referred to him because of emotional problems
-The 2 groups were matched for age and IQ
-The children and their parents were interviewed by a psychiatrist and there was a social worker to focus on the individuals’ early life experiences
-14 children from the theft group were identified as affectionless psychopaths, where 12 of those had experienced prolonged separation of more than 6 months from their mothers in their first 2 years of life
The Role of the Father
-Research Evidence
-Hrdy (1997) -> Investigated the sensitivity of fathers. The study suggests that fathers are less able than mothers to detect low levels of infant distress, which suggests males as less suitable as primary caregivers
-Geiger (1996) -> Found that fathers play a different roles to mothers. Geiger showed that fathers’ play interactions are more exciting and pleasurable than mothers. Supports the idea that fathers are playmates rather than caregivers
-Frodi et at. (1978) found evidence to challenge the view that mothers have a greater physiological response to infant distress. The smiling infant triggered positive emotions and negligible changes in automatic arousal. The crying infant was perceived as aversive and elicited diastolic blood pressure and skill conductance increases
The influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships
Research evidence -> Kerns (1994)
-Kerns found that securely attached babies tend to go on to form the best quality childhood relationships whereas insecure-attachment babies have significant relationship difficulties
-This implies support of the long lasting effects of attachment types on the internal working model
Explanations of attachment: Learning theory
-Research evidence -> Dollard and Miller (1950)
-Dollar and Millard used the term secondary drive hypothesis to describe the processes of learning an attachment through operant and classical conditioning
-Secondary drive hypothesis explains how primary drives which are essential for survival, such as eating when hungry, become associated with secondary drives such as emotional closeness
-They extended the theory to explain that attachment is a two way process that the caregiver must also learn, and this occurs through negative reinforcement when the caregiver feels pleasure because the infant is no longer distressed
Ainsworth’s Strange Situation
-Research evidence -> Takahashi (1990)
-Takahashi aimed to test whether the ss is a valid procedure for cultures other than American middle class, white children and mothers
-60 middle class Japanese mothers and their children were observed in the ss and all the families were middle class and raised at home
-They found: securely attached = 68%, insecure-avoidant = 0% and insecure-resistant = 32%
-However, Japanese children were very distressed when left alone. In 90% of cases, the ‘child alone’ stage was removed as the children were very distressed
-It was found there are cross-cultural variations in the way children behave when left alone and this may be a result of learnt behaviour
Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation - Research evidence
-Genie
-She was 13 years old, but resembled a 6 year old due to neglect. Strapped to a potty day and night. When she was not strapped, she was put in a cage in a room 2 doors away from the family quarters. Sexually abused by her father and brother
-She could not communicate or chew and never fully recovered from her language deficits (this study supports the critical period)
-However she could recover and made some attachments, including her mother, who was not included in the abuse (suggesting attachments can be made after the critical period)
