Attachment Flashcards
Definition of attachment
A two-way, enduring, emotional tie to a specific other person
Reciprocity
Infant and caregiver are BOTH ACTIVE CONTRIBUTORS in the interaction and are RESPONDING to each other.
Interactional synchrony
The infant and caregiver’s behaviours and emotions are synchronised because they are moving in the same or similar pattern.
Isabella et al- Research Support of Interactional synchrony and Reciprocity
-30 mothers and infants watched and assessed on their degree of synchrony. -Mother-infant pairs who had shown more instances of IS were significantly more likely to be securely-attached.
Research Support of IS & R: Meltzoff and Moore
-Infants as young as 3 days imitate the facial expression of adults. -Implies ability to mirror is an innate behaviour.
Le Vine et al- limitation of care-giver infant interactions
-Kenyan mothers have little physical contact with their infants. -these infants do have a high proportion of secure attachments.
limitations of cavegiver- infant interactions (Interactional synchrony and reciprocity) (2)
- difficulty interpreting from the infants point of view- dont tell us whether the behaviour and interaction has a special meaning (Le vine et al). - findings are mainly correlational meaning they cannot be taken as evidence that the secure attachment is a direct result of these behaviours
What are the strengths of Interactional synchrony and Reciprocity? (3 cases, 1 point)
- Condon and Sander 2. Isabella et al. 3. Meltzoff and Moore. 4. Practical application- music therapists recognise the importance of R & IS in their therapeutic work
Condon and Sander- research support for Interactional synchrony
babies would coordinate their actions in time with adult speech, taking turns to ‘contribute’ to the conversation- babies would move in time with the rhythm of the convo, in a subtle form of turn taking
what are the stages of attachment as identified by ….?
Schaffer: - pre- attachment stage, - indiscriminate attachment stage, - discriminate attachment stage, - multiple attachment stage
strengths of the stages of attachment as identified by Schaffer
- high level of mundane realism as families were visited in their own home
limitation of stages of attachment as identified by Schaffer
lack of cultural and temporal validity, human childrearing cultures are variable (van ljzendoorn)
Pre-attachment stage (birth-3 months)
-From 6 weeks, infants become attracted to other humans, prefer them to objects and events. -Demonstrated by smiling at people’s faces.
Indiscriminate attachment stage (3-7/8 months)
-Infants begin to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar people. -Smile more at known people. -Allow strangers to look after them.
Discriminate attachment stage (7-8 months onwards)
-Infants begin to develop specific attachments, stay close to particular people, distressed when separated. -Protest and avoid strangers.
Multiple attachment stage (9 months onward)
-Infants form strong emotional ties with other major caregivers, e.g. grandparents. -Fear of strangers weakens, mother figure remains strongest attachment.
Bowlby & multiple attachments…
-Infants form ONE primary attachment, any other attachment are of secondary importance. -Bowlby’s theory of montropy. (one main attachment forms IWM of the child, and influence them in later life)
Rutter & multiple attachments…
-All attachments are of equal importance, come together to form the child’s IWM
Fathers as playmates
-HARDY reported that fathers are less able than mothers to detect low levels of infant diseases. -GEIGER found that father’s play interactions are more exciting and pleasurable than mother’s while mother’s are more nurturing and affectionate.
Geiger- fathers as playmates
found that father’s play interactions are more exciting and pleasurable than mother’s while mother’s are more nurturing and affectionate.
hardy- fathers as playmates
reported that fathers are less able than mothers to detect low levels of infant diseases.
Fathers as caregivers
-LAMB found that fathers who become main care providers seem able to quickly develop greater sensitivity to children’s needs.
Lamb- fathers as caregivers
fathers who become main care providers seem able to quickly develop greater sensitivity to children’s needs.
the greater the sensitivity of the father…
…the more secure the attachment.
Single-parent fathers’ attachment with their children are most influenced by what?
Their attachment with their parents.
Married fathers’ attachments with their children are strongly influenced by what two factors?
-Higher levels of marital intimacy. -More supportive co-parenting.
Children with secure attachments to their fathers go on to have…
…better relationships with peers, less problem behaviours and are more able to regulate their emotions.
Children who grow up without fathers have often been seen to…
…do less well at school and have higher levels of risk taking and aggression, especially in boys.
How do supportive fathers help mothers?
They provide them with much needed time away from childcare to help reduce stress, improve self-esteem and improve the quality of a mother’s relationship with her children.
Research into development of attachment
Schaffer and Emerson
Schaffer and Emerson procedure
-60 newborns and their mothers, working class, Glasgow. -Longitudinal study, carried out over a long period of time, ppts were studied in their own home for each month of the first year and then again at 18 months.
Schaffer&E, which two research methods were used?
-Naturalistic observation. -Self-report.
In what 2 ways is attachment measured?
-Separation protest. -Stranger anxiety
S&E conclusion 1. Separation protest was first shown at 6-8 months and stranger anxiety one month later
- There is a pattern of attachment formation common to all infants, which suggests the process is biologically controlled
S&E conclusion 2. Strongly attached infants had caregivers who were quicker to respond and interacted with the infants more
Attachments are more easily made with those who display sensitive responsiveness, recognising and responding appropriately to an infant’s needs, rather than those spending the most time with a child
S&E 3. At 18 months, 87% of infants had at least 2 attachments and 31% had 5 or more
Multiple attachments are the norm and of similar quality, which opposes Bowlby’s idea that attachments are a hierarchy of one prime attachment and other minor ones. There is nothing to suggest that mothering can’t be shared by several people.
- Attachments to different adults were of similar quality
Multiple attachments are the norm and of similar quality, which opposes Bowlby’s idea that attachments are a hierarchy of one prime attachment and other minor ones. There is nothing to suggest that mothering can’t be shared by several people.
- For 39% of the infants, the attachment that they formed first was not to the main carer.
Attachments are more easily made with those who display sensitive responsiveness, recognising and responding appropriately to an infant’s needs, rather than those spending the most time with a child
Lorenz imprinting procedure
-Newly hatched birds instinctively IMPRINT on the first large moving object they see, usually their mother. -Goslings divided into two groups. -One group with mum, one in incubator and Lorenz was the first moving object they would see when they hatched.
Lorenz. When each group hatched, who did they follow?
The mother and Lorenz.
What evidence was there for Lorenz’s suggestion that imprinting is an innate behaviour rather than a learned behaviour?
When they were exposed to their actual mother, they still followed Lorenz - it’s irreversible, and innate. - It happened too early to be learnt.
What evidence was there that imprinting must occur within a set time period? (Also in humans a critical period)
If the imprinting did not happen within the first 25 hours after hatching then it would not occur at all.
What were the four conditions in Harlow’s study?
- Wife mother with milk and cloth mother without milk. 2. Wire mother without milk and cloth mother with milk. 3. Wire mother with milk. 4. Cloth mother with milk
What did Harlow record?
- The amount of time spent with each mother. - The amount of feeding time. - Mother preference during stress (loud noises). - The degree of exploration when in a larger cage.
What did Harlow want to investigate?
He wanted to investigate which was more important to the infant monkeys contact comfort to food.
Harlow, In condition 1 how much time per day did the infant monkeys spend on the cloth mother?
17-18 hours
Harlow, In condition 1 how much time per day did the infant monkeys spend on the wire mother?
1 hour
Harlow, which mother did the infant monkeys run to when put in a stressful, frightening situations?
The cloth mother
Harlow, how did the infant monkeys behave when the wire mother was present in a large unfamiliar cage?
They weren’t interested in the mother, still scared.
Harlow, how did the infant monkeys behave when the cloth mother was present in a large unfamiliar cage?
Comforted by the cloth mother, and confident to explore the room
What did Harlow conclude?
- Contact comfort is associated with lower levels of stress and willingness to explore - cc provides emotional security. - Therefore, attachment concerns emotional security more than food.
Harlow limitation
The study involved animals, therefore we should be cautious about making generalisations on humans.
What are the two main explanations of attachment?
- Learning theory. - Bowlby’s monotropic theory
What does the learning theory suggest?
That attachment behaviour is learned through conditioning.
What are the two types of conditioning?
Operant and Classical
Classical conditioning suggests what?
That attachment behaviours are learnt through the association of the mother with food
How does classical conditioning work?
The process occurs when an association is formed between a stimulus in the environment that already naturally produces a response, and a neutral stimulus, so that the neutral stimulus beings about the same response.
