Attachment Flashcards
Define attachment
A close two way emotional bond between individuals in which each sees the other as essential for emotional security
How are attachments formed
Interactions
What does having a high quality of interactions lead to for an infant
High social + intellectual development
What are the 3 features of attachment
Proximity
Seperation distress (especially prevalent in infants)
Secure base behaviour (security that the attachment is reciprocal)
What are the two features of caregiver - infant interactions
Reciprocity
Interactional synchrony
What is reciprocity
When each individual responds to, and gets responses from, the other - giving + getting the same back
Give an example of reciprocity
A mother smiles and her baby smiles back
Babies play an _____ role in reciprocity
Active role - not just passive
Babies have ______ phases where they signal they are ready for attention
Alert phases
On average how often do mums pick up on baby’s alert phases
Around 2/3rds of the time
What has reciprocity often been described as
A dance - each responds to the other
What is interactional synchrony
The actions and emotions of the caregiver and infant are mirrored - what is done to the baby the baby does back
Give an example of interactional synchrony
A baby moves her head in time with her mother
Give two examples of studies into interactional synchrony
Meltzoff and Moore
Isabella et al
Describe the study of Meltzoff & Moore
Adult displayed 113 expressions or gestures to babies
(independent observer noted babies’ response)
found significant association with the babies’ response
Describe the study of Isabella et al
30 mums + babies - higher synchrony = better quality attachment - discovered there’s usually one primary caregiver attachment - later on in life babies can develop more
Give a strength of research into caregiver - infant interaction
High control
To observe these processes researchers tend to use controlled observation- high in validity because captures fine detail since process is filmed - children don’t have demand characteristics
Give three limitations of research into caregiver - infant interaction
Limited insight
Contradictory research
Socially sensitive
Expand on the limitation limited insight for research into caregiver - infant interactions
Not particularly useful despite observation as it does not tell us their purpose - make inferences doesn’t definitively state - infants perspective is unknown - can’t tell if actions are conscious + deliberate or not
Expand on the limitation contradictory research for research into caregiver - infant interactions
Other studies have failed to replicate the findings of Meltzoff and Moore e.g. Koepke et al (1996) but m&m have criticised Koepke’s research by saying it was less controlled
Expand on the limitation socially sensitive for research into caregiver - infant interactions
Puts pressure on mothers to stay home for an extended period of time- especially first critical 3-6 months - believe they may miss out on key reciprocity and affect development
what is meant by reciprocity in the context of caregiver - infant interaction
A two way mutual process - each party responds to the others signals to sustain interaction - the behaviour of each party elicits a response from the other
Who looked into stages of attachment
Schaffer and Emerson
Who did Schaffer and Emerson observe and for how long
60 w/c Glaswegian babies
At home every month for 1st year - then again at 18mnths
Schaffer and Emerson asked the mums about _______ and ________ anxiety to measure attachment
Stranger & seperation
What 5 stages of attachment did Schaffer and Emerson find (in order)
Asocial stage
Indiscriminate stage
Specific attachment
Multiple attachments
When is the asocial stage
0 - 6 weeks
What is the asocial stage
First few weeks - humans & objects are treated the same - with some preference for people (especially familiar people)
When is the indiscriminate stage
6weeks to 7mnths
What is the indiscriminate stage
More social + clear preference for people over objects - no stranger/seperation anxiety - accept comfort from all
When is the specific attachment stage
7 - 9 months
What is the specific attachment stage
Signs of attachment to one primary attachment figure (65% were mum) stranger & seperation anxiety
When is the multiple attachments stage
10mnths & upwards
What is the multiple attachment stage
Shortly after specific - attachment starts extending to others (develop secondary attachments) - by 1yr most had multiple attachments
What is a strength of Schaffer and Emersons study into attachment
Good external validity
Carried out in families’ own homes - most of observation done by parents - not artificial setting - babies unaffected by demand characteristics
What are two limitations of Schaffer and Emerson’s study
Problems with asocial stage
Methodological problems
Develop on the limitation ‘problems with the asocial stage’ for Schaffer & Emerson’s study
Important interactions do take place - babies that young are immobile + its hard to make judgements but doesn’t mean the behaviours aren’t social the evidence is just hard to interpret
Develop on the limitation ‘methodological’ for Schaffer & Emerson’s study
Problems measuring multiple attachments - a baby getting distressed when someone leaves doesn’t necessarily mean they are an attachment figure - Bowlby states they are a playmate rather than AF
When looking into the role of the father in regards to attachment what did Schaffer and Emerson find
Dads primary attachment - 3%
75% attached to dad as the secondary figure by 18mnths
What did Grossman et al find about the role of the father in their longitudinal study
The quality of the mums attachment crafts adolescent attachment
The quality of the dads attachment crafts adolescent attachment
What did Field discover about the role of the father in attachment
When primary, Dads are just as responsive as primary mum’s - gender of parent is not important rather responsiveness
Who did Field observe
Babies with primary mum, secondary dad and primary dad
What are two strengths of research into the role of father in attachment
Practical implications
Biological explanations support research
Expand on the strength ‘practical implications’ for research into the role of the father in regards to attachment
Research like Fields shows that fathers can be primary caregivers - important practical applications for maternity/paternity leave suggesting it could be split and would have no impact on the child
Expand on the strength ‘biological explanations support research’ for research into the role of the father in regards to attachment
Maybe an evolutionary adaptation for women to be primary caregivers and men secondary attachment figures - female hormones (oestrogen) create higher levels of nurturing - more biologically suitable to be PA figure
What is a limitation of research into the role of the father in attachment
Contradictory findings
MacCallum et al disagree with Grossman - found children growing up in fatherless households develop the same as those who do - fathers not important
Describe the procedure for Lorenz’s geese study
Split 12 geese into 2 groups , observed who they were attached to in the first 6 hours
G1 - saw Lorenz first
G2 - saw their mother first - the control group
What was Lorenz’s findings in his study
The 6 that saw Lorenz first attached to him
The 6 that saw the mum first attached to her
Define imprinting
When they (geese etc) attach to the first moving object they see
The time after hatching when birds must attach is known as …. (Lorenz)
Critical period
What is sexual imprinting in birds
Initial attachment in birds forms the basis of their later mate preferences
What type of monkeys did Harlow work with
Rhesus monkeys
Why did Harlow study rhesus monkeys instead of geese like Lorenz
RM’s more similar to humans than geese
Describe the procedure for Harlow’s monkeys
Raised 16 baby monkeys with two wire ‘mothers’ - one cloth covered and one plain - wire which dispensed milk to see if the monkeys would seek comfort over food
What were Harlow’s findings
Discovered the monkeys spent more time & sought more contact comfort with the cloth ‘mother - especially when scared - followed monkeys into adulthood and found long term consequences
What were the long term consequences for the money’s in Harlow’s study
Anti social aggressive behaviour
Majority didn’t mate couldn’t display courtship behaviours
Hostility towards offspring
How long were the monkeys critical period (Harlow)
90 days
What are two strengths of animal studies of attachment
Influential Lorenz
Influenced theories e.g. Bowlby’s monotropic theory
Harlow practical application
Application to range of contexts e.g. social workers better understand risk factors for deprivation - neglect & abuse
Impacted breeding programmes for monkeys in captivity
What are two limitations of animal studies into attachment
Lorenz - generalisability to humans
Mammalian attachment system differs to birds - Mammalian mothers more emotional & babies may be able to form attachments at any time
Lorenz contradictory evidence
What contradictory evidence is there for Lorenz’s study
Guitan et al (1966) chickens that imprinted on yellow washing up gloves would try to mate with them as adults - but learned to prefer mating with other chickens - imprinting is reversible
What did Guitan et al investigate
The accuracy of the permanent effect attachment has on mating behaviour even in birds
Who proposed the learning theory
Dollard & Miller - from behavioural approach
What did the learning theory propose
Attachment was a learned behaviour based on food coined ‘cupboard love’ - attachment = secondary drive hunger = primary
How does classical conditioning factor into the learning theory
Food = UCS producing UCR of pleasure mum is a NS produces NR when we pair food with mum baby learns to associate mum with pleasure making , mum becomes CS and pleasure a CR - attachment then formed
Why is pleasure initially a UCR (learning theory)
It’s an automatic innate human response
How does operant conditioning factor into the learning theory
Explains how attachment formed by food between baby & mum is maintained
Who is positively reinforced (learning theory)
Baby is positively reinforced given comfort & interaction when crying
Who is negatively reinforced (learning theory)
Parent is negatively reinforced crying is removed by interacting
Mutual __________ leads to maintenance of attachment (learning theory)
Reinforcement
What is a strength of the learning theory
Some evidence supports conditioning
Many aspects of human development is affected by conditioning - the provision of comforts + association between PC & social interaction is what builds attachment
What are two limitations of the learning theory
Alternative explanations
Contradictory research
What is an example of contradictory research of the learning research
Harlow’s monkeys suggested food not most important factor in attachment but comfort is - challenges validity
Give an example of an alternative explanation to the learning theory
Ignores evolutionary factors - Bowlby’s monotropic explanation is much more comprehensive & has more research support - attachment behaviours are innate
Bowlby takes inspiration from _____ & ______ to propose and _________ explanation of attachment
Lorenz & Harlow
Evolutionary
What are the five factors of Bowlby’s monotropic theory
Adaptive
Social releasers
Critical period
Montropy
Internal working model
What is the adaptive feature (Bowlby)
Attachment is an innate system that has adaptive functions i.e. it ensures our survival
What is the social releasers feature (Bowlby)
Babies have innate ‘cute’ behaviours that encourage adults to respond to them & attach to them - encourages reciprocity
Give an example of a social releaser
Cooing , smiling , gripping
Which theory does Bowlby’s monotropic theory reject
The learning theory
What is the critical period feature (Bowlby)
Attachment development begins in the first few weeks and is most sensitive and critical from 6mnths - 2 years
What is the montropy feature (Bowlby)
The primary attachment figure is different & more important than others
The monotropy feature of Bowlby’s montropic theory includes the law of _______ & ________ _______
The law of continuity
The law of accumulated seperation
What is the law of continuity
The more consistent the care the better
What is the law of accumulated seperation
The impact of every seperation adds up
What does the IWM feature of Bowlby’s monotropic theory state
The PA figure forms our template of what attachments should look like
Healthy childhood attachment = healthy later attachment
What is the influence of early attachment on friendships & bullying?
- children that have secure attachments go on to have healthy long lasting relationships and vice versa
- children that have insecure attachments go on to have unhealthy relationships & have difficult
What were Myron Wilson & Smith’s findings when looking into the influence of early attachment on bullying?
- 196 children from London 7-11yrs are given questionnaires on behaviours on bullying
They found… - secure (type B) children were uninvolved in bullying
- type A were more likely to be bullied
- type C were more likely to be the bullies
Who looked into the effect of early attachment on adult relationships?
Hazan & Shaver
What was the procedure for Hazan & Shaver’s study?
- volunteer sample
- created a love quiz in a local newspaper
- analysed 620 replies
- assessed childhood attachment types and current/past adult romantic relationships
What were the findings of Hazan & Shaver’s love quiz?
Secure - longest healthiest relationships
Avoidant - fear of intimacy
Resistant - fear of abandonment
Who looked into the influence of early attachment on later mother baby relationships
Bailey et al
What was the procedure for Bailey et al’s study?
- measured mother & baby attachments in their home / mother & grandmother relationships using interviews
- the mother & baby attachments were measured using the strange situation
What were the findings of Bailey et al’s study?
- most women had same classification of attachment to their baby as they did to their mother
What is a strength of the theory that attachment style influences later relationships ?
Research support - suggests their is a link between attachment style & later relationships (Hazan & Shaver’s love quiz etc)
What are 3 limitations of the theory that attachment style influences later relationships?
Retrospect + validity - psychologists ask adults about their attachments in childhood may be dishonest & inaccurate / affects validity
Confounding variables - not causational all research is correlational / things that influence our later relationships may have nothing to do with our childhood e.g. bad first romantic relationship / affects validity and generalisability
Deterministic - just because there is a link doesn’t mean the outcome is inevitable / socially sensitive
