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psychology paper 1 > attachment > Flashcards

attachment Flashcards

1
Q

attachment

A

a close two-way emotional bond where each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security

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2
Q

ways to recognise attachment:

A
  • proximity
  • seperation distress
  • secure-base behaviour
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3
Q

recognising attachment: proximity

A

refers to how people try to stay close to those they are attached to

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4
Q

recognising attachment: separation distress

A

how people become distressed when an attachment figure leaves their presence

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5
Q

recognising attachment: secure-base behaviour

A

even when we are independent, we tend to make regular contact with our attachment figure

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6
Q

caregiver

A

any person who provides care for a child

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7
Q

infant

A

used to refer to a child during its first year of life

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8
Q

caregiver-infant interactions

A

refers to the communication between a caregiver and infant

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9
Q

reciprocity

A

a two-way or mutual process in which each party responds to the other’s signals in order to continue the interaction (turn-taking)

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10
Q

reciprocity: alert phases

A
  • babies have periodic ‘alert phases’ in which they signal they are ready for interaction with their caregiver
  • research shows mothers pick up on these signals 2/3 of the time
  • from three months these interactions become more frequent and includes the baby and mother paying close attention to each others verbal and non-verbal signals
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11
Q

reciprocity: active involvement

A
  • previously infants have seen to be passive beings
  • both the caregiver and infant initiate interactions and take turns in doing so
  • Brazelton et al (1975) described this interaction as a dance because it is just like a couple dance where they respond to the moves of each other
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12
Q

importance of reciprocity

A
  • reciprocity is thought to be a pre-cursor to later communications
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13
Q

interactional synchrony

A

when a caregiver and an infant reflect the actions and emotions of the other in a coordinates way
- they mirror watch in terms of their facial and body movements

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14
Q

study for interactional synchrony

A

Meltzoff & Moore (1977):
Procedure: using a controlled observation, an adult displayed facial expressions to a child, who initially had a dummy placed in their mouth. Following this display of expressions, the dummy was removed and the child’s expression
Findings: there was a clear association between the child’s expression and the adult’s
Conclusion: interactional synchrony is innate and reduces the strength of any claim that imitative behaviour is learned

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15
Q

evaluation of interactional synchrony study

A

✔️controlled observation
✔️Filming (others can observe the interactions)
❌Temporal validity (1977)
❌Ecological validity (lab setting)

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16
Q

importance of interactional synchrony

A
  • important for the development of caregiver-infant interactions
  • Isabelle et al (1989) observed 30 mothers and babies together to assess their degree of their synchrony, & also assessed the quality of the mother-baby attachment. They found that high levels of interactional synchrony were associated with better quality attachements
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17
Q

evalutation of caregiver-infant interactions

A

✔️ controlled observation
❌babies lack co-ordination
❌ethical issues (distress to babies)

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18
Q

role of the father

A

the main male caregiver

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19
Q

study of role of the father in a child’s development

A

Grossman et al (2002)
Procedure: a longitudinal study of 44 families comparing the role of fathers and mothers contribution to their children attachment experienced at 6,10 and 16. The researchers looked at both parents behaviour and their relationship quality to the baby’s later attachments to other people
Findings: the quality of infant attachment with mothers related to children’s attachments in adolescence. However, the quality of father’s play with infants was related to the quality of adolescent attachments

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20
Q

primary attachment figure

A

the person who forms the closest bond with a child demonstrated by the intensity of their relationship

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21
Q

study: Field 1978

A

Procedure: filmed 4 month old babies in face to face interactions with primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers, and primary caregiver fathers
Findings: primary caregiver fathers, like primary caregiver mothers spend more time smiling, imitating and holding babies than the secondary caregiver fathers
Conclusion: fathers have the potential to be the more emotional-focused primary attachment figure. They can provide the responsiveness required for a close emotional attachment, but may only express this when given the role of primary caregiver

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22
Q

evaluation of role of the father

A

✔️evidence to support (Grossman 2002)
✔️real life application (paternal leave as well as maternal)
❌findings vary dependent on method

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23
Q

stages of attachment

A

Rudolf Schaffer & Peggy Emmerson (1964

  • studied attachment behaviour of babies
  • the findings led them to develop an account of how attachment behaviours change as a baby gets older
  • they proposed that there was four identifiable stages of attachment
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24
Q

asocial stage

A
  • the baby is recognising and forming bonds with its carers
  • the babies behaviour towards non-human objects and humans is quite similar
  • they show preference to familiar adults, and babies are happier with humans
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25
Q

indiscriminate attachment

A
  • from 2 to 7 months, babies display more observable social behaviours
  • they show a preference for people, rather than inanimate objects
  • babies accept cuddles but don’t show separation anxiety
  • attachment no different to anyone
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26
Q

specific attachment

A
  • from 7 months, the majority of babies display anxiety towards strangers and separation anxiety
  • a specific attachment is formed with the primary attachment figure
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27
Q

multiple attachments

A
  • shortly after specific attachment, babies extend their attachment to multiple people -> secondary attachment
  • 29% of children had these within a month of forming the primary attachment (Schaffer & Emmerson)
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28
Q

evaluation of the stages

A

✔️real life application (daycare etc)
❌sample bias (shaffer & emmerson’s sample included working class families from Glasgow)
❌immobile babies

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29
Q

study for stages of attachment

A

Schaffer & Emmerson
Procedure: 60 babies (29 female, 31 male) & their mothers were visited at home for the first year, and again at 18 months old. Researches asked the mothers questions about the kind of protest their babies showed in 7 everyday separations. This was designed to measure attachment and separation anxiety
Findings: (the four stages) , and children tended to become attached to people who respond sensitively to them. This includes responding accurately to the infants signals, responding quickly to cries or demands and interacting. Sensitive responsiveness allows an attachment to develop

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30
Q

evaluation of the stages of attachment study

A

✔️observational study
✔️longitudinal study
❌sample bias (60 babies, from Glasgow, working class)

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31
Q

animal studies in attachment

A

studies carried out on non-human animal species rather than humans, either for ethical or practical reasons

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32
Q

study for animal attachment: imprinting

A

Lorenz
Procedure: lorenz kept a clutch of goose eggs until they were just about to hatch, and then randomly divided half into an incubator and half under the goose mother. Lorenz made sure he was near the incubator goslings when they hatched, as imprinting is forming an attachment to the first large moving object they meet. Once the eggs had hatched, the goslings regarded him as their mother and followed him around
Findings: geese follow the first moving object that they see, which is imprinting & that once this has occurred it cannot be reversed

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33
Q

how did Lorenz check imprinting had occurred?

A

he placed the goslings under an upturned box, with both halves together to allow the groups to mix. After taking the box off the goslings, half went to the goose mother, and half went to Lorenz

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34
Q

sexual imprinting

A
  • Lorenz investigated the relationship between imprinting and adult mate preferences
  • he observed that birds that had imprinted on a human would often later display courtship behaviours towards humans
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35
Q

study of sexual imprinting

A

Lorenz (1952)

  • described a peacock that had been reared in the reptile house of a zoo where the first moving object that it saw was a tortoise, and as an adult the peacock would only show mating behaviours towards tortoises
  • Lorenz concluded that the peacock had undergone sexual imprinting
36
Q

evaluation of Lorenz’s research

A

✔️other evidence to support (Regolin & Vallortigara 1995 - chicks and moving shapes, and the chicks followed the first moving shape that they saw)
❌animal study (can’t generalise on humans because the sample made up of goslings)
❌evidence against sexual imprinting (Guiton et al 1966 - found that chickens who imprinted on yellow washing up gloves, would try to mate with them as adults, but with experience learnt to prefer mating with other chickens)

37
Q

Harlow’s study

A

Procedure: 16 baby monkeys with two wire model mothers -> condition1 milk was dispensed by a plain-wire mother, condition2 milk dispensed by the cloth mother
Findings: baby monkeys cuddled the cloth-covered mother in preference to the plain-wire mother, and wanted comfort from the cloth mother when frightened regardless if which was dispensing milk
Conclusion: contact-comfort was of more importance to the monkeys than the food when it came to attachment behaviours

38
Q

evaluation of Harlow’s research

A

✔️real world application
❌sample bias (monkeys)
❌ethical issues (monkeys become distressed)

39
Q

explanations of attachment: classical conditioning

A
  • learning through association
    UCS = food -> UCR = pleasure
    NS = caregiver + UCS -> UCR
    CS = caregiver -> CR = pleasure
40
Q

explanations of attachment: operant conditioning

A
  • learning through reinforcement
    crying leads to a response from the caregiver, and as long as the caregiver provides the correct response, crying is reinforced
41
Q

attachment as a secondary drive

A

Sears (1957) suggests that, as caregivers provide food, the primary drive for hunger becomes generalised to them
- attachment is therefore a secondary drive learned by an association between the caregiver and the satisfaction of a primary drive

42
Q

evaluation of learning theory & attachment

A

✔️elements of conditioning could be involved in some aspects of attachment
❌lack of support from animal studies
❌lack of support from studies including human babies

43
Q

explanation of attachment: bowlby’s monotropic theory

A
  • infants have the innate ability to form an attachment

- attachment is important for an infants survival

44
Q

monotropic

A

a term sometimes used to describe Bowlby’s theory: ‘mono’ means one, and indicates that one particular attachment is different from all others

45
Q

internal working models

A

mental representations that we all carry with us of our attachment to our primary caregiver

46
Q

critical period

A

the time within which an attachment must form if it is to form at al

47
Q

Bowlby’s principle of monotropy

A
  • the child’s attachment to one caregiver is more important than others
  • Bowlby believed that this one person was the mother but it does not need to be the biological mother
48
Q

Bowlby: law of continuity

A

the more constant and predictable a child’s care is, the better the quality of attachment

49
Q

Bowlby: law of accumulated seperation

A

the effects of every separation from the mother added up

50
Q

social releasers

A
  • babies are born with a set of innate ‘cute’ behaviours which encourage attention from adults
51
Q

social releasers & the critical period

A
  • during the first weeks of a babies life, the social releasers help the baby and caregiver to develop their attachment and their relationship
  • a critical period around 6 months when the infants attachment system is active (viewed more of as a sensitive period)
  • Bowlby believed that the critical period is up to 2 years
  • it an attachment is not formed at this time, the child will find it much harder to form one later
52
Q

evaluation of Bowlby’s monotropic theory

A

✔️evidence to support the role of social releasers (Brazelton et al 1975)
✔️evidence to support the internal working model (Bailey et al 2007)
❌lacks validity

53
Q

strange situation

A
  • a controlled observation designed to measure the security of attachment a baby displays towards a caregiver
  • 100 middle class American infants & their mothers were observed during a set of pre-determined set of activities
  • takes place in a room with a two-way mirror and/or cameras through which psychologists can observe the baby’s behaviour
54
Q

behaviours judged in the strange situation:

A
  • proximity seeking
  • exploration and secure-base behaviour
  • stranger anxiety
  • separation anxiety
  • response to reunion
55
Q

the strange situation procedure:

A

1) mother & infant go into a room, the mother sits whilst the child is placed on the floor, free to explore
2) a stranger enters the room & talks briefly to the mother, the stranger leans forward to engage with the infant
3) the mother leaves the room so the baby is alone with the stranger, the stranger tries to comfort the baby & play
4) mother returns and the stranger leaves
5) mother leaves & the infant is alone in the room
6) instead of the mother returning, its the stranger attempting to comfort the baby
7) the mother re-enters the room & the stranger leaves

56
Q

findings of the strange situation:

A

the types of attachment:

  • Type B (secure attachment)
  • Type A (insecure avoidant)
  • Type C (insecure resistant)
57
Q

Type B (secure attachment)

A
  • explore happily but regularly goes back to their caregiver
  • shows moderate separation and stranger anxiety
  • requires and accepts comfort from the caregiver in the reunion stage
  • about 60-75% of British babies are classified as secure
58
Q

Type A (insecure avoidant)

A
  • explore freely but does not seek proximity or show secure-base behaviour
  • show little or no reaction when their caregiver leaves and little stranger anxiety
  • make little effort to make contact when the caregiver returns and may avoid such contact
  • about 20-25% of British babies are classified as insecure avoidant
59
Q

Type C (insecure resistance)

A
  • babies seek greater proximity than others and so they explore less
  • show high levels of stranger and separation distress
  • resist comfort when reunited with the caregiver
  • around 3% of British babies are classified as insecure resistant
60
Q

Type D (disorganised attachment)

A

later research by Main and Solomon (1986) identified a fourth category of attachment:

  • Type D is a mix of resistant and avoidant behaviours.
  • usually experienced some form of sever neglect or abuse
61
Q

evaluation of the Strange Situation

A

✔️inter-rater reliability (Bick et al 2012)
✔️outcome predicts a number of later development (Type B babies tend to have better outcomes in both later childhood and adulthood)
❌invalid measure of attachment in different cultures/societies (strange situation developed in Britain and USA)

62
Q

cultural variations in attachment

A
  • we draw assumptions regarding attachments for a whole country, when actually children in the same culture experience different things, and therefore different attachments
63
Q

culture

A

the norms, values and beliefs that exists within a group of people

64
Q

between cultures

A

differences in attachment that occur across different cultures/countries

65
Q

within cultures

A

differences in attachment in the same culture

66
Q

cultural variations

A

the different norms that exist between people in different groups

67
Q

individualistic cultures

A

value independence, with each person working towards their own goals
- western cultures

68
Q

collectivist cultures

A

value cooperation, with each person working towards the family or group goals
- eastern cultures

69
Q

study of cross cultural variations

A

Van Izjendoorn & Kroonenverg (1989)
Procedure: researches conducted a meta-analysis which included 32 studies of attachment, where the Strange Situation had been used to investigate the proportion of each attachment type within a certain population. These 32 studies were conducted in eight different countries, and yielded results for 1990 children. 15 out of the 32 studies were conducted in the USA
Findings: in all countries, the most common attachment type was secure attachment. However, the proportion varied - in Britain it was 75% and in China it was 50%. Insecure-resistant was the most common in Israel (30%), and least common in Britain (3%). Insecure-avoidant was most common in Germany (57%), and least common in Japan (5%)

70
Q

Simonelli et al’s study (2014) of cross cultural variations

A
  • conducted a study in Italy to see whether the proportions of babies of different attachment types still matched those found in previous studies
  • researches assessed 76 12month-olds using the strange situation
  • they found 50% were secure, with 36% insecure-avoidant
  • This is a lower rate of secure-attachment than has been found in many studies
  • researchers suggest this is because an increasing number of mothers, of very young children, work long hours and use professional childcare. These findings suggest that cultural changes can make a dramatic difference to patterns
71
Q

conclusions from research into cultural variations and attachment

A
  • secure attachment is the ‘norm’ in a wide range of cultures
  • supports Bowlby’s idea that attachment is innate and universal, and secure attachment type is the universal norm
  • this research shows that cultural practices have an influence on attachment types
72
Q

maternal deprivation

A

the emotional and intellectual consequences of separation between a child and their mother or mother substitute

73
Q

seperation

A

occurs when a child is not in the presence of their primary attachment figure
- child becomes distressed when they are physically separated, even for a relatively short period of time

74
Q

deprivation

A

occurs when a child has already formed an attachment with a caregiver which is then broken and an element of care is taken away

  • has long term effects on development
  • the prolonged separation between a child and caregiver
75
Q

Genie

A

November 1970

  • Genie’s mother Irene walked into a building full of social workers with her child by accident, and due to their worries of how Genie looked, her parents were arrested. The child was suffering from poor nutrition, she couldn’t speak, walk or cry and had little motor skills.
  • It was revealed that Genie’s dad (clark) had kept her hidden, confined in a cage, and would strike her with wood if she made any sound.
  • However, researches took advantage of Genie’s case
76
Q

characteristics of a deprived child

A
  • alone/different/unloved
  • very few friends
  • Low IQ
  • malnourished
77
Q

characteristics of a non-deprived child

A
  • loved
  • large friendship group
  • High IQ
  • average height/healthy weight
78
Q

Bowlby’s critical period

A
  • the first 30 months of life (2.5 years)
    Bowlby if a child is separated from a mother, they will inevitably have psychological damage due to a lack of emotional care
79
Q

effects of maternal deprivation: intellectual development

A
  • if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period, they would suffer delayed intellectual development, characterised low IQ
80
Q

effects of maternal deprivation: emotional development

A

Affectionless Psychopathy

81
Q

Affectionless Psychopathy

A

the inability to experience the guilt or strong emotions for others. This prevents the individual from developing normal relationships and is associated with criminality - they cannot appreciate the feelings if victims so lack remorse

82
Q

Bowlby’s Juvenile Thieves

A

44 thieves
Procedure: sample included 88 teenagers - 44 were teenage delinquents, and were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy. The other 44 participants were non-criminals, so therefore the control groups. Both groups families were also interviewed to see if any prolonged separation from mothers had occurred
Findings: 14/44 thieves were affectionless psychopaths & 17/44 had maternal separation. Of the 14 thieves that were affectionless, 12 had also experienced prolonged separation in the first few two years of life. In the control group 2/44 had maternal separation, but 0/44 were categorised as affectionless psychopathy
Conclusion: maternal deprivation links to affectionless psychopathy, which links to crime

83
Q

institution

A

a place like a hospital or orphanage where people live for long durations of time, often with little care provided

84
Q

institutional

A

the effects of living within an institutional setting

85
Q

study of institutionalisation

A

Rutter et al (2011)
Procedure: followed a group if 165 Romanian orphans for years as a part of the English and Romanian adoptee (ERA) study. Physical, cognitive and emotional development has been assessed at ages 4,6,11,15 and 22-25 years. A group of 52 adopted children from the UK have served as a control group
Findings:
- when the children first arrived in the UK, half of the adoptees showed signs of delayed intellectual development and the majority were severely undernourished
- At age 11, they showed differential rates of recovery that were related to their age of adoption
- the mean IQ of children adopted before 6 months was 102, compared with 86 for those adopted between 6 months and 2 years, and 77 for those adopted after 2 years.
- children adopted after they were 6 months were showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment.

86
Q

disinhibited attachment

A
  • attention seeking, clinginess, and social behaviour directed indiscriminately directed towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar
87
Q

developmental dwarfism

A
  • lack of emotional care could affect growth hormones causing underdevelopment (Gardner 1972)

psychology paper 1 (4 decks)

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