attachment Flashcards
what is attachment?
A close two-way emotional bond between two individuals, in which each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security. Attachment in humans takes a few months to develop.
caregiver-infant interactions
- because infants (0-2) cannot talk, non-verbal methods are vital in communicating and forming an attachment
- these non-verbal methods are important for a child’s social development
- there are two main types of caregiver-infant interactions:
1. reciprocity
2. interactional synchrony
reciprocity
- caregiver and baby respond to each other’s signals, and each elicits a response from the other
- babies move in a rhythm when interacting with an adult, almost as if they’re taking turns (as people do in a conversation)
- alert phases
- active involvement
alert phases
- reciprocity
- babies have ‘alert phases’ where they indicate that they are ready for interaction. Mothers respond to these about two-thirds of the time (Feldman and Eidelman 2007)
active involvement
- reciprocity
- traditionally, babies were seen as passive but recent research suggests both baby and caregiver can initiate interactions and take turns doing so. Researcher Brazelton likens this to a dance
interactional synchrony
caregiver and baby reflect both actions and emotions of the other and do this in a coordinated way
- Meltzoff and Moore (1977)
- Isabella et al (1989)
Meltzoff and Moore
- 1977
- conducted the first observational study of Interactional Synchrony and found that infants as young as two to three weeks old imitated specific facial expressions and hand gestures
- an adult model who displayed one of three facial expressions or hand movements where the fingers moved in a sequence
- a dummy was placed in the infant’s mouth during the initial display to prevent any response
- following the display, the dummy was removed and the child’s expression was filmed
- they found that there was an association between the infant behaviour and that of the adult model
facial expressions used by Meltzoff and Moore
tongue protrusion, open mouth, lip protrusion
Isabella et al
- 1989
- interactional synchrony
- observed 30 mothers and infants together and assessed the degree of synchrony.
- The researchers also assessed the quality of mother-infant attachment.
- They found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality infant-mother attachment (the emotional intensity of the relationship)
consistency between researchers is called
inter-observer reliability
strengths and weaknesses of caregiver-infant interactions
+ filmed in laboratory conditions - scientific
+ practical applications - understanding attachment and the needs of infants
- hard to know what is happening when observing an infant’s behaviour
- other studies have failed to replicate the findings of Meltzoff and Moore eg. Koepke et al (1983) found that infants couldn’t distinguish between video recordings of their mother and real interactions
- observations don’t tell us the purpose of synchrony and reciprocity
the role of the father - research
- Schaffer and Emerson: only 3% of fathers are primary attachments
- Grossman et al: father’s role is more to do with ‘play’ and stimulation where the mothers is about emotional development
- Geiger: father as a ‘playmate’ vs affectionate, nurturing interactions with mother
- Field: any primary caregiver (male or female) takes on the nurturing role
Schaffer and Emerson research
(1964 - role of the father)
- the majority of babies become attached to their mothers first
- Fathers are mostly seen as a ‘secondary attachment figure’ with mothers usually considered the primary one.
- 75% of infants formed an attachment with their fathers by 18 months - this was characterised by the infant protesting (crying/shouting) when the father walked away.
- Only 3% of fathers are primary attachments.
biological reasons for the stereotypical role of the father
- “not equipped” to form an intense attachment because they lack the emotional sensitivity that women offer
- female hormone oestrogen underlies caring behaviours
- ability to breastfeed and carry the child which aid bonding
social/cultural reasons for the stereotypical role of the father
- Paternity vs maternity leave length
- general structures such as baby changing facilities make it easier for the woman to form attachments and to be the primary attachment figure.
Grossman et al.
(2002)
- role of the father
- babies attachments were studied until they were into their teens (looking at parent behaviour and relationships)
- suggests that attachments to fathers is less important than attachment to mothers
- however, also found that the quality of fathers’ play with babies was related to the quality of adolescent attachments
- suggests that fathers have a different role from mothers - one that is more to do with play and stimulation, and less to do with emotional development.
Geiger
(1996)
- the role of the father
- fathers’ play interactions were more exciting in comparison to mothers’ which were more affectionate and nurturing
- suggests that the role of the father is in fact as a playmate and not as a sensitive parent who responds to the needs of their children
- mother takes on a nurturing role.
Tiffany Field
(1978)
- filmed 4-month old babies in face-to-face interactions with primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers, and primary caregiver fathers
- primary caregiver fathers, like mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants than secondary caregiver fathers.
- It seems the important thing here is not the gender after-all, but responsiveness.
evaluation for the role of the father topic
+ lots of supporting research
+ inform parents
+ research has far reaching implications for the economy due to its impact on employment laws and policy
- older research (such as Schaffer and Emerson) may lack temporal validity
- influence of stereotypes
- conflicting evidence
stages of attachment - researcher
Schaffer and Emerson (1964)
- developed the (universal) 4 stages of attachment
4 stages of attachment experiment - aims
Schaffer and Emerson (1964)
- the formation of early attachments, in particular the age at which they develop
- their emotional intensity
- to whom these attachments are made
4 stages of attachment experiment - method
Schaffer and Emerson (1964)
- 60 babies (31 make, 29 female) all from Glasgow, working class families
- the babies and their mothers were visited at home every months for the first year and again at 18 months. It was a longitudinal study
- the researchers also asked the mothers questions about how the infant responded to scenarios such as mother leaving the room (separation anxiety) and the infant’s response to a stranger (unfamiliar adults)
4 stages of attachment experiment - findings
Schaffer and Emerson (1964)
- At about 5-7 months about 50% of the babies showed signs of separation anxiety toward a particular adult (usually the mother)
- attachment tended to be with the caregiver who was most interactive, sensitive to infant signals, and used facial expression. This wasn’t always necessarily the person who spent the most time with them
- by 9 months, 80% had a specific attachment and almost 30% showed multiple attachments
4 stages of attachment
asocial, indiscriminate, specific, multiple
asocial stage
- 1st stage of attachment
- 0-8 weeks
- observable behaviour towards humans and inanimate objects is fairly similar
- babies do show signs that they prefer to be with other people
- show a preference for the company of familiar people and are more easily comforted by them
indiscriminate stage
- 2nd stage of attachment
- 2-7 months
- more obvious and observable social behaviours
- clear preference for being with other people over inanimate objects
- recognise and prefer the company of familiar people
- usually accept cuddles and comfort from anyone
- no separation or stranger anxiety
specific attachment stage
- 3rd stage of attachment
- 7-12 months
- classic signs of attachment towards one particular person (stranger anxiety, separation anxiety)
- formed a specific attachment to the primary attachment figure
- this is not necessarily who the baby spends the most time with but the one who offers the most interaction and responds to signals with the most skill
multiple attachments stage
- 4th stage of attachment
- 1 year onwards
- form multiple secondary attachments with familiar adults with whom they spend time
- 29% of children formed these within a month of forming primary, specific attachments
4 stages of attachment evaluation
- conflicting evidence as to when infant’s form attachments (Bowlby 1969 and collectivist cultures)
- Schaffer and Emerson study was longitudinal (higher internal validity as no individual participant variables)
- Schaffer and Emerson has good external validity (higher ecological validity, findings can be generalised further)
- Schaffer and Emerson’s study has practical applications (such as daycare/nursery, carers can pre-plan day care to avoid problematic stages)
animal studies of attachment
- Harlow (1958) - Rhesus monkeys
- Lorenz (1952) - geese
Harlow (1958)
- experimented on Rhesus monkeys to investigate attachment behaviour
- his aim was to investigate whether food or comfort was more important in forming a bond
Harlow’s method/procedure
THIS IS ONE VARIATION
- two wire mothers, one wrapped in cloth
- 8 infant rhesus monkeys studied for 165 days
- for half, the milk bottle was on the cloth mother, for the rest it was on the wire
- amount of time each infant spent with each mother was measured
- observations were also made of the infant’s responses when frightened
Harlow’s findings
- all 8 monkeys spent more time with the cloth mother
- those who fed from the wire mother spent a very short time with that mother
- when frightened they all clung to the cloth mother and they often kept one foot on the cloth mother when exploring
- this suggests that infants do not develop an attachment to who feeds them but the person offering contact comfort
Harlow’s follow up
- the monkeys were studied into adulthood to see if early maternal deprivation had affected them permanently
- monkeys were more aggressive and less sociable
- they bred less often than is typical
- as mothers they sometimes neglected their young, others attacked their children, even killing them in some cases
critical period discovered by Harlow
- a mother figure had to be introduced to a monkey within 90 days for attachment to be formed
- after this time, attachment was impossible and effects irreversible
issues with Harlow’s research
- ethical issues (lasting emotional harm, broken attachments, Harlow was aware of the suffering - referring to the wire monkeys as ‘iron maidens’ after the medieval torture device)
- the faces of the two mothers were different (the cloth mother had a monkey-like face)
- can’t generalise from animals to humans (human behaviour and brain are more complex with conscious decisions
Dollard and Miller
(1950) proposed that the caregiver-infant attachment can be explained by the learning theory… they called this approach ‘cupboard love’ because it emphasises the importance as the caregiver as the provider of food.
There are two main explanations here:
1. classical conditioning
2. operant conditioning
classical conditioning for attachment
- UCS (food) -> UCR (pleasure in baby)
- NS (caregiver) -> no response
- UCS (food) + NS (caregiver) -> UCR (pleasure)
- CS (caregiver) -> CR (pleasure
operant conditioning - babies crying for comfort
- crying leads to a response from the caregiver - eg. feeding
- as long as the mother provides the correct response, crying is positively reinforced as they get something positive from it (receiving milk, reducing discomfort)
- they baby then cries every time they want feeding
- this reinforcement, however, is a two way process: the caregiver receives negative reinforcement because the baby stops crying
primary reinforcers
associated with biological significance such as food, drink, shelter, etc.
secondary reinforcers
only fulfilling because they are associated with a primary reinforcer eg. a mother to get food off with food as a primary reinforcer
As food is a primary reinforcer, a child’s caregiver is associated with food and thus becomes a secondary reinforcer, producing the attachment.
drive and attachment
Drives motivate all our behaviour, hunger can be seen in as a primary drive - its an innate, biological motivator. We are motivated to eat to reduce this hunger. As the caregiver provides food, the primary drive of hunger becomes generalised to them. Attachment is thus a secondary drive.
john bowlby’s theory of attachment
John Bowlby (1988)
- rejected the learning theory as an explanation for attachment
- looked at the work of Lorenz and Harlow for ideas and proposed an evolutionary explanation - that attachment was an innate system that gives a survival advantage
- monotropy
- social releasers
- critical period
- internal working model
what did bowlby say about the learning theory of attachment
‘were it true, an infant of a year or two should take readily to whomever feeds him and this is clearly not the case’
monotropy
- bowlby’s theory of attachment
- emphasises child’s attachment to one particular caregiver
> he believed this attachment is different and more important than others
> he called this person the ‘mother’ (does not need to be though) - Bowlby believed that the more time a baby spent with this mother-figure the better
- put forward two principles to clarify this:
1. law of continuity
2. law of accumulated separation
law of continuity
- the more constant and predictable care, the better the attachment would be
law of accumulated separation
- the effects of every separation from the caregiver adds up
- ‘the safest dose is therefore a zero dose’ (Bowlby 1975)
social releasers
- bowlby’s theory of attachment
- he suggested that babies are born with a set of innate ‘cute’ behaviours like smiling, cooing, and gripping that encourage attention
- he called these social releasers because their purpose is to activate adult social interaction and make an adult attach to the baby
- attachment is a reciprocal process with both mother and baby ‘hard-wired’ to attach
the critical period
- bowlby’s theory of attachment
- Bowlby proposed that there is a critical period around 6 months when the infant attachment system is active
- viewed it as a ‘sensitive period’
- child is maximally sensitive at 6 months but it can extend up to the age of two
- if an attachment is not formed in this time, a child will find it much harder to form one later
internal working model
- bowlby’s theory of attachment
- proposes that a child forms a mental representation of their relationship with their primary attachment figure
- serves as a model for what relationships are like
- the internal working model affects the child’s later ability to be a parent themselves
example of internal working model’s manifestation
(bowlby’s theory of attachment)
- a child whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver will tend to form an expectation that all relationships are loving and reliable and will bring these qualities to future relationships
- a child whose first relationship involves poor treatment will come to expect such treatment from others or treat others in this way
evaluation of Bowlby’s monotropy
+ the internal working model has been demonstrated to predict patterns of attachment from one gen to the next (Bailey et al.)
+ support for social releasers (Brazelton et al.)
- monotropy is a controversial idea because it has implications for the lifestyle choices of mothers and places responsibility on them for all behaviour (law of accumulated separation)
- monotropy lacks validity/mixed evidence (Schaffer and Emerson)
- internal working model is deterministic
Bailey et al.
assessed 99 mothers with one year old babies on the quality of their attachment to their mothers using a standard interview procedure. The researcher also assessed the babies attachment to mothers using observation.
