Attachment Flashcards
Describe and evaluate research into caregiver infant interactions (AO1)
Reciprocity occurs between infants and carers resulting in mutual behaviour where both parties are able to generate a response from one another almost like a conversation e.g smiling by the parent results in smiling by the baby. Such interactions between the infant and carer facilitate and strengthen the attachment bond.
Interactional synchrony involves infants imitating specific hand and facial gestures from an adult model and broadly refers to a finely tuned coordination of behaviours between the child and parent during speaking and listening. Infants and parents are seen to develop a shared sense of timing and rhythm which develops into a flow of mutual behaviours
Meltzoff and Moore conducted a study to examine interactional synchrony in infants. Using a controlled observation with independent observers, an adult model displayed one of three facial expressions, or a hand gesture. To start with, the child had a dummy placed in his/her mouth to prevent a facial response (control). Following the display from the adult model, the dummy was removed and the child’s expressions were filmed. They found there was a clear association between the infants’ behaviour and that of the adult model. These findings suggest that interactional synchrony is innate and reduces the strength of any claim that imitative behaviour is learned.
Describe and evaluate research into caregiver infant interactions (AO3)
- Methodological issues: One major issue into observing caregiver-infant interactions is testing infant behaviour is incredibly difficult as their facial expressions are almost continuously changing. Behaviours observed in the Meltzoff & Moore study may lack validity as expressions involving sticking their tongue out, yawning, smiling, opening their mouths and movements of hands occur constantly in young babies due to their poor motor control. This makes it incredibly difficult to distinguish between general behaviour and actual interactional synchrony. Therefore such theories may lack internal validity due to not necessarily measuring interactional synchrony.
- No cause and effect: The research is not experimental. This is because it is ethically impossible to manipulate the amount of time or type of caregiver interaction to determine the effects on the attachment. The researchers therefore have to rely on observations. This means it is not possible to draw cause and effect conclusions about the role of caregiver-infant interactions in forming an attachment.
+Practical applications: We can apply these findings to enhance a child’s development and to ensure a healthy attachment. For example, parent-child interaction therapy helped develop attachments in one group compared to a control group. In addition, new mothers can be placed in the same rooms with their children instantly so they can begin to form attachment bonds unlike previous practice where they were kept separate.
This is a strength as it can help parents and childcare professionals to know how to interact with young children and to ensure a secure attachment.
Describe and evaluate Schaffer’s Stages of Attachment (AO1)
Schaffer and Emerson conducted a study into attachment in the which they used to help them construct a description of how attachment develops in humans.
There are proposed to be 4 stages of attachment according to Schaffer:
The first stage (asocial) lasts from birth until approximately the 2-month stage. During this stage, infants produce similar responses to everything regardless of whether they are inanimate objects or not. Towards the end of this stage, they may begin to show a preference for social stimuli, such as a smiling face, and display more content when with other people. It is during this stage that reciprocity and interactional synchrony play a role in establishing the infant’s relationships with others.
In stage 2 (indiscriminate) 2 to 6 month old babies become more sociable and able to distinguish people with a preference for humans over inanimate objects. They do not display stranger anxiety allowing themselves to be comforted by anyone and enjoy the company of most people at this stage.
The third stage (specific) takes place from 7 months with babies beginning to display separation anxiety from their main attachment figure through protesting when separated. They also begin to show stranger anxiety and a sense of relief and joy when reunited with their primary caregiver showing a specific attachment towards them. The attachment bond is not always with the person who spends the most time with them but rather with the person who is most sensitive to the child’s needs with the quality of the relationship more important than the quantity and time spent.
Stage four (multiple) occurs from around 10 months onwards with the infant displaying multiple attachments after the first attachment has formed with their primary caregiver. Schaffer and Emerson found that 29% of infants had formed secondary attachments within one month of forming their first attachment. At six months the infant will show multiple attachment behaviours to many people within their social circles such as siblings, the other parent, grandparents and even nursery minders. Schaffer & Emerson found 78% of infants at six months had multiple attachments and almost all displayed multiple attachments at the age of one year.
Describe and evaluate Schaffer’s Stages of Attachment (AO3)
- Supporting study has methodological issues: One major weakness for Schaffer & Emerson’s stages of attachment is this explanation is based on possibly unreliable data. Mothers reported their infants interactions which could have been biased towards displaying themselves in a positive light. For example, some may have been less responsive to their infant’s needs and protests and thus less likely to report them to prevent themselves from being seen badly. Others may have told researchers what they thought they wanted to hear due to demand characteristics causing the data to lack validity.
+ However the 4 stage model was based on research which has mundane realism as it was conducted under everyday conditions with respective carers and therefore conclusions could be argued to have high ecological validity. - Lacks temporal and population validity: Another major issue is sample itself could be seen as biased as it was based on mother-infant interactions from people of a working class background for that particular period in time (1964). The results may apply to the working class population but not other social groups or cultures. Also the fact that the study was conducted in the 1960’s could also mean the findings lack validity to the modern day. Caring practices and guidance has changed considerably as well as the education and employability of mothers with many now working. Many infants are therefore in the care of nursery settings or with fathers who now stay at home instead and become the primary carer. Therefore if the study was repeated in todays modern world the findings may be unreliable and different.
+ naturalistic observation: The study took place in the families own homes and most of the observations were done by parents. This means that the babies behaviours would have been unaffected by being in a new and artificial situation and therefore the observed behaviours of the infants in the study were natural. Therefore, the conclusions drawn by this study have high ecological validity and. Schaffer’s Stages of attachment are therefore generalisable to the wider population.
Critically discuss the role of his father in the attachment process. (AO1)
While traditionally the role of the father may have been limited, as fathers would go to work and provide researchers for the mothers to take care of their children, recently the role of the father has changed significantly.
Psychologist disagree over the exact role of the father. Some researchers claim that men are simply not equipped to form an attachment. This may be due to them lacking the emotional sensitivity required which Bowlby argued was more important than the amount of time spent with the child. Females produce oestrogen which promotes caring behaviour and sensitivity while males do not and this may be one explanation for the role of the father being secondary.
Other researchers argue that fathers do not take on a caregiver role and in fact provide a different role, a playmate. This is because they encourage physical activity, challenging situations and thus encourage problem-solving through placing cognitive demands on the child. Geiger’s research has supported this idea.
Finally, some researchers argue that fathers can demonstrate sensitive responsiveness and respond to the needs of their children, and therefore can form a strong emotional tie or bond. More secure attachments were apparent in fathers who are more sensitive to the needs of the child highlighting sensitivity as key in influencing the father role.
Critically discuss the role of his father in the attachment process. (AO3)
+ Supporting evidence for the role of the father as a playmate: Research by Geiger found that fathers play interactions were more exciting in comparisons to mothers. However, the mother’s play interactions were more affectionate and nurturing. This suggests that the role of the father is in fact a playmate and as not a sensitive parent who responds to their needs of their children. These results also confirm that the mother takes on more of a nurturing role. This is therefore evidence for the fact that the father has a different role to mothers.
+ Supporting evidence for the idea that fathers play a less important role: Research suggests that fathers are not equipped to provide a sensitive, nurturing attachment. Hrdy found that fathers were less able to detect low levels of infant distress in comparison to mothers. This results appear to support the biological explanations highlighted above. The lack of oestrogen in men means that fathers are not equipped biologically to form close attachments with their children. This provides further evidence that fathers are not able to provide a sensitive and nurturing type of attachment as they are unable to detect the stress in their children. This therefore means that fathers are less important than mothers in attachment.
- However, this view is biologically deterministic as it suggests that a father’s role is restricted because of their biological makeup. This is therefore a limitation of this evidence, as it ignore the role of free will.
+ Challenging evidence for the idea that fathers can’t have a nurturing role. Field conducted research which compared the behaviours of primary caretaker mothers with primary and secondary caretaker fathers. Face-to-face interactions were analysed from video footage with infants at 4 months of age. Overall, it was observed that primary caregiver fathers engaged in significantly more smiling, imitative grimaces, and imitative vocalizations than secondary caregiver fathers and these were comparable with mothers’ behaviour. This suggests that it is the level of responsiveness of the parents that influences the quality of attachment rather than the gender. It also suggests that fathers can be important, nurturing attachment figures.
Critically discussed research into multiple attachments and /or the role of the father. (AO1)
Research suggests that multiple attachments are possible. Schaffer and Emerson found that 29% of infants had formed secondary attachments within one month of forming their first attachment. At six months the infant will show multiple attachment behaviours to many people within their social circles such as siblings, the other parent, grandparents and even nursery minders. They may have five or more secondary attachment figures at this point. Schaffer & Emerson found 78% of infants at six months had multiple attachments and almost all displayed multiple attachments at the age of one year.
Research suggests that fathers play a just as important yet different role to mothers in attachment. Research by Geiger found that fathers play interactions were more exciting in comparisons to mothers. However, the mother’s play interactions were more affectionate and nurturing. This suggests that the role of the father is in fact a playmate and as not a sensitive parent who responds to their needs of their children. These results also confirm that the mother takes on more of a nurturing role. This is therefore evidence for the fact that the father has a different role to mothers.
Research suggests that fathers are not equipped to provide a sensitive, nurturing attachment so they thus play a less important role than mothers. Hrdy found that fathers were less able to detect low levels of infant distress in comparison to mothers. This may be due to the lack of oestrogen in men, meaning that fathers are not equipped biologically to form close attachments with their children. This therefore means that fathers are less important than mothers in attachment.
Critically discussed research into multiple attachments and /or the role of the father. (AO3)
+/- Economic implications:•Some research into the role of the father has shown that the father is less important than the mother, e.g. Bowlby argued that fathers should only provide an economic function to the mother. The economic implications for this is that women should not be encouraged to go back to work early in their infant’s life and paid maternity leave should be increased. This would mean that the government should increase their spending. This also means that fathers should be encouraged to continue to work and contribute to taxation, increasing the money the government have.
Other research has also suggested that the father is just as important as the mother. This means that paid paternity leave should be increased, meaning that the government or companies should invest more in paternity leave. Furthermore, if fathers are just as important, mothers should be encouraged back into work to contribute to taxation.
- Can’t draw firm conclusions: The research is not experimental. The researchers have to rely on observations or correlations as it is ethically impossible to manipulate how the caregiver (mother or father) interacts with their children. This means it is not possible to draw cause and effect conclusions about the role of the father in forming an attachment.
+ Schaffer & Emerson = naturalistic observation: The study took place in the families own homes and most of the observations were done by parents. This means that the babies behaviours would have been unaffected by being in a new and artificial situation and therefore the observed behaviours of the infants in the study were natural. Therefore, the conclusions drawn by this study have high ecological validity and the idea of multiple attachment is therefore generalisable to the wider population.
Describe and evaluate animal studies of attachment (AO1)
Lorenz carried out an experiment with grey lag geese to investigate the effect of imprinting. He set TWO experimental conditions. Eggs were randomly assigned to either condition 1 (he was the first moving object seen by the goose chicks after they hatched) or condition 2 (the mother goose was the first moving object seen by the chicks after they hatched). He then put all of the chicks together to see who they would follow. He found that the chicks who saw him before anything else, followed him as if he was their mother and when they were adults, they performed mating displays to him, and ignored other geese. (sexual imprinting). Lorenz also found that goose chicks seemed to have a critical period of just a few hours in which to imprint (form an attachment) and if they didn’t imprint within this time, they never would.
Harlow conducted a series of experiments to investigate whether attachments in infant monkeys were based on feeding or comfort. Infant rhesus monkeys were separated from their mothers at birth and were instead raised in isolation with 2 surrogate “mothers”, one covered with soft cloth without food and one made of wire with food. Harlow measured the amount of time the monkeys spent with each mother as well as which mother the monkeys sought comfort from when frightened. He found that all of the monkeys showed a preference for the cloth mothers rather than the wire one, even when the wire mother provided food and when frightened, the monkeys clung to the cloth mother. This suggests feeding is not the main basis for attachment in rhesus monkeys, instead it is contact comfort.
Describe and evaluate animal studies of attachment (AO3)
- Animals: A major criticism of both animal studies is it was based on the attachment behaviour of monkeys and goslings which may not necessarily be representative of human behaviour due to us being different species and humans being governed by greater awareness of their thought processes in their decisions. Therefore the findings from Harlow’s and Lorenz’s study could be argued to lack external validity and generalisation to the human population but also internal validity as it could be argued to only demonstrate attachment behaviour in monkeys and geese.
+Practical applications: Harlow’s study demonstrated that attachments develop through comfort. As a result of this finding, hospital procedures have been changed. In the past, new-borns in incubators were merely fed but now they are issued with a soft blanket in order to encourage attachment. This is a strength as the study has lead to more effective care of children.
- Harlow methodological issues: So the surrogate mothers were different. The clock mother had a head with a monkey like face, whereas the wire mother didn’t. This means there is a confounding variable in Harlow’s research. This is a weakness because it is possible that the infant monkey spent more time with the mother because they found the face more attractive, and not because it offered contact comfort. The study therefore has low internal validity we therefore cannot be confident in its conclusions.
Describe and evaluate learning theory as an explanation of attachment. (AO1)
The basic principle for learning theory put forth by behaviourists is that all behaviour is learned rather than innate. Behaviourists propose an infant’s emotional bond with the caregiver can be explained through classical conditioning or operant conditioning.
Based on Classical Conditioning, the baby would receive pleasure when given food (an unconditioned stimuli) and the association of pleasure (unconditioned response) is formed with the caregiver as they are the person giving the food. Therefore positive emotions, pleasure and attachment behaviour towards the caregiver is merely a conditioned response due to their association with pleasurable acts such as feeding. This is then proposed to occur even in the caregivers presence when feeding does not occur as it continues as a conditioned response.
Another way attachment is explained is through Operant Conditioning through positive and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement occurs when behaviour is rewarded and this increases the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated. Infants feel discomfort when hungry so therefore desire food, a primary reinforcer, to remove this unwanted feeling. They learn that through crying they gain their caregivers attention who feeds them and therefore removes this unwanted feeling of discomfort. This is known as negative reinforcement where the consequences of a behaviour (crying for example) leads to an unpleasant feeling ceasing (hunger). The child therefore displays attachment behaviour with the caregiver as they become a source of reward (food) and remover of unwanted feelings.
The caregivers are also positively and negatively reinforced. For example, an infant crying because it is hungry is unpleasant to a caregiver. Caregivers learn to that by attending to their child’s needs and feeding it, the infant stops crying. The caregiver is being negatively reinforced by the reduction of the unpleasant crying. In addition, when an infant is fed, it is no longer hungry and smiles and coos with the caregiver. The caregiver is being positively reinforced by the pleasant infant interaction.
Describe and evaluate learning theory as an explanation of attachment. (AO3)
+ Scientific: One strength of learning theory is that it is able to be tested in an experimental way, controlling all variables. This allows us to see if a child attaches through feeding. Due to this, empirical evidence can be produced. This is a strength because it meets the criteria for science and adds to the credibility of psychology as a science. In addition, it is also a strength because evidence from research can be confidently used to provide support for the theory.
- Challenging evidence: Harlow placed young monkeys with two “mothers”. One was made of wire with a feeding bottle while another was covered in cloth without a feeding bottle. Behaviourists would predict the monkeys should spend more time with the wire mother as it provided food and a means to remove hunger in line with learning explanations. Observations however found the monkeys preferred the cloth mother especially when distressed highlighting attachment is not merely about food but also contact comfort. This is a weakness because it shows that food is not the main factor in forming an attachment, as learning theory suggests.
- Doesn’t account for nature: Learning theory cannot account for the importance of biology. Other researchers such as Bowlby argue that an attachment is innate and not learned.
This is because an attachment provides an evolutionary advantage for the human species, those babies who attach (and are attached to by adults) are more likely to be fed and protected and therefore survive. (shown by Lorenz). This is a weakness, as it shows that learning theory may only be a partial explanation for attachment.
Describe Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment. (AO1)
Bowlby believes that an attachment forms between a baby and a carer because it is adaptive and thus increases chances of survival. An infant who was not attached is less well protected than infants who was formed an attachment. The drive to form this attachment is therefore innate.
Social releasers are natural behaviours that bring about an instinctive caregiving response in adults and they explain how attachments to influence are formed. Examples of social releases include smiling, crying and making cooing noises.
Bowlby suggests that a special attachment forms with the person who responds most sensitively to the baby’s needs. The tendency to form one special attachment is called monotropy. The person who provides the best quality care becomes the primary attachment figure and has a special role in the social development of baby. Primary attachment figures act as a secure base from which the baby can explore the world around them and they also create a type of schema for relationships known as the internal working model.
The Internal working model helps the infant understand the behaviour of their caregiver, and in the long term, acts as a template for all later relationships. This is because it generates expectations about what relationships are like. Bowlby predicted that emotionally secure infants who have strong formed strong bonds in infancy would go on to be emotionally secure adults. This is known as the continuity hypothesis.
A monotropic attachment must form during the critical period (from birth to 2.5 years). Bowlby hypothesised that if an attachment has not developed during this period, then it will never form, meaning the child will suffer from irreversible developmental consequences.
Describe Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment. (AO3)
+ Supportive evidence for the idea of an internal working model: Hazan & Shaver (1987) published a ‘love quiz’ in an American newspaper, collecting information from people about their early attachment experiences and their current romantic attitudes. They found that individuals who were securely attached as infants tended to have happy and lasting relationships whilst those who were insecure found relationships less easy. This is a strength as it suggests that Bowlby’s theory of the first attachment sets the pattern for all other relationships is correct.
+/- evidence for monotropy: Schaffer and Emerson found that babies do form specific attachment to a primary attachment figure before any other relationship. This finding supports the idea of monotropy. However, Bowlby’s claim that a single caregiver was the most important figure for a child has also been criticised. This is because Schaffer and Emerson also found that although most children did attach to one person first, a minority had multiple attachments with caregivers other than the mother and by 18 months 31% had 5 or more attachments. This is a weakness as this evidence completely contradicts Bowlby’s theory.
- Socially sensitive: It places a great deal of pressure on the primary attachment figure (usually the mother) to form sensitive, loving, nurturing attachments with their children, otherwise the rest of the child’s life may be negatively affected. Some theorists have criticised this, especially from a feminist perspective. This is a weakness of this theory as it can have a negative impact on the wider society.
Describe and evaluate the strange situation. (AO1)
Ainsworth’s strange situation was a controlled observation devised to assess how securely attached infants were to their caregiver. There were 7 episodes each lasting approximately 3 minutes some of which placed the infants in conditions of mild stress in unfamiliar settings to observe their reaction.
Observers noted the infants responses to a stranger entering the room, the mother leaving the child on their own with a stranger and the mother returning to the room.
In these situations, observers were looking for instances of 4 different types of behaviour which are separation anxiety, stranger anxiety, willingness to explore and reunion behaviour with the caregiver.
From this study, Ainsworth identified 3 types of attachments.
Secure attachment (66%) sees infants showed some anxiety when the caregiver leaves but they are easily soothed and happy when reunited with their caregiver. Such children can play independently but return to the caregiver for reassurance using them as a safe base from which to explore their environment.
Insecure-avoidant children (22%) showed indifference at their caregiver leaving the room and do not show anxiety when alone with the stranger. When the caregiver returns they may actively avoid contact with them. Such children may explore the room even without the caregiver present and play independently.
The Insecure-resistant attachment (12%) children sees infants become distressed as the caregiver leaves them alone with the stranger and rush to them when they return however their behaviour is characterised by both seeking and rejecting social interaction and intimacy at the same time. They may not be consoled so easily and explore the environment less than other children.
The study shows there are individual differences between infants in attachment types.
