attachment

Question 1

what’s attachment?

Answer 1

attachment is a strong emotional connection between two individuals.

Question 2

what is interactional synchrony?

Answer 2

in international synchrony, the infant moves their bodies in time with the rhythm of the carer’s spoken language, creating a form of turn-taking.

Question 3

what is caregiverse?

Answer 3

caregiverse is a form of modified vocal language used by adults when interacting with infants and includes high-pitched, song-like vocals that are slow and repetitive.

Question 4

what were the conclusions of schaffer and emerson’s study on the interactions of babies in 1964?

Answer 4

the conclusion of the study was that human attachments develop in four stages:
- asocial
- indiscriminate attachment
- specific attachment
- multiple attachments

Question 5

describe asocial attachment.

Answer 5

asocial attachment happens when a baby is 0-6 weeks old and is attention seeking behaviour.

Question 6

describe specific attachment.

Answer 6

specific attachment is at age 7-11 months where the baby is attached to the primary caregiver and is wary of strangers.

Question 7

what were the findings of harlows experiment with monkeys?

Answer 7

• baby monkeys preferred soft, cuddly cloth surrogate monkeys to a wire mesh monkey that could dispense milk.
• baby monkeys clung to the cloth monkey and only went to the wire monkey to feed.
• the findings showed that feelings of comfort and security are critical to maternal-infant bonding.

Question 8

what are the findings of lorenz’s experiment on geese?

Answer 8

lorenz’s study on geese showed that:
- there is a critical period for imprinting 13-16 hours after hatching.
- if hatchlings don’t imprint in the critical period, they never imprint.
- once birds have imprinted, they cannot imprint again.

Question 9

what’s imprinting?

Answer 9

imprinting is when an animal ‘attaches’ to a moving thing, usually immediately after birth.

Question 10

describe classical conditioning.

Answer 10

classical conditioning happens when a response produced naturally by a stimulus becomes associated with another stimulus not normally associated with that particular response.

Question 11

describe operant conditioning.

Answer 11

in operant conditioning, when any action with a pleasurable outcome is repeated, the behaviour will also be repeated.

Question 12

what is bowlby’s monotropic theory?

Answer 12

bowlby’s monotropic theory states that evolution is the primary explanation for attachments and proposes an internal working model which is used to form all bonds after the primary attachment.

Question 13

describe the internal working model.

Answer 13

the internal working model is a template for all future relationships, created when an infant forms the first monotropic attachment to their primary caregiver. it is called a ‘working’ model as it is not solidified during this time.

Question 14

what is a precocial species?

Answer 14

a precocial species is an animal that is mobile very soon after birth.

Question 15

what is an altricial species?

Answer 15

an altricial species is born at a very early stage of development, such as humans.

Question 16

describe the ‘strange situation’ method.

Answer 16

• mother (or primary caregiver) and the infant (age 12-18 months) are placed in a room with toys together.
• the caregiver and child spend some time alone together in the room.
• after the child has had time to explore the surroundings, a stranger enters the room.
• the mother leaves her baby with the stranger.
• after a few minutes, she returns to comfort her child.

Question 17

what types of parent-child attachment did ainsworth identify from the strange situation method?

Answer 17

based on how the infants responded to the separation and reunion, ainsworth identified three types of parent-child attachments:

• secure
• avoidant
• resistant

Question 18

what is secure attachment?

Answer 18

secure attachment is the most common form of attachment in which the child prefers their parent. the attachment figure is used as a secure base to explore the environment and is sought out in times of stress.

Question 19

what is the avoidant attachment?

Answer 19

with avoidant attachment, the child is unresponsive to the parent, does not use the parent as a secure base or care if the parent leaves.

Question 20

name three types of parent-child attachment.

Answer 20

• avoidant
• secure
• resistant

Question 21

what is resistant attachment?

Answer 21

children tend to show clingy behaviour, but then they reject the attachment figure’s attempts to interact with them.