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a level psychology > attachment > Flashcards

attachment Flashcards

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1
Q

define attachment

A

A close emotional bond between 2 people. a 2 way process that endures over time it leads to certain behaviours like clinging it serves the function of protecting an infant

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2
Q

define interactional synchrony

A

when 2 people interact they tend to mirror what the other in doing in terms of their facial and body movements in the same pattern

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3
Q

define reciprocity

A

responding to the action with a similar one where the action of one partner elicits a response from the other partner for example smiling back at someone

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4
Q

meltzoff and moore experiment

A

-3 different stimuli of mother to child
-mouth opening + closed
hand opening
-tongue protrusion + closed
-video taped - intra observer reliablity was 92%
-dummy placed in infants mouth to prevent initial response

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5
Q

evaluate meltzoff and moore experiment

A

-problems with testing infant behaviour
difficult to distinguish general activity with specific imitated behaviour

  • individual differences
    isabella 1989 found more strongly attached infants show greater interactional synchrony. This matters because it is not clear whether imitation is a cause or effect of early synchrony

+ the value of research
it explains how children begin to understand what others think and feel, thus are able to conduct relationships

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6
Q

define separation anxiety

A

the distress shown by an infant when separated from his/her caregiver

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7
Q

define stranger anxiety

A

the distress shown by an infant when approached/picked up by someone who is unfamiliar

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8
Q

define primary attachment figure

A

closest bond with child demonstrated by the intensity of relationship

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9
Q

schaffer and emerson experiment 1964

A

60 infants, working class from glasgow
5-23 weeks old and were studied until age of 1 mothers visted every 4 weeks. mothers self reported infants recation to separation eg being left alone in a room
-mother rated intensity on a 4 point scale eg a full cry or whimper

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10
Q

stage 1 of attachment

A

-indiscriminate = birth - 2 months old
-infants are asocial (show similar responses to objects and people)
-towards end show greater preference for social stimuli eg smiling face
-reciprocity and interactional synchrony play a role in establishing infants relationship with others

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11
Q

stage 2 of attachment

A

-beginnings of attachment = 4 months
-prefer humans to objects and can distinguish familiar and unfamiliar people
-no displayed signs of stranger anxiety
- characterised by general sociability enjoy human company and being with people

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12
Q

stage 3 in attachment

A

-discriminate attachment = 7 months
-distinct separation anxiety when one particular person puts them down
-show special joy at reunion most comforted by this person
- formed specific attachment (primary) due to quality time spent quick and sensitively to their needs more attached
- baby will fear strangers
-in 65% mother first attachment 30% joint object of attachment farther sole attachment 3%

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13
Q

stage 4 in attachment

A

multiple attachments = 7 moths older
-wider circle of multiple attachments
-within 1 month of first becoming attached 29% multiple attachments (grandparents)
-secondary attachments display seperation anxiety for these relationships
-within 6 months risen to 78% by age of 1 developed multiple attachments

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14
Q

evaluate schaffer and emerson experiment

A

-unrelaiable data
mothers self report may be less/more sensitive to infants therefore less/more likely to report
-biased sample
only working class population parental care changed more mothers working

-stage theory
suggest sstage development is inflexable problamatic families judged as abnormal

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15
Q

why might fathers not be primary attachment

A
  • spend less time with infant especially in first stages eg breastfeeding
    -men not psychologivally equiped to form intensive relationships
    -lack of emotional sensitivity testerone vs oestrogen and care giving behaviour
    -in certain cultures sex stereotypes may stigmatise feminine behaviour such as sensitivity
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16
Q

the role of the father

A

-Fathers less likely to be primary attachment figures - do however provide a more playful physically active and better at risk taking
- develop greater communication and cognitive demands

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17
Q

evaluate stages of attachment

A

-unreliable data collected from Schaffer and Emersons may inaccurate due to the nature of the self-report technique used mothers may have social-desirability bias(adhering to desirable social norms) and therefore may be less likely to report sensitive behaviour TMB systematic bias leading to false conclusions challenging validity of data
-biased sample eg only working-class in Glasgow etc Cohn number of stay at home dads has quadrupled over 25 years TMB findings today may be different not reliable
-stage theories suggests development is inflexible implies single primary attachment should come first over multiple attachments whereas eg collectivist promises group needs children may have multiple attachments first TMB problematic in classing those as abnormal

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18
Q

define imprinting

A

an innate readiness to devlop a strong bond with the mother which takes place during a specific time in development

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19
Q

lorenzs experiment

A
  • goose eggs were randomly divided
    -half were hatched with the mother present (in natural environment)
    -half were hatched in an incubator with Lorenz present (Lorenz the first object)
    . They were mixed together to see who they would follow
  • the behaviour of all goslings was recorded
    Harlow
  • in a controlled environment, 16 infant monkeys reared with two mother surrogates
  • plain wire mother dispensing food, and cloth-covered mother with no food
  • time spent with each mother was recorded
  • details of fear conditions- noisy mechanical teddy bear
  • long-term effects recorded: sociability, relationship to offspring, etc
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20
Q

lorenz’s finding

A

-goslings quickly divided themselves with lorenz and natural mother
-lorenz group showed no recognition of natural mother
-if not exposed to a moving object within 2 days animals will not imprint

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21
Q

evaluation of lorenz’s animal studies of attachment

A

+supporting study Guiton demonstrated that leghorn chickens imprinted onto yellow rubber gloves when fed in their first weeks. TMB it provides clear support and supports the idea that young animals are not predisposed to imprint on a moving thing
-animals cant generalise to humans

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22
Q

Harlows experiment

A

-in a controlled environment, 16 infant monkeys reared with two mother surrogates
-plain wire mother dispensing food, and cloth-covered mother with no food
- time spent with each mother was recorded
-details of fear conditions- noisy mechanical teddy bear
- long-term effects recorded: sociability, relationship to offspring, etc
-over 165 days

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23
Q

harlows findings

A
  • all 8 spend most time with cloth covered monkey
    -when frightened and exploring monkey seeked comfort from cloth mother (contact comfort)
    -monkeys grew up socially and sexually abnormal outside the critical period
24
Q

evaluate harlows findings

A

-cofounding variable cloth cothered mothers head looked more attractive (more like a monkey) TMB study may lack internal validity
-ethical issues significant long lasting psychological harm for example many were social isolated and found difficulty in forming relationship with their peers
-However does the benefits outweigh the costs

25
Q

classical conditioning theory to attachment

A

made by pavlov
milk(UCS) —> baby (happy)
mother(NS) —> baby (no responce) -Before
mother (NS) + milk (UCS) —> baby(happy) -during
mother(CS) + baby - happy CR - after
newly formed stimulus-responce mother love

26
Q

operant conditioning

A

made by skinner - drive reduction theory
the drive being milk (something that elicits motivation)
reduction being the infants innate desire to reduce uncomfortable feelings (hunger)
primary reinforcer = food
secondary reinforcer = avoiding discomfort therefore mother who feeds child

27
Q

evaluation of learning theory

A
  • attachment not based on food eg harlows study into contact comfort highlights importance of needs being comforted TMB learning theory over simlified and ignores other important factors such as contact comfort
    -learning theory based on animal studies complex human behaviour cannot be translated into behaviour patterns from animals TMB lack validity
    +has some explanatory power infants do learn through reinforcement eg bandora bobo study TMB provides some values into research and elements of the theory may be valid
28
Q

what is the continuity hypothesis

A

the idea that in the long term emotionally secure infants go on to be emotionally secure trusting and socially confident adults based on their internal working model

29
Q

what is the critical period

A

a biologically determined period of time during which certain characteristics can develop. outside of this window such development will not be possible for babies (3-6months)

30
Q

what is the internal working model

A

a mental model of the world which enables individuals to predict and control their environment eg an infants expectations about relationships in the short term

31
Q

what is monotropy

A

the idea that one relationship that an infant has with his/her primary attachment figure is of special significance in emotional development

32
Q

what is a social releaser

A

An innate mechanism social behaviour of charateristic eg big eyes and baby face that elicits caregiving behaviours and ensures infants form attachment

33
Q

bowlbys explaination to attachment theory

A

bowlby proposed that attachment behaviour evolved as a survival function infants not attached well may not be well protected to encure they are cared for and survive

34
Q

evaluation of bowlbys explaination to attachment

A

+supporting study for continuity hypothesis Minnesota parent child study found securely attached infants were highest rated for social competence and more popular there were less isolated more popular and emphatic TMB supports link between impact of early and later attachments some aspects of theory may be valid
- sensitive period rather than a critical period
Rutter found that it isn’t impossible after the developmental window TMB reserchers now use the term sensitive and rather children are just maximally more receptive to attachment during this period
+support for the view that attachment is adaptive bobbly suggested attachments develop older than 3 months this is because we not need to attachment immediately eg monkeys as mothers can carry us and start crawling at 6 months TMB supports view attachment is adaptive as distant ancestors would need to attach immediately to survive.

35
Q

describe the strange situation procedure

A

9ft by 9ft room marked with 16 square with toys and tables with a 2 way mirror and CCTV and consisted of 8 episodes comprised each of 3 minutes to test for behaviours such as seperation anxiety, reunion behaviour, stranger anxiety and novel environment
data collected every 15 seconds key of 1-5 and intensity of 1-7

36
Q

strange situation findings

A

combined data of 106 middle class infants and found
-securely attached 66%
-inscure avoidant 22%
-insecure resistant 12%

37
Q

what is insecure avoidant attachment

A

a type of attachment which describes those children who tend to avoid social interaction and initmacy with others eg high willingness to explore and low stranger anxiety

38
Q

what is insecure resistant attachment

A

a ype of attachment which describes those infants who both seek and reject intimacy and social interaction eg low willingness to explore and high stranger anxiety

39
Q

what is secure attachment

A

this is a strong and contented attachment of an infant to his or her caregiver which develops as a result of sensitive responding by the caregivers to the infants needs. these often have healthy subsequent cognitive and emotional behaviour eg high willingness to explore and moderate stranger anxiety

40
Q

evaluation for strange situation

A

-low internal validity psychologists Main and Weston suggested that children behaviour differently based on which parent they were with therefore would receive different attachment classification on the same child TMB may measure a specific relationship status rather than a personal characteristic lodged in an infant
+real world applications eg circle of security project teaches parents how to respond to infants distress to therefore increase their own understanding of what it might feel to experience anxiety 60%-15% of classified disorders and vast increase in more secure attachment TMB can be used to impact everyday school life and improve lives of others
+high reliability eg rating are determined by comparing results by panel of experienced judges and the inter observer reality 0.94 therefore found almost perfect agreement 1 being in complete agreement TMB reliable data as the is an almost object agreement between infant behaviour

41
Q

what were the names of the psychologists that reserched cultural variations and what did they do

A

Ijzendoorn and kroonenberg
meta analysis of over 2000 strange situation classifications in 8 countries both collectvist (Japan and china) and individualist (uk us) cultures

42
Q

what did culture variations find

A

-secure attachment most common in every country followed by inscure avoidant common except isreal and japan(collectivist)
-Japan and Israel higher incidence of resistant than avoidant children
-china had lowest rate of secure attachment 50%

43
Q

similarities and differnces in cultural variations

A

similarities= tronick et al studied african tribes eg efe from zaire infants were breastfeed by different women but slept with their oen mothers TMB showed 1 primary attachment
differnces = Grossman found high levels of inscure a6tachment in infants from Germany(individualist) who desire some interpersonal distance in childrearing practices

44
Q

evaluate cultural variation in attachment

A
  • similarities may be due to global culture eg rather than innate biological influences rather the effects of mass media eg Books about parenting TMB therefore children are exposed to similar influences and cultural similarites may be due to incresing global culture
  • cross cultural reserch Strange situation is an example of beta bias and imposed ethic by taking one measure developed by western criteria of what attachment should look like and applying it to eg Japan may appear to be insecurely attached in comparison as dependence is highlighted as important TMB lack validity in non-western cultures
  • countries rather than cultures eg they were not comparing cultures but rather countries eg there are many subcultures urban Tokyo more secure over insecure in rural setting raises the question if an individual sample is representive of a particular culture TMB lack of validity as there are more variations between different subcultures
45
Q

what did bowbly suggest about his theory of maternal deprivation

A

value of maternal care = infants didnt just need physical acre eg just being fed and clothed but a warm intimate and contineous relationship with mother to ensure healthy development
critial period =those infants who had frequent / prolonged seperations may become emotionally disturbed a continuing risk up to 2 and half years which could cause long term harm up to 5 years eg emotional maladjustment and mental health problems eg depression

46
Q

bowlby 44 juvenile thieves

A

children at guidance clinic all emotionally maladjusted half (44/88) which had been caught stealing and were classed as affectionless psychopaths and lacked normal signs of empathy he found of the 14 diagnosed with affectionless thieve 12 had experienced frequent seperations with mother compared to control group 5/30

47
Q

evaluate bowlbys juvenile thieves

A

-emotional seperation may also led to deprivation people assume deprivation is due to physical separation but may also be emotional yarrow found that depressed mothers children where 55% inscurely attached mean age 32 months compared to 29% in non depressed group TMB may also be a lack of caring relationship
+real world application has a massive social impact on post world war thinking eg visiting times in hospitals Robertson filmed a 2 year old girl during 8 day period and seen frequent distress and begged to go home TMB social legislation
+support for long term effects of maternal deprivation bifulco found that women who had expericened a loss of their mother were 25% more liekly to develop anxiety or depression compared to 15% control TMB early childhood deprivation cn lead to later vulnerability for depression and mental illnesses

48
Q

effects of institutionalisation prodcedure (ERA) English and Romanian adoptees

A

Rutter and Sonuga
165 romanian orphans
111 adopted before 2 other (54) before 4
adoptees tested against their english adoptees before 6 months at the ages of 4,6,11 and 15 to access their cognitive,social and physical development
-info gathered from interviews with teachers and parents was compared to control British adoptees (52)
they found they were physically smaller, classes as mentally retarted. infants adopted before 6 months caught up to their british company which suggests long term consequence the longer not adopted

49
Q

the effects of institutionalisation care

A

-physically underdeveloped physically smaller Gardner lack of emotional care cause of deprivation dwarfism
-intellectually underfunctioning cognitive development slower
-disinhibited attachment insecure attachment in which a person treats strangers with over friendliness and attention seeking
-poor parenting Harlow Quinton moms reared at home vs in institutions 50 + 50 institutionalised women experiences extreme difficulty acting as parents

50
Q

evaluation of theory of institutionalisation

A

+ value of longitudinal studies followed the lives of many children for many years highlighted the effects of long term conclusions prevents mistakenly concluding early effects of institutionalised care TMB wrong to assume that institutionalised care inevitably causes negative effects
+real life applications changed the way children are looked after in hospitals eg babies adopted in the first week Robertson filmed 2 year old Laura in a 8 day hospital stay she was seen in frequent distress and begging to go home TMB secure attachment can now form between adoptive families
- indivual differences it may not be true that all children who experience institutionalisation are unable to recover eg Rutter suggested some children in institution may have been treated better and therefore could cope better perhaps they were smiled at more TMB may not be inevitably unable to form attachments

51
Q

early attachment

A

Hazan and shavers made a love quiz in rocky moutains news where 415 women and 205 men questioned about their attachment in history, cureent and childhood and attitudes towards love an assessment of internal working model

52
Q

early attachment experiment findings

A
  • 56% classified as secure
    -25% avoidant
    -19% resistant
    positive correlation between attachment type and love experiences
    -secure = happy friendly trusting relationships 10 years on average and had a positive internal working model
53
Q

what are the behaviours influenced by the internal working model

A

-childhood friendshios eg minnesota child parent study secure —> social comptence explained by internal working model higher expectations
-poor parenting harlows monkeys had struggles being parents
-romantic relationships the love quiz individuals who were securely attached had longer lasting relationships
-mental health lack of IWM may led to attachment disorders and problems like anxiety and depression this is because they have inability to interact and experience frequent neglect

54
Q

evaluation of early attachment

A
  • reserch is correlational eg doesnt show a cause-effect relationships and isn’t necessarily experimental possibility of external factors caused by something different TMB researchers can’t claim IWM determines later relationships temperament is an intervening variable
    -overly determinist suggests fixed effects of early expericences eg insecure attachment at one years old is detrimental to emotionally unsatisfactory relationships later on TMB there is a wealth of evidence to suggest otherwise and not being securely attached doesnt determine future
  • studies relies on retrospective classification questions may elicts flawed memories because they arnt always accurate there may only recall positive or negative memories TMB attachment type doesnt predict relationship or has a accurate representation of early attachment influences
55
Q

the role of the internal working model

A

an infant learns about a relationship from experience the infant learns what relationships are and how parents behave towards each other it is used to predict behaviour of other people in the future

a level psychology (14 decks)

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