Attachment Flashcards
Define reciprocity
- responding to the action of another with a similar action
Define caregiver
- any person who is providing care for a child (parent)
Define attachment
- an emotional bond between two people
What did Brazelton suggest about caregiver and infant interactions
- regularity of an infants signals allows a caregiver to anticipate the infants behaviour and respond appropriately
Define interactional synchrony
- when two people interact they tend to mirror what the other is doing
What study is used to show interactional synchrony
- Meltzoff and Moore
- found that infants as young as 2-3 weeks old imitated specific facial and hand gestures
- they found that the behavioural response was innate
Describe the 4 stages of the development of attachment
developed by Schaffer and Emerson
1) indiscriminate attachments (similar response to all objects)
2) the beginnings of attachment (prefer human company, can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar)
3) discriminate attachment (form a primary attachment figure, display stranger anxiety)
4) multiple attachments (develops multiple attachments, how many consistent relationships they had)
Describe the role of the father in attachment
- far less likely to be primary attachment figures
- this may be due to less time spent with the infant
- fathers are more playful
- women have the hormone oestrogen (caring)
Describe Lorenz Study for animal studies of attachment
- goose eggs incubated so first thing they saw was their natural mother (Lorenz)
- goslings imprinted on Lorenz and followed him
findings:
- if the animal is not exposed to a moving object during this time then imprinting will not happen later on
Describe Harlows Study for animal studies of attachment
- two wired mothers each with a different head, however one was additionally wrapped with cloth
- eight infant rhesus monkeys studied over 165 days
- for four of the monkeys the milk bottle was with the clothed mother and for the other four it was with the plain wired mother
- observations made on the time spent with each mother and also how they reacted when they were frightened
- all 8 monkeys spent most of the time with the cloth mother wether or not milk bottle was attached
- develop attachments with not only mothers who feed them but mothers who comfort them as well
- all motherless monkeys were socially abnormal and sexually abnormal
What are the three theories of learning
-state that all behaviours are learnt rather than innate
classical conditioning
operant conditioning
social learning theory
describe classical conditioning
- A neutral stimulus (mother) that has no response is paired to a unconditioned stimulus (food) that has a response of pleasure
- with these two together it eventually produces a conditioned response
Describe operant conditioning
- reduction of discomfort is rewarding (negative reinforcement
- the behaviour that led to the escape of discomfort is more likely to be repeated in the future as it was rewarding
- the thing that directly reduces the discomfort is seen as the primary reinforcer (food)
- something that is involved in reducing the discomfort is seen as the secondary reinforcer (mother who gives food)
Describe the social learning theory
- learning through observation of others and imitating rewarding behaviour
Define the critical period
- attachment from around 3-6 months, after this period forming attachments can become increasingly difficult
Define the term social releaser
- behaviour or characteristic that elicits caregiving and leads to attachment
Define the term Monotropy
- infants have one special emotional bond (secondary attachments for safety nets)
Define the term continuity hypothesis when referring to infants and attachments
- emotionally secure infants go on to be emotionally secure adults
What are the consequences of attachment and the internal working model
- according to monotropy the infant only has one special bond, as a result the infant forms a mental representation
1) in the long term it generates expectations about what intimate, loving relationships are like
2) in the short term it can give the infant an insight into caregivers behaviour and enables the child to influence the caregivers behaviour
Define the internal working model
- template for future attachments
What are the 3 types of attachment
- insecure avoidant (Type A)
- secure attachment (Type B)
- insecure resistent (Type C)
Describe attachment type A
- insecure avoidant
- avoid social interaction and intimacy
- little response to separation
Describe attachment type B
- secure attachment
- not likely to cry when caregiver leaves
- some distress when left with stranger
Describe attachment type C
- Insecure resistent
- seeks and resists intimacy and social interaction
- immediate distress at separation
- at reunion they can resist
Describe Mary Ainsworth’s study (Strange situations)
- aim was to see how infants aged between 9-18 months behave under different conditions
Procedure:
- 8 episodes, each designed to highlight certain behaviours
- the three behaviours were (Separation anxiety, stranger anxiety and reunion anxiety)
- data collected using a recorder or one way glass
- every 15 seconds infants behaviour is recorded based on 5 behavioural categories and then rated on a scale of 1-7
Findings:
- the 3 types of attachment were formed
- 66% were secure
- 22% were insecure avoidant
- 12% were insecure resistant
What is the study used for cultural variations in attachment and explain it
Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg
- interested to find out wether there were inter-cultural differences or intra-cultural differences(within the same culture)
- meta-analysis of the findings from 32 studies of attachment
- 2000 strange situations in 8 different countries
Findings
- secure attachment was the most common in every country
- insecure avoidant was next most common in countries other than Israel and Japan
- collective of all the results confirms that attachment is innate and a biological process
Describe cultural similarities
- Tronick et al (African tribe)
- infants lived in extended family groups
- infants were breastfed and looked after by other women
- at six months they still only showed one primary attachment
Describe cultural differences
Grossmann and Grossmann
- found higher levels of insecure attachment amongst german infants than in other cultures
- as these infants do not engage in proximity seeking behaviour
Takahashi
- used strange situations to study 60 Japanese infants
- similar rates of secure attachments
- however no evidence of insecure avoidant but high levels of insecure resistant
Define Deprivation
- loss of emotional care, normally provided by a primary caregiver
Define the value of maternal care
- Bowlby believed children need a warm, intimate and continuous relationship with a mother
In Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation what are the consequences of an infant who is denied care at a young age
- frequent of prolonged separations mean the infants could become emotionally disturbed
- this only applies during the critical period of development
- separation will only have this affect if it happens before the age of 2 and a half years and if there is no substitute mother
- overall damage can be prevented with suitable substitute emotional care by a mother substitute
What are the long term consequences of deprivation
- emotional maladjustment or even mental health issues such as depression
Describe Bowlby’s 44 Juvenile thieves study
procedure:
- all the children that participated were emotionally maladjusted
- 88 children
- 44 been caught stealing and the other half were the control group
- Bowlby suggested that some of the thieves were affectionless psychopaths
Findings
- those diagnosed as being affectionless had experienced frequent early separations from there mothers
- 86% of the affectionless thieves experienced frequent seperations
Define affectionless psychopaths
- lacked normal signs of affection, shame or sense of responsibilitiy
Define institutionalisation
- the effect of institutionalised care
- for example an orphanage
- possible effects could be social, mental and physical underdevelopment
Describe Rutter and Sonuga-Barkes’ study on Romanian Orphans
Procedure:
- 165 Romanian children who spent their lives in Romanian institutions
- Of the group 111 were there before the age of two
- 54 by the age of four
- tested regularly (Ages: 4,6,11,15)
- assessing their physical, mental and social development
- control group was 52 British Children who have been in institution since 6 months
Findings:
- at the time of adoption the Romanian orphans compared to the British control group were smaller, weighed less and were mentally retarded
- By the age of 4 some of them had caught up to the British
Describe some other studies for effects of institutionalisation
- Canadian study: orphans were physically smaller at adoption, but recovered by 10 years old
- Romanian Study: Institutionalised children showed signs of disinhibited attachment
Effects of Institutionalisation
- physical underdevelopment
- poor parenting
- interllectual under functioning
- disinhibited attachments
Describe the role of the internal working model
- similar to a schema
- based on their attachment history
- expectations about current and future relationships
Describe Hazan and Shavers’ study to test the internal working model
Procedure:
- Placed a love quiz in a newspaper
- quiz asked about current attachment experiences and about attachment history
- also asked questions about attitude to love
- 620 responses, 205 men/415 women
Findings:
- 56% classified as secure
- 25% as avoidant
-19% as resistent
- securely attached adults: love experiences were happy, friendly, trusting and more enduring 10 years compared to avoidant and resistant that were 5 and 6 years
- securely attached individuals tended to have a positive internal working model
Name and describe some behaviours influenced by the internal working model
- childhood friendships: securely attached infants have higher expectations that others are friendly and trusting
- poor parenting: lack of internal working model, individual lack of reference point to form relationships
- romantic relationships: individuals were securely attached had longer lasting romantic relationships
- Mental health: attachment disorder has been recognised as a mental health issue
