Attachment Flashcards
Caregiver-infant interactions - AO1
Interactions - babies have frequent and important interactions with their caregiver.
Reciprocity - each person responds to each other and elicits a response. From 3 months this interaction becomes more frequent.
Interactional synchrony - same actions simultaneously. Interactions coordinated from 2 weeks. Meltzoff and Moore study - baby copied facial expression of adult. Quality of attachment related to synchrony (Isabella et al.)
Babies have specific ‘alert phases’ that signal they are ready for interaction. Mothers typically pick up on these 2/3 of the time. Babies have active involvement - both initiate.
Caregiver-infant interactions - AO3
+ Filmed observations - capture fine details, can establish inter-rater reliability and babies not aware of observers (covert.) Laboratory setting minimises extraneous variables.
- Difficulty observing babies - hard to know meaning of small movements - may misinterpret behaviours. They sleep a lot as well.
- Observation of behaviours does not tell us about their developmental importance. Just knowing what interactional synchrony and reciprocity are does not tell us purpose.
C.P - evidence from Isabella et al. suggests interactional synchrony is important.
Schaffer’s stages of attachment - AO1
Asocial stage - first few weeks. Same response to humans and objects. Show some preference to company of familiar people - forming bonds that form basis of attachment.
Indiscriminate attachment - 2-7 months. Preference for people over inanimate objects, no stranger/separation anxiety. Show preference for familiar people but will accept cuddles from anyone (me fr).
Specific attachment - from 7 months. Stranger and separation anxiety in regard to one particular adult = primary attachment figure (65% mother). Primary attachment figure is who offers most interaction and responds to ‘signals.’
Multiple attachments - attachment behaviours directed to multiple adults. Secondary attachments - 29% form 1 months after specific attachment stage. Majority go through this stage within 1 year.
Schaffer and Emerson’s research - 60 working class Glasgow mothers - self-report from mothers, as well as recording reaction to unfamiliar people (stranger anxiety).
Schaffer’s stages of attachment - AO3
+ Good external validity - mothers did observing so babies not stressed. Having researchers present would be disrupting.
C.P - mothers may not have accurately reported behaviours - misremembering or didn’t notice things - bias.
- Poor evidence for asocial stage - babies may just seem asocial due to poor coordination. How would they convey anxiety. Methods are flawed.
- Generalisability of sample - time-bound, culture-bound, multiple attachments may be different in collectivist cultures.
Role of the father - AO1
Attachment to fathers - most babies attach to fathers (75% by 18 months) - indicated by separation anxiety. But, rarely as the first attachment (3% Schaffer and Emerson)
Distinctive role for fathers - fathers may have a distinctive role involving play and stimulation instead of emotional development. Grossmann longitudinal study - quality of attachment in adolescence only related to attachment with mother. Quality of play with father was an indicator of better attachment, however.
Fathers as primary attachment figures - fathers are capable of taking on maternal role when they become the primary attachment figure. Research shows primary caregiver fathers show more reciprocity than secondary attachment fathers.
Role of the father - AO3
- Confusion over the research question - competing research questions prevent a simple answer about the father’s role. ‘What is the role of the father?’ - are we talking about as primary or secondary attachment figure.
- Conflicting evidence - studies reach different conclusions. Same-sex and lesbian families not different, indicating father not necessary.
C.P fathers may be predisposed to a role but mothers simply take on this role.
+ Real-world application - families can be advised about the father’s role in attachment. Means that mothers can return to work instead of fathers. Implications for the economy.
Explanations of attachments: learning theory - AO1
Learning theory aka ‘cupboard love’ proposes that food is at the basis of attachment - children love whoever feeds them.
Classical conditioning - caregiver (NS) associated with food (US). Caregiver becomes conditioned stimulus.
Operant conditioning - Crying behaviour positive for baby, as it is rewarded by the ‘social suppressor’ behaviour of the parent. Parents are negatively conditioned - avoid unpleasant sound of crying. Mutual reinforcement strengthens relationships.
Hunger a primary drive, attachment a secondary drive.
Explanations of attachments: learning theory - AO3
- Counter-evidence from animal studies - Harlow’s monkeys preferred the cloth doll, suggesting physical comfort more important than food. Lorenz geese - first moving thing.
- Counter-evidence from human studies - Schaffer and Emerson - usually mother, regardless of if she was feeder. Quality of attachment related to synchrony, not feeding (Isabella).
+ Some conditioning may be involved - caregiver associated with comfort and protection.
C.P - Classical and operant conditioning are passive - babies are more active in conditioning than explanation suggests.
Animal studies of attachment - AO1
Lorenz’s research - goslings saw Lorenz when they hatched. Newly-hatched chicks attach to the first moving object they see (imprinting). When goslings mixed with a control group, they continued to follow Lorenz. Critical period for imprinting - up to a few hours. Adult birds try to mate with object they imprint on (rubber glove). Peacock imprinting on tortoises.
Harlow’s research - baby monkeys given cloth or plain monkey with feeding bottle. They spent more time with the cloth monkey, and went to it when scared. Contact comfort more important than food. Maternally deprived monkeys grew up socially dysfunctional, especially wire-mother monkeys - aggressive, killed children.
Critical period of 90 days for the monkeys.
Animal studies of attachment - AO3
- Ethical issues - Harlow severely mistreated his monkeys - do the ethical issues outweigh the theoretical benefits.
+ Real-world value - helps professionals (e.g. social workers) promote bonding - lack of bonding is harmful for children and animals. Also applied to zoos and breeding programs.
- Generalisability issues - although monkeys more similar to us than geese, with a similar brain structure - human mind is more complex.
Explanations of attachment: Bowlby’s monotropic theory - AO1
Bowlby proposed an evolutionary reason for attachment - it is innate and adaptive.
Monotropy - one particular attachment is different in quality and importance. Bowlby called this the ‘mother-figure’ but we now understand it as the primary caregiver. Law of accumulated separation - effects add up. Law of continuity - more constant and predictable the care the better.
Social releasers - innate ‘cute’ behaviours elicit care. Reciprocal process - innate. Interplay builds relationship.
Critical period - 2 years. If attachment not formed before them, child will struggle to form them later in life. Sensitive period at 6 months.
Internal working model - mental representation of the primary attachment relationship is a template for future relationships. People base their parenting on their own experiences.
Explanations of attachment: Bowlby’s theory - AO3
- Validity of monotropy challenged - primary attachment may be stronger but not different in nature. Schaffer and Emerson found that a significant minority of children formed multiple attachments at same time.
+ Support for internal working model - Bailey et al. - quality of attachment passed on through generations. C.P - ignores other factors such as social behaviour and parenting. Genetic influences on social behaviour and anxiety levels.
- Feminist concerns - idea of monotropy puts pressures on mothers to stay at home. Law of accumulated separation - sets mothers up to take blame.
C.P - prior to Bowlby people didn’t think mothers were as important - custody often went to fathers.
Types of attachment - AO1
The strange situation - Ainsworth - 7 stage controlled observation - assesses proximity-seeking behaviour, exploration and secure base, stranger and separation anxiety and reunion response. Takes place in laboratory conditions with a two-way mirror.
Secure - enthusiastic greeting, content, moderate anxiety, moderate exploration. Makes up 60-75% of British babies.
Avoidant - avoids reunion, generally reduced response, low anxiety. More independent. 20-25% British babies.
Resistant - resists reunion, high anxiety, seek and reject behaviour. 10-15% British babies.
Types of attachment - AO3
+ Good predictive value - attachment types predicts later social behaviour eg. school success, bullying.
C.P - behavioural differences could be due to genetically-influenced anxiety levels instead of attachment.
+ Good reliability - 94% agreement between observers (inter-rater reliability). Due to controlled procedure that measures large movements. Not subjective.
- Test may be culture bound - Western measure - other cultures (collectivist) may emphasise elements such as reunion behaviour. In a Japanese study - many babies showed high separation anxiety - but this was due to separation being rare, not attachment.
Cultural differences in attachment - AO1
van Ijzendoorn’s research - compared attachment types in 8 different countries - GB, Sweden, Japan, Netherlands, US, Israel, Germany, China. 32 Strange Situation studies meta-analysed. Collectivist cultures (Japan, Israel) had most resistant. Individualist cultures (Germany) had most avoidant.
Other studies - Italian - secure attachment rates only 50%. Insecure-avoidant 36% - due to mothers working long hours.
Korean study - similar to Japan - mostly secure.
Conclusion - attachment is innate and secure is the norm. Cultural practises affect rates of attachment types.
