Attachment Flashcards
Why do we use animal studies?
Animal studies look at the formation of early bonds between non-human parents and their offspring. This behaviour is present in multiple species so can help us understand human attachment.
Konrad and Lorenz - procedure
Lorenz divided a clutch of goose eggs into 2 groups: half were left with their mother and half with Lorenz in an incubator
Lorenz was the first living thing that the goslings saw when they hatched
Konrad and Lorenz - findings
The incubated goslings imprinted on him and followed him around and had no recognition of their real mother
The group left to hatch imprinted on their mother
Konrad and Lorenz - conclusion
Early attachment is irreversible and long lasting
Konrad and Lorenz - implications
Imprinting has to happen in the critical period and if it doesn’t they will never imprint and they can struggle with relationships later in life
Early attachment affects experiences later in life
The goslings had a sexual preference for what they imprinted on later in life
Konrad and Lorenz - evaluation
Generalisability - attachment in mammals works differently to attachment in birds, in mammals it is a two way process
Guiton - rubber glove study
Chicks had a glove instead of a mother throughout the critical period that provided food and interaction
They imprinted and followed the glove
When they grew up they tried to mate with gloves
However, through repeated socialisation attempts, the birds developed relationships with other birds and took on ‘typical’ behaviour
Harlow - procedure
8 orphaned infant monkeys were placed with a wire mother and a cloth mother, one of which had a feeding bottle for 165 days
Harlow recorded the time spent with the mother and their responses when scared
Harlow - findings
In both groups the monkeys spent more time with the cloth mother and went to the cloth mother when scared regardless of who fed them
Harlow - conclusions
Food is not the deciding factor in attachment, but comfort and contact are
Harlow - implications
As the monkeys grew up they developed abnormally
They were scared of other monkeys and were sexually abnormal
They did not cradle their own babies and struggled to behave appropriately
This led to the proposal of the ‘critical period’, attachment needs to occur in the first few months or there will be negative consequences
This has led to greater understanding in social work and the care of captive monkeys
Harlow - evaluation
Theoretical value: there are implications of this research on our understanding of human attachment and the importance of attachment in early relationships and later social development
Attachment is not the result of provision of food but of the provisions of comfort
Practical value: (Howe) Harlow’s research developed our understanding of risk factors in child neglect and abuse and highlights the importance of caring for animals in captivity
Ethical issues: the monkeys suffered emotional distress
Can we generalise to humans? If so the suffering could also be generalised to humans
Harlow’s ’pit of despair’
He placed the monkeys in an isolation chamber where they were fed but cut off from all contact and stimulation for up to a year
They developed intense depression
They lost their sex drive so Harlow inseminated them but they rejected their children, chewing off their finger and toes and biting off their heads
What is attachment?
Attachment is a two way strong emotional bond that endures over time
Sullivan et al
Attachment serves as a dual function
1) survival - attachment ensures that infants engage in proximity seeking and so gain comfort and protection
2) learning about the world and relationships - the quality and pattern of attachment care regulates infant brain function and behaviour, and so determines long term emotional regulation
What is reciprocity?
A description of how two people interact
Mother and infant interaction is reciprocal in that both infant and mother respond to each others signals and elicit a response from each other, the interaction is non-verbal and has a turn taking rhythm to it
What is the alert phase?
This is when reciprocity is more likely to happen. Babies have alert phases throughout the day which the mother picks up on
What is active involvement?
Babies and caregivers both take an active role and both can initiate interactions
What is interactional synchrony?
Mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a co-ordinated synchronised way
Occurs when a caregiver and baby interact in such way that their actions mirror one another
Meltzoff and Moore
They observed 18 infants (9 male; 2-3 weeks old)
The experimenter modelled and action and the infants’ reaction was recorded (adults were not on video)
There were 4 stimuli (3 faces and 1 hand gesture)
Independent judges told to identify the behaviour of the infant
All scores were greater than 9.2 showing that infants often imitated the actions of the adults
This supports interactional synchrony
Inter-dependent observers
Independent observers report observing the same behaviour without conferring showing that inter-observer reliability is high
What does a healthy attachment look like?
Caregiver responds to needs and provides comfort
The baby communicates needs and will show stress when they disappear
Baby will want to be close and interact and will be comforted when reunited
What does an unhealthy attachment look like?
Avoid interaction and shows minimal response to parenting
Little response to separation and strangers
May be generally anxious
Over friendly and may not seek caregivers attention
Has extreme reactions
What is inter-observer reliability?
The extent to which two or more observers are observing and recording behaviour in the same way
Strengths of observational research
Reflects real life better
High external validity
High ecological validity
Can be recorded and re-watched
Babies don’t know they are being observed
Weaknesses of observational research
Low control
Low reliability (however inter-observer reliability - above 0.8)
Low internal validity
If lab based the baby may be distracted
Difficult to interpret behaviour, movements and expressions may be random
What is meant by overt?
The participants know they are being observed
What is meant by covert?
The participants do not know they are being observed
Abravanel and DeYoung
Observed infant behaviour when ‘interacting’ with objects
Infants between 5-12 weeks made little response to the object
This suggests imitation may be intentional
Schaffer and Emerson - aim
To find out how behaviour and caregiver infant interactions changed over time and how/when attachments developed
Schaffer and Emerson - procedure
They studied 60 babies from working class families in Glasgow to measure attachment and stranger anxiety
Mothers reported infant responses to everyday situations and the intensity of these behaviours
The researchers visited monthly until the infant was one year old and then again at 18 months and assessed stranger anxiety
Schaffer and Emerson - findings
As attachment increased, so did stranger anxiety (positive correlation)
Both increased with age
However, correlation does not prove causation
The most sensitive adult became the primary attachment
Between 25 and 32 weeks 50% of babies showed signs of separation anxiety (specific attachment)
Attachment was mainly with the adult who showed reciprocity
By 40 weeks 80% showed specific attachment and 30% showed multiple attachments
95% of infants were first attached to the mother (65% solely mother), father tended to be a secondary figure
Schaffer’s stages of attachment
Stage one: asocial stage (0-8 weeks)
Stage two: indiscriminate stage (2-6 months)
Stage three: specific attachment (7+ months)
Stage four: multiple attachments (12+ months)
What is the asocial stage?
0-8 weeks
Infant shows similar responses to anything and anyone
What is the indiscriminate attachment stage?
2-6 months
Attachment begins to appear social behaviours toward as humans (not objects)
No stranger anxiety since they do not discriminate between strangers and non-strangers
What is the specific attachment phase?
7+ months
Infants form a strong attachment with one person, with whom they have a quality relationship
They show separation/stranger anxiety and engage with proximity seeking
What is the multiple attachments stage?
12+ months
After becoming attached to a primary figure, infants develop a wider circle of attachment, normally including the father and other close people
These are seen as an ‘emotional safety net’
Advantages of Schaffer and Emerson
High external validity - the babies are in their natural setting, not a lab study
Similar amounts of boys and girls
A longitudinal study - much higher internal validity
Disadvantages of Schaffer and Emerson
Not generalisable - all working class from Glasgow
Self report - behaviour may be misinterpreted
Social desirability bias - not always reliable
Observations - don’t get the full picture, participant behaviour may change, observer bias
How are they measuring multiple attachments?
Measuring multiple attachments - Bowlby showed that children also have playmates who may cause distress when they leave
What is a longitudinal study?
They follow the same group of participants over a long period of time
What is a cross sectional study?
Looking at different groups of participants at different ages
The role of the father
Biological factors - oestrogen creates higher levels of nurturing and therefore women might be biologically predisposed to be the PCG
Social factors - traditional gender roles and stereotypes, women are expected to be more caring
Goodsell and Meldrum - having a secure attachment with both parents is linked, children need both parents
Geiger - fathers have a different role from the mother, the mum is associated with caring and nurturing the child, the dad is more about fun
What did Schaffer and Emerson find about the father?
Fathers were the PAF in only 3% of cases
However, 75% of babies formed attachments with the father at 18+ months
Grossmann et al
Longitudinal study (babies - teens)
The quality of relationship with the mother seems to have more impact on later attachments to other people
However, the role of the father has more to do with play, stimulation and risk taking rather than emotional development
Field
If fathers take on the role of PAF they adopt the emotional role associated with mothers
PAF fathers seem to spend more time smiling at, imitating and holding babies (interactional synchrony)
This is associated with the PAF
Practical applications of role of the father
If the father can take on the role of the mother then there are implication for society:
Paternity/maternity leave
Custody of children (men gain more equality)
Role modelling parental skills in young men
More societal acceptance of single fathers/same sex parents
What is classical conditioning?
Learning through association
Attachment forms because the PCG becomes associated with food (pleasure) over time
What is operant conditioning?
Learning through reinforcement/consequences
Attachment forms because the baby learns that crying brings mum = mum brings food so the baby seeks out mum
Food = primary reinforcer
Mum = secondary reinforcer
Each occurrence strengthens this learning making it more likely to reoccur
Dollard and Miller
Attachment is a set of learnt behaviours gained through experience of the environment (not innate) - a behaviourist approach
It is acquired through classical and operant conditioning
1) baby cries while seeking to reduce discomfort and mother provides food to reduce babies’/own discomfort)
2) mother and food become paired over time
3) mum becomes a reward so baby seeks her out
Implications
Strongest attachments with those who provide most primary care
What is cupboard love theory?
We only attach/love our parents because they feed us
Advantages of learning theory
It explains some aspects of attachment
Infants learn through association and attachment but it might be the carer’s attention that acts as a reinforcer, not the food
Disadvantages of learning theory
Counter evidence from animal research
Lorenz - imprinting had nothing to do with food
Harlow - monkeys sought comfort over food
Counter evidence from human research
Schaffer and Emerson - babies formed attachment with mother regardless of if she fed them
Russell Isabella - quality of attachment is predicted by high levels of interactional synchrony
Bowlby says that we should focus on why attachments form rather than how
What is Bowlby’s monotropic (evolutionary) theory of attachment?
Attachment is:
Adaptive
Social releasers
Critical period
Monotropic
Internal working model
Continuity hypothesis
ASC MIC
Why is attachment adaptive?
Attachment is an evolved, innate behaviour that is important for survival
What are social releasers?
Babies are born with social releasers: features or behaviours which encourage caregiving in adults by activating the adult attachment system
What is meant by a critical period?
Critical period - a period in which an attachment must be formed (6 months)
Sensitive period - a period in which an attachment is easier to form (2.5 years)
Use 2.5 years
What is meant by monotropic?
A monotropic relationship is one, special, critical bond formed with a PAF
Secondary ones are still important
What is an internal working model?
Infants form an internal working model (mental template) which affects current and future relationships and is based on experience with the PAF
What is meant by continuity hypothesis?
Early attachment is linked to later attachment
Evaluation of adaptive
Human babies don’t have an adapted response, they cannot walk or up to a year unlike animal babies meaning adaptation isn’t necessary for survival straight away
Evaluation of social releasers
Brazelton - if social releasers were ignored by PCG babies became distressed
Evaluation of critical period
Ritter - a sensitive period may be better, children who were adopted after 2.5 years still formed attachments later on meaning the period isn’t critical
Evaluation of monotropic
Schaffer and Emerson - babies can and do form multiple attachments
Evaluation of internal working model
Bailey - attachment is generational (attachment with mother affects attachment with children)
This is deterministic, suggests we don’t have free will to form better attachments with our own children
Evaluation of continuity hypothesis
Sroufe - there is continuity between early attachment and later attachment, when securely attached early in life there is less isolation later in life
What is the internal working model?
A cognitive framework (schema) made up of mental representations of the world, self and other
These seem to become part of a child’s personality and affect their understanding of the world
Schooled - a persons interaction with others is guided by memories and expectations from their internal model
Lack of internal working model
A negative IWM or lack of IWM will cause negative or uncertain expectations of other people, ourselves and the world
Research has linked the IWM to a range of behaviours, including childhood friendships, romantic relationships, parenting and mental health
Myron-Wilson and Smith
They assessed types of attachment and bullying involvement in 196 children aged 7-11
Securely - unlikely to be involved in bullying
Insecure avoidant - most likely to be victims of bullying
Insecure resistant - most likely to be bullies
Hazan and Shaver
The love quiz
They were interested in Bowlby’s internal working model and so asked questions about relationship history and childhood experiences
They used this to analyse people’s adult relationships and their attachment as children
However, these questions did not cover all areas of
What was the strange situation?
It was a standardised 8-stage procedure in which the infant is alternately left with the caregiver and/or the stranger or alone to assess stranger anxiety, separation anxiety, reunion behaviour and secure base exploration
This enables categorisation of attachment type
The experiment was done through a two-way mirror; they recorded the behaviour at se3t time intervals and recorded how often these behaviours occurred in a set time
Advantages of the strange situation
Can be replicated so is reliable
The three stages can be applied to real-life settings
Disadvantages of the strange situation
Cannot be generalised to other cultures
Low ecological validity because of the lab setting
Low internal validity, it only measures attachment to the mother - however, Bowlby’s monotropic theory
Unfamiliar setting, demand characteristics
Unethical, mother and babies in distress
Confounding variables - some babies may be used to daycare
What is meant by a collectivist culture?
A community that prioritises the group over the individual. Groups live and work together sharing tasks, belongings and child rearing. They value interdependence.
Japan and Israel
What is meant by an individualist culture?
Cultures which value independence and the importance of the individual. Attributes like self-reliance, privacy and self-sufficiency are important.
USA
What can cause cultural differences in attachment?
Children spending more time at nursery
Asian cultures are different to Western
Government policies - difference in maternity leave
Where is insecure avoidant the highest attachment type?
Germany
Where is insecure resistant the highest attachment type?
Japan
What is meta-analysis?
A method of data analysis in which a researcher looks at the findings from a number of different studies and procedures, a statistic to represent the overall effect
Simonelli
An Italian study
Assessed 76 babies
Findings showed that 50% of babies displayed secure attachment
36% displayed insecure avoidant
This could be due to mothers of young children working long hours and the children being left in daycare
Mi Kyoung Jin
A Korean study
87 babies assessed, the majority were secure
Out of those classed as insecure, most were resistant rather than avoidant
This is similar to Japan
What is separation?
The child is not in the presence of the PAF. Brief separations, particularly where the child is with a substitute caregiver don’t have a significant impact on development.
What is deprivation?
Prolonged loss of an emotional attachment and element of care from the primary caregiver
The child loses an element of the PAF’s emotional care/love. This then becomes an issue for development
Extended separations can lead deprivation, which causes harm
What is worse, separation or deprivation?
Deprivation is worse than separation because when experiencing separation you can still have a secure attachment and therefore can still form and internal working model
What is maternal deprivation?
Refers to the long-term separation or loss of emotional care from the mother or mother-substitute
What is low IQ and intellectual disability?
This can be abnormally low as a result of deprivation
What is irreversibility?
The idea that consequences cannot be reversed
What is affectionless psychopathy?
The inability to experience guilt or strong emotion for others, which prevents the person developing normal relationships
Le Mare and Audet
Measured physical development and health of 36 Romanian orphans adopted in Canada
Less developed at age 4.5 but no difference by the age of 10.5
Zeanah et al
The Bucharest Early Intervention project
95 Romanian adoptees aged 12-31 months who had spent on average 90% for their life in orphanages compared to a control group
Advantages of Rutter
Real world application - research into institutionalisation has improved our understanding and conditions for children living in care. Children now tend to have one ‘key worker’ assigned to them
Children were given away by ‘loving’ parents and had no previous trauma meaning this is not a confounding variable, however poor institutional care could act as a confounding variable
Disadvantages of Rutter
Lack of recent data - the study concluded when the participants were in their early 20s, we do not know how they coped with adult life
Individual differences - some children might recover quicker than others; some might never recover, this could be due to their personality
How are childhood friendships affected by the IWM?
There is continuity between early attachment and later emotional/social behaviour
Those classified as secure were shown to be more empathetic, more socially competent and popular
How is parenting affected by the IWM?
Harlow linked poor attachment to poor parenting
Quinton women raised in institutions experienced difficulties acting as parents
How are romantic relationships affected by the IWM?
There is a link between early attachment type and later relationships
Hazan and Shaver
How is mental health affected by IWM?
Lack of IWM can result in attachment disorder
What is a stimulus?
Anything internal or external that brings about a response
What is a response?
Any reaction in the presence of the stimulus
What is a neutral stimulus?
A stimulus which does not naturally produce a response
What is an unconditioned stimulus?
A stimulus that produces a reflex action
What is an unconditioned response?
An innate, reflex response
What is a conditioned stimulus?
The stimulus which produces the learned response after an association has taken place
What is a conditioned response?
A learned response
What is proximity seeking?
Behaviour that seeks to restore closeness, when the infant is separated from the attachment figure
What is a secure base?
A place from which an infant can feel secure to explore the world
What is stranger anxiety?
The distress that an infant experiences when they meet or are left in the care of people who are unfamiliar to them
What is separation anxiety?
Expression of distress and urgent efforts to be reunited with the attachment figure
What were the episodes in the strange situation?
Episode 1 - mother and baby enter the room
Episode 2 - mother and baby are alone and baby explores the room
Episode 3 - stranger enters the room, talks with the mother, approached the cild and tries to interact, mother exits the room after 3 minutes
Episode 4 - stranger remains in the room and interacts with the child when needed
Episode 5 - mother re enters the room and greets the child and stranger exits
Episode 6 - mother leaves again and baby is alone for 3 minutes
Episode 7 - stranger re enters and remains in the room and interacts with the child when needed
Episode 8 - mother returns and stranger leaves
What is a type A attachment?
Insecure avoidant
Explore freely
Don’t seek proximity
Little separation and stranger anxiety
20-25% of British babies
What is a type B attachment?
Secure
Explore happily but check back to caregiver
Show moderate separation and stranger anxiety
60-75% British babies
What is a type C attachment?
Insecure resistant
Seek greater proximity
Explore less
Show more separation and stranger anxiety
Resist comfort
3% of British babies
Percentage of attachment types in different cultures
Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg - procedure
Meta-analysis of 32 studies resulting in over 2000 strange situation classifications in 8 countries
They analysed data to see if there are differences between/within cultures
Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg - findings
Secure was the norm; then avoidant in individualist cultures and resistant in collectivist
1.5x more variation was within cultures than between them
The most resistant were Israel/Japan/China
The most avoidant was Germany
Similarities to Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg
Tronick found that in an African tribe, the infants were looked after by different women, but slept with their own mother at night - they still showed one primary attachment at 6 months
Differences from Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg
Grossmann and Grossmann - higher levels of insecure attachment in German infants, might be due to different child rearing practices
Takahashi - Japanese infants showed similar rates of secure attachment to Ainsworth
Very low evidence of insecure avoidant and high rates of insecure resistant
Cultural differences - infants rarely separate from mothers
44 thieves - procedure
44 criminal teenagers who were accused of stealing were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy
The families were also interviewed to establish if the thieves had prolonged separation from their mothers
The sample was compared to a control group of 44 non-criminal but emotionally disturbed young people
44 thieves - findings
Bowlby found that 14 of the 44 could be described as affectionless psychopaths and 12 of these had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers in the first two years of their lives
In contrast only 5 of the remaining 30 thieves had experienced separations
Only 2 in the control group of 44 had experienced long separations
Bowlby concluded that prolonged early separation caused affectionless psychopathy
Love quiz - procedure
They analysed 620 replies to a ‘love quiz’ which had 3 sections, which assessed:
1) current or most important relationships
2) general love experiences such as number of partners
3) which statement best describes your feelings
Love quiz - findings
56% of respondents were securely attached to
25% were insecure avoidant
19% were insecure resistant
Those with secure attachments were more likely to have good long lasting romantic relationships
Those with insecure avoidant tended to reveal jealousy and fear of intimacy
This suggests that patterns of attachment behaviour are reflected in romantic relationships
Love quiz - conclusions
Strengths of influence of early attachment
Supporting evidence from research - attachment consistently predicts later attachment, emotional well being and attachment to our own children
Bailey - the majority of women have the same attachment with their children as they did with their mother
This suggests the the IWM is generational however, this is deterministic (suggests we have no free will)
McCarthy - assessed women who had been part of the strange situation
Those who had secure attachments had the best friendships and romantic relationships as adults
Limitations of influence of early attachment
Studies are retrospective - most early attachment is assessed retrospectively rather than longitudinally
This creates issues with validity as there could be inaccurate memories or lying
Evidence for lack of continuity - Regensburg’s longitudinal study found no evidence of continuity when assessing infants and again at 16
Confounding variables - parenting style can influence attachment quality, this is affected by personality
Deterministic - some research suggests that insecurely attached children are doomed however, people can change and form attachments, we have free will
