Attachment

Question 1

What is attachment?

Answer 1

An enduring 2-way emotional bond between 2 individuals, normally parent and child. Everyone sees the other as essential for their own emotional security.

Question 2

When does attachment develop?

Answer 2

Attachment develops within a fairly set timescale, normally a few months in humans, meaning it is not present at birth.

Question 3

humans are altricial what does this mean?

Answer 3

They are born at relatively early stage of development, where they are totally dependent on a caregiver, and need to form attachment bonds with adults who will protect and nurture them.

Question 4

Reciprocity:

Answer 4

How 2 people interact, as a mother and infant will both respond to each other’s signals and each respond to each other.

Question 5

Which study for Reciprocity?

Answer 5

Feldman (2007)
Found that from 3 months old, interaction between infants and careers increases and involves close attention to each other’s signals.

This supports it.

Question 6

Interactional Synchrony :

Answer 6

The coordinated exchanges between a caregiver and infant. So, the infant and the caregiver will mirror each other’s actions through the careers spoken language to create a kind of turn taking.

Question 7

What study for Interactional Synchrony ?

Answer 7

Isabella et al (1989)
Observed 30 mothers and infants together and sessed their degree of synchrony.
They found high levels of synchrony.

This supports that having high levels of synchrony will have a better quality mother-infant attachment. However the observer can only infer these results.

Question 8

Attachment is developed and maintained through the following ways:

Answer 8

Interactional Synchrony

Reciprocity

Caregiverese

Mimicking

Bodily contact

Question 9

Attachment has developed when an infant displays the following behaviours.

Answer 9

Distress

Separation protest

Secure base behaviour

Proximity

Question 10

What study for Caregiverese?

Answer 10

Papousek et al (1991)
Found that the tendency to use a rising tone to show an infant it was their turn for interaction was cross-cultural in America, China and Germany.

This supports that the career interaction is an innate biological device to increase attachment. This has a cross cultural validity.

Question 11

Which study for bodily contact?

Answer 11

Klaus + kennel (1976)
Compared mums who had extended physical contact with their babies with mums who only had physical contact with theory babies during feeding in the 3 days after birth. They found that the mums with greater physical contact were found to cuddle their babies more and make greater eye contact.

This supports how important bodily contact is for an infant and their mum as it creates that eye contact and forms a bond, however this study was only measured after 3 days after birth so it’s not a very long time to actually measure how attached a baby is to their mother as it might take longer for others: lacks ecological validity. Individual differences.

Question 12

What study for mimicking?

Answer 12

Meltzoff and Moore (1977)
Found that infants aged 2-3 weeks tended to mimic adults’ facial expressions and hand movements. This was videoed and identified by an independent observer who found an association between the gestures of the baby and adult.

This supports how important infant mimicry is and how it is an innate ability, however this is not accurate because the observer can only infer those results as the baby cannot tell them whether they were mimicking the adult or not.

Question 13

What study for the The developments of social attachment in infancy topic?

Answer 13

Schaffer and Emerson (1964

Question 14

What is Schaffer and Emerson (1964) study?

Answer 14

A longitudinal study was conducted on 60 mothers and babies in a working-class area of Glasgow. Mothers and babies were studied each month in their own homes and again when the baby was 18 months. Observations and interviews were conducted and the amount of attachment was measured through separation protest and stranger anxiety.

Question 15

Evaluation of Schaffer and Emerson (1964) study?

Answer 15

Good - Longitudinal design: It’s a very positive thing to observe a baby over a long period of time because the results can be more accurate, and the researchers can observe any changes in their behaviour.

Bad - Limited sample characteristics -

Bad - Direct observers may be biassed or interpret the baby’s behaviour inaccurately.

Good - high external validity - home setting makes the experiment more accurate to where everyone else will form attachments with their baby. (good ecological validity)

Question 16

Stages of Attachment: By Schaffer

Answer 16

Pre-attachment/asocial phase (birth to 3 months) From 6 weeks, infants become attracted other humans, preferring them to objects and events, they smile at people.

Indiscriminate attachment phase (3 to 8 months) Infants begin to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar people, they will still allow strangers to handle and looks after them.

Discriminate / specific attachment phase (8 months and onwards)
Infants begin to develop speicific attachments, staying close to particular people and becoming distressed when separated from them. They avoid unfamiliar people and protest if strangers try to handle them.

Multiple attachments stage (9 months onwards) Infants form strong emotional ties with other major caregivers and non-caregivers. Fear of strangers weakens, but attachment to the mother figure remains strongest.

Question 17

Research into attachment figures:

Answer 17

Lamb (1987)
Field (1978)

Question 18

What was Lambs research?

Answer 18

found that children often prefer interacting with fathers when in a positive emotional state and seeking stimulation, whereas mothers were preferred when the children were distressed. He also found that when fathers became the primary career, they then developed more sensitivity to the infant’s needs.

Question 19

What was Field’s research?

Answer 19

found that when fathers do take on the role of being the caregiver, they adopt behaviour more typical of a mother

Question 20

Sensitive responsiveness?

Answer 20

recognising and responding to infants needs appropriately

Question 21

Lamb’s research evaluation?

Answer 21

Researchers may not observe all behaviours from baby depending on their sampling type, and the researchers can only infer their observations so they will never always be accurate. Therefore, how can researchers claim whether babies view their father as less important than their mother as these inconsistent results means we cannot draw a conclusion on whether the father has a role.

Question 22

Field’s research evaluation?

Answer 22

This is a weakness because it suggests that the father’s role as a secondary attachment figure is not important.

Question 23

Harlow study

Answer 23

He did this by separating 16 monkeys from their mothers and putting them in small cages containing a wire mother producing milk and a cotton mother producing no milk., he also had a wire mother producing no milk and a cotton mother producing milk. He recorded the amount of time spent with each other as well as feeding time.

Question 24

Geese study

Answer 24

Lorenz (1935) found that certain animals have an innate tendency to respond immediately and consistently to specific forms of stimuli (visual markings / sounds) usually displayed by a parent.

Question 25

What is the learning theory?

Answer 25

Whoever feeds you is your main attachment, food is the source of attachment.

Question 26

Bowlby’s monotropic theory?

Answer 26

He believed that infants have an inbuilt tendency to attach to one specific caregiver (the primary attachment figure.) He also believed that attachment, like imprinting, evolved as a mechanism to keep young animals safe by ensuring they stay close with their mother.

Question 27

Classical conditioning?

Answer 27

When a response produced naturally by a certain stimulus becomes associated with another stimulus that is not normally associated with that response.

Question 28

Operant conditioning?

Answer 28

This is based on ‘the law of effect,’ it involves learning to repeat behaviour, or not depending on the response.

Question 29

Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’ and Types of Attachment

Answer 29

A – Insecure-avoidant: Attachment isn’t safe - Infants are willing to explore, have low stranger anxiety are unconcerned by separation and avoid eye contact at the return of the caregiver. Caregivers are indifferent to the infants need.

B – Securely attached: Normal attachment - Infants are keen to explore, have highs stranger anxiety, are easy to calm and enthusiastic at the return of their caregiver, caregivers are sensitive to the infants need.

C – Insecure – resistant: Infants are unwilling to explore, have high stranger anxiety, are upset by separation and seek and reject contact at the return of the caregiver. Caregivers are unsure to the infant’s needs. Demonstrating opposite behaviours.

Question 30

Internal working model – Bowlby

Answer 30

Serves as template for attachment between infant and primary carer and all future relationships, creating consistency between early emotional experiences and later relationships.

Question 31

Evidence for internal working model Bowl by

Answer 31

Baily et al assessed 99 mothers with 1 yr old babies on the quality of their attachment to their own mothers using a standard interview procedure. This supports the internal working model as it is showing how Mothers who didn’t form good relationships with their parents won’t have that with their children.

Question 32

What is Privation?

Answer 32

Is when an infant never had care in the past and is separated from the normal care and needs.

Question 33

What is deprivation?

Answer 33

Is when an infant has had care and nurture and is then separated from that and become deprived.

Question 34

Role of the father

Question 35

Institutionalisation

Answer 35

An orphanage.

Question 36

Maternal Deprivation

Answer 36

When an infant is taken away from care and then isn’t given a good substitute.

Question 37

Studies for early attachement + later relationships

Answer 37

Bailey et al assessed mothers and their children and mothers and their own mothers on their attachment the results showed that the parenting type that the mother used was similar to her own childhood and how her own mother parented her.