Attachment Flashcards
What is an attachment
A strong long lasting emotional bond formed between a baby + main caregiver
What are the 3 features of attachment
- safe base
- separation anxiety
- stranger anxiety
Stages of forming an attachment
- Pre attachment
- Indiscriminate stage
- Discriminate stage
- multiple attachment
Features of pre attachment
0-3 months
Babies show no preference for any adult
Features of indiscriminate stage
3-7 month
Babies begin to prefer familiar ppl, don’t form a strong attachment to particular person yet
Features of discriminate stage
7-9 months
Babies develop strong attachment to one person
Features of multiple attachment stage
9+ months
Able to form attachments with several ppl
Outline Schaffer and Emmersons study
- naturalistic observation
- 60 babies and families from birth to 18 months
- longitudinal study
What did Schaffer and Emmerson observe
Observed babies in presence of strangers and when caregiver was removed - test stranger + separation anxiety
Interviews were also conducted
What did Schaffer and Emmerson find
~ evidence for 4 stages of attachment
~ 87% babies formed attachments to 2+ caregivers
~ 31% babies formed attachments to 5+ caregivers
~ babies main attachment figure wasn’t always the main caregiver
~ babies who formed strongest attachments had caregivers who displayed most sensitive responsiveness
Schaffer and Emmerson strengths
+ naturalistic observation
+ ecological validity
+ generalisable to how babies and caregivers behave in everyday life
Schaffer and Emmerson weaknesses
- observer bias
- interview, pps may show social desirability
What are the two caregiver infant interactions
- Reciprocity
- Interactional synchrony
What is reciprocity + give example
Infant and caregiver take in turns, responding to each others action
High reciprocity = strong attachment bond
E.g baby laughing in response to caregiver pulling funny face
What is Interactional synchrony + give example
Infant and caregiver perform similar action in time/synch with each other
E.g mum talks, baby makes noises in time with her speech
Caregiver infant interactions: name studies that support it
> condon and sander
Isabella et al
Outline + state state findings of Isabella et al study
- frame by frame video analysing movements babies make when with mother
-found positive correlation
-> high Interactional synchrony, high reciprocity = stronger attachment bond
Strength + weakness of Isabella et al study
+ frame by frame analysis, highly detailed and reliable observations
- observer bias, gestures and movement over interpreted by observer
- correlational study, hard to infer cause and effect
Outline aim and findings of condos and sander
- frame by frame video analysis, movements of babies with mothers
= found babies time actions to occur in time with mothers speech -> support caregiver infant interactions
Strengths and weaknesses of using animal studies
+ directly test cause and effect
+ no need to rely on natural and quasi experiments
- unethical
- animals are different to humans, not generalisable as attachments may be different
3 main theories about role of father
- Lack sensitivity + nurturing personality to form attachment with their child
- Dad role is playmate whereas mums role is carer and nurturer
- Dads are just as caring and sensitive as mothers + can form similar attachment to child eren as mums can
What is bowlbys mono tropic theory
Unique bonds formed between child and mother
Evolutionary theory, mothers naturally / biologically nurturing respond to social releases + look after baby
One study that goes against bowlbys mono tropic theory
Schaffer and Emmerson -> babies form multiple attachments (not mono tropic + babies do form attachments with father
Outline grossmen et als method
- longitudinal study observed relationships between children and parents
- toddler -> 6yrs old -> 10yrs old -> 16 yrs old
What did grossman et al measure/examine
- Strength of attachment
- Parents play sensitivity
- Child’s internal working model
What did grosssmen et al find
- fathers = playmate and mothers = provide care (have diff roles in child’s development
- internal working models associated with strength of attachment to mum not dad
- internal working models associated with play sensitivity of dad
Outline field et als study + what did they measure
- observational study, frame by frame analysis observe interactions between parents and kids
Measured: - sensitive responsiveness of parents to kids needs
- amount of time they spent playing with their child
Field et al : findings
- Dads who were primary caregivers displayed as much sensitive responsiveness as mothers
- Dads = play more Mum= more sensitive responsiveness
- More time spent looking after babies = the more role is like mum
DADS CAN TAKE ON CARING, NURTURING ROLE
Outline Brown et als study :
Longitudinal —> relationship between child + father, observed them at multiple time periods ( 13moths to 3yrs)
Brown et al : measured
- Strength of attachment between dads and kids
- Sensitive responsiveness from each parent
- How involved each parent was with caretaking
Brown et al: findings
More involved + sensitive fathers were when child is 13 months, the stronger their attachment to their child at 3 yrs old
Define internal working model
A schema built from a child’s relationship/attachment with main caregiver that provides beliefs + expectations about future relationships
What are the 2 cultural factors /societal norms about how women and men should behave
- Mothers= caregivers Fathers= breadwinners, display no sensitivity/emotions
- Fathers couldn’t get paid paternity leave = hard to take on primary caregiver responsibilities
Why do we form attachments: 2 theories
- The learning theory of attachment
- Bowlbys’ mono tropic theory
Outline the learning theory of attachment
- attachments, learned through experiences of being fed by caregiver repeatedly
*babies form attachments to caregiver because the feed them - attachments are learned through CLASSICAL + OPERANT CONDITIONING
The learning theory of attachment: CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
= neutral stimulus becomes conditioned stimulus through repeated association with unconditioned stimulus
1. Food = unconditioned stimulus
2. Caregiver = neutral stimulus
Repeated experiences of being fed by caregiver, babies learn to associate caregivers with food
So caregiver now = conditioned stimulus + babies develop happy conditioned response to caregiver
The learning theory of attachment: OPERANT CONDITIONING
= learn to associate actions which an outcome through reinforcement
*POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT = learn to repeat behaviour, rewarding outcome (stay near caregiver = rewarding outcome is food)
- NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT = learn to repeat behaviour, avoid unrewarding outcome (stay near caregiver = avoid unpleasant feeling of hunger
Evaluation of learning theory of attachment
+ Dollard and miller’s observation, found babies get fed 2000 times by caregiver per year = believable
- harlows monkey study -> baby monkeys comfort > food
- Israel communal environments raised by foster mums (metapeletes) -> don’t attach to foster mums (who feed them )
Harlows study: IV + DV + aim
IV = type of mother providing milk ( cloth or wire)
DV = amount of time baby spent with each mother
Aim = test learning theory of attachment, investigating whether monkeys choose comfort or food
Harlows study : findings
- attachment driven by comfort not food
- spent majority time with cloth mother regardless of her providing milk
- group (wire monkey had milk), only approached when needed food
- when placed in cage with only wire monkey, babies showed distress + stress
DOESNT SUPPORT LEARNING THEORY OF ATTACHMENT
Harlows study : strength
+ lab exp= control over extraneous variables, establish cause + effect between IV and DV
Harlows study : weaknesses
*confounding variables = appearance of wire and cloth mother were different
*lacks generalisability = conducted on monkeys, doesn’t tell us how humans form attachments
* unethical = distressing situation causing psychological harm
Harlows study : sample + method
- separated 8 baby monkeys from mother = group 1 (4 monkeys) + group 2 (4monkeys)
- group one = wire monkey provides milk
- group two = cloth monkey provides milk