Attachment Flashcards
what are the 3 behaviours associated with attachment?
proximity, separation distress, secure-base behaviour
what is proximity (in terms of attachment)?
wanting to stay physically close to your attachment figure
what is separation distress (in terms of attachment)?
showing signs of anxiety when your attachment figure leaves your presence
what is secure-base behaviour (in terms of attachment)?
even when we are independent of our attachment figures, we make regular contact with them. For example, babies will be playing but regularly return to their attachment figure
Define reciprocity
AKA turn taking: caregiver-infant interactions are reciprocal as they both respond to each others signals and each elicits a response from each other
Why do babies use ‘alert phases’?
to signal that they are ready for an interaction
are babies passive or do they have an active involvement in childhood?
babies are now seen to have an active role where both baby and caregiver initiate interactions
what is interactional synchrony? why is it compared to synchronised swimming?
where to people carry out the same action simultaneously - the baby and mother carry out interactions so they mirror one another, just like swimmers perform the same actions in unison
when does synchrony begin and why is it important?
as young as 2 weeks. High levels of synchrony are associated with better quality mother-baby attachment
What is stage 1 of attachment? (name the stage, state when it occurs and outline this)
asocial stage (first few weeks of life): where a baby’s behaviour towards inanimate objects and humans is fairly similar. They also tend to show a preference to familiar people and are more comforted by them. The baby is forming bonds with certain people which form the basis of later attachment
What is stage 2 of attachment? (name the stage, state when it occurs and outline this)
indiscriminate attachment (2-7 months): babies start to show more observable and obvious social behaviours. They show a preference for being with humans rather than inanimate objects. Again, they have a preference for being with familiar people but usually will accept cuddles and comfort from anyone. They don’t usually show separation or stranger anxiety
What is stage 3 of attachment? (name the stage, state when it occurs and outline this)
specific attachment (from around 7 months) - classic signs of attachment start to be displayed. For example: stranger anxiety and separation anxiety. They have formed a specific attachment to the primary attachment figure (who offers the most interaction and responds to the baby’s signals with the most skill
What is stage 4 of attachment? (name the stage, state when it occurs and outline this)
multiple attachments (by the age of 1): they go from an attachment with one person, to multiple people who they sped time with. These are called secondary attachments
What’s the difference between primary attachment figure and primary caregiver?
attachment figure: who the baby has the strongest attachment with
caregiver: who spends the most time with the baby caring for its needs
(it can be the same person)
does ‘father’ always mean the biological male parent?
no, it refers to the child’s closest male caregiver
who is likely to be the baby’s first attachment figure? mother / father?
mother
3% of the time it was the father only
27% of the time it was joint with mum and dad
what is a suggested role of the father (Grossmann)?
play and stimulation which has been found to be important in later adolescent attachments
In what circumstances do fathers display reciprocity and interactional synchrony?
when fathers are given the role of the primary caregiver
What animals did Lorenz conduct attachment research on?
Geese
What was Lorenz’ procedure?
he divided goose eggs: half hatched in their natural environment with their mother goose / half hatched in an incubator and the first moving object they say was Lorenz
What were Lorenz’ findings?
the incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere and the control group followed their mother
what is imprinting?
where species that are mobile from birth attach to and follow the first moving object they see
what did Lorenz say was the critical period? what does this mean?
they had to imprint within a few hours of hatching otherwise they did not attach to a mother figure
what did Lorenz find when investigating sexual imprinting?
birds who imprinted on humans would display later courtship to them. When the first object a peacock saw was a tortoise, it would display courtship to the tortoise
What animals did Harlow conduct attachment research on?
rhesus monkeys
what was Harlow’s procedure?
He reared 16 monkeys with two wire mothers: either a plain wire mother or a cloth-covered mother to see that a soft object serves some functions of a mother
what were Harlow’s findings?
the monkeys cuddled the cloth-covered mother and sought comfort from it when frightened regardless of which one dispensed milk. This shows comfort is more important than food in attachment behaviour
what did Harlow say the critical period for attachment was
within 90 days
what are the two learning theories we explain attachment by?
classical and operant conditioning
CC in attachment: name the unconditioned stimulus
food
CC in attachment: name the unconditioned response
pleasure
CC in attachment: name the neutral stimulus
caregiver
CC in attachment: name the conditioned stimulus
caregiver
CC in attachment: name the conditioned response
pleasure
OC in attachment: how is crying reinforced?
when they cry, they get comfort/fed, so they repeat this
CC in attachment: how is a mother negatively reinforced when a baby is crying?
they comfort/feed them, the crying stops
how is attachment a secondary drive?
hunger = primary drive
caregiver gets rid of hunger = drive of hunger gets generalised to them
attachment = secondary drive learned by an association between caregiver and satisfaction of a primary drive
how did Bowlby explain attachment?
an innate system that gives a survival advantage - ensuring young animals stay close to adult caregivers
why is it called monotropic theory?
he placed emphasis on the child’s attachment to one caregiver which is different and more important
what is the law of continuity?
the more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better the quality of attachment
what is the law of accumulated separation?
the effects of every separation from the mother add up
what are the innate ‘cute’ behaviours like smiling called?
social releasers
when is the critical period according to Bowlby?
6 months (but is more of a sensitive period as it can extend to 2 years)
what is the internal working model?
the child forms a mental representation of their relationship with their primary attachment figure - serves as a model for what relationships are like
what are the 5 behaviours they used to judge attachment?
proximity-seeking, exploration and secure base behaviour, stranger anxiety, separation anxiety, response to reunion
‘a stranger comes in and approaches the baby’ - what does this test?
stranger anxiety
‘the caregiver leaves the baby and stranger together’ - what does this test?
stranger anxiety
’ the caregiver returns and the stranger leaves’ - what does this test?
reunion behaviour / exploration / secure base
what was ‘type A’?
insecure-avoidant: babies explore freely but do not seek proximity and make little effort when the caregiver returns
what was ‘type B?’
secure attachment: babies explore happily but regularly go back to their caregiver - show moderation separation and stranger anxiety
what was ‘type C?’
insecure-resistant attachment: seek greater proximity than others and so explore less - show high levels of stranger and separation anxiety
what were van IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg looking at?
the proportions of secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant attachments across a range of countries - to look at cultural variations
what was the procedure of van IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg?
look at 32 studies of strange situation - 15 based in USA. 1990 children involved. Meta-analysis conducted
what were the findings of van IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg?
secure attachment - 75% in Britain, 50% China
individualist cultures - rates of insecure-resistant = similar to Ainsworth
Collectivist cultures = rates were above 25%
Who conducted the Italian study?
Simonelli et al
what were the findings in the Italian study?
50% secure, 36% insecure-avoidant. There was a lower rate of secure attachment but higher rate of insecure-avoidant
what do the findings from the Italian study suggest?
increasing numbers of mothers of very young children work long hours and use professional childcare
who conducted the Korean study?
Mi Kyoung Jin et al
what were the findings of the Korean study?
overall proportions of insecure and secure babies was similar, with most being secure
why might Japan and Korea have similar findings?
they have similar child-rearing styles
how many babies were assessed in the Italian study and the Korean study?
Italian: 76 babies
Korean: 87 babies
what do the cultural variations studies tell us?
cultural practices have an influence on attachment type
outline the basis of Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory
being separated from a mother (maternal deprivation) has serious consequences
what is the difference between separation and deprivation?
separation: child is not in the presence of primary attachment figure
deprivation: child is deprived of emotional care
separation becomes a problem if there is deprivation
what is the critical period according to maternal deprivation
first 2.5 years of life
what are the effects on development is a child experiences maternal deprivation?
intellectual development, emotional development -> affectionless psychopathy
what was Bowlby’s research for maternal deprivation? outline the procedure and findings
44 criminal teenagers interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy (lack of affection, guilt, empathy)
14/44 had it, and 12 had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers
what is institutionalisation?
living in an institutional setting - e.g. orphanage, hospital - for long continuous lengths of time
how many orphans did Rutter investigate?
165
what were the 3 types of development Rutter investigated?
physical, cognitive and emotional development
who were the control group in Rutter’s research?
52 adopted children from the UK at the same time
name a finding from Rutter’s study
- delayed in intellectual development
- ADHD was more common
- showed an attachment style called disinhibited attachment
name the symptoms of disinhibited attachment
attention-seeking, clinginess, social behaviour directed indiscriminately at adults
outline Zeanah’s sample
95 Romanian children aged 12-31 months who had spent most their lives in institutional care
control group - 50 children who had never lived in an institution
how was the participant’s attachment style measured in Zeanah’s study?
using the strange situation. Carers were also asked questions on clinginess and attention-seeking bhvr directed inappropriately at all adults
outline Zeanah’s findings
74% of control group were securely attached
19% of institutional group were securely attached
What is the internal working model?
our first relationship with a primary caregiver leads to a mental representation of this relationship which is used as a template, affecting future relationships
what attachment type is likely to be controlling and argumentative?
insecure-resistant
what attachment type is likely to not be too involved or emotionally close?
insecure-avoidant
which attachment type has the best quality childhood friendships?
secure
which attachment type is most likely to not be involved in bullying?
secure
which attachment type is most likely to be victims of bullying?
insecure-avoidant
which attachment type is most likely to be bullies?
insecure-resistant
how does an individual’s attachment type impact their parenting?
people tend to base their parenting on their internal working model so attachment type tends to be passed on through generations
