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
