Attachment Flashcards
What is the definition of an attachment
an enduring, two way, emotional tie to a specific other person normally between a parent and child
How are attachments formed in the early stages of aa child’s development
- bodily contact
- mimicking
- caregiverese
- interactional synchrony
- reciprocity
What stage of attachment is an infant at from birth to 3 months
pre-attachment phase- from 6 weeks old, infants become attracted to other humans rather than objects
What stage of attachment is an infant at from 3 to 7/8 months
indiscriminate attachment- infants discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar people
What stage of attachment is an infant at when they are 7/8 months
discriminate attachment- infants develop specific attachments and they stay close to particular people and they become stressed when separated form them
What stage of attachment is an infant at when they are 9 months old and older
multiple attachments stage- infants form bonds with other major caregivers such as grandparents
- the fear of strangers weakens but attachment to mother still remains strong
How has the role of the father in attachments seen now
-in the past, mothers tended to stay at home to look after the children when the father went out to work so therefore he played a minor role
- now, the father plays a more significant role as both parents tend to work so they share responsibility
Factors affecting relationships between father and child
- degree of sensitivity- greater attachments if father shows more sensitivity to child’s needs
- type of attachment with own parents- fathers tend to act in a similar way to the way they were with their parents
- marital intimacy- how his relationship with the partner is
- supportive co-parenting- amount of support father gives his partner
Definition of imprinting
a form of attachment where offspring follow the first large moving object
Outline Lorenz study
- separated two sets of geese eggs
- half hatched with mother, half hatched under Lorenz’s supervision
- after birth, the geese with Lorenz followed him and the others followed the mother
- this shows imprinting is irreversible
Outline Harlow’s monkey research
-he used baby monkeys by depriving them from their mother
- he used a wire mother with milk and a cloth/ soft mother without milk
- he then stimulated the monkeys
- his results show that the monkeys went for comfort instead of food
- this shows that attachment comes from emotional security rather than food
What is learning theory
the belief that attachments develop through conditioning processes
What is classical conditioning
occurs when a response produced naturally by a certain stimulus, becomes associated with another stimulus that is not normally associated with that particular response
What is operant conditioning
learning occurring via reinforcement of behaviour, thus increasing the chances of it happening again
What is the cupboard love theory
the belief that attachments are formed with people who feed infants