Attachment Flashcards
What is attachment
A close emotional relationship between an infant and their caregiver. A strong emotional bond
Features of caregiver-infant interaction
Sensitive responsiveness- caregiver responds to signals from infant
Imitation- Infant copies the caregiver’s actions and behaviour
Interactional synchrony- infants react in time with caregivers speech
Reciprocity- interaction flows back and forth between infant/caregiver
Motherese- the slow, high pitched way of speaking to infants
The stages of attachment
The asocial stage (0-6 weeks), Indiscriminate attachments (6weeks-6months), Specific attachments (7months onwards), multiple attachments (10/11 months onwards)
The Asocial Stage (or pre-attachment)
First few weeks of life, and they tend to make bonds and recognise their carers. Behaviour is similar to human and inanimate things like a teddy bear. Babies are happier in the presence of a familiar human, traditionally mum.
Indiscriminate Attachment Stage (or diffuse)
Prefer humans to non-human objects. Observable social behaviours and they’ll accept cuddles from any adult, no signs of separation or stranger anxiety.
Specific attachments Stage (or discriminate/single)
Stranger and separation anxiety is in this stage, separation normally from mother
Multiple attachments stage
Forming multiple attachments with people they spend a lot of time with
Schaffer and Emerson (1964)
60 babies were observed in their homes in Glasgow every four weeks from birth to about 18months and interviews were conducted with families. The stages of attachment were found to occur, by the end 50 had multiple attachments and 20 had no or a weaker attachment towards their mother. Found that quality of care is important as the infant may not attach to mother if other people response more accurately to signals. They used a limited sample and evidence from interviews may be biased and unreliable, also cultural differences
The role of the father
Studies have shown that if the father partakes in care-giving activities, they are much more likely to have a secure strong attachment with their child. Geiger(1996) suggested that the roles of father and mother can be different as they found that a mother is primarily for nurturing and caring but a father is more focused around play.
Konrad Lorenz (1935)
Found that geese automatically ‘attach’ to the first moving thing they see after hatching, and follow it everywhere. This is called imprinting. He randomly divided a clutch of greylag goose eggs into two groups, he left one group with the mother and incubated the others. These goslings followed him around in the exact same way the others followed their mother
Harlow (1959)
Harlow aimed to find whether monkeys prefer a source of food or a source of comfort and protection as an attachment figure. One mother was wire mesh with a feeding bottle the other made of cloth without any food. Monkey spent most of time clinging to the cloth surrogate and only used wired one to feed. Cloth surrogate gave them comfort in new situations, monkeys showed signs of emotional and social disturbance once grown. Infant monkeys formed a better attachment in comfort and growing up in isolation affected their development. Ethical problems
Pros and Cons of animal studies
Some research designs couldn’t have been conducted on humans ethically at all. However some see it as unethical to inflict suffering on animals, especially when they cannot provide consent
Learning Theory
Focuses on the baby wanting it’s needs fulfilled. Attachments form through conditioning. Use classical conditioning to learn associations between different things in our environment. Getting food naturally brings pleasure and the desire is fulfilled with mother to feed it so an association and attachment is formed with mother and food. Operant conditioning shows babies to feel discomfort when hungry so they find if they cry, their mother will remove the discomfort by feeding them, negative reinforcement, mother is then associated with food and baby wants to be close to her.
Pros and Cons of learning theory
Lots of support and scientific research, but it’s reductionist as complex attachment is explained simply, lots of evidence is from animal studies so not always generalisable
Monotropic Theory of attachment (internal working model)
We have evolved a biological need to attach to our main caregiver. This biological need has developed through natural selection to ensure survival of the child to maturity. Bowlby’s suggests we form one main attachment- usually to our biological mother as a survival value for food and protection. Also says forming infant attachment gives us a ‘template’ for all future relationships. The primary care giver provides the foundations for this - called the continuity hypothesis. The first 3 years of life are the critical period for attachment to develop or it may never
Secure (Type B) Attachments
Strong bond between the child and its caregiver. If separated, the infant becomes distressed, however when reunited the child is easily comforted by the caregiver. Associated with health cognitive and emotional development
Insecure-avoidant (Type A) attachment
If separated from caregiver, the child doesn’t become particularly distressed, and can usually be comforted by a stranger, shown by children who generally avoid social interaction and intimacy with others
Insecure-resistant (Type C) attachment
Child is often uneasy around their caregiver, but becomes upset if they’re separated. Comfort can’t be given by strangers, also often resisted from caregivers. Children who show this style both accept and reject social interaction and intimacy
Ainsworth’s Strange Situation (1987)
Controlled observation, 12-18 month old infants left in a room with their mother. Eight different scenarios occurred, like a stranger approaching, infant being left alone, mother returning and infants reactions constantly observed. The infants showing different reactions could all be categorised into the 3 attachment types. Controlled variables so reliable results, but the laboratory type situation made it artificial, reducing ecological validity, possible demand characteristics from parents, mother may not have been child’s main attachment figure.
Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1998) — Cross-cultural studies
Carried out a meta-analysis of 32 studies of the ‘strange situation’ in different countries. They were analysed to find any overall patterns. Found there was cross-cultural similarities in raising children, with common reactions to the ‘strange situation’. There were more differences within the actual countries than between them. Meta analysis can hide individual results that show an unusual trend. No ethical issues.
Important findings from Strange Situation Research
Some cultural differences are find: for example Germany have more avoidant infants as German values put on independence so ‘avoidant’ is seen as good. The causes of different attachment types are debatable. The experiment doesn’t show the characteristic of the child. Attachment type may influence later behaviours
How can attachment be disrupted
Separation- child is away from attached caregiver, relatively short time
Deprivation- loss of something wanted or needed, loss of caregiver, long-term permanent separation
Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation (1953)
Deprivation from main carer during critical period (first 3years) will have harmful effects on a child’s emotional, social, intellectual and even physical development. Long-term effects may include separation anxiety and future relationships may be affected by this emotional insecurity
Robertson and Robertson (1968)- A separation study
Natural observation. Several children who experienced short separations from carers were observed and filmed, they had an infant stay in a residential nursery for 9 days without their mother, they showed signs of detachment and was reluctant to be affectionate when mother returned. Short-term separation had very bad effects including possible permanent damage to his attachment with his mother. The reaction may be due to less attention rather than separation, little control of variables, difficult replication, high ecological validity
Pros and Cons of Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis
Pros: other evidence supports it, Goldfarb (1943) found that orphanage children who were socially and maternally deprived were later less intellectually and socially developed
Cons: children may have been harmed by social deprivation not maternal, Bowlby linked thieves behaviour to maternal deprivation but didn’t consider if they grew in poverty for example
Difference between privation and deprivation
Privation is where a child has never had an attachment to its caregiver, while Deprivation is where an attachment was once formed but is now broken
Curtiss (1977)- The Case of Genie
Reported case of a girl who suffered extreme cruelty from parents, never formed any attachments. She was discovered once 13 and she was physically underdeveloped and could only speak with animal-like sounds. After a lot of help she later learned some language, but her social and intellectual skills never seemed to fully develop. Rutter (1981) claimed that the effects of maternal privation are more likely to be serious than the effects of maternal deprivation
Rutter et al (2007) -Longitudinal study of Romanian orphans
111 Romanian orphans who were adopted by British families were compared with a group of 52 UK adoptees and followed over a prolonged time. Each child assessed at 4, 6 and 11. Children younger than 6months at adoption had the same level of emotional development as other UK children. However Romanian children adopted after 6months old showed signs of insecure attachment and social problems while the UK children of the same age didn’t. Effects of privation can be reversed if an attachment starts to form before 6months old but long term effects are more permanent. Maternal deprivation on its own cannot cause any effects.
Long-term effects of Institutionalisation
Affection-less psychopathy, Anaclitic depression, Deprivation dwarfism, Delinquency, Reduced intelligence
Examples of how the internal working model explains adult relationships
If a child has a secure attachment to a sensitive caregiver, they are likely to see themselves as worthy of being loved. They are then likely to form future secure relationships. If a child has an insecure attachment with a caregiver who rejects them, they are likely to see themselves as unworthy of being loved. They are then likely to form future insecure relationships
The Adult Attachment Interview
Semi-structured interview involving a series of questions about childhood attachment relationships, and how these were seen to influence later relationships. Interviewee asked to give 5 adjectives explaining their relationship with each parent. Then asked to explain why they chose each adjective. Other questions then asked about times they got upset, if they ever felt rejected, how they believe their early experiences influenced their adult attachment. Results are classified into categories- secure, dismissing, preoccupied, unresolved, disorganised
Hazan and Shaver (1987)- The influence of early attachment
Conducted a love quiz in a local newspaper. Quiz has two parts. The first assessed the attachment type of each person with their parents, the second involved questions asking about current beliefs in romantic love. 620 responses analysed, found a correlation between type of childhood attachment and people’s later views on love. Securely attached more likely to have happy trustworthy relations, insecure-avoidant more likely to fear intimacy and insecure-resistant were more likely to be worried that they weren’t loved. Findings provided support for Bowlby’s internal working model, that they do influence adult relations. All negatives of volunteer sampling and quiz’s.
Cycle of Privation
Quinton (1984) compared 50 women who experienced institutional care as children with 50 women who hadn’t. They found that the women who had been raised in institutions were more likely to have parenting difficulties later in life. Suggests there is a cycle of privation as children go on to become less caring parents and their children have maternal deprivation so they may then be less caring to their own children and so on
Reactive Attachment Disorder
Rare but serious condition which occurs in children who have been permanently damaged by early experiences such as privation of attachment. Symptoms include: inability to give or receive affection, dishonesty, poor social relationships, involvement in crime
Evidence that privation may not have negative effects
Freud and Dann (1951) found that six children rescued after WW2 had been orphaned during the war and raised in a deportation camp without forming any adult attachments but forming bonds amongst themselves. After war and adoption in Britain they showed few signs of a troubled upbringing and had a normal level of intelligence and normal relationships
