attachment Flashcards
1
Q
caregiver-infant interactions
interactional synchrony
A
- coordination of micro-level behaviour
- where mother + infant interact in a way that their actions + emotions mirror each other
- begins as young as 2 weeks old
2
Q
caregiver-infant interactions
reciprocity
A
- where mother + infant interact by responding to each others’ signals and eliciting responses from each other
3
Q
caregiver-infant interactions
ao3
A
✔ well-controlled procedures
- interactions usually filmed, often from multiple angles
- fine details can be recorded + analysed later
- no extraneous variables
✔ no demand characteristics
- baby don’t know they’re being observed
- so behaviour does not change in response
- high internal validity
4
Q
role of father
A
- often overlooked in research
- tends to focus on mother-infant attachments
- psychologists often disagree over the exact rold of the father
5
Q
role of the father
Schaffer & Emerson
A
- found that majority of babies became attached to mother first
- fathers were usually secondary attachment figures (primary being the mother)
- only 3% of cases where the father was the first sole attachment
- and 27% of cases where father was joint first attachment
6
Q
role of father
Grossman
A
- carried out longitudinal study looking at effects of parents’ behaviour on children’s later attachment
- concluded that quality of attachment w fathers may be less important in long-term emotional development
- however, found that the quality of fathers’ play w infants did have an impact on their later attachments
- suggests that fathers have a different role in attachment - more to do with play and stimulation rather than nurture
7
Q
role of father
Field
A
- found that fathers who were the main caregivers were able to adopt more caring + nurturing behaviours, usually associated w the mother
8
Q
role of the father
ao3
A
✔
✘ fails to provide a clear answer about fathers + primary attachments
- answer could be to do with traditional gender roles in which women are expected to be more nurturing + caring than men
- and fathers may simply not feel they should act in a nurturing way
- or it could be that female hormones, eg oestrogen, create higher levels of nurturing
- so women are predisposed to be primary attachment figures
✘ temporal validity
s&e 1960s
✘ socially sensitive - economic implications
- regarding paternity/maternity leave
- custody of children
-
- suggests children may be disadvantaged by particular child-rearing practices
- mothers feel pressured to stay at home
- due to research that states mothers are vital for healthy emotional development
9
Q
schaffer’s stages of attachment
A
asocial stage (first few weeks)
- behaviour towards humans and inanimate objects is similar
- some preference for familiar adults
- happier in the presence of other humans
indiscriminate attachment (2-7 months)
- display more observable social behaviour
- preference for people over inanimate objects
- recognise and prefer familiar adults
- do not show stranger or separation anxiety
specific attachment (from around 7 months)
- show stranger and separation anxiety when separated from 1 particular adult
- formed a specific attachment w primary attachment figure
multiple attachments (by 1 year)
- secondary attachments w other adults form
10
Q
stages of attachment
schaffer & emerson
A
method:
- 60 babies from working class families in Glasgow
- babies & mothers visited at home every month for 1 year and again at 18 months
- researchers asked qs about infant’s behaviour to measure separation and stranger anxiety
findings:
- 50% showed separation anxiety towards a particular adult at 6-8 months
- this specific attachment was usually w the mother
11
Q
stages of attachment
ao3
A
✔ longitudinal study
- same children followed up and observed
- eliminates ppt variables
- increases internal validity
✔ good external validity
- carried out in their homes
- behaviour unlikely to be affected by presence of observers
- HOWEVER, includes methods of self-report
- introduces demand characteristics
- mothers may respond to social desirability bias
- may not be completely honest about their child’s behaviour in fear of being judged
- challenges internal validity
✘ limited sample
- can’t generalise findings
12
Q
animal studies
lorenz’s goslings
A
method:
- randomly divided 12 goose eggs
- half hatched w mother goose in natural environment
- other half hatched in incubator where first moving object they saw was lorenz
- mixed all goslings together to see whom they would follow
findings:
- incubator group followed lorenz
- control group followed mother
- this is called imprinting
- identified a critical period in which imprinting needs to take place - if not imprinted in that time, attachment w mother figure did not occur
also observed birds and their later courtship behaviour
- found that sexual imprinting also occurs whereby birds acquire a template of the desirable characteristics required in a mate
13
Q
lorenz
ao3
A
✘ lacks generalisability
- mammalian attachment is v different from that in birds
- mammalian mothers show more emotional attachment to their young than birds
- can’t generalise to humans
✔ research support for sexual imprinting
- researchers found that chicks that had imprinted to yellow washing up gloves tried to mate w them as adults
- can be used as evidence to support Lorenz’s concept of sexual imprinting
- HOWEVER w experience, they learned to mate w their own kind
- suggesting that the effects of imprinting are not as long-lasting as Lorenz believed
14
Q
animal studies
harlow’s monkeys
A
method
- raised 16 rhesus monkeys w 2 wire model ‘mothers’
- in one condition, milk was dispensed by the plain wire model
- in a second condition, it was dispensed by the cloth-covered ‘mothers’
- the monkeys preferences were measured
findings
- baby monkeys cuddled soft object in preference to the wire one
- sought comfort from cloth one when frightened regardless of which one dispensed milk
- showed that ‘contact comfort’ was of more importance than food when it came to attachment behaviour
he also followed the monkeys who had been deprived of a ‘real’ mother into adulthood to see if early maternal deprivation had a permanent effect
- found that monkeys raised only w a wire mother were the most dysfunctional
- were more aggressive, less sociable and less skilled in mating than other monkeys
- also neglected and sometimes killed their own offspring
- like lorenz, harlow also concluded that there was a critical period of 90 days for this behaviour
15
Q
harlow
ao3
A
✔ has important practical applications
- has helped social workers understand risk factors in child neglect and abuse and so intervene to prevent it
- also now understand importance of attachment figures for baby monkeys in zoos and breeding programmes
- usefulness of harlow’s research increases its values
✘ ethical issues of his research
- monkeys suffered greatly as a result of harlow’s procedures
- the effects were long-lasting and affected their whole lives, well into their adulthood
16
Q
learning theory of attachment
A
- emphasises importance of caregiver as a provider of food in attachment
- children learn to love whoever feeds them
classical conditioning
- food (UCS) elicits a pleasure response (UCR)
- creating an association between the caregiver (NS) and the pleasure response
- turning the caregiver into a CS
operant conditioning
- OC can be used to explain why babies cry for comfort
- crying is positively reinforced as it leads to caregiver responding by providing comfort
- so behaviour has been rewarded so therefore likely to be repeated + reinforced
- is a 2 way process
- caregiver’s comforting behaviour is also negatively reinforced by the absence of crying
- interplay of mutual reinforcement strengthens attachment
17
Q
learning theory of attachment
ao3
A
✘ contradictory evidence in animal studies
- harlow’s monkeys attached to a soft surrogate in preference to a wire one w milk
- lorenz’s imprinted geese formed attachments regardless of who fed them
- these both contradict the idea that attachment develops as a result of feeding
- same must be true for humans as learning theorists believe animals and humans are equivalent??
✘ contradictory evidence in human research
* schaffer & emerson also showed that
18
Q
bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment
A
- bowlby rejected learning theory explanation for attachment
- looked at lorenz & harlow and proposed an evolutionary theory
- that attachment is an innate system + gives us a survival advantage
19
Q
monotropic
A
- emphasises child’s attachment to one particular caregiver
- which is more important than others
- bowlby suggested that the more time a baby spent w PAF, the better:
- law of continuity: the more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better quality of attachment
- law of accumulated separation: the effects of every separation from the mother add up
20
Q
social releasers
A
- suggested babies are born w a set of innate “cute” behaviours called social releasers
- eg smiling + cooing
- these behaviours activate the adult attachment system (ie make adult feel love towards baby)
21
Q
critical period
A
- proposed a critical period of about 2 years
- if attachment not formed in this time, child will find it much harder to form one later
22
Q
internal working model
A
- a child’s first attachment forms an internal working model which serves as a template of what future relationships should be like
- IWM also affects parenting
- base their parenting type on their own experiences
- so attachment type tends to be passed on through generations
23
Q
bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment
ao3
A
24
Q
ainsworth’s strange situation
A
method:
- controlled observation in a lab w a 2-way mirror to assess the quality of child’s attachment to caregiver
7 episodes
- child encouraged to explore
- stranger enter
- caregiver leaves
- caregiver returns + stranger leaves
- caregiver leaves child alone
- stranger returns
- caregiver returns
5 categories used to judge attachment quality
- proximity-seeking
- exploration + secure-base behaviour
- stranger anxiety
- separation anxiety
- response to reunion w caregiver
25
strange situation
types of attachment
**findings:**
found distinct patterns in the way infants behaved
identified 3 main types of attachment:
***secure attachment - type B(60-75%)***
* child happy to explore but seeks proximity w caregiver (secure base)
* shows moderate separation separation anxiety + stranger anxiety
* requires + accepts comfort from caregiver on reunion
***insecure-avoidant - type A (20-25%)***
* child explores freely but doesn’t seek proximity (no secure base)
* shows little to no separation and stranger anxiety
* does not require comfort at reunion stage
***insecure resistant - type C (3%)***
* child explores less + seeks greater proximity
* shows considerable stranger + separation anxiety
* resists comfort when reunited w caregiver
26
strange situation
ao3
✔ **predicitive validity**
- attachment type later predicts future relationships
- eg secure babies have greater success at school + longer lasting romantic relationships
- provides evidence for the validity of the concept
- can explain future outcomes
✔ **good inter-rater reliability**
- different observers watching the same children generally agree on attachment type
- bick et al found 94% agreement in 1 team
- could be due to controlled lab conditions of the strange situation
- and how easy the behavioural categories are to observe
- can be confident that the attachment type identified doesn't depend on who is observing them
✘ **temperament could be a confounding variable**
- ainsworth assumed that the main influence on separation and stranger anxiety was the quality of the attachment
- however, a child's temperament may be the cause of behaviour, rather than quality of attachment
- challenges the validity of the SS
✘ **may be other attachment types**
- identified the 3 attachment types
- but research has found some children that don't display atypical attachments that don't fit types A, B or C
- known as disorganised attachment - a mix of avoidant + resistant behaviours
- challenges the usefulness of the SS to identify attachment types
27
cultural variations
van I&K's meta-analysis
* looked at proportions of secure, insecure-avoidant + insecure-resistant attachment in range of countries
* also looked at differences within the same countries to get an idea of variation within cultures
**findings:**
* secure attachment was most common classification in all countries (ranged fro 50% in china to 75% in britain)
* *individualist cultures* - resistant was lower
* *collectivist cultures* - resistant was higher
* suggests cultural differences in distribution of insecure attachment
* higher variation within than between cultures
28
cultural variations
simonelli et al
* assessed 76 12-month olds using the SS to see whether the proportion of attachment types still matched previous studies in italy
**findings:**
* 50% were secure
* 36% were insecure-avoidant
* this was a *lower rate* of secure attachment than found in previous studies
* suggested this was due to the increasing numbers of mothers working long hours and using professional childcare
29
cultural variations
ao3
✘ **may not be representative of cultures**
- van I+K's meta-analysis made comparisons between countries, not cultures
- there are different cultures within any country
- each w different child-rearing practices
- eg research found different proportions of attachment types in urban tokyo and rural tokyo
- means comparisons between countries may have little meaning
- particular cultural characteristics (+ thus caregiving styles) of the sample must be specified
✘ **involves imposed etic**
- SS was designed by an **american researcher** based on a **british theory**
- may be biased towards american/british culture
- may not be applicable to other cultures
- imposed etic disregards notion of cultural emic
- eg in germany, lack of pleasure on reunion, indicates a child's independence rather than avoidance
30
bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation
* bolby's theory suggests continual presence of nurture from mother/mother-substitute is essential for normal emotional + intellectual development
* prolonged separation in early childhood may have serious consequences
* depivation = losing emotional care as a result of a child being separated from a primary attachment figure
* can be avoided if alterntive emotional care is provided
* bowlby identified a critical period of 30 months - if separation occurs during this time, psychological damage is inevitable
31
maternal deprivation
effect of intellectual development
* may cause child to suffer mental retardation + abnormally low IQ
* demonstrated in Goldfarb's study
* found lower IQs in children from institutions compared to fostered children (thus had a higher standard of emotional care)
32
maternal deprivation
effect on emotional development
* may lead to affectionless psychopathy
* which bowlby identified as the inability to experience guilt / strong emotions for others
* prevents people from developing normal relationships + lack remorse for their actions
* associated w criminality
33
maternal deprivation
44 thieves
* 44 criminal teens accused of stealing interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy (lack of guilt + empathy)
* and families interviewed to investigate whether they had prolonged early separation from PCG
* and also control group of non-criminals
* 14 out of 44 identified w affectionless psychopathy
* 12 out of 14 had experienced prolonged separation
* control group - 2 out of 44
34
maternal deprivation
ao3
✔ **research support in animal studies**
- **levy et al** showed that separating baby rats from their mothers for as little as a day had permanent effects on social development
* **HOWEVER,** it is difficult to generalise findings from animal studies to human behaviour
✘ **counter-evidence**
* 44 thieves replicated on larger scale w 5oo young people
* early prolonged maternal separation did not predict criminality or difficulty forming close relationships
* limitation of bowlby's theory as it suggests that criminality is probably due to other factors
35
institutionalisation
**disinhibited attachment**
* equally friendly + affectionate towards people they know well and those who are strangers
* may be an adaptation of having multiple caregivers
**mental retardation**
* damage to intellectual development
36
romanian orphan studies
rutter et al
**method:**
* longitudinal study following a group of 165 romanian orphans who experienced v poor conditions before being adopted in britain
* investigated the extent to which good care can make up for poor early experiences in institutions
* assessing physical, cognitive + emotional deelopment
* also followed a control group of 52 adopted british children
**findings:**
* half the orphans showed mental retardation
* disinhibited attachment present in children adopted after they were 6 months old but not in those adopted before this
* supports the view that there is a sensitive period in the development of attachments
37
romanian orphan studies
bucharest early intervention project
**method:**
* used the strange situation to assess attachment in 95 children ages 12-31 months who had spent most of their life in institutional care
* compared to a control group of 50 children who had never experienced institutional care
**findings:**
* only 19% of the institutionalised group were securely attached
* 65% classified w disorganised attachment
38
romanian orphan studies
ao3
✔ **important practical applications**
* findings from this research have led to improvements in the way children are cared for in institutions
* children's homes now avoid having large numbers of caregivers for each child
* instead have 1/2 key workers who play a central role
* gives the child a chance to develop normal attachments + avoid disinhibited attachment
✘ **lacks generalisability**
* conditions of romanian orphanages had particularly poor standards of care, especially when it came to forming relationships w the children
* these situational variables mean that reults cannot be generalised to institutionalised care
strength
fewer confounding variables
abandoned at birth so neglect abuse and bereavement weren’t confounding variables
increases internal validity
39
influence of early attachment
internal working model
a child’s first attachment forms an **internal working model** which serves as a **template of what relationships should be like**
* children w **good first exp** will assume this is how all relationships are meant to be + *seek out functional relationships*
* children w **bad first exp** will have *lower expectations* + likely to *struggle to form relationships*
* **secure children** tend to go onto form best quality childhood friendships + less likely to be involved in bullying
* **avoidant children** likely to be victims of bullying
* **resistant children** most likely to be bullies
**IWM also affects parenting**
* base their parenting type on their own experiences
* so attachment type tends to be passed on through generations
40
hazan & shaver's love quiz
quiz assessed 3 aspects of relationships:
* respondents' current + most importan relationship
* general love experiences
* attachment type
**attachment type reflected in their romantic relationships**
* **secure** most likely to have good and longer-lasting relationships
* **avoidant** tended to be jealous and fear intimacy
* **reistant** preferred being on their own
41
internal working model
ao3
✘ **lacks internal validity**
* involves a questionnaire which is a method of **self-report**
* may not be completely honest
* often **retrospective**
* recollections may not be accurate
* lowers internal validity
