attachment Flashcards
what is an attachment
the reciprocal, emotional bond between two people that is strong and enduring
what are the behaviours that indicate an attachment had been formed
proximity seeking
separation anxiety
secure base behaviour
what is interactional synchrony
when the caregiver and child mirror what the other is doing in terms of facial and body movements
movements are co ordinated
what is reciprocity
responding to the action of another person with a similar action
an action elicits a response
what is the research into reciprocity
found that lays foundation for later attachment with mother and child it is important
if we don’t respond can have a negative effect on infant in later life
what is the research into interactional synchrony
Meltzoff and Moore
they aimed to investigate the age at which interactional synchrony occurs between mother and child- 12-21 day old babies videotaped
found that it occurs in babies as young as 2 weeks old
what is the strength of caregiver- infant interactions research
usually filmed in controlled environments- can be watched multiple times by different people high internal validity + no bias
what are the weaknesses of caregiver infant interactions research
• difficult to interpret a babies behaviour- could be a coincidence instead of intentional and babies move all the time so harder to observe- higher levels of needs too so may need to stop experiment to feed or change
• observing behaviour doesn’t not tell us it’s developmental importance- tells us what but not why, does not tell us the purpose of these behaviours
who studied the stages of attachment
Schaffer and emerson
what was the aim of schaffer+ emerson’s study
to assess whether there was a pattern of attachment formation that was common in all infants
what was Schaffer and Emerson‘s procedure?
conducted a longitudinal study on newborn 60 babies and mothers from working class area of Glasgow in own homes observed and interviewed mums
what were the conclusions of Schaffer and Emerson‘s study?
there is a pattern of attachment formation common to all infants which suggests the process is biologically controlled
what are the names of the four stages of attachment?
asocial, indiscriminate, discriminate, multiple attachments
what happens at the asocial stage?
behaviour towards humans and inanimate objects is similar cannot distinguish between living and nonliving
by the end, show a preference for company of familiar people
when is the asocial stage?
0- 2 months
what happens in the indiscriminate stage?
Display more obvious and observable social behaviours
Now show clear preference for being with humans
Prefer company of familiar faces
don’t show separation or stranger anxiety
when is the indiscriminate stage?
2-7 months
what happens in the discriminate stage?
Display classic signs of attachment to one specific person
start to show separation and stranger anxiety
Primary attachment figure- one who offers most interactions to babies signals not time spent
when is discriminate stage?
7- 9 months
what happens at the multiple attachments stage?
Show attachment behaviour to multiple people
Secondary attachments formed
29% of children form these attachments within a month of primary attachment
when is the multiple attachments stage?
+1year
what are the strengths of research into the stages of attachment?
High external validity: carried out in homes not strange environment so natural behaviour
Real world application: practical application in daycare Nursery avoided in discriminate stage and one key worker assigned
longitudinal study
what are the weaknesses of research into stages of attachment?
Mothers are not objective observers might not remember or notice or might be bias
Biased sample not generalisable 60 babies from Glasgow not same as everywhere e.g. other cultures collectivist
what is imprinting?
An innate readiness to attach and follow the first living thing after hatching
Who studied imprinting?
Lorenz
what was Lorenz‘s aim?
to investigate the mechanisms of imprinting
What was Lorenz’s procedure when studying imprinting?
he got 12 gosling eggs and split in half
half hatched with mum naturally and half in incubator looking at Lorenz (first living thing they see )
what were Lorenz‘s findings?
One group followed the mother the other group followed Lorenz
Lorenzo‘s group showed no recognition of their natural mother
conclusion- Gosling and Print on a moving object scene in first 24 hours
what is a strength of Lorenz’s research?
A number of other studies have demonstrated in printing on animals
EG researcher who studied in printing on chicks chicks exposed to yellow rubber gloves during feed in first 24 hours checks then followed anyone wearing rubber gloves
however both
only in birds
What is a weakness of Lorenz research?
The ability to generalise findings and conclusions from birds to humans
Completely different species
Mammal attachment, very different and more complex to birds
Mammal attachment is two-way process emotional and babies are not Mobile
Birds are for survival and can follow straight away
Cannot be extrapolated
Who studied the importance of contact comfort
Harlow
what was Harlow’s aim?
To demonstrate that mother love was not based on feeding but the contact comfort they can provide
What was Harlow’s procedure?
eight infant monkeys
Two IVs— wire covered mother with milk, soft cloth mother without milk
Measure it the time spent on each other for 165 days
Observations were also made of responses to frightening events
what were Harlows findings and conclusions?
all monkeys spent more time on soft cloth, mother
When frightened monkeys come to cloth mother to provide comfort
Infants prefer contact comfort over food
what happened to the maternally deprived monkeys as adults?
Most were more aggressive and less sociable than other monkeys when they became mothers some attacked babies
What is the critical period for normal development in monkeys?
A mother figure I had to be introduced to a young monkey within 90 days for an attachment to form after this attachment was impossible
What were the weaknesses of Harlows research?
there were extraneous variables and the two mother models varied in more ways than just cloth or wire had different heads e.g. cloth mother represented monkey more
Still issues with generalisability of animal studies to human research
Ethical issues Harlows research could not be done with humans. There is therefore a question as to whether it should have been done with monkeys putting them in purposely scary situation
what is one strength of Harlow’s research?
it is more generalisable than Lorenz’s research as human brain and behaviour and attachment is more similar to monkeys than birds
Who proposed the learning theory?
Dollard and Miller
what does the learning theory suggest is the most important thing when forming an attachment?
Food
How do attachments form in terms of classical conditioning in the learning theory?
The baby forms and association between mother the neutral stimulus and the feeling of pleasure that comes with being fed which is an innate and conditioned response. at first the baby simply feels comforted by food however each time it is fed the mother is there too. he quickly associates the mother with pleasure of being fed until the mother stimulates feeling a pleasure on her own
how is the purpose of attachment formed using operant conditioning in the learning theory?
positive reinforcement is used as crying leads to response from caregiver usually feeding and associates mother with the reward and repeats any action that brings her
there is negative reinforcement because the response removes something unpleasant the crying stops
