Attachment Flashcards
What are Maccoby’s characteristics of attachment?
-Seeking proximity
-Distress on separation
-Joy on reunion
-Orientation of behaviour
Define attachment
A strong lasting emotional and reciprocal bond between two people e.g. between an infant and caregiver
What are the two infant caregiver interactions?
-Reciprocity
-Interactional synchrony
What is meant by reciprocity?
Where the infant caregiver interactions are a two-way process, each party respond to each others signals
What is the procedure of Tronick’s study focusing on reciprocity?
He asked the mothers to engage in reciprical behaviours then asked the mother to stop reacting to the baby
What were the findings of Tronick’s study focusing on reciprocity?
The baby became distressed and started trying to get attention from it’s mother by pointing before starting to cry and show clear signs of distress
What are some positive evaluations of Tronick’s study focusing on reciprocity?
-high internal validity
-high reliability
-standardized procedure
What is Feldman and Eidelman’s supporting study for reciprocity?
Mothers tend to pick up on the baby’s alert phase 2/3 of the time
What are some negative evaluations of Tronick’s study focusing on reciprocity?
-lack of protection from harm
-lack of ecological validity
-social desirability
What is Brazeltons viewpoint on reciprocity ?
He describes reciprocity as a dance where each partner respondws to the action of the other
What is interactional synchrony?
The co-ordination of movements and gestures.
What study supports interactional synchrony?
Meltzoff and Moore
What was the procedure of Meltzoff and Moore?
Observed infants as young as 2 weeks old
Adults displayed 2/3 chosen facial expressions
The study was recorded
What were the findings of Meltzoff and Moore?
There was a correlation between adult behaviour and infant response - they tended to synchronise.
What are strengths of Meltzoff and Moore?
High Internal Validity - control over what facial expressions were used
Reliability - It was filmed so others can watch it
Practical Application - Explains how you can support families and improve relationship’s
What are the weaknesses of Metzoff and Moore?
-It may be difficult to differenciate between general motion or intentional copying of behaviour
-Other studies have failed to recreate the study
-There are practical issues involved with infants as they spend most of their time sleeping or being fed
-There are ethical issues regarding lack of consent and protection from psychological harm
What study focuses on stages of attachment?
Schaffer and Emmerson
What is the procedure of Schaffer and Emersons study focusing on the stages of attachment?
They conducted a longitudional study on infants of working class households in Glasgow, they asked the children’s mothers to keep a diary of the babies reaction to seven different social situations
What are the 4 stages of attachment according to Schaffer and Emerson ?
-Asocial attachment
-Indiscriminate attachment
-Specific attachment
-Multiple attachments
What is the asocial attachment stage ?
From birth to 8 weeks, there is a similar response to most objects however there is a preference to human interaction
What is the indiscriminate attachment stage?
From 2 months to 7 months old, the child shows a clear preference to human interaction and starts to show a preference towards familiar adults such as family members, they accept comfort from any adult
What is the specific attachment stage ?
From 7-9 months, infants begin to show both separation and stranger anxiety. The child has formed a specific attachment to the primary attachment figure
What is the multiple attachment stage?
About a month after the child has formed a specific primary attachment, they begin to form secondary attachments to familiar adults
What were the findings of Schaffer and Emerson?
-the mother was the primary attachment figure for 70% of infants
-3% of infants formed primary attachments to their father
-27% were joint attachments
-By 18 months old 31% had formed multiple attachments
Different stages of infancy led to different levels of stranger/separation anxiety
What are some negative evaluations of Schaffer and Emerson’s study?
-the sample is unrepresentative
-the data lacks validity due to social desirability
What does Hewlett argue that supports the idea of the role of the father changing cross-culturally?
As shifts in the UK are changing so the amount of male involvement in childcare and housework
They have more time to spend with the family as shift lengths decrease, they are still expected to be the breadwinner
However in some countries such as CAR men are expected to care for the children
Why do economic factors have an impact on the role of the father?
In some countries fathers are less involved because of work patterns, they may work far away or for very long hours to provide for the family, this means they have less time at home to spend with their children however in the UK shift lengths are decreasing and more women are going back to work after having children so the childcare is more evenly shared
Why do social policies have an impact into the involvement of fathers ?
As policy changes it makes it easier for fathers to be involved in their children’s life from an early stage such as shared parental leave which allows fathers to be stay at home parents rather than the responsibility being passed straight to he mother
Why might biological factors have an impact on fathers involvement and their role ?
Some psychologists argue that men do not have the capacity to fulfill the same role as the mother due to a lack of oestrogen and this means that they miss more of the baby’s cues such as when the babies are in their alert state
What does Freeman argue about how the gender of the child changes the involvement and role of the father ?
He found that the father is more likely to make a bond with a baby boy, he also found that fathers are more likely to make an attachment with the child when they are a little older during their childhood and adolecense
What did Frodi find about the biological differences changing the role of the father ?
They found that there was no difference between men and women for how they responded to the baby
What did Manlove find about the temperament of the child changing the role of the father ?
Fathers are less likely to be involved if the child has a difficult temperament
What did Bowlby find about the role of the father ?
Fathers will often treat their children how they were taught as a child due to the internal working model, fathers are more likely to be seen by the child as a playmate because they are more likely to engage in sports rather than fulfill the childs physiological needs
What did Schaffer and Emerson find about the role of the father ?
Only 3% of children formed a primary attachment to their father first, they tended to form joint attachments to the father before they were 18 months old
What did Grossman find about the role of the father ?
He found that the fathers play style reflected their internal working model, however play sensitivity was a better predictor of the long term attachment
What did Field find about the role of the father ?
He compared the role of the father between primary and secondary caretaker fathers, he found that the primary caretaker fathers engaged more with the child and this behavior was comparable to the mother
What did Brown et al find about the role of the father ?
Involvement and sensitivity influenced the parent-child relationship, involvement was a greater predictor when the fathers were rated as less sensitive
What was the procedure of Lorenz?
He divided a clutch of goose eggs into two, half hatched with the mother and half hatched with Lorenz
What were the findings of Lorenz?
The geese that hatched with Lorenz imprinted on him and followed Lorenz, this proved that attachment is innate
What was the procedure an findings of Guiton?
He exposed chicks to rubber gloves in the first moments of their lives, he found that they imprinted onto them and would try to mate with them instead of other chickens later in life
Define imprinting
Where offspring follow the first large thing they see, this is often found in birds
What are some evaluations of Lorenz
-lacks generalisability to humans
-may be seen as unethical because it caused the animals problems in later life
What was Harlows procedure?
8 rhesus monkeys that were caged since birth, they were put into an enclosure with a wire food-dispensing mother and a cloth-bound mother, Harlow measured the amount of time the monkey spent with each of the surrogate mothers
What were the findings of Harlow?
The monkeys showed more attachment behaviours towards the cloth-bound mother when they were frightened which goes against cupboard love
What were the consequences of Harlows study on the monkeys?
The monkeys struggled in social environments, they became timid, unpredictable and difficulty mating with the other animals. The female monkeys also became inadequate mothers
What are some positive evaluations of Harlow’s study?
-There is practical application - foster care
-It cannot be replicated on humans
What are some negative evaluations of Harlow?
-There are ethical issues including protection from harm
-It lacks generalisability
What is cupboard love?
Where the baby makes an association between food and their mother which leads to them forming an attachment
What is the SLT explanation for attachment?
Classical and operant conditioning lead to an attachment forming
What are some positive evaluations of the SLT of attachment ?
-It has face validity
-It has been shown through other studies such as Pavlovs dogs
What are some negative evaluations of the SLT of attachment ?
Other studies go against this theory such as Schaffer and Emerson, Lorenz and Harlow
Why might the SLT of attachment be seen as reductionist ?
It oversimplifies the attchment process to it just being an association, a more holistic view should be taken
What is Bowlby’s theory of attachment ?
Infants form one main attachment during the critical period which forms their internal working model for attachment
Define monotrophy
There is one main figure of attachment, attachment is innate
Define innate
Attachment is pre-programmed and not learned
Define survival (as one of Bowlby’s theories of attachment)
Attachment is adaptive and necessary for survival
What are social releasers ?
The infant has innate social releasers like smiling which unlock the adults caring behaviours
What is meant by the critical periods ?
An attachment must be made within 2 and a half years or else there will be negative consequences
What is the internal working model ?
The first attachment acts as a blueprint for all future attachments
What is meant by attachment is evolutionary ?
Attachment is an evolved social behaviour
What was the procedure of Hazan and Shavers study ?
They gave people a love quiz questionaire which identified both their attachment style to their parents and to their partner
What were the findings of Hazan and Shaver ?
They found that most people’s attachment type to their parents was the same as to their partner
How do Hazan and Shaver support Bowlby ?
They support the internal working model this is shown by the p’s attachment style being the same to both their parents and their partner
What were the findings of Bowlby’s young offenders study ?
He found that the 44 thieves grew up to be maladjusted emotionally due to disrupted attachments
How did Bowlby view the role of the father?
He saw the role of the father to be mostly economic that they would provide money but not care
What did Kagan find about the child’s temperament affecting attachment?
He found that depending on the child’s temperament affected how easy of difficult it is for the adult to form an attachment
What was the procedure of Ainsworth’s strange situation?
It was a controlled observation of the child through a two way mirror, it observes the behaviour of the baby with its mother, with its mother and a stranger, just with a stranger and by itself
What were the findings of Ainsworth?
secure 70%
avoident 20%
resistant 10%
What are the characteristics of an insecure avoidently attached child ?
They do need seek proximity to their parent, they show little stranger anxiety and little to no separation anxiety
What are the characteristics of securely attached children
They will happily explore the space but will use their caregiver as a secure base, they with show some stranger anxiety and some separation anxiety however they are easily comforted when the caregiver returns
What are some characteristics of an insecure resistantly attached child ?
They seek greater proximity to their caregiver, they show high levels of stranger anxiety and high levels of separation anxiety however they are not easily comforted when the caregiver returns
What are some positive evaluations of Ainsworth’s study ?
-good reliability
-it has become a paradigm(widely accepted method)
-it had high inter-rater reliability
What are some negative evaluations of Ainsworth’s study ?
-lacks validity
-lacks population validity
-ethnocentric
-lacks ecological validity
How does Main et al support Ainsworth’s study ?
They tested babies at 18 months and 6 years, 100% of secure babies remained secure, this shows that Ainsworth had very good test-retest reliability
What was the procedure of Van Ijezendoorn and kroonenberg
They carried out a meta-analysis on 32 studies from 8 countries where the strange situation had been done
What were some of the findings of Van Ijzendoorn and kroonenberg ?
Great Britain had the highest levels of secure attachment 75%
Germany had the highest levels of insecure avoidant attachment 35%
Israel have the highest levels of insecure resistant attachment 29%
1.5 times difference in countries than in between them
What was the procedure of Takahashi ?
60 middle-class japanese infants aged 1, they were all raised at home and were observed using the strange situation procedure
What were the findings of Takahashi ?
68% of the children were classified as securely attached, 32% resistant however, 90% of the children did not experience the infant alone condition due to extreme stress, none of the children were classed as avoident as this is seen as rude in Japanese culture
Does Harlow support SLT and why?
No, Rhesus monkeys preferred to be with comfort mother instead of wire mother who provides food.
Does Schaffer and Emerson support SLT and why?
No, children got attached to any parent who shows sensitivity to their needs.
Does Lorenz support SLT and why?
No
The geese simply imported on the first moving objects they saw.
What is maternal deprivation?
Being deprived of a maternal figure
What are the two basic types of disruption?
Separation
Deprivation
What is separation?
Brief separations where the child is with a substitute caregiver
What is deprivation?
Long term disruption where a child looses an element of care
Whose theory was maternal deprivation?
Bowlby
What are the consequences of maternal deprivation?
An inability to form attachments in the future
Affectionless psychopathy
Delinquency
Problems with cognitive development
How can deprivation impact intellectual development?
If children were deprived of maternal care they would suffer from mental retardation
How does deprivation impact emotional development?
Affectionless psychopathy, inability to experience guilt or strong emotion for others
What study supports maternal deprivation?
Bowlby’s 44 thieves study
What was the procedure of the 44 thieves study?
44 young people referred from a juvenile detention centre
44 young people who were referred due to emotional and social problems
Collected data via interviews and questionnaires
What were the findings of the 44 thieves study?
17/44 thieves experienced early prolonged separation before 5 years old
16/44 were classed as affectionless psychopaths
In control group only 2 experienced prolong separation
None were classed as affectionless psychopaths in the control group
What was the conclusion of the 44 thieves study?
The findings support maternal deprivation, link between disruption to attachment in the first 5 years and later maladjustment
What is further supporting evidence for maternal deprivation?
Bailey, mothers who reported poor attachment to their own parents showed poorer attachment to their babies in observations. Internal working model
What are the strengths of Bowlby’s study?
Practical application - Greater stability in childcare practice has been developed through day care centres
Some national governments have offered more financial support to young families - Sweden offer 480 days of parental leave
What are some limitations of Bowlby?
Investigator effect - Bowlby designed and conducted the self-reports himself.
His diagnosis of affectionless psychopathy may be distorted by confirmation bias
Correlation doesn’t show cause or effect, possible third variable
What is privation?
When children do not form an attachment
What is institutionalisation?
Behaviour patterns of children who have been raised outside of a family home
Who studied the effects of institutionalisation?
Rutter
Zeanah
Who was Rutters sample?
165 Romanian children
111 of them adopted before 2
54 of them adopted by 4
What was Rutters procedure?
Longitudinal natural experiment
Compared regularly to 52 British children
Tested on cognitive, physical and social at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15
What was Rutters findings?
Romanian children were behind British, they were classed as mentally retarded
By 4 most Romanian children that were adopted by 6 months caught up with British children
Many children adopted after 6 months showed disinhibited attachment
What was Rutters conclusion?
Institutionalisation can have long term effects
The effects are reduced if adopted before 6 months
What are the negatives of Rutters study?
Romanian orphanages are not the standard world wide so cannot be generalised
Ethical issues-vulnerable children
What are the strengths of Rutters study?
Practical applications-Each child has a key worker and live in smaller groups
Fewer extraneous variables (abuse & neglect)
What Zeanah’s sample?
135 Romanian orphans
Aged 12-31 months
Spent 90% of their life in an institution
What was Zeanah’s procedure?
Orphans were compared to a control group who lived in a normal family
Attachment type was measured using strange situation
What was Zeanah’s findings?
74% of the control group were secure
19% of orphans were secure
The institutionalised children showed signs of disinhibited attachment
What are the negatives of Zeanah?
There is other factors, physical conditions of institutions are poor and had no cognitive stimulation
Who supports the internal working model?
Hazan and Shaver
What was Hazan and Shavers procedure?
Created a love questionnaire
Printed it in a local newspaper
Analysed 620 replies
Used Ainsworth’s attachment styles
What was the findings of Hazan and Shaver?
56%-Secure, believed love is enduring and less likely to get divorced
25%-Resistant, obsessive with extreme jealousy worry about abandonment
19%-Avoidant, fear intimacy but don’t feel they need love to be happy
What was the conclusion to Hazan and Shaver?
Your early attachment does affect/correlate to how you act in relationships
What are negatives about Hazan and Shaver?
Social desirability
Not a representative sample, from a local area
What are the positives about Hazan and Shaver?
Large sample = High reliability
What are economic implications of attachment?
Paternity leave, not contributing to the economy anymore
Gender pay gap maybe reduced if parents are seen as equal
What is disinhibited attachtment?
The child shows equal amount of love to strangers and caregivers
