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ATTACHMENT Flashcards

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1
Q

What is attachment?

A

An emotional bond between two people. A two-way process that endures over time. It leads to certain behaviours such as clinging and proximity-seeking

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2
Q

What is reciprocity?

A

Reciprocity is achieved when an infant and caregiver respond to and produce responses from each other (two way process).

e.g. a caregiver responds to a baby’s smile by saying something, and then the baby responds by making some sounds of pleasure

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3
Q

What is interactional synchrony?

A

Meltzoff and Moore (1977)
When a caregiver and infant mirror both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a co-ordinated (synchronised) way

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4
Q

Outline one study of infant-caregiver interactions

A

Meltzoff and Moore (1977) conducted a study of interactional synchrony and found that infants as young as two to three weeks old imitated specific facial and hand gestures

Isabella et al. (1989) observed 30 month old (and over) infants to assess degree of synchrony
^— increased synchrony = increased quality of mother-infant attachment

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5
Q

Define multiple attachment

A

Having more than one attachment figure. In Schaffer and Emerson’s (1964) stages of attachment, this happens from the age of 1 year old and over

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6
Q

What is separation anxiety?

A

The distress shown by an infant when separated from their caregiver. This is not necessarily the child’s biological mother

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7
Q

What is stranger anxiety?

A

The distress shown by an infant when approached or picked up by someone who is unfamiliar

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8
Q

Describe one study that investigated the development of attachments.

A
  • Schaffer and Emerson (1964) conducted a study on the development of attachments
  • Participants were 60 infants from mainly working-class homes in Glasgow
  • These infants were studied until the age of one year old
  • The mothers were visited every four weeks and reported on their infant’s response to separation and strangers
  • From this, Schaffer and Emerson discovered four stages of attachment: Asocial stage, Indiscriminate attachment, Specific attachment, Multiple attachments
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9
Q

Explain the asocial stage of attachment.

A

Birth - 2 months
Infants produce a similar response to all objects - inanimate or animate

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10
Q

Explain the indiscriminate attachment stage of attachment

A

2 months - 7 months
Infants begin to prefer human company to inanimate objects. No strong preferences for people (maybe those who are familiar)

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11
Q

Explain the specific attachment stage of attachment

A

7 months - 1 year
Infants begin to show separation anxiety and stranger anxiety
They show special joy at the presence of a particular person, their primary attachment figure (doesn’t have to be biological mother)

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12
Q

Explain the multiple attachments stage of attachment

A

1 year+
Infants begin to form a wider circle of multiple attachments
Schaffer: “within the first month of being attached, 29% of infants had formed multiple attachments with someone else”

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13
Q

Explain Schaffer and Emerson’s (1964) findings about the role of the father

A
  • Found most babies became attached to mother at 7 months
  • In 3% of cases, father was first attachment figure
  • 18 months, 75% of babies were attached to father + showed separation anxiety
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14
Q

Explain Grossman’s (2002) experiment about the role of the father

A
  • Carried out longitudinal study on both parents’ behaviours + relationship to quality of children’s attach,ent in teens
  • Quality of infant attachment w/ mother but NOT father related to attachment in adolescence - suggests father not important
  • HOWEVER quality of father’s play with infants related to quality of adolescent attachments
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15
Q

Explain Field’s (1978) experiment about the role of the father

A
  • Filmed 4 month old babies in face-to-face interactions w/ primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers, and primary caregiver fathers
  • Fathers played more and held baby less
  • Primary caregiver fathers and mothers engaged in more smiling and imitative grimaces than secondary caregiver fathers
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16
Q

Outline Lorenz’s study of attachment

A
  • Lorenz (1935) took a clutch of greylag gosling eggs and divided them into two groups: one was left with their natural mother while the other was placed in an incubator
  • When incubator eggs hatched, the first living (moving) thing they saw was Lorenz + they soon started following him around
  • They had imprinted on him. To test this, he marked the two groups and placed them together. Both Lorenz and their natural mother were present
  • He found that the gosling divided themselves up, one group following their natural mother and the other following Lorenz (Lorenz’s brood showed no recognition of their natural mother
  • Lorenz noted that imprinting is restricted to a very definite period of the young animal’s life (critical period)
    ^— if young animal not exposed to moving object during this period, the animal will not imprint
  • observed imprinting to humans doesn’t occur in some animals
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17
Q

Define imprinting

A

An innate readiness to develop a strong bond with the mother which takes place during a specific time in development, probably the first few hours after birth/hatching. If it doesn’t happen during this critical period it probably will not happen

18
Q

Outline Harlow’s animal study of attachment

A

Harlow (1959) carried out a study on infant attachments. He removed infant rhesus monkeys from their mothers soon after birth and placed in a cage with two monkey effigies
- One was a ‘wire mother’ with a feeding tube for the infant, and the other was a ‘cloth mother’ covered in cloth to provide warmth, but had no feeding tube
- During the time that the monkeys were with the mother models, it was observed they they spent significantly more time with the cloth mother, reluctantly feeding from the wire mother when necessary, but moving back for the warmth of the cloth mother

  • When frightened, or playing either new toys, the monkeys remained close to the cloth mother (clinging to it or keeping one foot on it), seemingly for reassurance
  • suggests that infants do not develop an attachment to the person who feeds them but to the person offering contact comfort
19
Q

Describe the long-lasting effects of Harlow’s (1959) study

A
  • Motherless monkeys (even those who had contact comfort) developed abnormally: they froze or fled when approached by other monkeys (socially abnormal), they did not show normal mating behaviour and did not cradle their own babies (sexually abnormal) and were aggressive
  • Found a critical period of 3 months (90 days)
    ^— motherless monkeys could recover before the 90 days
    ^— more than six months with only a wire mother was not something they could recover from
20
Q

Define learning theory

A

The name given to a group of explanations (classical and operant conditioning) which explain behaviour in terms of learning rather than any inborn tendencies or higher order thinking)

21
Q

Explain then development of attachment using learning theory

A

CLASSICAL
- begins with an innate stimulus-response (for attachment it’s food which produces the innate response of pleasure
- Food is a UCS and pleasure in a UCR
- During an infant’s early weeks, certain things get associated with food because they are present when the infant is fed (e.g. mother, the chair she sits in during feeding or sounds - NS)
- If an NS is consistently present when feeding (UCS), it takes on the properties of the UCS and will produce the same response, becoming the CS which produces a CR
- Here, the person feeding the infant becomes the CS, producing the CR of pleasure from the infant

OPERANT
- When an infant is fed, the drive is reduced, producing a feeling of pleasure - this is rewarding (NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT)
- The behaviour that led to being fed is likely to be repeated because it was rewarding. Food becomes a primary reinforcer

SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
- Children observe their parents’ affectionate behaviour and imitate this
- Parents also deliberately instruct children about how to behave in relationships and reward appropriate attachment behaviours such as kissing and hugs

22
Q

Define monotropy

A

The idea that the one relationship that the infant has with their primary attachment figure is of special significance in emotional development

23
Q

What is the critical period?

A

The biologically determined period of time within which an attachment must form if it is to form at all. Lorenz and Harlow noted that attachment in birds and monkeys had critical periods. Bowlby extended the idea to humans, proposing that human infants have a similar period after which it will be much more difficult to form ab attachment

24
Q

Outline Bowbly’s monotropic theory of attachment

A
  • Bowlby (1969) stated that attachment behaviour evolved because it serves an important survival function - an infant who is not attached is less well protected (distant infant ancestors)
  • Attachments must be formed in two directions so mothers ensure their infants are cared for and survive
  • During an infant’s critical period (about 2 years), attachments are determined by sensitivity (says Bowlby)
  • Influenced by Mary Ainsworth who observed mothers and stated infants more strongly attached were that way due to mothers being more responsive, cooperative and accessible
  • Social releasers are important during the critical period (e.g. smiling and having a baby face) as they elicit caregiving
25
Q

What are social releasers?

A

Social behaviours or characteristics that elicit caregiving and lead to attachment

26
Q

What is an internal working model?

A

A mental model of the worlds which enables individuals to predict and control their environment. In attachment, relates to a person’s expectations in a relationship

  • In the short term it gives the child insight into the caregiver’s behaviour and enables them the child to influence the caregiver;s behaviour so the true partnership can be formed
  • In the long term, acts as a template for all future relationships because it generates expectations about what intimate, loving relationships are like
27
Q

What is the continuity hypothesis?

A

The idea that emotionally secure infants go on to be emotional secure, trusting and socially confident adults

28
Q

What is the strange situation?

A

A controlled observation designed to test attachment security

29
Q

Outline the Strange Situation procedure.

A
  • Consists of 8 episodes, each designed to highlight certain behaviours. The key feature of these episodes is that the caregiver and stranger alternately stay with the infant or leave. Enables observations of infant’s response to: separation from caregiver (separation anxiety), reunion with caregiver (reunion behaviour), response to stranger (stranger anxiety), the novel environment (which aims to encourage colouration and tests the secure base concept)
  • Combined data from several studies to make 106 middle-class infants observed in the strange situation
  • Found three main patterns of behaviour: Secure attachment (Type B), Insecure-avoidant (Type A), Insecure-resistant (Type C)
30
Q

What were the 8 episodes in the strange situation?

A

All last about 3 minutes
- Parent and infant play
- Parent sits while infant plays (PARENT AS SECURE BASE)
- Strange enters and talks to parent (STRANGER ANXIETY)
- Parent leaves, infant plays, stranger offers comfort if needed (SEPARATION ANXIETY)
- Parent returns, greets infants offers comfort if needed, stranger leaves (REUNION BEHAVIOUR)
- parent leaves, infant alone (SEPARATION ANXIETY)
- Stranger enters and offers comfort (STRANGER ANXIETY)
- Parent returns, greets infant, offers comfort (REUNION BEHAVIOUR)

31
Q

What is the secure attachment type (TYPE B)?

A

Strong and contented attachment of an infant to their caregiver. Develops due to sensitive responding by the caregiver to the infant’s needs

WILLINGNESS TO EXPLORE - High
STRANGER ANXIETY - Moderate
SEPARATION ANXIETY - Some easy to soothe
REUNION BEHAVIOUR - Enthusastic
PERCENT IN CHILDREN - 66%

32
Q

What is the insecure-avoidant attachment type (TYPE A)?

A

A type of attachment which describes those children who tend to avoid social interactions and intimacy with others

WILLINGNESS TO EXPLORE - High
STRANGER ANXIETY - Low
SEPARATION ANXIETY - Indifferent
REUNION BEHAVIOUR - Avoids contact
PERCENT IN CHILDREN - 12%

33
Q

What is the insecure-resistant attachment type (TYPE C)?

A

A type of attachment which describes those infants who both seek and reject intimacy and social interaction (resist)

WILLINGNESS TO EXPLORE - Low
STRANGER ANXIETY - High
SEPARATION ANXIETY - Distressed
REUNION BEHAVIOUR - Seeks + rejects
PERCENT IN CHILDREN - 12%

34
Q

What are cultural variations?

A

The ways that different groups of people vary in terms of their social practices, and the effects these practices have on development and behaviour

35
Q

Describe research by van IJzendoorn on cultural variations in attachment.

A
  • Van IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1989) conducted a meta-analysis of three findings from 32 studies of attachment behaviour. Examined over 2000 Strange Situation classifications in 8 different countries
  • Were interested to see whether there would be evidence that inter-cultural differences did exist (differences between different cultures) and intra-cultural differences (differences within the same culture)
  • Secure attachment was most common in every country
  • Insecure-avoidant was next most common in every country except Israel and Japan (both classed as collectivist at the time)
  • Concluded that the global pattern across cultures was similar to those in the US. Secure attachment isn’t he norm, and supports that it’s the best for healthy social and emotional development

Grossmann and Grossmann (1991) found higher levels of insecure attachment among German infants than other cultures (Diff childbearing practices)
Takahashi (1990) used Strange Situation on 60 middle class Japanese infants. Secure attachment similar to Ainsworth, but no insecure-avoidant and 32% insecure-resistant (in Japan, infants are rarely separated from mothers)

36
Q

Explain what is meant by maternal deprivation

A
  • The psychological and intellectual consequences of separation between a child and their mother or mother substitute. Bowlby proposed that continuous care from a mother is essential for normal emotional development, and that prolonged separation from this adult causes serious damage to emotional and intellectual development
  • First 30 months (2.5 years) is critical period
  • Goldfarb (1947) found lower IQ in children who were in orphanages as opposed to those who were fostered

Bowlby (1951)

37
Q

Describe the 44 thieves study

A
  • Bowlby (1944) analysed the case studies of a number of his patients. 44 of the 88 had been caught stealing and the others were a control group
  • Suggested some of the thieves were affectionless psychopaths (14) - lacking normal signs of affection, shame or sense of responsibility
  • Found that those diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths had experiences frequent early separations from their mothers - 86% (12 out of 14) compared with 17% (5 out of 30) of the other thieves
  • Almost none of the control group as experienced early separations
  • 39% of all thieves had experiences early separations
38
Q

Outline one study of Romanian orphans. Include details of what the researcher(s) did and what they found

A
  • Rutter and Sonuga-Barke (2010) followed 165 Romanian children from the 1990s who spent their early lives in Romanian institutions + thus suffered from the effects of institutionalisation (111 were adopted before age 2 + 54 adopted by age 4)
  • Adoptees tested at regular intervals (ages 4, 6, 11 and 15) to assess physical, cognitive and social development
    ^— compared to control group of 52 British children adopted in the UK before age of 6 months
  • At adoption, Rohan’s lagged behind British counterparts on all developmental measures
  • At age 4, those adopted before 6 months had caught up to British counterparts
  • Significant deficits remain in a substantial minority of individuals who experiences institutional care to beyond age 6
    ^— many adopted after 6 months displayed disinhibited attachments and had problems with peer relationships
  • Long-term consequences may be less severe if children have opportunity to form attachments
39
Q

Outline the effects of institutionalisation

A
  • Physical underdevelopment - Orphans are usually physically small
  • Intellectual underfunctioning - Cognitive development is affected by emotional deprivation
  • Disinhibited attachment - A form of insecure attachment where children do not discriminate between people they choose as attachment figures. Children will treat near-stranger with inappropriate familiarity and may be attention seeking
  • Poor parenting - Harlow (1959) showed that the rhesus monkeys went on to become poor parents. Quinton et al (1984) compared a group of 50 women who had been reared in institutions with a control group of 50 women reared at home. In their 20s, the institutional women had difficulties acting as parents
40
Q

Outline one study of the influence if early attachment on childhood and adult relationships

A
  • Hazan and Shaver (1987) placed a ‘Love Quiz’ in the Rocky Mountain News. Asked questions about current attachment experiences and about attachment history to identify current and childhood attachment types. Asked questions about attitudes towards love, an assessment of the internal working model
  • Analysed 620 responses: 205 from men and 415 from women
  • Prevalence in attachment styles was similar to infancy: 56% as secure, 25% as avoidant and 19% as resistant
  • Found positive correlation between attachment type and love experiences
  • Secure: love experiences were happy, friendly and trusting. Long-lasting and could accept their partner despite faults

Psychology (16 decks)

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