Attachment! Flashcards
Define reciprocity:
Where an infant responds to the actions of another person.
Define interactional synchrony:
Where an infant mirrors the actions of another person in turns, such as their facial expressions and body movements.
Which psychologists suggested the importance of reciprocity in caregiver-infant interactions?
Feldman and Eidelman
What did Feldman and Eidelman suggest about the importance of reciprocity in caregiver-infant interactions?
- Babies have periodic ‘alert phases’ that signals they are ready for interaction
- Mothers pick up on this 2/3 times.
- Frequency increases from 3 months
- Focuses on verbal signals and facial expressions.
Which psychologists investigated the importance of interactional synchrony in caregiver-infant interactions?
Meltzoff and Moore
How did Meltzoff and Moore investigate the importance of interactional synchrony in caregiver-infant interactions?
- Argued that mother and infant interact in such ways that their actions and emotions mirror each other
- Observed infants observing their mother do 1 out of 3 distinctive actions e.g. frowning, sticking out tongue
- Positive correlation was found between mother and infants actions.
What did Isabella suggest about Meltzoff and Moore’s investigation into interactional synchrony?
Found that better synchrony was shown by infants who had high levels of attachment to their PCG
Name the three evaluation points for researching mother-infant interactions and are they a strength or limitation?
1) Controlled observations = strength
2) Unable to fully observe infants behaviour = limitation
3) Observation doesn’t tell us the purpose = limitation
Explain controlled observations as a strength for researching mother-infant interactions:
- Observations of mother-infant interactions are well controlled as both the mother and infant are being recorded from multiple angles meaning the research has good validity.
- Ensures very fine details of infants behaviour can be analysed.
- Infants behaviour will not change in response to controlled observations.
Explain unable to fully observe infants behaviour as a limitation for researching mother-infant interactions:
- When studying infants behaviour we cannot know for certain what is being observed purely based on hand movements or changes in expression.
- Cannot conclude that the behaviours seen in mother infant interactions have a special meaning.
Explain observations don’t tell us the purpose for researching mother-infant interactions.
- Observations of mother-infant interactions don’t tell us the purpose of synchrony and reciprocity
- Feldman states that synchrony simply describes behaviours that occur at the same time, but doesn’t have a clear purpose
What did Schaffer and Emerson suggest about parent-infant attachments?
- Most infants become attached to their mother first (7 months)
- Later form secondary attachment to other CGs
- By 18 months 75% infants formed secondary attachments to their fathers
What did grossman conclude about the role of the father in parent-infant attachment?
- Father attachment is less important than mother attachment
- Fathers typically adopt the role of play and stimulation
- Positive correlation between quality of fathers play and adolescent attachments
Which psychologist carried out research on fathers as primary caregivers?
Field
Explain the method of Field’s experiment into fathers as the primary caregiver:
Filmed 4 month old infants in face-face interactions with PCG mothers, PCG fathers and secondary CG fathers.
Explain the findings of Field’s experiment into fathers as the primary caregiver:
- PCG fathers and mothers spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants than the secondary CG fathers.
- Fathers can be the PCG; attachment is formed from the level of responsiveness not gender of PCG.
Name the 3 evaluation points for research completed into fathers as the primary caregiver and if they are a strength or a limitation:
1) Inconsistent findings on role of father = limitation
2) Why aren’t children without fathers different? = limitation
3) Why don’t fathers usually become the PCG = limitation
Explain ‘inconsistent findings on role of the father’ as a limitation for research into fathers as the primary caregiver:
- Different researchers are interested in different research questions
- Means psychologists cannot actually answer the question, “what is the role of the father?”
Explain ‘why aren’t children without father different?’ as a limitation for research into fathers as the primary caregiver:
- Grossman found that fathers as secondary attachment figures had an important role in their children’s development
- Other studies found that children growing up in single or same-sex parent families do not develop any differently.
- Suggests fathers role as a secondary attachment figure is not important.
Explain ‘why don’t fathers usually become the PCG?’ as a limitation for research into fathers as the primary caregiver:
- Traditional gender roles mean that women are expected to be more caring and nurturing than men- therefore fathers don’t feel as if they should act like this.
- Biologically it could be that female hormones create higher levels of nurturing, so women are biologically predisposed to be the PCG.
Explain the method of Schaffer and Emerson’s research into attachments in infancy:
- Observed 60 infants from Glasgow each month for a year then at 18 months
- Measured separation anxiety and stranger anxiety
Explain the findings of Schaffer and Emerson’s research into attachments in infancy:
- Found that around 7 months, 50% infants displayed separation/stranger anxiety
- Infants were most attached to the individual who was most responsive to their needs
- By 10 months 80% infants had multiple attachments
Name the three evaluation points for Schaffer and Emerson’s research into attachments in infancy and give if they are a strength or a weakness:
1) Ecological validity = strength
2) Longitudinal design = strength
3) Limited sample characteristics = limitation
Explain ecological validity as a strength for Schaffer and Emerson’s research into attachments in infancy:
- Carried out in families’ own homes and most of the observation was done by parents during ordinary activities
- Behaviour of the babies was unlikely to be affected by the presence of observers, so the participants behaved naturally while being observed.
Explain longitudinal design as a strength for Schaffer and Emerson’s research into attachments in infancy:
- Same children were followed up and observed regularly.
- Means the study had better internal validity as it does not have the confounding variables that a cross-sectional design would have.
According to Schaffer and Emerson how many stages of attachment are there?
4
Name the 4 stages of attachment in order:
- Asocial stage
- Indiscriminate stage
- Discriminate stage
- Multiple attachment stage
Explain stage 1 (asocial stage) of Schaffer and Emerson’s stages of attachment:
- 0 to 2 months
- Observable behaviour between infants and objects
- Infants have a preference for being with familiar people
Explain stage 2 (indiscriminate stage) of Schaffer and Emerson’s stages of attachment:
- 2 to 7 months
- Infants display more social behaviour
- Shows separation/stranger anxiety
- Will accept comfort from anyone
Explain stage 3 (discriminate stage) of Schaffer and Emerson’s stages of attachment:
- 7 to 12 months
- Show significant stranger anxiety, especially when not with attachment figure
- Have formed primary attachment
Explain stage 4 (multiple attachment stage) of Schaffer and Emerson’s stages of attachment:
- After 12 months
- Have multiple attachments
- Most infants have formed secondary attachments
Name the three evaluation points for Schaffer and Emerson’s stages of attachment and if they are a strength or limitation:
1) Problem studying asocial stage = limitation
2) Problem measuring multiple attachments = limitation
3) Conflicting evidence on multiple attachments = limitation
Explain problem studying asocial stage as a limitation for Schaffer and Emerson’s stages of attachment:
- At the asocial stage infants have poor coordination and are generally immobile.
- It is difficult to make judgements about infants based on observations of their behaviour.
Explain problem measuring multiple attachments as a limitation for Schaffer and Emerson’s stages of attachment:
- Just because an infant gets distressed when an individual leaves the room does not necessarily mean that the individual is an attachment figure.
- Bowlby states that children have attachment figures as well as playmates, in which infants may get distressed when they leave the room.
- Observation does not leave us with a way to distinguish between behaviour shown towards secondary attachment figures and between playmates.
Explain conflicting evidence on multiple attachments as a limitation for Schaffer and Emerson’s stages of attachment:
- Unclear when infants become capable of developing multiple attachments
- Bowlby states an infant will develop a primary attachment and then later attachments.
- In collectivist cultures where multiple caregivers are the norm, infants form multiple attachments from the start
Which psychologist carried out research into animal imprinting?
Lorenz
Explain Lorenz’s procedure of research into animal imprinting:
- Randomly divided a clutch of goose eggs
- Half of the eggs were returned to the mother goose and natural environment (control)
- Half of the eggs were hatched in an incubator where the first moving thing they saw was Lorenz
What were the findings of Lorenz’s research into animal imprinting?
- Control eggs followed mother goose, incubator eggs followed Lorenz
- When the 2 groups were mixed the hatchlings divided into their original groups
- Lorenz concluded that the birds attached to the first moving thing they saw within the critical period.
Which psychologist carried out research into animal sexual imprinting?
Lorenz
Explain the procedure and findings of Lorenz’s research into animal sexual imprinting:
- Hatchling peacock saw a giant tortoise as its first moving thing
- Adult peacock would only display courtship behaviour towards giant tortoises.
- Concluded the peacock had undergone sexual imprinting
What are the 3 evaluation points for Lorenz’s research into animal imprinting and state if they are a strength or limitation:
1) High external validity = strength
2) Cannot generalise to humans = limitation
3) Questionable observations = limitation
Explain high external validity as a strength for Lorenz’s research into animal imprinting:
- The experiment was highly controlled, increasing replicability and reliability.
- High control and external validity, establishing cause and effect.
Explain cannot generalise to humans as a limitation for Lorenz’s research into animal imprinting:
- Not appropriate to generalise findings from birds onto humans.
- Research shows that mammalian mothers show more emotional attachment to young than birds do
Explain questionable observations as a limitation for Lorenz’s research into animal imprinting:
- Researchers have questioned some of Lorenz’s conclusions.
- Guiton found that chickens who imprinted on a yellow sponge would try to mate with it as adults, but would eventually learn to prefer mating with chickens
- Suggests the impact of imprinting on mating behaviour is not as permanent as Lorenz believed.
What psychologist done research on the importance of contact comfort?
Harlow
Explain the method of Harlow’s research into the importance of contact comfort:
- Reared 16 baby monkeys with 2 wire model mothers
- 1 mother dispensed milk, 1 mother was covered in cloth
- Monkey was frightened
Explain the findings of Harlow’s research into the importance of contact comfort:
- When distressed the monkey sought contact comfort from the cuddled cloth-covered mother over milk-dispensing wire mother
- Concluded that contact comfort is more important than food in attachment
Explain Harlow’s research and findings into maternally deprived monkeys as adults:
- Followed monkeys who had been deprived of a real mother until adulthood.
- Found monkeys who were reared with the wire mother were more dysfunctional, aggressive and less social than monkeys reared with cloth-covered mother.
- Wire mother monkeys were unskilled at mating so bred less, showing behaviour of neglecting their young.
What did Harlow suggest about the critical period for attachment in his monkey study?
- Attachment must form within 90 days
- After this attachment is impossible and damage done by early deprivation is irreversible
Name the 3 evaluation points for Harlow’s research on the importance of contact comfort and state if they are a strength or a limitation:
1) Real life application = strength
2) Theoretical value = strength
3) Ethical issues = limitation
Explain real life application as a strength for Harlow’s research on the importance of contact comfort:
- Important applications in a range of practical contexts.
- Helps social workers understand risk factors in child neglect and abuse, and so to intervene to prevent it.
- Understand the importance of proper attachment figures for baby monkeys in zoos and breeding programmes.
Explain theoretical value as a strength for Harlow’s research on the importance of contact comfort:
- Deepend psychologists understanding of human mother-infant attachment.
- Shows that attachment does not develop as a result of being fed but as a result of contact comfort.
- Shows the importance of the quality of childhood attachments for later social development and the ability to maintain adult relationships and successfully rear children.
Explain ethical issues as a limitation for Harlow’s research on the importance of contact comfort
- Received severe criticism for the ethics of his research.
- The monkeys suffered greatly because of his research. As the species is similar enough to generalise findings, it is also presumed that the suffering they experienced was quite human-like
- Harlow himself referred to the wire monkeys as ‘iron maidens’.
What type of approach is the learning theory of attachment?
Behaviourist.
Which two process explains the learning theory of attachment and the maintance of developed behaviour?
- Classical conditioning
- Operant conditioning
Explain how babies associate their mother with pleasure through the learning theory of attachment
- Milk (unconditioned stimulus) = Pleasure (unconditioned response)
- Mother (neutral stimulus) = No conditioned response
- Milk (unconditioned stimulus) + Mother (neutral stimulus) = Pleasure (unconditioned response)
- Mother (conditioned stimulus) = Pleasure (conditioned response)
What is classical conditioning?
Learning through association.
What is operant conditioning?
The maintance of learnt behaviour through positive and negative consequences.
Explain how operant conditioning reinforces learnt behaviour for milk from their mother:
- Hungry infant will cry as it is distressed.
- Infant is positively reinforced for crying through being fed- association is made between crying and being fed.
- Attachment is developed between mother and infant.
- Caregiver is negatively reinforced as feeding the infant stops it from its unpleasant crying.
Name the three evaluation points for the learning theory of attachment and state if they are a strength or limitation:
1) Contradicting evidence (Schaffer and Emerson) = limitation
2) Contracting evidence (Harlow) = limitation
3) Contradicting evidence (Lorenz) = limitation
Explain contradicting evidence (Schaffer and Emerson) as a limitation for the learning theory of attachment:
- Schaffer and Emerson found that infants developed a primary attachment to their biological mother even though others did most of the feeding.
- Ignores other factors that create attachments e.g. reciprocity and interactional synchrony.
Explain contradicting evidence (Harlow) as a limitation for the learning theory of attachment:
- Harlow found that when distressed, monkeys preferred the cloth covered mother over the milk-dispensing mother.
- Suggests that contact comfort is more important in attachment than food.
Evaluate the learning theory of attachment (2 points):
1) Schaffer and Emerson - babies developed a primary attachment to their biological mother even though others did most of the feeding
2) Harlow - Distressed monkey went to the cloth-covered monkey over the milk-dispensing mother for comfort
- Lorenx
Explain contradicting evidence (Lorenz) as a limitation for the learning theory of attachment:
- Lorenz found that the geese imprinted on the first moving thing that they saw.
- Goes against LTOA as attachment is instantaneous and is not through classical and operant conditioning.
Define law of continuity:
The idea that the constant and predictable care of a child will lead to better quality attachment.
Define law of accumulated separation:
The idea that the effects of any separation add up and reduce the quality of attachment.
Using the acronym, magic scissors cut ice, name the 4 main points of Bowlby’s theory of attachment:
M = Monotropy
S = Social releasers
C = Critical period
I = Internal working model
What is monotropy?
The idea that a special attachment bond is formed with one person, usually the mother.
What are social releasers?
Behaviours that infants are biologically pre-programmed to do, which attract the attention of their mother, such as cooing and smiling.
What did Bowlby mean by the critical period in humans?
If a child doesn’t form an attachment by the age of two, then an attachment will never form.
What is meant by the internal working model?
Our mental model about how relationships work based on our relationship with our caregiver.
Name the 3 evaluation points for Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment and state if they are a strength or a limitation:
1) Internal working model is valid = strength
2) Controversial statements = limitation
3) Critical period is over emphasised = limitation
Explain internal working model is valid as a strength for Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment:
- Bailey assessed attachment in 99 mothers and their infants by measuring the mothers attachment to their own mother and to their infants.
- Found that mothers with poor attachments to their own parents were more likely to have poorly attached infants.
