attachment Flashcards
define reciprocity
a two way mutual process where two parties respond to each other to sustain interaction - turn taking
what did Meltzof and Moore investigate and what did they find out
investigated caregiver and infant interactions. they used three behaviours shown to the baby by their primary care giver and a stranger the baby wouldn’t know
- they found that babies showed reciprocity from 12 days old providing evidence that there is a biological drive to having an attachment
what occurred in the Tronick still faced experiment and what does this tell us about reciprocity
a mother and baby were copying each others behaviours until the mother stopped, when this occurred the baby gradually became more distressed. it shows how important reciprocity is and how much anxiety it can cause when it is taken away
define interactional synchrony
from around three months old, adults and babies will respond in time to sustain communication. the baby and the primary care giver mirror each others behaviour in time.
what are the issues with studying infants
- can’t give consent
- it can be socially sensitive
- they can’t withdraw information
- they are susceptible to harm depending on observation
- can’t do experiments or gain self report data
- only do observations but even then inferences need to be made
define socially sensitive
where something may become unethical or cause controversy or potential negative consequences later on in life
briefly explain the method and results of Schaffer and Emerson’s study into the stages of attachments
method - 60 babies from working class background in Glasgow. The babies and their mothers were visited every month for the first year and again at 18 months. the mother was asked questions about stranger anxiety and separation anxiety to measure the infants attachment.
findings - between 25-30 weeks 50% of babies showed signs of separations anxiety. by 40 weeks 80% or babies had a specific attachment and 30% had multiple attachments
what are the four stages of attachments according to Schaffer and Emerson
asocial, indiscriminate attachment, specific attachment, multiple attachment
what is the age and give a brief description of the attachment stage asocial according to Schaffer and Emerson
first few weeks
- includes attention seeking behaviours such as smiling and crying that isn’t directed toward anyone in particular suggesting attachments can be made with anyone
what is the age and give a brief description of the attachment stage indiscriminate attachment according to Schaffer and Emerson
up to around 7 months
- seeks attention from anyone but preferences are shown toward familiar faces, there is not really any separation or stranger anxiety
what is the age and give a brief description of the attachment stage specific attachment according to Schaffer and Emerson
around 7-11 months
- start to develop specific attachments staying close to particular people and being distressed when not near them. they will avoid unfamiliar people.
what is the age and give a brief description of the attachment stage multiple attachment according to Schaffer and Emerson
above 11 months
- start to extend their behaviour to more than one person and forming multiple attachments with other adults, they can vary in strength.
give four evaluation points for Schaffer and Emerson’s theory of the stages of attachments
- there is research to back it up
- it challenges the monotropy theory
- practical application
- flawed research
- not universal - individual differences
give four evaluation points for Schaffer and Emerson’s theory of the stages of attachments
- high ecological validity - naturalistic observations in homes = reflecting real life behaviours
- practical application
- challenges monotropy
- not generalisable
- may be difficult to establish cause and effect
what are other infant behaviours other than reciprocity and interactional synchrony that may provide evidence that they have an attachment
when away from attachment
- crying
- proximity seeking (reaching out)
- crawling
- showing comfort behaviours
when with attachment
- proximity seeking
- calm, relaxed, sleeping
what are the 3 main roles of a dad
- play
- to be the primary care giver
- to be the secondary care giver
what are the two theories about infant attachments
The learning theory of attachment
Bowlby’s monotropic theory
what is the main principle of the learning theory and link it to attachment
- all behaviours are learnt through the environment and are a result of nurture and not nature
That baby isn’t attached to mum when first born and the bond forms through the babies attachment to food
explain how an attachment to mum forms according to the learning theory of attachment
the baby is attached to food, mum is the neutral stimuli and at first generates no response. food is the unconditioned stimuli that generates joy, joy is the unconditioned response. due to food being supplied from mum an unconditioned response of joy is given. eventually mum becomes a conditioned stimulus creating a conditioned response of joy
how does an attachment between baby and mum continue - there are two key words
positive reinforcement - through getting cuddles and attention
punishment - through baby crying
what is evolutionary discontinuity
the idea that just because something is learnt through an animal it doesn’t mean it can be applied to humans
what is the theory Lorenz bought about
the theory of imprinting
what is the theory of imprinting bought about by Lorenz
an innate process where animals form an attachment with the first living, moving thing they see. they use this attachment to build an understanding of all future attachments
what research did Lorenz do exploring this theory of imprinting
in a lab experiment he divided up goose eggs with half hatching with their mother and the other half in an incubator where the first living moving thing they saw was Lorenz
what where the findings of Lorenz’s research into the theory of imprinting
the control group hatched by their mother followed her around and the experimental group followed Lorenz. even when the two groups where mixed they still followed the original.
what is the main principle of Bowlby’s monotropic theory
the idea that you are born with an innate desire to form an attachment with mum. a baby is biologically attached to mum
what is a monotropic bond
the first attachment a child makes, there is an innate desire to develop the attachment with the mother not the feeder
what are the two ‘laws’ that the quality of a monotropic bond is based on
- the law of accumulated separation
- the law of continuity
what is the law of accumulated separation according to Bowlby
the amount of time spent apart from the primary care giver adds up, if too much time is spent away it can become damaging for baby
what is the law of continuity according to Bowlby
a healthy attachment is one that stays the same and have no rapid changes in emotional response
what is the critical period according to Bowlby
- the time where a baby is more likely to develop their monotropic attachment
- this time is between 6 months to 2 and 1/2 years
what happens if a child doesn’t form an attachment within the critical period
they will be unable to develop attachments for the rest of their life
define privation
a child without a monotropic bond
what is a social releaser
innate cute behaviours such as having a high pitched laugh that are evolved to encourage an attachment. it means the primary caregiver wants to spend more time with them encouraging an attachment to form
what is the internal working model and how is it linked to monotropic bonds
a mental representation of how a relationship should be. monotropic bonds help form these. it is used to develop a set of expectations about the future and what the ‘normal’ amount of love and attention is.
define Alpha bias
something that exaggerates the differences between genders
define Beta bias
the assumption that one piece of research can be generalised to both genders
give two advantages of Bowlby’s monotropic theory
- ## there is real life application, allows for maternity leave
give two disadvantages of Bowlby’s monotropic theory
- socially sensitive toward mum as it puts unrealistic pressure and blame on mum
- Alpha bias - it is dragging apart the difference between men and women
who completed a study into the idea of forming a monotropic attachment using comfort contact
Harlow
what was the procedure of Harlow’s experiment into comfort contact
he had 16 rhesus monkeys and used two wire models of mothers. one condition was that the wire monkey was providing food and the other was that the wire monkey was covered in cloth
what where the findings of Harlow’s experiment into comfort contact
baby monkeys cuddled to the cloth monkey more and only went to the wire monkey for food. when the baby monkeys where scared they wanted contact and comfort from the cloth monkey. this shows that contact comfort is more important to the monkeys than food
what is Ainsworth’s care giver sensitivity hypothesis
- a babies attachment type depends on how sensitive and responsive the mother is.
- a sensitive and responsive mother can produce a healthy and secure attachment in a baby
- too sensitive and not sensitive enough can cause a baby to develop unhealthy attachments
what are the three types of attachments a baby can create
- secure attachment
- an insecure avoidance attachment
- an insecure resistant attachment
define proximity seeking
a behaviour a child will show when it has a secure attachment - wanting to be close to the primary caregiver
define stranger anxiety
doesn’t like the idea of strangers
define separation anxiety
doesn’t like the idea of being away from the primary caregiver
define reunion behaviour
how the baby will act after being separated from their primary care giver
define secure base
weather the baby uses the primary care giver as a secure place they can return to after going off and exploring
what is a secure attachment and explain how separation anxiety, stranger anxiety, proximity seeking, reunion behaviour and secure base presents itself in a baby with a secure attachment
- a mother will show the appropriate level of responsiveness and sensitivity. This is the healthiest and most common attachment
- the baby will be anxious about being separated from mum and may cry
- the baby will be anxious around strangers and may cry
- baby wants to be close to mum and will resist separation
- baby will be happy when mum returns and may cuddle
- baby will explore the room and return to mum as a safe place
what is an insecure avoidant attachment and explain how separation anxiety, stranger anxiety, proximity seeking, reunion behaviour and secure base presents itself in a baby with this attachment
- a mother is distant and less sensitive, the baby will be independent and less emotionally available or needy
- no separation anxiety, unconcerned about being separated
- no stranger anxiety, baby unbothered about strangers
- the baby doesn’t need to be close to mum
- the baby will show no reunion behaviour and shows little concern about mum leaving
- baby explores the room and doesn’t use mum as a base at al
what is an insecure resistant attachment and explain how separation anxiety, stranger anxiety, proximity seeking, reunion behaviour and secure base presents itself in a baby with this attachment
- mother is clingy and overly sensitive to baby, the baby will resist separation
- massive amounts of separation anxiety and baby will show distress and panic when separated
- massive amounts of stranger anxiety and distress around strangers
- wants to be close to mum constantly
- baby shows distrust at reunion and feel betrayed at the separation
- baby doesn’t explore the room and stays close to mum
what was the sample and type of experiment used in Ainsworths strange situation experiment
- 100 middle class infants and their mums
- a covert observation in a lab
what were the 7 stages of Ainsworths strange situation and what type of behaviour was each stage testing
- child is encouraged to explore the room - secure base
- stranger enters and attempts to interact with the baby - stranger anxiety
- mum leaves whilst stranger is still present - separation and stranger anxiety
- mother returns and stranger leaves - reunion behaviour
- mother leaves - separation anxiety
- stranger returns - stranger anxiety
- mother returns and interacts with child - reunion behaviour
what is Bowlby’s deprivation theory
- explains the consequences of bond breaking
- this occurs when there is prolonged separation (6 months to 2 years) in the critical period with the monotropic figure
- it can cause life long consequences with future attachment
what are the three things that breaking a monotropic bond may lead to and define them
less intelligence - lower IQ
reduced development - shorter and less developed also known as deprivation dwarfism
- affectionless psychopathy - struggle to feel guilt or remorse
what is the sample of the 44 thieve study and what did they do
there were a group of 44 thieves and 44 non thieves in a delinquency centre. they collected date through interviews and questionnaires
what were the findings of the 44 thieves study
17/44 thieves had experienced early prolonged separation from their mothers
15/17 of these thieves were classified as affection less psychopaths
2/44 non thieves experienced separation
give two positives and two negatives about the 44 thieves study
- practical application - allows new mum to understand how important the critical period is
- have parental consent as they were involved in interviews - ethical
- social sensitive
- cant generalise
explain the aim and procedure of Lizendoorn and Kroonberg’s research into cultural variations in attachment
- wanted to understand the proportions of secure, avoidant and resistant attachments across a range of countries
- used meta analysis to combine the findings from a 32 pre-existing strange situation studies across 8 countries. there were 1990 participants
what were the findings of Lizendoor and Kroonberg’s research into cultural variations in attachments
- secure attachments were the most common ( 57% Germany, 75% GB)
- variation within culture is bigger than variations between cultures
- they understood that there are two types of culture
according to Lizendoor and Kroonberg’s findings, what are the two types of culture and the types of attachments that are most common within them
individualistic culture - avoidant attachment - Germany and the UK
collectivist culture - resistant attachment - Japan
define privation
when a monotropic bond doesn’t develop
define institutionalisation
refers to the effects on an individual of being raised in a non family setting
explain the procedure of Rutter’s orphans research into institutionalisation
165 orphans were adopted in the uk, once they were adopted they were visited by Rutter at 4, 6, 10 and 16 years old. each time they were given an IQ test to measure their intelligence, a test of their emotional attachment and a physical test
explain the findings of Rutter’s research into
the results of the children were split into three groups, those adopted before 6 months, those adopted between 6 months and 2 years and those adopted after 2 years
- they found the average IQ decreased the later the child was adopted 102 - 77
- many children who didn’t have a secure attachment and were adopted after two years had a uninhibited attachments
what is a uninhibited attachments
an effect of spending time in insutionalisation, children will be friendly toward anyone, having no stranger anxiety which is abnormal for a child of two years
give two positives and two negatives of Rutter’s research into institutionalisation
- not generalisable - institutions are a completely different environment, it may be the impact of early trauma
- practical application - understanding importance of critical period and for adoptive parents- socially sensitive
- cause and effect is difficult to establish
- had parental consent
how may a future relationship look for someone who had a secure, avoidant and resistant attachment
- healthy, loving, able to be close to their partner but also be able to spend time apart
- needs distance, may not be as affectionate, more independence
- needs constant reassurance, comforting, doesn’t want to be apart, have separation anxiety and may be clingy
what was the procedure for Hazen and Shavers research into future relationships
had 620 replies to a love quiz printed in an American newspaper, the quiz asked questions in three sections, about the respondents current relationship, their general love experiences such as number of partners and their attachment types
what were some findings of Hazen and Shavers research into future relationships
- 56% of participants were securely attached and had loving and long lasting relationships
- 25% had insecure avoidant attachments
- 19% had insecure resistant attachments
the insecure attachment types tended to be jealous and have a fear of intimacy
give two advantages and two disadvantages of Hazen and Shavers research into future relationships
- practical application - supporting partners counselling
- reliable - questionnaires are repeatable and standardised
-large sample size = able to understand correlation - socially sensitive - blames mum
- not generalisable - volunteer from the same newspaper meaning they are someone who reads the magazine
- social desirability - invasive questions - less valid
