attachment Flashcards
learning theory of attachment- cupboard love- classical conditioning
- food causes the natural response of please
- the mother is always present with the food
- after several repetitions, baby associates mother with food
- once this happens the mother begins to have the same effect of pleasure on the baby- at this point they’ve become conditioned
operant conditioning- learning theory of attachment- cupboard love
positive- crying leads to response, infant receives positive reinforcement- after repetition, the infant learns to direct their crying towards their caregiver
negative- the noise of an infant crying is unpleasant to a caregiver, through comfort the caregiver aims to stop the infant from crying- therefore the act of providing comfort is negatively reinforced as it removes the unpleasant stimuli of an infant crying
learning theory of attachment- cupboard love- drive reduction
primary drives- biological needs such as food, water warmth etc
secondary drives- our need for things that help us achieve our primary drives eg. money to get food
sears et al- drive reduction theory applied to attachment
-food acts as the primary drive for the infant
- the secondary drive becomes the attachment to the caregiver, who gives the infant access to food
Mary Ainsworth- the strange situation- aim
to investigate the security of attachment in 1-2 year olds using the strange situation paradigm
Ainsworth- the strange situation- what type of experiment was it?
controlled overt observation
Ainswoth- the strange situation- procedure
1- caregiver and baby enter, caregiver sits and reads a magazine, baby is placed on the floor to play/explore
2- stranger enters and attempts to play with the infant
3- caregiver leaves, infant and stranger are now alone, if the child becomes upset the stranger will attempt to comfort
4-mother returns, stranger leaves
5-mother leaves infant is alone
6-stranger enters, attempts to play with/ comfort the infant
7- mother returns, stranger leaves
Ainsworth- the strange situation- findings
secure attachment- 66%
insecure avoidant attachment- 22%
insecure resistant attachment- 12%
Ainsworth the strange situation findings- secure attachment
-66%
- infant has a harmonious and cooperative relationship with their primary attachment
- separation anxiety- less likely to have, would cry after prolonged separation
- reunion behaviour: would seek close bodily contact with their primary attachment and be quickly soothed
-secure base-happy to explore and engage in social interaction whilst using their primary attachment as a secure base
-stranger anxiety- high anxiety when alone however friendly when mother is present
Ainsworth the stranger situation findings- insecure avoidant attachment
- 22%
- avoidant/ anxious of their attachment to their primary caregiver
- separation anxiety- little to no response to the separation
- reunion behaviour- did not seek proximity on reunion
- secure base:happy to explore with or without the mother present, demonstrated random outburst of anxious and angry behaviour whilst exploring
-stranger anxiety- behaved as usual with stranger present both the stranger and the mother were equally effective at calming the infant
Ainsworth the strange situation findings- insecure resistant attachment
-12%
-had a mixed attachment to their mother- both sought out and rejected intimacy
- separation anxiety- immediate and intense distress on separation
- reunion behaviour- sought proximity but showed resistance to being picked up and comforted
- secure base: showed very little willingness to explore, any distance from mother led to crying
- stranger anxiety- attempts to avoid all contact with stranger, demonstrates fearful behaviours towards the stranger
Bowlbys maternal deprivation theory- maternal deprivation
the emotional and intellectual consequences of a separation between a child and their primary caregiver
Bowlbys maternal deprivation theory- separation
child is not in the presence of their primary caregiver
Bowlbys maternal deprivation theory- deprivation
child has lost the care their primary attachment usually provides
Bowlbys maternal deprivation theory- critical period
if an infant suffers long term separation without suitable care (deprivation) during the critical period then psychological harm is inevitable and irreversible
Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory- deprivation effect’s what two types of development?
-intellectual
-emotional
Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory- Effects on intellectual development
- prolonged lateral deprivation causes mental retardation
- IQ below 70
- takes longer for growing children to learn new skills such as rolling over, sitting up, talking, potty training, dressing and feeding themself
Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory- effects on emotional development
- develop affection less psychopathy
- inability to experience guilt and feel strong emotions for another person
- very difficult to form normal relationships- linked to criminal behaviour
romanian orphan studies- effects of institutionalisation- what is institutionalisation?
the effects of living in an institutional setting eg. hospital, prison, orphanage
- usually little emotional care is provided
Rutters English and Romanian adoptee study (impact on IQ)- aim
how could good care make up for poor early experiences in poor institutions
Rutters English and Romanian adoptee study- Impact on IQ- procedure
- followed 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain
- physical, emotional and cognitive development at 4, 6, 11 and 15 years old
- British children who had been adopted were used as a control group
Rutters English and Romanian adoptee study- impact on IQ- findings
- when Romanian children first arrived- signs of mental retardation
if they were adopted before 6 months- 102 IQ
6 months- 2years old- 86 IQ
2 years plus- 77 IQ - attachment was negatively affected if adopted after 6 months
- disinhibited attachment style
Disinhibited attachment style
- equally friendly to people they know and strangers
- an adaption to living with multiple caregivers during the sensitive period- Romanian orphans may have had 50 caregivers in this timeframe
Rutters English and Romanian adoptee study- impact on IQ- conclusion
children adopted before 6 months are able to catch up emotionally and intellectually with the control group (English adoptees)
- children adopted after 6 months are more likely to have low IQ and disinhibited attachment style
The Bucharest early intervention project- Zeenah et al- impact on attachment- aim
to determine the long term effects of early institutionalisation on attachment style
The Bucharest early intervention project- Zeenah et al- impact on attachment- procedure
assessed attachment in 95 children aged 12-31 months old who had spent most of their lives in institutional care
- control group=50 children who had never been in care
- attachment type- measure by strange situation
The Bucharest early intervention project- Zeenah et al- impact on attachment- findings
-74% of control group= secure
- 19% of institutionalised care= secure
-65% of institutionalised care= disorganised attachment type- extreme need for closeness and fear of rejection but contradictory behaviours, often aggressive and rejecting towards their caregiver
The Bucharest early intervention project- Zeenah et al- impact on attachment- conclusion
early institutionalisation my reduce he chance of an infant developing a secure attachment and increase the risk of developing a disorganised attachment
the effect of early attachment on later adult relationships- main assumption
if a child is securely attached as an infant they are likely to have successful, long lasting relationships as an adult
the effect of early attachment on later adult relationships- Bowlby
internal working model- a template of expectations about how to relate to others, formed by early experiences with their primary caregiver and the type of attachment formed. he also proposed the ‘continuity hypothesis’ which suggests infant attachment directly correlates to adult relationships.
the effect of early attachment on later adult relationships- kerns
securely attached infants are more likely to have good quality peer relationships in childhood, whilst insecurely attached children are more likely to have difficulties in making and maintaining friendships
the effect of early attachment on later adult relationships- Sroufe et al
Minnesota child-parent study- infants who were rated high in social competence during childhood were moe empathetic, popular and felt less isolated- use their internal working model as a template to develop positive relationships
the effect of early attachment- Hazan and shaver
love quiz- secure attachment types- more likely to have loving, long lasting relationships
insecure avoidant- higher reports of fear of intimacy
insecure resistant- higher reports of shorter relationships
the effect of early attachment on later adult relationships- Bailey et al
-parenting (2007)
attachment toy of 99 moths and their infants, along with the relationship the mothers and their own mothers
- vast proportion of mothers had the same attachment type to their infants as they did to their own mothers
- supporting the concept of the internal working model influencing parenting styles
cultural attachment types- van ljzendoorn and kroonenberg- aim
to investigate the distribution of the three attachment types across different cultures
to investigate whether attachment styles are universal, or dependent on cultural influences
cultural attachment types- van ljzendoorn and kroonenberg- procedure
- conducted a meta-analysis
- looked at the results of 32 studies from eight different countries- germany, britain ,netherlands, sweden, israel, japan, china, US
-all together this totalled 1990 strange situations classificications
cultural attachment types- van ljzendoorn and kroonenberg- findings- secure attachment
- most common type of attachment in all countries- ranging from 50 to 70%
-most common in the UK
cultural attachment types- van ljzendoorn and kroonenberg- findings- insecure avoidant
- second most common type of attachment
-most common in germany
cultural attachment types- van ljzendoorn and kroonenberg- conclusion
- whilst cultural variations do exist, the differences were small
-secure attachment was the most prevelant, supporting the theory that a secure attachment is the best,most healthy type - for insecure attachments: individualist cultures= insecure avoidant
-collectivist cultures= insecure resistant
-cultural practices do play a part in attachments and attachment norms
cultural attachment types- van ljzendoorn and kroonenberg- findings- insecure resistant
-least common type of attachment
-most common in israel, japan and china
caregiver infant interactions are characterised by?
-proximity seeking behaviour- wanting to be close to each other
- separation distress- when separated, one or both members display anxiety and distress
- secure base behaviour, we try to maintain frequent contact with each other for security
what is reciprocity?
define- a form of interaction between two people where by the actions of one elicits a response from the other and visa versa- sustains turn taking. eg.mother smiles, baby smiles back
effect of reciprocity on attachment?
high levels of reciprocity are more likely to lead to a secure attachment
what is interactional synchrony?
when an infant mirrors the actions of another person as it increases the infants chances of survival. eg. matching facial expressions or biological rhythms
Meltzoff and Moore: key study
what was the aim?
to examine interactional synchrony in infants
Meltzoff and Moore: key study
what was the procedure?
using a controlled observation, an adult model displayed one of three facial expressions or a hand gesture. to start with, the child had a dummy placed in their mouth to prevent a facial response. following the display from the adult model, the dummy was removed and the childs expressions were filmed.
Meltzoff and Moore: key study
what were the findings?
there was an association between the infants behaviour and that of the adult model. later research by Meltzoff and Moore found the same findings in a three day old infant.
Meltzoff and Moore: key study
what was the conclusion?
these findings suggest that interactional synchrony is innate and reduces the strength of any claim that imitate behaviour is learned.
read the evaluation points for Meltzoff and Moore
rewrite them.
the role of the father-
what is a primary attachment and who is it usually with?
1st attachment infant makes, usually with mother
the role of the father-
how does this type of attachment develop?
develops with whoever responds to the infants needs most sensitively as infants have an innate drive to survive
the role of the father-
what is a secondary attachment and who is it usually with?
the second attachment an infant makes, and its usually with the father
the role of the father as a primary attachment- when can fathers be the primary caregiver?
- single parent family
- 2 fathers
- stay at home dad
