Attachment Flashcards
What is imprinting?
An innate readiness to develop a strong bond with the first moving object seen which normally takes place during the first few hours after birth.
What are the long-lasting effects of imprinting?
It affects later mating preferences and it is irreversible.
What is sexual imprinting?
Animals (especially birds) will choose to mate with the same kind of object upon which they imprinted.
Describe the procedure of the study that shows evidence for imprinting
Lorenz (1952).
- Split a clutch of geese into 2 batches. One half hatched naturally with mother and the other hatched in incubator where Lorenz was the first moving object they encountered.
- Lorenz recorded their behaviour.
Describe the findings of Lorenz’s study.
Immediately after birth, the naturally hatched baby goslings followed their mother, while the incubator hatched ones followed Lorenz, showing no bond to the natural mother.
Later implications of Lorenz (1952)
These bonds proved irreversible and permanent. He found that the goslings that imprinted onto humans tries to mate with humans as adult birds.
What is the critical period in animals?
A mother figure has to be introduced to an infant within 90 days for an attachment to form. After this time the damage caused by early deprivation is irreversible.
Describe the procedure of the study that showed attachment is not based on the feeding bond
Harlow’s monkeys (1958)
Reared 16 baby monkeys with two wire ‘mothers’.
Condition 1= wire mother dispensed milk
Condition 2= cloth mother dispensed milk.
Measured time spent with each mother and observed reactions of monkeys when frightened.
Describe the findings of Harlow’s study.
Regardless of which mother dispensed milk, monkeys always preferred the cloth mother. They also sought comfort from the cloth mother when frightened. They spent 17-18 hours on the cloth mother. This shows that “contact comfort” was of more importance than food when it came to attachment behaviour.
What were some of the long-lasting effects of maternal deprivation on the monkeys?
Monkeys reared with wire mothers most dysfunctional but those reared with cloth mother did not develop normal social behaviour.
Grew up to be more aggressive and less social. They often neglected their young, with some even attacking/killing their own children.
1 Strength for Lorenz
1 Limitation for Lorenz
Additional research support for imprinting:
Guiton (1966)-found that chicks exposed to yellow rubber gloves whilst being fed during their first few weeks, became imprinted on the gloves.
It was accepted that imprinting is an irreversible process:
However, it is now understood that imprinting is a more ‘plastic and forgiving mechanism’.
Guiton (1966)- also found that he could reverse the imprinting in chickens that had initially tried to mate with the rubber gloves- later, after spending time with their own species, they were able to engage in normal sexual behaviour with other chickens.
1 Strength and 1 limitation (and counter) of Harlow’s Monkeys
Practical Implications:
It has helped social workers understand risk factors in child neglect and abuse and so intervene to prevent it. In addition the findings have been important in the care of captive monkeys- we now understand the importance of proper attachment figures for baby monkeys in zoos and also in breeding programmes in the wild.
Ethical issues:
The baby monkeys were deliberately deprived from their mothers from birth and this created lasting emotional harm as the monkeys later found it difficult to form relationships with their peers. COUNTER - On the other hand, the experiment can be justified in terms of the significant effect it has had on our understanding of the processes of attachment and it has been used to offer better care for human (and primate) infants
Describe what Schaffer and Emerson found in terms of whether infants attach to their father and when.
- Majority of babies become attached to mother around 7 months.
Only 3% of cases showed attachment to the father first. In 27% of cases the father was the joint first object of attachment with mother. - BUT most fathers do go on to become important attachment figure—75% of babies formed an attachment with their father by 18 months.
Describe the procedure of the study suggested that the role of the father more to do with play and stimulation?
Grossman (2002).
Longitudinal study of 44 families. Compared the mothers’ and fathers’ role in the development of their children’s attachment at 6, 10 and 16 years.
Describe the findings and conclusions of Grossman (2002).
Quality of father play ( like the quality of attachment in mother) was related to attachments in adolescence. Suggests fathers play a different role in attachment, not to do with nurture but with play and stimulation.
Describe the procedure of the study that suggested that fathers can act as primary caregivers?
Field (1978).
Filmed 4-month old babies interactions with primary caregiver mothers and fathers and secondary caregiver fathers.
Describe the findings and conclusions of Field (1978).
Primary caregiver fathers spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infant (like primary caregiver mothers) compared to secondary caregiver fathers.
Suggests fathers do have the potential to provide responsiveness required for close emotional attachment but only express this when given the role of primary caregiver.
Kew to developing attachment is responsiveness and behaviour not gender.
2 Strengths of the role of the father
Practical applications:
Research such as Field shows that fathers can be primary caregivers.
This has important practical applications for maternity/paternity,
as this suggests this could be split and would have no impact on the child.
Brain scans link oxytocin to parental nurturing:
Men can also undergo hormonal changes when they become fathers,
including increases in oxytocin. Evidence shows that, in fathers, oxytocin facilitates physical stimulation of infants during play as well as the ability to synchronize their emotions with their children.
2 Limitations of the role of the father
Children without fathers are not different, so surely fathers do not play that important of a role:
MacCallum and Golombok (2004) found children growing up in single or same-sex parent families do not develop any differently from those in two parent heterosexual families. These results would seem to suggest that the father’s role as a secondary attachment figure is not important.
No control over other influences:
There are numerous other influences which may impact on a child’s emotional development. For example, their culture, the father’s beliefs, the father’s age, marital intimacy, the amount of time the father spends away from home. It is difficult to control all these variables and therefore making it hard to draw conclusions about the role of the father
What is the cupboard love approach?
Infants attach to the person who provides them with food.
What is the main assumption of learning theory (in explaining aggression)?
We learn from the environment because we are all born as blank slates.
Thus, infants learn to develop attachment through the processes of classical and operant conditioning.
Which 2 researchers proposed the cupboard love approach?
John Dollard and Neal Miller.
How do infants develop attachment through classical conditioning?
Food (UCS) = Happy baby (UCR)
Mother (NS) = Normal baby (No response)
Food (UCS) + Mother (NS) = Happy Baby (UCR)
Mother (CS) = Happy baby (CR)
What is drive reduction theory?
When an animal is uncomfortable, this creates a drive to reduce that discomfort.
How do infants learn to form attachments through operant conditioning?
When child is hungry they experience discomfort and have a drive to reduce this. They will cry which causes mother to feed them and drive is reduced= feelings of pleasure. Acts as negative reinforcement- infant has escaped something unpleasant.
Behaviour that led to being fed= more likely to be repeated—brings caregiver closer and leads to development of attachment.
What is the primary and secondary reinforcer in operant conditioning?
Food= primary reinforcer (supplies reward)
Caregiver= secondary reinforcer as they bring the food (they are associated with the food).
Is this reinforcement a one or two way process (learning theory)
Two-way. When mother feeds baby, she escapes the unpleasant crying of the baby (negative reinforcement)
2 Limitations of learning theory
Contradictory research from animals and humans:
There is strong evidence in young animals to show that feeding has nothing to do with attachment. Lorenz’s geese imprinted before they were fed and maintained these attachments regardless of who fed them. Harlow’s monkeys attached to a soft surrogate which provided contact comfort in preference to a wire one that dispensed milk.
Isabella et al. (1989) found that high levels of interactional synchrony predicted quality of attachment not feeding.
Environmental reductionism:
Breaks complex behaviour down into simple stimulus and response chains, and focuses on the role of food. Attachment is complex and a range of factors influence attachment, such as interactional synchrony, reciprocity etc. Therefore, this approach to explaining attachment is too simplistic.
1 Strength (and counter) of learning theory
Some evidence supports conditioning:
Infants do learn through association and reinforcement. It may be that attention and responsiveness from a caregiver are important rewards that assist in the formation of attachment.
E.g., Schaffer and Emerson found that infants were more attached to the caregiver who showed higher levels of sensitive responsiveness and they will have learnt to do this
through association.
COUNTER-Both classical and operant conditioning explanations see the baby playing a passive role in attachment development- simply responding to associations with comfort or reward. But research shows that babies take an active role in the interactions that produce attachment which means that conditioning may not be an adequate explanation of any aspect of attachment.
What is Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment?
Animals and humans have an innate tendency to form attachments. This is rooted in evolutionary theory.
How are attachments adaptive?
Attachments give our species an advantage as they make us more likely to survive as the infant is kept safe, given food, kept warm etc.
Define social releasers.
Innate ‘cute’ social behaviours or characteristics which elicit attention and response from a caregiver and leads to attachment. Biologically pre-programmed.
What are the two types of social releasers and examples?
Behavioural (crying and cooing )and physical (facial features and body proportions)
What is the critical period in humans?
Babies have to form an attachment within the first 6 moths but can extend up to 2 years, otherwise their development will be damaged.
What is monotropy?
Infants form one very special emotional bond (the primary attachment relationship).
What is the internal working model?
A mental schema for our relationship with our primary caregiver. All child’s future adult relationships will be based on this template/ cognitive framework. A model of how we are likely to behave.
What is the law of continuity?
Constant and predictable care from the primary caregiver in infancy will lead to higher quality childhood and adult relationships and vice versa for poorer quality relationships.
2 Strengths for Bowlby’s monotropic theory (and 1 counter)
Support for social releasers:
Brazleton et al. (1975)- observed interactions
between mothers and babies and found presence of interactional synchrony. They then asked primary attachment figures to ignore their babies’ social releasers. The babies showed initial distress, but when the ignoring continued they responded by curling up and lying motionless.
Places emphasis on the significance of infant social
behaviour in eliciting caregiving.
Support for Internal working model:
Bailey et al. (2007)à assessed the attachment
quality of 99 mothers and their one-year-old babies.
They also measured the mothers’ attachment to their own primary attachment figures. They found that mothers with poor attachment to their own primary attachment figures were more likely to have poorly attached babies. Supports Bowlby’s idea that mother’s ability to form attachments to their babies is influenced by their internal working model. COUNTER - Zimmerman et al(2000) longitudinal study of German children. Found that the impact of life events was more important when it came to predicting attachment type later on - suggests that internal working model may only apply when serious life events have not had an impact on the child.
2 Limitations of Bowlby’s theory
Validity of monotropy challenged:
Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found that although most babies did attach to one person at first, a significant minority formed multiple attachments at the same time. In 27% of cases the father was the joint first object of attachment with mother.
Socially sensitive research:
The law of accumulated separation states that having substantial time apart from a primary attachment figure risks a poor quality attachment that will disadvantage the child in a range of ways later.
Feminist Erica Burman (1994)= this places a burden of responsibility on mothers, setting them up to take the blame for anything that goes wrong in the rest of the child’s life. It also suggests the mother should not be separated from the child and so pushes them into choosing not to go back to work when a child is born
What is Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation?
The idea that continual presence of nurture from a caregiver is essential for normal psychological development of the infant. This means prolonged separation from the primary caregiver can have a detrimental effect on the emotional and intellectual development of an infant.
State two areas of development affected by maternal deprivation.
Emotional development (affectionless psychopathy) and intellectual development.
Define affectionless psychopathy.
Inability to experience guilt or emotions for others. It is associated with criminality.
Separation vs privation definitions
Distress when physically separated for a relatively short period of time from primary caregiver
vs
Prolonged separation between child and caregiver so an element of care is taken away
Describe a study which shows a link between maternal deprivation and poor intellectual development.
Goldfarb
Group 1- first few months in orphanage and then fostered. Group 2- First 3 years in orphanage and then fostered. IQ tested up until age of 12.
Describe the findings of Goldfarb’s study.
Group 2 performed less well on IQ test (68) compared to group 1 (96). Group 2 children also likely to be less social and more aggressive.
