ATTACHMENT Flashcards
Schaffer and Emerson study (1964)
- observed babies and their interactions
AIM - to find the age at which attachments start and how intense these were
PROCEDURE:
- studied 60 babies from a working class area of Glasgow, observed them once every month for the first year and then once at 18 months
- observations and interviews with mothers regarding their infants reactions to separation
strength of attachment was measured by: distress during caregiver separation and stranger anxiety
FINDINGS:
- concluded that the development of attachment could be divided into different stages
- identified 4 stages of attachment in development of infants:
- asocial (0-6 weeks) - sees people the same as objects
- indiscriminate (6 weeks - 7 months) - no preference for anyone
- specific (7 months+) - strong attachment with an individual
- multiple (10 months+) - 32% of baby’s had 5 strong attachments
Explain the Grossman study the role of the father (2002)
- the longitudinal study of 44 families comparing the role of fathers & mothers to their children’s attachment experiences at 6,10 and 16 years.
PROCEDURE:
Play sensitivity was assessed in toddlerhood using the sensitive and challenging interactive play scale (SCIP).
FINDINGS:
• Quality of infant-father attachment wasn’t related to the infants’ later
relationships. The mother-infant attachment was!
• Quality of infant—father play was related to the quality of later adolescent relationships
-> suggesting that fathers have a different role to play – stimulation, not
nurturing (both parents are important, but different role)
Describe Rutter at al. (2007) Romanian orphan study
Investigating the effects of privation (when a child has never had an attachment to its primary caregiver)
PROCEDURE:
- longitudinal study
- 111 orphans adopted by British families and compared with 52 UK adoptees
- Some orphans adopted before six months old, some older than six months
- Each child assessed at ages 4,6,11
FINDINGS:
- If adopted before six months Romanians had the same emotional development as UK adoptees (had a mean IQ of 102)
- if adopted after six months Romanians showed signs of insecure attachments and social problems that UK children of the same age didn’t (IQ of 77 if adopted after 2 years old)
-> effects of privation are reversible before six months but permanent after 6 months causing physical underdevelopment
Describe Ainsworth’s strange situation study (1978)
To investigate how children react under conditions of stress to the primary caregiver
PROCEDURE:
- Controlled observation
- 12-18 month old were left in a room with their mother
- eight different scenarios occurred, including being approached by stranger, the infant being left alone and the mother returning. The infants reactions were constantly observed.
FINDINGS:
- around 15% of infants were ‘insecure avoidant’ (ignored mother and didn’t mind if she left, a stranger could comfort them)
- around 70% were ‘securely attached’ (content with mother, upset when she left but happy when she returned, avoided stranger)
- around 15% were ‘insecure resistant’ (uneasy around mother upset when she left, resisted stranger but also hard to comfort when the mother returned)
Describe the Van ijzendoorn and kroonenburg (1988) cross cultural study
Investigating whether Ainsworth’s findings apply outside of the US
PROCEDURE:
- meta analysis of 32 studies of the ‘strange situation’ in different counties eg. Japan, England, Sweden
FINDINGS:
- in Western and individualist cultures , the main attachment type was avoidant, highest coming from Germany
- in non Western and collectivist cultures, the main attachment type was resistant, highest coming from Japan
-> highlights key cultural differences in attachment styles
Describe Meltzoff and Moore’s study (1997)
AIM: to investigate interactional synchrony between infants and their caregivers
PROCEDURE:
- series of controlled observations using babies 2-3weeks old
- adult would display facial expressions eg. tongue protrusions or hand gestures
- dummy temporarily placed in babies mouth to prevent them making any response in the initial display
- once dummy was removed, baby’s expression was filmed
FINDINGS:
- clear association between adult making an expression and baby mirroring expressions
Describe Brazelton (1979) reciprocity study
PROCEDURE:
-caregiver plays with baby for a few mins
-caregiver turns away and turns back with still expression
-Babies try to re-engage with caregiver after a few mins
-babies search for other attention when parents dont respond
-babies became increasingly distressed
-relief when parents re-engaged
FINDINGS:
when infants give signals, it allows the caregiver to anticipate the child’s responses and respond appropriately, study suggests that a lack of reciprocity can cause a long term impact on attachment
Describe Field’s findings (1978) role of the father
PROCEDURE:
- compared the behaviours of primary caretaker mothers with primary and secondary caretaker fathers.
- Face-to-face interactions were analysed from video footage with infants at 4 months of age.
FINDINGS:
- secondary fathers engaged more in game playing and held their infants less (supporting Grossman).
- however , primary caretaker fathers engaged in typical primary caregiver mother behaviours these were comparable with mothers’ behaviour eg. significantly more smiling and holding (contradicts grossman)
-> key to attachment is attentiveness not gender
- opposes Grossman (2002)
Describe Lorenz (1952) gosling study
AIM - to investigate imprinting and understand the nature of attachment formation
PROCEDURE:
- 12 goose eggs, 6 saw mother straight after hatching, 6 hatched in an incubator and saw Lorenz (experimental group)
FINDINGS:
- goslings formed attachment to first moving object they saw (imprinting)
- birds that had imprinted on humans showed sexual imprinting (showing courtship behaviour towards humans rather than their species and preferred humans as mates)
- Lorenz identified a critical period of 12-18 hours and if goslings didn’t form an attachment it would be impossible to form one after this
- Lorenz then mixed both groups to test whether imprinting was reversible ans those who imprinted on him continued to follow him and not acknowledge their mother
Describe Harlows monkey study (1958)
AIM - to investigate of mother infant attachment and the effects of maternal deprivation
PROCEDURE:
- observed 16 rhesus monkeys and their responses to stimuli
- two surrogate mothers, one made of plain wire and dispenses milk, the other was cloth covered with no milk
- their preferences were monitored and recorded
- he then studied the monkeys in response to loud noises to test mother preference and then again without surrogate mothers
FINDINGS:
- monkeys preferred contact comfort over food
- monkeys would take comfort in cloth mother after loud noise and then go and explore
- monkeys experienced distress without mother
- Harlow studied monkeys into adulthood and recorded long term effects of maternal deprivation
-> monkeys became more aggressive, less sociable and had issues mating
-> Harlow found a critical period of 90 days and after this consequences became irreversible
Describe Guiton et al (1966) imprinting findings
He found that chicks who imprinted on yellow rubber gloves could later learn to prefer more appropriate social partners, further supporting the idea that imprinting is not entirely fixed and can be modified over time
Opposes Lorenz’ study
Evaluate Lorenz (1952) gosling study
✅:
- influenced later research (Bowlby maternal deprivation) as Lorenz’s work suggested a critical period for attachment to take place -> has led to developments to how a child is administered today
- Guiton et al (1966) study (showed chicks could imprint on non living objects, rubber gloves, first large moving thing their ever saw)
❌:
- humans and animals are physiologically different so their findings cannot be generalised
- Guiton et al rubber gloves found imprinting may have not had everlasting effects
Evaluate Harlows monkey study (1958)
✅:
- lab study (highly controlled environment so little influence of extraneous variables, such as the monkeys being taken away straight after birth so they wouldn’t experience any attention from biological mothers)
- inspired later research (bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory) which has emphasised the importance of a child’s social and emotional development
❌:
- artificial lab setting so may not be reflective of real life situations -> lacks ecological validity
- unethical as monkeys experiences maternal deprivation which Harlow found caused many long term effects
Evaluate the Schaffer and Emerson study (1964)
✅ high validity as babies cannot guess the aim of the study and parents observed behaviour so behaviour was more natural
✅ RWA to daycare - may be problematic to start in specific attachment stage so might be better if babies started before or after
❌ parental bias - parents reported behaviour of their child -> could lead to biased opinions -> affecting validity
❌ lacks temporal validity that 3% of discriminate attachments are the father because parenting styles have changed since 1964, more fathers have leave and are more involved (still relevant?)
❌ low population validity - only used Glaswegian working class babies, findings may be culturally specific and not replicable in collectivist cultures as multiple attachments are formed earlier (van ijzendoorn)
Who proposed the learning theory of attachment?
Dollard and Miller (1950) suggested attachment is formed by classical and operant conditioning of food
-> opposes bowlby’s monotropic theory that attachment is an innate system present in both other and infant
Summarise Geiger’s (1996) role of father findings
explored the role of fathers as primary caregivers, finding that fathers’ play interactions are often more exciting and pleasurable, while mothers’ are more nurturing and affectionate
Describe Takahashi’s findings (1990) strange situation
- explored cultural variations in attachment styles, comparing Japanese and American infants using the Strange Situation, and found higher rates of insecure-resistant attachment in Japanese infants compared to American infants.
-> suggest that the strange situation (uses American middle class families) may not be generalisable to other cultures (cultural bias)
Describe the findings of Bowlby (1944) juvenile thieves maternal deprivation study
Key study - 44 juvenile thieves
PROCEDURE - Bowlby interviewed 44 young thieves and their families. Compared to a control group of 44 disturbed children.
FINDINGS - Of the thieves, 14 were affectionless psychopaths (APs).
Of these, 12 separated from mothers before 2 years old.
Conclusion: Separation (deprivation) causes AP.
Describe Koluchová (1976) – Czech Twins Study
• Twin boys isolated and severely abused from 18 months to 7 years old.
• Locked away, deprived of normal care and social interaction.
• Findings: After adoption into a loving home and intense therapy, they made a full recovery—normal intellectual and emotional development by adulthood. • Conclusion: Challenges Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation by showing that the effects of early deprivation are not always irreversible, especially with later supportive care.
Describe Goldfarb (1947) findings supporting Bowlby maternal deprivation
found that children who had spent more than three years in foster care had lower IQs and showed more social immaturity and aggression than children who had spent less than three years in the system.
