Attachment Flashcards
Evolutionary theory
- The tendency to form attachments is INNATE
- This tendency is present in both infants and mothers
Learning theories
- Infants have no innate tendency to form attachments
- They LEARN attachments because of FOOD
Bowlby’s Theory
- He saw humans as being just like other animals – we need an INNATE tendency to form attachments with a caregiver.
- This tendency gives us an ADAPTIVE ADVANTAGE,
- He adopted the idea of a CRITICAL PERIOD from ethologists like Lorenz, and applied this to his explanation of how human infants form their attachments.
Adaptive
- Attachments are Adaptive.
- This means they give our species an ‘adaptive advantage’, making us more likely to survive.
- This is because if an infant has an attachment to a caregiver, they are kept safe, given food, and kept warm.
Social releasers
Babies have Social releasers, which ‘unlock’ the innate tendency of adults to care for them.
These Social releasers are both:
- Physical – the typical ‘baby face’ features and body proportions
- Behavioural – e.g. crying, cooing
Critical period
Babies have to form the attachment with their caregiver during a Critical period.
This is between birth and 2½ years old. Bowlby said that if this didn’t happen, the child
would be damaged for life:
- Socially,
- Emotionally,
- Intellectually,
- Physically
Monotropy
- Bowlby believed that infants form one very
special attachment with their mother
(specific to one caregiver). - This special, intense attachment is called
Monotropy. - If the mother isn’t available, the infant
could bond with another ever-present,
adult, mother-substitute.
Internal working model
This is a special mental schema for relationships.
All the child’s future adult relationships will be
based on this – the ‘continuity hypothesis’:
- A child who experiences a loving and secure relationship with a consistent and safe caregiver will grow up to expect this from later relationships
- A child who experiences a negative relationship with their primary attachment figure will tend to form poor relationships in the future and expect negative treatment or treat others in such a way
Evaluation of Bowlby - Strengths
- Brazleton et al (1975) observed mother-baby interactions and reported the existence of interactional synchrony – in a follow up experiment primary caregivers were instructed to ignore a baby’s social releasers and interaction between mother and baby disappeared
- Lorenz (1935) supports Bowlby’s monotropic theory as the attachment process of imprinting is an innate process that has a critical period. Also, the geese also attached to a single person/animal or object.
Lorenz (1935)
- Method: Lorenz divided a group of goose eggs into two groups:
1. One group was left with their natural mother.
2. The other group was placed in an incubator. - Lorenz made sure that when the eggs in the incubator hatched, he was the first moving object the goslings saw. After this, he marked the two groups and returned them to their natural mother.
- Results: The geese that had hatched in the incubator continued to follow him, while those who had hatched naturally continued to followed their mother.
Hazan & Shaver (1987)
- Hazan and Shaver used a questionnaire called ‘The Love Quiz’ to examine current attachment experiences and attachment history.
- 620 people responded to the questionnaire which was published in the Rocky Mountain News.
- Results: They found a positive correlation between attachment type and later love experiences.
- Conclusion: The results support Bowlby’s idea of an internal working model and suggest that our early childhood experiences affect our later adult relationships.
Evaluation of Bowlby - Weaknesses
- Critical Period questioned – Case studies show attachments can develop after the critical period e.g. Koluchova twins suggesting a ‘sensitive period’ might be more applicable
- Individual differences not explained – some children better able than others to cope with poor attachment experiences
- Internal Working Model & Continuity Hypothesis criticised – Howes et al (1994) found correlation between a child’s early and later relationships are quite low
- Rutter (1972) points out that several indicators of attachment (such as protest or distress when an attached person leaves) have been shown for various attachment figures – fathers, siblings, peers, and even inanimate objects.
The Learning Theory
Suggests that attachment is a set of learned behaviors instead of innate biological behavior. The basis for the learning of attachments is the provision of food.
- This theory encompasses two types of learning: classical conditioning, where an infant learns to associate the caregiver with comfort and eventually forms an attachment.
- Operant conditioning, on the other hand, assumes that infants are in a drive state of internal tension or discomfort, and their actions focus on removing this discomfort.
Interactional synchrony
Interactional synchrony is the mirrored action of physical and emotional behaviour between two people
- This can shown between a caregiver and an infant
Berry Brazleton et al. (1975)
- Babies as well as caregivers take on an active role - both caregivers and babies can start interactions
and take turns in doing so. - Described this interaction as a ‘dance’.
Harlow 1958
- The rhesus monkeys’ willingness to seek refuge from something offering
comfort rather than food would suggest that food is not as crucial as comfort
when forming a bond. - The fact that isolated monkeys displayed long-term dysfunctional behaviour
illustrates, once more, that early attachment experiences predict long-term
social development. - Despite being fed, isolated monkeys failed to develop functional social
behaviour, which would suggest that animals have greater needs that just the
provision of food.
The Role of The Father
- Grossman (2002) carried out a longitudinal study looking at both parents’ behaviour and how it relates to the quality of children’s attachments into their teens.
- Quality of infant attachment with mothers but not fathers
was related to children’s attachment in adolescents suggesting that father attachment was less important. - However, the quality of fathers’ play with infants was related to the quality of adolescent attachments.
The Role of the Father - Nature
- Men have lots of testosterone making them more aggressive which may encourage more provider behaviour, getting the food and providing for the child to aid the child’s survival, whereas ladies have oestrogen that encourages a more
caring and empathetic behaviour.
The Role of the Father - Nurture
- Nurture on the other hand would see it as the way we are brought up,
possibly gender stereotypes and expectations of how men and women are
‘supposed’ to behave. - Boys are expected to be more boisterous and play whereas girls are
encouraged to play with dolls and be more affectionate from a very early
age. Sometimes this is overt and obvious, other times done more subtly and without conscious awareness.
Hardy (1999)
- Found that fathers were less able to detect low levels of
infant distress, in comparison to mothers. - These results appear to support the argument that the lack of oestrogen
in men means that fathers are not equipped with the right hormones to
form close relationships with their children. - This research suggests that the role of the father is to biologically
determined because it is restricted by their biological makeup.
Schaffer and Emerson (1964)
In their Glasgow Babies study found that infants typically form their primary attachment, invariably with mum, at about 7 months of age.
- Concluded that in only 3% of cases fathers were the primary attachment figure in comparison to 65% of mothers, however 27% of the time they shared the primary attachment figure status with the mother.
The Father as a Playmate Argument:
- Grossman found that the quality of the fathers play with their infants was related to the quality of attachment in adolescence i.e. if the father had
positive playful experiences with their child, this was a good predictor for positive attachments in the future. - This suggests that fathers are not necessarily less important, but instead, they have a different role in attachment- play rather then nurturing.
Inconsistent findings on fathers
On one hand, some psychologists are interested in understanding the role fathers have as secondary attachment figures whereas others are more concerned with the father as a primary attachment figure. The former have tended to see fathers behaving differently from mothers and having a distinct role. The latter have tended to find that fathers can take on a ‘maternal’ role.
Why aren’t children without fathers different?
MacCallum and Golombok (2004) found that children growing up in single or same-sex parent families do not develop any differently from those in two-parent heterosexual families.
Sensitive mothers had securely attached
infants.
Securely attached infants, were less anxious, cried less, were more curious about their environment, and appeared more independent.
Strange situations - Case study
- This was a controlled observation recording the reactions of a child
and mother (caregiver), who were introduced to a strange room
with toys. About 100 middle-class American infants and their
mothers participated in the strange situation.
Anxious-Ambivalent Insecure
Can be a result of a caregiver who ignores or tends to the child’s needs according to the caregiver’s own needs or interest rather than in response to the child’s
cues.
Anxious-Avoidant Insecure
Child will treat strangers no different that caregiver. Can result from caregiver being disengaged and emotionally detached from child.
Disorganized
/Disoriented Attachment
An example of this attachment is when a child is upset by the separation of the primary caregiver. These children tend to avoid their caregiver when they return at times or may seem nervous when approaching the caregiver.
Strange Situations - Strengths
Replicable/ high inter-observer reliability:
- As the research is highly operationalised, observers have a clear view of how a securely attached infant should behave, due to the 4 specific criteria that Ainsworth used.
Reliability of classifications:
- Waters (1978) assessed 50 infants at 12 and at 18 months of age using the SS procedure. Waters found clear evidence for stable individual differences using Ainsworth’s behaviour category data. The greatest consistency was seen in reunion behaviours after brief separations. 48 of the 50 infants observed were independently rated as being classified in the same category at 18 months.
Strange situations - Weaknesses
Low Population Validity:
- A major methodological criticism of Ainsworth’s research is that the sample was restricted to 100 middle class Americans & their infants, so it is unlikely that findings would be representative of the wider population.
Procedure is culturally biased:
- The SS was designed by an American according to observations of US children. Consequently, the criteria used to classify infants are based on US values, relating to child-parent behaviour. It could be argued that this is Eurocentric, so observations of non-Americans will judged according to American standards.
Takahashi (1990)
- Said that the strange situation does not really work in Japan because a mother and child are rarely separated.
- Therefore, Japanese children were mainly classed as anxious resistant because they showed extreme
separation anxiety. There were 0% of insecure-avoidant infants.
Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988) Aim
- To investigate the types of attachment across cultures and to see how the 3 main attachment styles applied.
- To investigate if attachment styles (secure and insecure) are the same across cultures, or culturally specific.
Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg
(1988) Procedure
- Did not collect the data for this study, instead they analysed data from other studies using a method called meta-analysis.
- They achieved this by combining the findings of 32 other studies of the strange situation from a variety of countries and based on the observation of over 2000 children.
Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg
(1988) Procedure
- Did not collect the data for this study, instead they analysed data from other studies using a method called meta-analysis.
- They achieved this by combining the findings of 32 other studies of the strange situation from a variety of countries and based on the observation of over 2000 children.
Van Ijzendoorn
& Kroonenberg
(1988) Findings
It was found that secure attachment was the most common type of attachment in
all cultures. The lowest percentage of secure attachments was shown in China, and the highest in Great Britain.
- Results showed that individualistic countries that support independence such as Germany had high levels of anxious avoidant, whereas countries that are more culturally close (collectivist), such as Japan, had quite high levels of ambivalent resistant.
Van Ijzendoorn
& Kroonenberg
(1988) Evaluation: strengths
The Van Ijzendoorn study is a meta-analysis.
• They did not collect the data themselves but identified studies that had used the strange situation to assess the attachment of children in different countries.
Van Ijzendoorn
& Kroonenberg
(1988) Evaluation: limitations
Differences in attachment type within a culture were far greater than those found between cultures.
• Overall, there was a one and a half times greater variation within a culture than between a culture.
• This may reflect differences between sub-cultures in how they raise children.
• Within a culture there are many
sub-cultures, all with their own way of rearing children.
• This may affect the attachment type of children.
Three Key Features of Maternal Deprivation
- There must be a continuous relationship between a child and its mother or maternal figure. Discontinuous relationships ( ones in which there are separations) are unstable and disrupt the development of a stable relationship.
- The relationship between a child and its mother or maternal figure must develop before the age of two and a half years (30 months), otherwise there is the risk of emotional disturbance. Disruption to the relationship up to five years old can also be harmful.
- The relationship does not have to be with the child’s mother. A maternal substitute is sufficient, but the child must develop a primary relationship with one caregiver.
The long-term consequences of maternal deprivation might include the following:
- Delinquency.
- Reduced intelligence.
- Increased aggression.
- Depression.
- Affectionless psychopathy.
The juvenile thieves, study (Bowlby, 1944)
- Sample of 88 children who had been referred to a child guidance clinic (opportunity sampling).
44 of the children had been referred because of stealing, and Bowlby identified 14 of the thieves as ‘affectionless psychopaths’ (a behaviour disorder in which the individual has no sense of shame or guilt and lacks a social conscience). - The other 44 children had not committed any crimes and, although they had some emotional difficulties, were not anti-social and none were affectionless psychopaths.
The juvenile thieves, study (Bowlby, 1944) Findings
- 86% of the children diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths had experienced prolonged periods of separation from their mothers
- only 17% of the other thieves had experienced separations from their mothers,
- less than 4% of the non-thieves control group had experienced such separations.
The juvenile thieves, study strengths
- Research supports the maternal deprivation hypothesis.
Bowlby’s 44 thieves study backs up the maternal deprivation hypothesis. - There was clear evidence that children who had been separated from their mother stole and some were classified as’ affectionless psychopaths’.
- This backs up Bowlby’s claim that maternal deprivation can lead to emotional problems and juvenile delinquency.
- Bifulco et al (1992) studied women who had lost their mothers before the age of 17 and found that the rate of depression was the highest in women whose mothers had died before they were 6 years old.
The juvenile thieves, study limitations
- Bowlby’s 44 thieves study only found a correlation between separation and affectionless psychopathy.
- Bowlby concluded that maternal deprivation caused ‘affectionless psychopathy’ but it may have had other causes.
- Bowlby’s findings from the 44 thieves’ study have not been replicated.
- Lewis (1955) partially replicated the 44 thieves’ study and found no link between maternal deprivation and juvenile delinquency.
- Goldfarb (1955) found a correlation between institutional care and low IQ.
- We cannot conclude that maternal deprivation caused low IQ.
Institutionalisation
placing children in a home in which carers are responsible for looking after the child (primary caregiver does not assume responsibility for the child’s up bringing)
Disinhibited Attachment
Individuals who display behaviour that is attention seeking, clingy and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults (familiar
and unfamiliar).
Methods of Rutter’s 2007 Study on Romanian
Orphans
- Study Design: Longitudinal study,
providing an opportunity to assess
long-term outcomes and development over an extended period. - Sample: The study started with 160 Romanian orphans adopted into British families. A control group of British children, also adopted but within the UK, was included for comparison
- Age at Adoption: Children were categorized based
on their age at the time of adoption - before six
months, between six months and two years, and
after two years. - Data Collection: Multi-method data collection
techniques were used, such as interviews,
observations, and standardized psychological tests
to assess emotional, cognitive and social
development. - Time Points: Data were collected at various ages,
typically at 4, 6, 11 years, and later into adolescence
and young adulthood, to examine the development
trajectory. - Variables: The study examined multiple outcomes
including cognitive development, social functioning,
and specific attachment behaviours.
What are the Effects of Institutionalisation?
- Make Poor Parents: Women raised in institutions had extreme difficulties when acting as
parents - Deprivation Dwarfism: The production of hormones are
affected by severe emotional
disturbances which may result in this dwarfism - Attachment Disorder
Romanian Orphans evaluation -
strength
There were fewer EVs in the Romanian orphan studies in comparison to other studies looking into maternal deprivation
- For example, the children may have experienced neglect, abuse or bereavement. These children were often traumatised by their experience. It was very hard for psychologists to observe the effects of institutionalisation in isolation because the children were dealing with multiple factors which functioned as confounding participant variables.
Romanian orphans evaluation limitations
A problem with the Romanian orphans is
that they were not typical.
- Romanian orphanages had orphans’ standards of care, especially when it comes to forming any new relationships with the children, and extremely low levels of intellectual stimulation.
The case of Genie (Curtiss USA, 1977)
Genie was discovered at the age of 13 when her mother, supposedly mistakenly, took her to a social services office.
- When she was discovered, she was severely
undernourished, could not stand properly or
walk normally, could not understand any
language, and could not speak.
- Genie had spent the first years of her life
imprisoned alone in her bedroom by her
father to ‘protect’ her as she was ‘mentally
retarded’.
- She spent many hours tied to a commode (a
chair with a potty) and was fed baby food by
her brother who was not permitted to talk to
her.
- Her parents did not spend any time with her,
and she was punished if she made any sound
The case of Genie (Curtiss USA, 1977) Findings
Following her discovery, she was adopted by psychologists who researched her at the same time as giving her intensive help in developing language skills, teaching her to walk, and trying to educate her.
▪ She improved quickly in some areas, but her language did not develop properly, and she never got beyond communicating using basic speech, for example, ‘Go store bananas’ for ‘We need to go to the store to buy some bananas.’
▪ She developed attachments to her foster carers, but as she grew older, she was moved to a succession of short-term foster homes, in some of which she was mistreated.
The case of Genie (Curtiss USA, 1977) Evaluation
This was a unique opportunity to study a unique individual in detail.
• A unique case that may not be generalisableto the whole population.
• It is not known what underlying abnormalities Genie may have had when she was born. Her father stated that she was ‘mentally retarded’, but we only have his word for that. We can never know, therefore, if Genie failed to develop skills in all areas including language because of her privation or because she was born with an underlying learning difficulty.
• Genie was studied at length by the researchers who adopted her, and she formed a degree of attachment to them.
What are the 4 distinct stages of attachment in order found by Shaffer and Emerson?
- Asocial stage: 0-2 months
- Indiscriminate stage: 2-7 months
- Discriminate stage: 7-10 months
- Multiple Attachments: 10+ months
What is the Asocial Stage, between 0-2 months?
Infants produce a similar response to all objects and people (animate and inanimate). They begin to show a preference for human-like stimuli and prefer to look at faces and eyes. Reciprocity and interactional synchrony play a role in beginning to establish a relationship with others.
What is the Indiscriminate Stage, between 2-7 months?
Infants become more sociable and show a preference for humans over objects. They distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people. They’re relatively easy to comfort by anyone and do not show stranger anxiety.
What is the Discriminate Stage, between 7-10 months?
Infants can recognise their primary attachment figure. They show anxiety and distress when separated and show stranger anxiety. At this stage they develop one special attachment bond.
What is the Multiple Attachments stage, after 10+ months?
Infants form a wider circle of attachments (e.g., grandparents and siblings). These are known as ‘secondary attachments. Attachment with the primary caregiver remains the strongest.
Evaluation of Shaffer and Emerson’s study - strengths?
+ Cross cultural research supports the importance of multiple attachments: Tronick (1985) investigated attachments among infants raised in the ‘Efe’ tribe in Zaire where infants were often looked after by other caregiving women. They found that they had formed multiple attachments.
+ Schaffer and Emerson’s research observed real-life bheaviour infants without any emotional manipulation.
Evaluation of Shaffer and Emerson’s study - limitations?
- Findings may lack internal validity due to possible social desirability. Mothers may not want to report certain behaviours.
- The study involved a very limited sample of only 60 working class infant and mothers from Glasglow. The findings may not be representative of the stages of attachments in all infants.
- Bowlby’s theory of attachment states that attachment is based on monotropy, the existence of one special attachment bond to the mother.
Does father sensitivity link to the strength of father-infant attachments? (Wolff, 1997)
Wolff conducted a meta-analysis of 8 studies looking at parental sensitivity.
- They found a small but significant positive correlation between father sensitivity and the strength of father-infant attachment. However, this association is significantly smaller than between maternal sensitivity and attachment.
- These findings suggest that the more sensitive a father is the stronger the attachment will be to their infant.
Does father infant attachment influence later development? (Lamb, 1987)?
Found that father infant attachment had a significant influence on a child’s development.
- For example, children who had good attachments with their fathers in infancy and whose fathers show a high level of involvement were more likely to display empathy later in life, have a higher IQ and hold a stronger internal locus of control (believe they control the outcomes in their lives).
- This study therefore suggests that father-infant attachments have a significant effect on later development.
Evaluation of the role of the father?
Whilst most research suggests that the father does play an important role in attachment and later development, other studies have found contradictory evidence.
- For example, research suggests that children growing up in a single-parent or same-sex families do not develop any differently from children raised in a nuclear family.
- This questions the importance of the father’s role as an attachment figure. As discuss later in the revision pack, Bowlby disagrees with the importance of the father in attachment, instead arguing that it is the attachment to the mother that is most important, and the father simply performs an economic role.
The role of the internal working model?
- Bowlby’s theory suggested that children develop and internal working model which is based on their relationship with their primary caregiver. This model is a cognitive framework comprising of mental representations for understanding the world, the self and others.
- For example, if the child has a secure and loving attachments with their caregiver then they will develop a positive internal working model.
- Bowlby used the term ‘continuity hypothesis’ to explain then continuation of early attachment styles and relationships (secure or insecure) to later adult relationships.
Sroufe et al (2005) - Early Attachment
Aimed to investigate the effect of early attachment on development.
- They conducted a longitudinal study following participants from infancy to late adolescence. Relationships with caregivers and peers were assessed during this time, as well as social development.
- They found that there was continuity between attachment in infancy and emotional/ social development in adolescence.
- Individuals who were securely attached as infancy were rated as being more social competent in adolescence, less isolated, more popular and more empathetic.
- Therefore, it can be concluded that early attachment does influence behaviour in adolescence with fellow peers.
Myron-Wilson and Smith (1998) - Effects of early attachment on bullying
Aimed to investigate the effect of early attachment on bullying behaviour.
- They assessed attachment types and bullying behaviour in 196 children aged 7-11 using questionnaires.
- They found that there was an association between attachment type and the likelihood of displaying bullying behaviour.
- Children who reported secure attachments were very unlikely to be bullies, whereas insecure-avoidant children were most likely to be the victims of bullying.
- Therefore, it can be concluded that early attachments can influence childhood friendships in terms of bullying behaviour/ being bullied.
Evaluation of the influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships (negative)
- Some research has suggested that children who experience privation go on to recover well and go on to form effective adult relationships: Koluchova found that two identical twins who had spent a considerable amount of time in isolation by the age of 20 were able to form good strong bonds with their foster families and others including peers.
- There is an alternative explanation for the influence of early attachment on later relationships: This is known as the temperament hypothesis, which is the idea that personality can influence attachment (e.g., an innately trusting and friendly personality could be the reason that infants become securely attached and why they then go on to form strong, lasting adult relationships.
