Attachment Flashcards
What is attachment
An emotional bond between two people. A two-way process that endures over time
In what 3 ways can we see an attachment
Seeking proximity- people try to stay physically close to those they are attached to
Separation anxiety- people are distressed when their attachment figure leaves
Secure base behaviour- people explore the environment but return to attachment figure for comfort
Name and explain the two types of infant-caregiver interactions
Reciprocity- an infant coordinates their actions with their caregiver in a kind of conversation where they take turns and the behaviour of one elicits a response form the other
Interactional Synchrony- refers to the imitation/ mirroring of facial and body movements
Which researcher gives evidence for reciprocity and how (2)
Brazleton says this dance is important for later communication and the regularity of an infant’s signals during the “alert phase” allows a caregiver to anticipate the infants behaviour and respond appropriately
Brazleton’s still face experiment:
Method: asked mothers who were enjoying dialogue to stop and remain still
Findings: babies would try to encourage mothers to smile and became distressed if this did not elicit a response
Conclusion: babies expected caregivers to respond to their behaviour and will try certain responses by using ‘social releasers’ like smiling and crying
Evaluate Brazleton’s still face experiment
S:
> controlled observation
> use of video recording (high inter-rater validity)
> babies do not know they are being observed and are acting naturally
> research support: Isabella found that greater interactional synchrony led to a good quality attachment
L:
> hard to interpret a baby’s behaviour and infants are always moving
> socially sensitive- suggests that a mother returning to work after having a baby may affect their development
Which researcher gives evidence for interactional synchrony and how
Meltzoff and Moore found that babies as young as 2 years old imitate specific facial and hand gestures
What are Schaffer’s 4 stages
Asocial phase- (0-6 weeks)
respond similarly to humans and objects but are happier with humans
Indiscriminate- (6 weeks to 7 months)
prefer people rather than objects and recognise and prefer familiar adults. they accept cuddles from any adult and do not show stranger anxiety
Specific/ discriminate- (7 months +)
show stranger anxiety and distress when separated from the primary attachment figure (the one who offers more caregiver sensitivity)
Multiple attachments- (9 months +)
The infant shows multiple secondary attachments along with their primary attachment
What happened in Schaffer and Emerson’s experiment
> 60 babies from working class families in Glasgow
babies were visited every month for the first year and then at 18 months
separation anxiety and stranger anxiety were studied
Separation- asked mothers questions about the infant’s response to separation in everyday situations (diaries and self report)
Stranger- assessed the infant’s response to the interviewer at each visit
Evaluate Schaffer and Emerson’s experiment
S:
> real world application: daycare may be suitable during the asocial and indiscriminate stage but may be problematic during the specific stage
> babies would’ve behaved naturally as their mothers were the ones making the observations
L:
> mothers may have been biased or not noticed signs of anxiety or experienced a social desirability characteristic
> low generalisability (in collectivist cultures multiple attachments from a small age are normal)
> asocial state- newborns have poor coordination and are immobile so it is difficult to make judgements on observable behaviour
What did Schaffer and Emerson find about the role of the father (2)
> In 3% of cases the father was the first and only primary attachment (specific)
> In 75% of cases, infants showed an attachment to their father by 18 months (multiple)
What was Grossman’s study into the role of the father
> longitudinal study
found that quality of infant attachment to their mother was related to the child’s attachment in adolescence
but there was no relationship between quality of infant attachment to the father and adolescent attachment
however, there was a relationship between father’s play with infants and the quality of their adolescent attachments
What field research proves that when fathers are the primary caregivers they take on the role of a typical mother and what did McCallum and Golombrok conclude from this
> Filmed 4 month old babies in face-to-face interactions with: primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers and primary caregiver fathers
> Primary caregiver fathers, like mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants than secondary caregiver fathers
> McCallum and Golombrok concluded that children in lesbian households do not grow up differently to those in hetero nuclear families
Evaluate the previous research
S:
> Real world application: can be used to advise parents. families may struggle over roles imposed on them by society so research can be used to give advice (fathers can also be primary caregivers and they are also not essential for a baby’s growth)
L:
> Conflicting evidence: research like Grossman’s suggested that fathers as secondary attachment figures have an important role through play and stimulation, however, if fathers were important then those in single or double mother households would have their kids turn out differently. However, McCallum and Golombork’s stidy disapproves this
> counter: these research may not be in conflict as fathers could take on distinctive roles in two parent families but in other families they adapt different roles
> Bias: Preconceptions about how fathers do or should do can be created by social stereotypes so unintentional observer bias will be caused if observers see just what they want to see
What animals did Lorenz study
Geese/ goslings
What was Lorenz’ method
He split a large clutch of goose eggs into two batches
One hatched naturally with the mother and the other hatched in an incubator and Lorenz was the first moving object they saw
What were Lorenz’ findings
Immediately after birth, the naturally hatched babies followed their mother and the incubator goslings followed Lorenz
What two key terms did Lorenz identify from his experiment and what do they mean
Imprinting- an innate readiness to develop a strong bond with the mother
Critical period- A specific time in which imprinting needs to take place
What is sexual imprinting
Sexual imprinting- Lorenz described a peacock who imprinted on a giant tortoise in a zo. As an adult bird it would only direct courtship with giant tortoises
Evaluate Lorenz’ research on the basis if supporting research and generalisability
Supporting research:
> Regolin and Vallotigara- chicks were exposed to moving shape combinations then a range of combinations were moved in front of them and they followed the original most closely
> Guiton- chicks imprinted on a yellow rubber glove and when they grew up they tried to mate with the glove but realised that they preferred mating with chickens so the imprinting reversed
Generalisability-
No- human attachment is a more complex two-way process in which both baby and mother become attached to each other
Yes- supports the critical period in which attachments must be formed in human attachment or there may be negative long term consequences
Yes- baby duck syndrome- feedback suggests that computer users form an attachment to their first computer operating system leading them to reject others
What animals did Harlow study
Rhesus monkeys
What is the critical period for rhesus monkeys
90 days
What was Harlow’s method
Raised baby rhesus monkeys with two wire ‘mothers’ (one with only a feeding wire attached and one with cloth but no feeding bottle)
He measured the:
> time spent with each mother and
> the fear response to a noisy mechanical bear
What were Harlow’s findings?
Monkeys spent more time with the cloth monkey (17 hrs) and would cling to it when frightened –> contact comfort is more important than food
As adults the monkeys were more aggressive, less sociable and less skilled in mating. They neglected and even killed their own offspring
Evaluate Harlow’s research on the basis of generalisability, ethics and real world application
Generalisability:
Yes- monkeys are more similar to humans than geese
No- the human brain is still more complex
Ethics:
No- the study caused severe long term effects to the monkeys
Real world application:
Yes- helps social workers understand a lack of bonding experience can lead to poor outcomes
Yes- improved animal treatment in zoos
