Attachment Flashcards
Describe caregiver-infant interactions
From the start babies have meaningful social interactions with their careers. Psychologists believe that these interactions have important functions for the child’s social development. In particular good quality early social interactions are associated with the successful development of attachments between babies + their caregivers
What is reciprocity?
a description of how two people interact. Caregiver-infant interactions are reciprocal in that both the caregiver + infant respond to each others actions and each in turns elicits a response from the other. They take turns in their responses, and so is like a conversation without words.
What is an alert phase?
Babies have periodic alert phases in which they signal that they are ready for a spell of interaction. Babies may produce interactions like smiling, to elicit a response from the caregiver who can then respond to the babies needs-these are called social releases + aid the babies survival. During the alert phase babies are cognitively and physically awake = are seeking social interaction. This interaction is led by babies in the early stages, with the parent responding to the babies needs.
Research suggests that mothers pick up on + respond to their babies alertness 2/3rds of the time (Feldman and Eidelman), though his is dependent on externally factors such as stress.
From around 3 months this interaction tends to become increasingly more frequent and involves both mother and baby paying close attention to each others verbal signs and facial expressions
What is active involvement?
Traditional views of childhood have suggested babies take a passive role, receiving care from an adult, however it seems babies as well as careers take quite an active role. Both caregiver and baby can innate interactions and they appear to take turns doing so. T. Berry Brazelton et al described this interaction as a dance because each person responds to the others moves.
What is interactional synchrony?
The temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behaviour. This takes place when carer + baby interact in such a way that their actions/ emotions mirror the other simultaneously
Describe research on the importance of reciprocity/ international synchrony
Brazelton et al. performed the still face experiment in which he asked mothers who had been enjoying a dialogue with their baby to stop moving and maintain a static, unsmiling expression on their faces. Babies would try to tempt their mothers into an interaction by smiling themselves, and became increasingly distressed when their smile didn’t provoke the usual response. Babies anxiety reduced again when caregivers engaged again. This demonstrates the importance for good quality interactions, as within minutes a lack of reciprocity can have a negative impact. This suggests that a lack of positive interactions may have long term negative impacts for the strength of attachments.
What is a limitation of caregiver-infant interactions? (AO3)
Psycologistits are making an inference as to why babies behaviour in a particular way. We assume that it is bc they want to interact, get attention, form attachments. This however cannot be falisfied, as we cannot prove what a baby is thinking so can never be 100% ehy it is interacting in a certain why. Many studies involving observations of interactions have shown the same patterns of interactions. However what is being measured is merely hand movements or changes in expression. it is therefore extremely difficult to be certain, based on these explanations, what is taking place from the infants perspective. Is the infants imitation of adults signals conscious and deliberate? This means we cannot objectively measure that behaviours seen in mother-infant interactions have specific meaning, lowering the validity.
What is a strength of caregiver-infant interactions? (AO3)
Observations of mother infant interactions are generally well-controlled procedures, with both mother = infant being filmed. This ensures that fine details of behaviour can be recorded and later analysed. This increases the reliability as filmed interactions can be viewed + analysed multiple times by multiply researchers. Furthermore, babies are not consciously aware that they are being observed, so behaviour doesn’t change in response to controlled observation. This increases the validity of interactions as babies do not display demand characteristics so behaviour displayed is genuine therefore increase validity.
Help parents improve attachments by stressing importance of interactions therefore high particular value.
Describe Romain Orphan studies: the effects of institutionalisation (AO1)
Research on maternal deprivation turned to orphan studies as a means of studying the effects of deprivation on emotional and intellectual development following a tragic opportunity to look at the effects of institutional care and the consequent initialisation that arose in Romania in the 1990s. The former president Ceausescu required Romanian women to have 5 children, but following economic hardship, many parents could not afford to keep their children and the number in orphanages became rife. They were kept in very poor conditions in which their was a lack of sanitation; had poor food provision; were understaffed and in some cases the children were physically + sexually abused. After the 1989 Romanian revolution many of the children were adopted.
Outline Rutters research (A01)
Rutter et al. (2011) followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans as part of the English and Romanian adoptee study (RAE). They physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at the ages of 4, 6, 11, 15 and 22-25 years. A group of 52 children from the Uk adopted around the same time acted as a control group. They found that half of the adoptees showed signs of delayed intellectual development later in life. By age 11, it became clear that the extent of recovery from these delays depended largely on the age at which the children were adopted. The longer the children had spent in institutional care, the more severe the developmental effects were. The mean IQ of children adopted before 6 months was 102, those between 6 months and 2 years were 86, and those adopted after two years was 77. These differences remained at age 16 and so likely also impact individuals into adulthood. Furthermore, if adopted after 6 months, adoptees showed a particular style of attachment style know as disinhibited attachment. This is specific to children that have spent time in insituastions and includes attention seeking, clinginess + social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar. In contrast, those children adopted before the age of 6 months rarely displayed thus + went on to make healthy attachments. Rutter explained disinhibited attachment as an adaption to living with multiple care givers during the sensitive period for attachment formation. This is supported by Zeanah et al, who conducted the Bucharest early intervention project and found that out of 95 romanin orphans living in insituats most of the time, 44% of these had a disinhibited attachment compared to less then 20% of 50 children who had never lived in an in situation.
Rutters findings therefore highlight that the damaging effects of institutionalization on cognitive development can be partially reversed, particularly if adoption occurs before 6 months of age—the critical period during which attachment bonds typically form. This underscores the importance of the early years in shaping intellectual growth and emotional well-being, emphasizing how early intervention can help mitigate some of the adverse outcomes of institutional care.
What is a strength of Romanian Orphan Studies (AO3)
A key practical application of these research is its influence on improving care practices in orphanages and children’s homes. The findings emphasised the importance of forming strong, consistent attachments early in life, which led to changes in how caregivers are assigned to infants in institutional settings. Specifically, orphanages now aim to allocate key carers to individual children, ensuring that each child has a consistent and stable figure in their lives. These key carers are trained to provide sensitive and responsive care, which fosters a secure attachment bond between the caregiver and the child. This approach helps prevent the development of disinhibited attachments that may have otherwise occurred due to the previous inconsistent attachment figures. By creating an environment that allows for healthy attachment formation, children in institutional care have a better chance of developing a positive internal working model of attachment. This, in turn, equips them with the emotional foundation necessary to form healthy relationships in the future and be sensitive, caring parents themselves. Ultimately, this practical shift in caregiving is crucial for mitigating the long-term emotional and psychological impacts of early deprivation, ensuring that children have the opportunity to grow up with the attachment security needed for healthy emotional development.
What is a limitation of Romanian Orphan studies (AO3)?
The findings from Rutter’s study can be seen as deterministic, suggesting that children who fail to form an attachment before the age of six months will inevitably develop an undesirable attachment type. However, this conclusion simplifies the situation. Rutter’s research, while revealing the severe effects of early institutionalization, also showed that even children who experienced prolonged periods of institutional care and deprivation before being adopted demonstrated no abnormal functioning by the age of 11. This finding challenges the deterministic view that early attachment failure always leads to long-term developmental problems. A more detailed explanation can be found in the concept of individual differences—while extreme emotional deprivation during the first two years of life may have devastating and irreversible effects for some children, others may show minimal developmental deficits. This variability suggests that Rutter’s explanation only partially accounts for the impacts of institutionalization. The research raises important issues by not considering the role of individual differences in resilience and development. Additionally, it fails to examine the quality of care provided after adoption, which may be crucial in determining whether a child can recover from early deprivation or continue to face developmental challenges. Overall, while Rutter’s study is influential, it highlights the need for further research into the factors that influence recovery from institutionalization, beyond just the timing of attachment formation.
What are Schaffer’s stages of attachment?
Asocial, indiscriminate avoidant, specific attachment, multiple attachments
Describe asocial stage
0-8 weeks
Prefence for familiar individuals as can recognise faces
Behaviour between humans and objects similar
Describe indiscriminate attachment
2-7 months
Prefence for people over inanimate objects
Accept cuddles/comfort off anyone without stranger/seperation anxiety
Describe specific attachment
7-12 months
Primary attachment to one particular individual, the person who shows the most sensitivity to their needs
Use familiar adults as a secure base
Show stranger/separation anxiety
Describe multiple attachments
12+
Form secondary attachments with familiar adults with whom they spend time (dad, grandparents)
29% of children formed secondary attachments within a month of forming a primary attachment
Describe Schaffer and Emersons research
1964, based their stage theory on an observational study of the formation of early infant-adult attachment’s.
60 babies, 29 f 31 m from middle class Glasgow families. Researchers every month for 1st year then again at 18months asked about babies response to leaving room/separation anxiety
Evaluate Schaffer’s stages of attachment (AO3)
This theory of attachment is ethnocentric as it only reflects the cultures in which a child is reared by one person. In collectivist cultures it is not uncommon for an infant to be cared for by multiple individuals and therefore they may form attachments in a different way then the sample from Glasgow/ individualist culture. This reduces the validity of the theory as it is limited in its ability to be applied cross-culturally.
Was a longitudinal study, which allowed researchers to investigate the development of attachment overtime (18month period). They were able to identify the no. of weeks at which attachments develop, towards who and how the quality of attachments change overtime. Able to generate lots of Q + Q data to come to sound conclusions about how attachments develop in specific groups and to provide support for the theory of attachment.
High particular value in reassuring potential fathers that babies will attach to them
Describe Bowlby’s monotropic theory
Bowlby (19880 rejected learning theory as an explanation for attachment and instead looked at the works of Lorenzo and Harlow for ideas and proposed an evolutionary explanation-that attachment was an innate system that gave a survival advantage. So attachment, like imprinting, evolved as a mechanism to keep young animals safe by ensuring they stay close to an adult caregiver.
What is monotropy?
The inborn tendency to attach to one main caregiver-usually the mother
Bowlby’s theory is described as monotopic as he placed great emphasis on a child’s attachment to one particular caregiver. He believed this attachment was more important then others and referred to the person as ‘mother’, but it was not necessary for it to be the biological mother.
What are social releasers?
Babies are born with a set of behaviours such as crying and looking cute, that ellicit a caring response from adults: these social releasers trigger the innate attachment from adults to babies.
What is the critical period?
Bowlby proposed that there is a critical period, and this is the time within which an attachment must form if it is to form at all. He viewed this more as a sensitive period, a child is maximally sensitive at 6 months and this possibly extends up to the age of two. If an attachment doesn’t form within this period, a child will find it much harder to form one later, and this may effect emotional and intellectual development .
What is the internal working model?
An internalised cognitive template about what relationships are + how to socially interact. This is formed from a child’s first relationship with their primary caregiver which gives the child a model for all future relationships, so the quality of this first relationship impacts later relationships. A child’s who’s first relationship is with a loving and reliable caregiver will seek out these qualities in romantic/ platonic relationships. However, a child’s whose first relationship involved poor treatment will tend to form further poor relationships in which they expect such treatment from others/ treat others in that way. The IWM also affects the child’s later ability to be a parent themselves. People tend to base their parenting behaviour on their own experience of being parented, which explains why children from functional families tend to have similar families themselves.
