attachment Flashcards
what are the two things in caregiver-infant interaction?
Reciprocity - way of communication, responding to each other by taking turns,, back and forth interaction, like a conversation
murray:
- mothers interact over video
- Mum stops responding. Baby tries to get attention
- no attention given, baby stops trying; turn taking is important
interactional synchrony - mirroring actions, communicating in sync
research -
- Infants copy faces or gestures adults make, shows communication but expressions tested, such as yawning sticking tongue out, are things babies do anyway, babies cant communicate so scientists rely on inferences, less accurate
- Observe how babies react to a puppet (human look-alike), mouth opening and closing, little response shown, babies dont just copy what they see, interactional synchrony is a specific social response
difficulties investigating caregiver infant interaction
- attachment stronger in labs than home. do study in home to increase validity
- observes bias - have more than one observer (interrater reliability)
- practical issues baby often asleep or feeding
- extra cautious to ensure no psychological harm caused
what are the stages of attachment?
Shafer and Emmerson longitudnal study 60 infants and mothers for 2 years
Pre-attachment 0-3 months, baby prefers humans more than objecys, smile at faces
indiscriminate attachment 4-7 months, recognise familiar faces and smile more at them, will be okay will strangers
discriminate attachment 7+
attach to primary attachment figure, show seperation protest + stranger axiety
shaffer and emmerson found baby doesnt attach to person who spends most time quality>quantity
multiple attachments 7+
form secondary attachemnt with others eg siblings grandparents, fear of strangers weakens
EVAL:
- unreliable - based on mums report, could be less sensitive and not report protest?
- bias sample, only working class, cant generalise
- culture bias, only individualist cultures, collectivist could hav attachment differently
- lacks temporal validity, parenting has changed since then, more men stay home and women work
- individual differences some might form multiple attachments first
what is the role of the father?
75% attached to father by 18 months
father is usually less attachment figure cuz:
- spend less time
- lack emotional sensitivity, women have oxytocin, caring hormone
- social norms and society, men shouldnt be caring bcs sensitivity = femininity
fathers give play + stimulation and mum gives emotional support, father also important
EVAL:
- single mum family, no effect on child, fathers role not imporant?
- early attachemtn to mother = good teenage rs compared to early attachemnt to mother, but if father plays with the child when young rwlationshp wit btoh parents imprives
- single dads can take traditional ,aterbal roles and adapt to childs needs, main caregiver father smiles more and copies baby sounds like the mother would
reserch into types of attacment
strange situation; controlled observation;
- mum and baby proximity
- stranger enters stranger anxiety
- mum leaves seperaton protest
- mum comes abck reunion joy
findings;
- insecure avoidant - 20% low reunion
- secure - 70% high reunion
- insecure resistant - 10% low reunion
EVAL;
+ high control, standarlised procedures, easily replicated
- culture bias US
- inaccurate measures proximit seeking can be secure not insecure resistant
- gender bias, child behaves diff around dads?
- attachment in labs is stronger thna home reduces accuracy of results
what did cross cultural variations show?
Van ijzindroon - metaanalysis 32 studies to see if attachemnt is the same across all cutures
- all strange sitatuon
- individuaist and collectivist
findigns
- secure most common
2nd common avoidant apart form japan and israel, theres was reisstnt
- lowes secure - China
- highest secure - great britian
- highest avoidan - germany
overall variation wihting cultures 1.5X greater than varaition between culturea
similarities show caregiver infant interactions are universal
diifernces show social class and child raisng pactices impirtat
EVAL
+ metaanalysi larg sample increase validity
- cuture bias strange situation made in us wony work elsewhere
- israel kids live in a kibbutz (closed community), no interation with strangers hgih strager anxiety wrongly labelled as resistant
- gender bias - child might be securely attached to other parent not mum, child behaves differently based on parent
explain the learning theory of attachment
all behaviours learnt vlassical conditioning
unconditioned stimulus food - unconditioned response pleasure
neutral stimulus person gives food - unconditioned response pleasure
after association of person with pleasue from food conditiond stimulus food - conditioned response - pleasure
operant condiitoning - maitains behaviour strengthens attachemnt
+ reinfor baby gets pleasure from being fed
- reinfor for caregviver when baby stops crying
EVAL
+ scientific and plausabe, assocition of meeting needa n [erson providing needs can lead toa strong bond
- harlow - comfort > food
- shafer and emmerson play> food. 39% cases mum fed baby but baby attache to someone else
- explaing how not why, bowlbys theory is better, attachment provied protectik
what is bowlbys monotropic theory
- attachemnt forms for survival ad passing of genes
- innate drive to attach during a criticla period or neve will - 2 years
- level of attachemnt detemined by caregivers sensitivity
- social releasrs help attavhment form eg smilign ad cryign
- monotropy = one special bond
- secure monotropic bond = positive internal working model (template for all future relationships)
- negative/no monotropic bond = no internal working model, fear intamacy, lack commitment
EVAL
- shaffer and emmerson, multiple attachemnts > monotropy - by 18 months baby attached to more than one figure
- socially sensotive, burden and responsibility on mum, pressure to stay home give up career, underestimates role of father purely economic, outdated sexit view, lames mum if future rs are bad
- children adopted by age 4 could form attachemnt - no critical priosd
- attachemnt not determined by caregivers sensitivity, but by infants innate tempermant, some are better suited to form attachemnts than others
what is bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation?
- absent primary attachemtn figure - Prolonged emotional deprivation
- continuity hypothesis says effects are irreverable, no internal working model continues into adulthood
- impact happens of seperation is before critical period 2 years btu theres a risk of impacts if seperation ahppens before 5 years sensitive period
research bowlby studied patient with emotional maladjustment
88 ppl
44 - no seperation from mother
44 thieves
14/44 thieves were affectionless psychopaths lack of affection sensitivity and respinsibility
12/14 were seperated from mother
remaining 30 theives - 5/30 also seperated form mother
- shows how seperatinon from mother can lead to affcetioness psychopaths with no sense of affection responsibility or sensotivity
EVAL
+ before parents not alloed to visit child i hospital now paretns encouraged to stay with kids
+spitz examined kids from poor quality orphanage members overwoked and underatined kid showed anaclitic depression
+ institution where child only looked after phsyically gives low IQ, same child put in insitution with emotional care iQ raises by 30 points
- effects can be reversible - some adopted afte age of four can for attacemnt to new parents
- doesnt distinguish between deprivation (losing) ad privation (never forming one in the first place)
what is the reasearch to do with institutionalisation care
-165 romanian orphans suffering effects of insitutioanlisation adopted and tested at ages 4 6 11 and 15
- control group 52 british kids adopted before 6 months
finsings
- at starts romanians lagged behind british orphans
- by age 4 the ones adopted before 6 months caught up but adopted after 6 months still lagegd
conclusion
- effects are reversible if kid adopted before 6 months and good parenting given
what are the effects of institutional care
1 delayed intellectual dev
- low IQ, cant conc, struggle at skl, delayed language dev
2 disinhibited attachemnt
- dont know approprite behaviour towars stramngers, overly affectionate and attention seekign
3 emotional development
- strugke mannaging anger
4 lack of internal working mdel
- difficuty forming rs, not good parents
5 quasi autism
- show obsessional behaviour, dont get social contexts
6 delayed physcial dev
- physially small, lack of emotinal care lesds to deprivation dwardfism
EVAL
+ help put key workers in place to proved emotiona care
+ changed adoption process babies adopted before 6 months
- cant generalise findings romanians in horrible physicala nd poor condiitons
- romanian orphans not randomly allocated - picked based on chracteristics - reduces valifity of reasearch
- effects can be reduced with sensitive parenting - 36 romanian orphans adopted in canada physically smaller thancontrol group by age 4 but the sae by age 10
Animal study by harlow
- wire vs cloth mother
- 8 monkeys seperated from mum studied 165 days
- 4 got milk from cloth
- 4 got milk from wire
- time spent with each mum measured
- obsereved monkeys when frightened by teddy, put in new env
findigns
- all stayed with cloth longer
- with wire ony long enough to feed
- clung to cloth when scared
- new env - coudnt explore without soft cloth
long term effects monkeys studies aas they grew
- froze at sight o other minkeys
- abnormal mating behavior
- could ony recover fi they spend tim with other monkeys before they were 3 months ld
- over 3 months with wire never recovered
EVAL
- comfort >food contradicts learnign theory
+ supports bowlbys maternal deprivation theory neglet and poor attachment affects future rlationshipls but humans can recover from maternal deprivation (canadian orphans 36 who were phsycally smaller than control group till age 4 but by age 10 they caught up)
+ shaffer and emmerson play.food 39%cases mother fed baby but baby attached to someone else
- unethical traumatic scared emtioanl harm irreversible couldnt look after own kids
Lorenz animal studies
ethologsit studied imprinting attachment to first mocing object seen
- divided goose eggs in 2
- group 1 hatch with mum
- group 2 hatch in incubator and firstthing they see is Lorenz
- marked the two groups and placed toeter again
findingds
- divided themselves - followed lorenz vs mum
- incubarte goosling didnt recognise mum
- critical period wont imprint after
- imprinting is simialr to attachemtn special rs
long term effects
- irrecersible
- sexual imprinting choose to mate what they imprined on
EVAL
+critical period - monotropic bond window of opportunity
+ chicken see yellow rubber gloves imprinted on gloves but was reversible after spending time with other chickens showednormal mating begaviours
- cant genrelaside, physiologically diff other influences culture upbringing peers human attachemnt more complex - diff attachemnt types secre avoidant resistant
- harlow study more releavnt to humans monkeys are also mammals
what is the influence of early attachment on childhood relaionships
Sroufe et al did a parent child project
- mum and child behaviour asessed by questionares and observations
eg video of them playing fpor 10-15 mins knew were being revorded can show demand characteristics
findings: securely attached showed
- high social competemce
- less social isolater
- more popular
- more empathetic
no attachment during critical period, no internal working model, attachment disorder shown fro age 5
EVAL
+reliable, studies show securely attached kids have high social competemce and are closer to friends by age 16
- deterministic doesnt take free will into account
- other studies say can still fprm attavhment, kids adopted from care could form attachemnt to adopted parents by age 4
what is the role of attachment on adult relationships?
Bowlbys monotopic theory and internal working model
Hazan and shaver love quiz on newspaper questions about
- rs with parents (infant attachemtn)
- attitude towards love (internal working model)
current rs (adult attachment)
in total 620 responses
findings
asult attachment similar to infant attachment
- secure 56%
- avoidant 23%
- resistant 19%
conclusion
positive internal working model leads to securely attached adult, describe thier love life as happy frindly and trusting, accept partners flaws an have the most enduring relationships
EVAL
- correlation does not mean causation, could be a third variable involved innate ttemperment
- relies on ppts memory abot early life, could be wrong memory is nto accuarte, makes study invalid
