Attachment Flashcards
what is attachment
an emotional bond between 2 individuals characterised by mutual affection and desire to maintain proximity
who caused the emergence of attachment theory
bowlby, 1951
what was the significance of the emergence of attachment theory
it was a major department from the psychoanalytic tradition, which focused on children’s internal fantasy rather than real events, and included the maternal deprivation hypothesis
maternal deprivation hypothesis=
the emotional and intellectual development of the infant will be impaired without the maternal-infant attahment. This is shown by studies on orphans ex. by Goldfarb and Spitz (found lower IQ, more depression and lack of recovery in institutionalised children)
what is imprinting
a form of learning, where the infant fixes its attention on the first stimulus( during a critical period) and results in the infant following this stimulus
what is the critical period for humans
0-24 months
what aspects of the infant-mother bond gives rise to the consequences seen following deprivation (as in maternal deprivation hypothesis)
a monotropy between the two (innate tendency to become attached to only one person) and a qualitative different bond to other bonds formed with that infant, so that if the mother is lost no one else can satisfy that role as optimally.
what are the 3 stages of distress following maternal separation
protest, despair and detachment
ex of separation and delinquency study:
44 thieves study, bowlby 1946. Majority of thieves had experienced prolonged separation and hence irreversible effects of absent attachment), also lots were affectionless psychopaths
chugani et al 2001 showed:
early deprivation affects cognition, emotion and social behaviour, and also somatic complaints (i.e deprived are less healthy and ill more)
what is the basis behind neurobiological findings of deprivation
output is being considered, and since output has been seen to change (ex cognitive function) then system as a whole (ex brain volume) must have also changed
who did the neurobiological experiments involving assessing attachment type and affective loss to loss in GM volume?
Benetti et al 2010
which changes in GM are associated with high attachment-related anxiety?
decrease in anterior temporal pole
increase in left orbital gyrus
how is the cerebellum involved in neurobiological findings of attachment?
the cerebellum is involved in mediating the moderating effect of affective losses by attachment related avoidance
what have neurobiological findings shown about early attachment experiences?
that early attachment experiences may contribute to structural brain differences
what have measurable brain changes implied about attachment style?
that attachment style may mediate individual differences in responses to affective loss
what are the criticisms of bowlby’s theory
- one or multiple attachments?
- fathers value? only emotional/economical?
- lack of maternal care, or other factors? ex. abuse
what do animal studies on the HPA response indicate about early deprivation?
that early separation results in increased HPA response throughout the life (i.e. results in a permanent change)
what does the fact that postnatal handling reduces HPA response in animals suggest?
it may suggest a role for the father since handling was not maternal
what did aimsworth’s studies investigate?
parallel deveolpments, supposed to be a naturalistic separation scenario and provide evidence for attachment types
what are the 3 attachment types
secure attachment (70%), anxious-avoidant (15%), anxious resistant (15%)
secure attachment=
70%, exploratory behaviour increases when mother present, distress caused by mum leaving rather than thought of being alone
anxious-avoidant=
15%, play not affected with or without mum, distress caused by being left alone by mum or stranger
anxious-resistant=
15%, little exploration with or without mum, infant ambivalent to mum (because doesn’t know whether to seek comfort from or avoid), resistant to strangers
