Attachment Flashcards
Who were the 2 psychologists investigating attachment in animals?
Harlow 1959 & Lorenz 1935
What did Harlow investigate?
Monkey’s attachment - whether they prefer food or comfort
What did Lorenz investigate?
Imprinting in Geese and whether it affects who they attach to from birth
What did Harlow do in his study?
Took baby monkey’s away from their parents and put them in cages with a cloth mother and a wire mother. Wire mother supplied food and cloth mother supplied comfort. They were scared to see who they would run too etc
What did Harlow find?
That monkey’s preferred contact comfort to food. They ran to the cloth mother when scared and spent 23/24 hours on their cloth mother a day. If you were raised by a cloth mother you were more social
What was the overall finding from Harlows study?
Attachment does not develop due to being fed but due to comfort
What are some strengths of Harlows study? (3)
Lab experiment so reliable - less extraneous variables, all monkeys had same experiences increasing reliability, monkeys are a close species to humans so we can compare the results
What are some weaknesses of Harlows study? (1)
Breaks ethical guidelines as cannot consent and deliberately caused harm, caused long term distress
What did Lorenz do in his study?
Studied geese in their natural environment, split geese eggs into 2 and marked them, when close to hatching half were hatched naturally and half put in an upturned box and released so Lorenz was the first person they saw. Had to happen 4-25 hours after birth
What did Lorenz find?
The naturally hatched geese followed their mother and the unnaturally hatched followed Lorenz, whoever they saw first they attached too
What was the overall finding from Lorenzs study?
Imprinting is important to attachment
What are the strengths of Lorenzs study? (2)
Observation was done in natural environment so increases ecological validity, found that attachment is not a learned response but built in in order to assist survival
What are the weaknesses of Lorenzs study? (4)
Reliability is low, generalisability is very low, may not apply to human infants as geese can walk and feed straight from birth but humans are helpless for months, unethical ins some ways as it is irreverisable
What are the 2 main theories of attachment in human infants?
Learning theory and Bowlby’s monotropy theory
What does the learning theory believe?
We learn attachment through experience in our environment (the behaviours we learn). It is not something we do naturally without stimuli
What are the 2 types of conditioning in the learning theory?
Classical conditioning and operant conditioning
What are these 2 types of conditioning?
How we learn
What does classical conditioning believe we learn through?
Association (we attach as we have learnt to associate between caregiver and the pleasurable feeling of being full) WE ATTACH AS WE KNOW WE GET FED
What is the unconditioned stimulus in classical conditioning?
Milk
What is the neutral stimulus in classical conditioning?
Mother
What is the conditioned response in classical conditioning?
You have now learnt to respond to your mother in a certain way as you know you will receive milk
What does operant conditioning believe we learn through?
Consequences of our behaviour
What are the 2 types of reinforcement in operant conditioning?
Positive and negative
What is positive reinforcement?
Being rewarded for good behavior, i.e pocket money
What is negative reinforcement?
To stop a negative outcome happening, i.e not being grounded as you tidied your room
What do the 2 types of reinforcement increase the chances of?
The good behavior happening again
What is a study to support classical conditioning?
Pavlov’s dogs (cutting a dogs saliva glands to see when they salivate, dogs salivate to food which is a biological response, after a while when the dog sees the same researcher they begin to salivate before food as they have paired the 2 together
What is the positive and negative reinforcement of a baby crying and then getting its bottle?
Positive - baby gets food
Negative - mother stops baby crying and this makes her happy
What is the primary reinforcer?
Food (whatever the baby wants)
What is the secondary reinforcer?
Mother (the baby has learnt the mother gets food for them)
What is cupboard love?
The idea that we become attached to those who feed us
What are the criticisms of the learning theory of attachment? (3)
HARLOWS STUDY, counter evidence from human research (schaffer and emerson found babies formed a primary attachment to mothers even though others fed them), learning theory ignores reciprocity and interactional synchrony
What are the strengths of the learning theory of attachment? (1)
Classical conditioning is known to be part of what builds attachment
What does ASCMI stand for in Bowbly’s monotropic theory of attachment?
Adaptive, social releasers, critical period, monotropy, internal working model
What is Bowlby’s idea in the monotropic theory of attachment?
That attachment is an innate feature which we inherit in order for us to survive
Who does the monotropic theory of attachment say we attach to?
1 person (MONO) our mother, person who cares for us the most
What does adaptive in the monotropic theory of attachment mean?
Evolutionary means. An infant has an attachment to primary caregiver as they keep us safe, feed us and keep us warm which keeps us alive
What does social releasers in the monotropic theory of attachment mean?
Babies have social releasers (physical and behavioral) which makes the caregiver want to attach to them - 2 WAY STREET
What does critical period in the monotropic theory of attachment mean?
If you dont form an attachment within 2 and 1/2 years you will have long term attachment problems - unlikely you will form an attachment with anyone
What does monotropy in the monotropic theory of attachment mean?
Infants only form 1 attachment and this is called monotropy. Most likely to be the mother
What does internal working model in the monotropic theory of attachment mean?
When we attach to 1 person we develop an internal working model - special schema for relationships. ALL FUTURE RELATIONSHIPS WILL BE BASED ON THE INTERNAL WORKING MODEL OF THAT CHILD
What does Bowlby believe about the attachments we form?
They are a hierarchy, mother attachment is most important
What is the law of continuity?
The law that the more constant and predictable a childs care the better quality of attachment
What is the law of accumulated separation?
The effects of every separation from mother adds up so therefore ‘the safest dose is a zero dose’
What is Bowlby’s continuity hypothesis?
A child will stop communicating their distress to a parent who is unavailable or inconstant from the age of 12 months, This will then affect their ability to form future relationships
What are the strengths of Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment? (2 studys & 1)
Tronick et al 1992 study supports montropy (even though in Zaire kids had multiple caretakers who breast fed them their mother was their main attachment) Hazen and Shaver 1987 study supports internal working model (‘love quiz’ on 620 people, infants who were securely attached tended to have happier lasting adult relationships)
GOOD ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY AS IN NATRUAL ENVIRONMENT
What are the weaknesses for Bowbly’s theory of attachment? (2)
Mixed evidence for monotropy - Schaffer and Emerson found that babies could form multiple attachments not just 1 like Bowlby believed. MOTHERS WERE ASKED TO COMMENT ON CHILDS BEHAVIOUR WHICH MAY NOT BE ACCURATE SO LACKS RELIABILITY
Who developed the Strange Situation?
Mary Ainsworth alongside Bowlby
What does the strange situation test?
The quality of attachment to a primary caregiver and the types of attachment found
What is proximity seeking in the strange situation?
If the baby stays close to its mother
What is exploration and secure base behavior in the strange situation?
If the child is confident to explore, if it has then it has a good attachment
What is stranger anxiety in the strange situation?
Babies anxiety when a stranger approachs
What is separation anxiety in the strange situation?
Protest at separation from the caregiver
If a baby cries when its mother leaves what is this called?
Separation protest
What is response to reunion in the strange situation?
How the baby reacts when reunited with mother figure
Name the 8 steps to the Strange Situation
1) mother and baby, the experimenter leaves them to play. 2) mother and baby are alone and the baby plays
3) stranger enters and mother leaves
4) stranger tries to comfort baby
5) mother returns and stranger leaves
6) mother leaves so infant is alone
7) stranger returns and tries to comfort baby
8) mother returns and stranger leaves
What are the 3 types of attachment to come out of the strange situation?
Type B - Secure attachment
Type A - Insecure avoidant
Type C - Insecure resistant
What are the percentages for the 3 types of attachment?
Secure - 60-70%. Avoidant 20-25%. Resistant 10%.