Attachment Flashcards
What is interactional synchrony
When infants move their bodies in tune with the rhythm of the carers spoken language to create mirroring, turn taking conversation
What is reciprocity
Interactions/mutual behaviours where both parties produces responses to fortify the attachment bond, responses not necessarily similar as in interactional synchrony
What did Tronik et al research
Reciprocity
What did Condon and Sander research
Interactional synchrony
What stage of attachment is 3-8 months
Indiscriminate attachment phase
What is the last attachment stage called
Multiple attachment stage
What are the characteristics of the pre attachment phase
Infants become attracted to other humans, prefer them to objects and events, they smile and interact
What stage of attachment is where infants have specific attachments, stay close to particular people, show stranger anxiety and separation protest
Discriminate attachment phase
A) what age was separation protest displayed
B) what age was stranger anxiety shown
in Shaffer and Emmerson’s experiment
6-8 months
From 9 months
How was separation protest investigated in S&E’s experiment
Infant left alone in room, with others, in pram in strange environment, held/passed around
What were the results of S&E’s experiment after 18 months
87% at least 2 attachments
31% 5 or more attachments
What % of infants had their prime attachment as not the primary caregiver in SE’s experiment
39%
Why did the researcher in S&E’s experiment approach the infant immediately on entry
To investigate stranger anxiety by seeing if this distressed the child
What is sensitive responsiveness
Recognising and responding appropriately to an infants needs
What are the 4 factors affecting the role of the father
Degree of sensitivity
Type of attachment between father and parent
Marital intimacy
Supportive co parenting
What did Lorenz investigate
Imprinting
How did Harlow research attachment in animals
16 monkeys - towelling mother vs wired feeding mother
What did Harlow investigate
The learning theory
Evaluate Harlow’s study
Cannot necessarily be extrapolated to humans
Psychological harm
Physical harm - diarrhoea
Unethical environment
How many conditions were there in Harlow’s experiment and what were they
4
Feeding wired mother
Feeing towelling mother
Feeding wired mother and regular towelling mother
Regular wired mother and feeding towelling mother
What are the principles of the learning theory
Classical conditioning and operant conditioning
Give 2 strengths and 2 limitations of the cupboard love theory
CC and OC are well established theories
Babies are fed 2000 times a year
Reductionist - attachments are complex and have intense emotional involvement, conditioning best explains simple behaviour
Attachments develop with those who don’t feed infants
Infants require constant comfort and security but not constant food
Harlow contradicts
Outline Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory
Innate, evolutionary, survival
Social releasers
Critical period
Internal working model
What is the internal working model
Hierarchy of attachment, template/blueprint = continuity hypothesis
What is the continuity hypothesis
States that attachments characterise humans throughout life, patterns established in early attachment structure the quality if bonds for later relationships
How can we use S&E to evaluate Bowlby’s Monotropic theory
Supports: 1 prime attachment
Contracicts: multiple attachments are the norm
What are the 3 types of attachment
Insecure avoidant (A) Secure (B) Insecure resistant (C)
How many conditions were there in the strange situation
8, 3 minutes each, behaviour observed every 15 seconds
What were the findings of Ainsworths strange situation experiment
A 15%
B 70%
C 15%
What did Ainsworth conclude
Sensitive responsiveness determines quality of attachment as sensitive mothers correctly interpret the needs of the infant
Why is Ainsworths strange situation experiment reliable
Children tested at different ages showed the same attachment type each time: Main et al found type B was continued from 18 months to 6 years
Meta analysis showed same results
Easily repeated by other researchers
Inter observer reliability (video tape, set procedure, behavioural categories, time sampling)
What are the limitations of Ainsworths strange situation
Attachment is not a permanent characteristic
Lacks ecological validity and realism (lab, script, procedure)
Focuses too much on infants
Unethical for infants
Infants act differently depending on what parent they are with = invalid
Lacks mundane realism
Cultural bias = lacks population validity
Use research to evaluate Ainsworth
Main and Western: infants act differently depending on parent
Brofenbrenner: stronger attachment in lab compared to home environment
Main et al: the strange situation can be criticised for suggesting attachment is a permanent characteristic however Main found those with type B at 18 months also had type B at age of 6
In Ijzendorn’s study which differences were more apparent - intracultural or intercultural
Intracultural
How many studies, how many countries and how many mother-infant pairs were involved with Ijzendoorns study
32 studies
8 countries
35 pairs
What were the findings of Ijzendoorns study
A 21% B 67% C 12%
Where was the highest proportion of type A attachment found
Germany
Give statistical evidence that the intracultural differences were larger than the intercultural ones
America - 94% A vs 47% A in different areas
In what 2 countries was type C most common
Israel and Japan
Where was type A most common in Van Ijzendoorns study
West/USA
Give 2 strengths and 2 limitations of Izjendorns study
Internal validity (intracultural differences found in different samples from same researcher so not down to methodological differences)
Large scale
However
Cannot generalise to all cultures
Some differences may be down to socio economic factors (EXTRANEOUS VARIABLE)
Imposed etic between cultures
What is privation
When children never form an attachment
What is the difference between separation and deprivation, give an example
Separation - brief and temporary
Deprivation - long and permanent
What is the PDD model
Response to separation in the MDH
Protest (immediate reaction, crying, clinging)
Despair (child calms but will not let others comfort it, tries to comfort themselves)
Detachment (child responds to people but treats everyone warily, may reject caregiver on their return)
Give one piece of evidence for separation
Robertson and Robertson - took those experiencing separation into a home environment and found this prevented psychological damage so negative outcomes are not inevitable
Kagan et al - no direct link between separation and attachment difficulties
Give an example of research for deprivation
Schaffer - 25% infants negatively affected by divorce in long term, 100% short term
Demi and Acock - sometimes deprivation in the form of divorce can be beneficial
Describe institutionalisation
When a child is taken into a group environment in a carehome or orphanage, sometimes attachments form beforehand, involved disinhibition attachment behaviour, not in family/home setting
How many orphans were studied and what were the independent variables
100
RO’s adopted before 6 months, RO’s adopted between 6 and 24 months, British orphans
What did the Roman orphan study conclude
Institutional care has some long term negative effects - DAD and social problems ie when an alternative attachment has not been made however damage can be overcome by the correct nurturing environment
How can individual differences affect institutionalisation
Quality of care, age, maturity
Outline the continuity hypothesis
States attachment behaviour at a young age characterises humans throughout life, found patterns between early patent child relationships and the structure and qualify of their later bonds
What did youngblade and belsky research
Continuity hypothesis - 3/5 year old type B children were more curious competent and self confident in their relationships and friendships
What were the findings of hazan and shaver’s experiment
A 24% B 56% C 90%
What is one limitation of hazan and shaver’s experiment
Correlational
What did main and goldwyn design
The adult attachment interview - found correlation
What were the 3 types that main and goldwyn classified adults into
Dismissing (unimportant)
Autonomous (important)
Preoccupied-entangled
How did zimmerman’s research contradict the continuity hypothesis
Found attachment type at 12-18 months did not predict quality of later relationships as events and individual differences ie divorce had much larger effects
Evaluate the continuity hypothesis
Reductionist
Research is correlational
Deterministic (no free will)
