Attachment Flashcards
What is infancy?
Infancy is the period in a childs life before speech
What is reciprocity in infants?
research in the 1970s showed that infants co-ordinate actions with caregivers for example they move in rhythm like in conversation
- Brazelton (1979) - the rhythm is important as it enables the carrier to anticipate behaviour and respond this builds up attachment
Describe the procedure of Meltoff and Moore experiment?
1977
- adult model displays are of three facial expressions and hand gestures
- dummy placed in mouth when gestuire displayed to prevent response
- dummy removed and childs expression filmed
- infant copied
- shown to an observer to judge behaviour, they did not know the behaviour that was being imitated
- all scores greater than 9.2
1983
- repeated with 3 day old babies this ruled out the idea that imitation learned
is the imitation in the infants real or pseudo-imitation?
Meltzoff and Moore thought that the imitation was intentional whereas John Piaget believed that the response was training
- training - infant repeats behaviour that was rewarded (with a smile) therefore operant conditioning and pseudo - imitation
- intentional - Murry and Trevarthen - they used 2 month olds which interacted with there mother on a webcam in real time then in not real time, when the mother did not interact and respond the baby became distressed this provbed that they were an active part in the relationship
what were the problems with Meltzoff and Moore study
- constant moving mouths and expressions therefore difficult to distinguished.
This was fixed by filming the babies and using an outside observer - failure to replicate - the Koepke et al was less carefully controlled
what were the problems with the Murry and Thervarthen study?
in another study Marian et al, the infants did not react
What proves that the infants response is intentional?
Abravanel and DeYoung - tested 5 week olds - little response to objects that showed tongue and mouth movements therefore specific response to humans
What does interacting do to the baby?
Isabella et al - strong infant to caregiver relationship the greater the interactional synchrony
Heiman - infants that had more imitation had a better relationship
Whats the value of the research in the Meltzoff and Moore study?
It proved
- connection between what the infant sees and imitation associate their own acts and underlying mental states
- project there own experiences onto others performing similar acts
- acquire an understanding of what people are feeling and thinking
Describe Lorenz procedure
- took some gosling eggs and divided them into 2 groups
- one group with natural mother other in incubator
- when the incubator eggs hatched the first moving object they saw was Lorenz
- to test the imprinting Lorenz marked the chicks then mixed them up
Describe Lorenz findings
- Goslings divided themselves up
- incubator chicks flowed Lorenz
- imprinting restricted to definite period of time called the critical period
- some animals do not imprint on humans
What were the long lasting effects of Lorenz study?
- irreversible
- long lasting
- preference on later mate, they chose to mate with object on which they imprinted
What was Harlow’s hypothesis?
a mothers love is not based on feeding
What was Harlow’s Procedure?
- created 2 wire mothers with different heads
- one mother was wrapped in cloth
- 8 monkeys studied for 165 days
- 4 monkeys had milk bottle on cloth mother and the other 4 on wire mother
- measurements made to how long spent with each and responses made when frightened
What was Harlow’s findings?
- all 8 spent most time with cloth mother even when it did not have the feeding bottle
- those who fed on wire only spent small amount of time there
- when frightened they clung to cloth
- when playing with new toy they had one paw on cloth mother
What was the long lasting effects of Harlow’s study?
- they were socially and sexually abnormal when older and did not play with other monkeys or cradle their offspring
- after 3 months they could recover but after 6 months they could not
- critical period
What was the research supporting imprinting?
Guiton (1966) - Leghorn chicks exposed to yellow gloves and imprinted on them, later they tried to mate with the yellow gloves
What was the criticism of imprinting?
Guiton found it could be reversed
What was the confounding variable in Harlow’s study?
2 different heads therefore it varied systematically with the IV
What was the problem with generalising animal studies to humans?
Humans differ to animals as we make more conscious decisions but Schauffer and Emerson supported that infants are not attached to people who feed them
What were the ethical problems of Harlow’s study?
- left emotional harm
- significant effect and better care available
who was the person who first investigated classical conditioning?
Ivan Palov
Explain classical conditioning in terms of building up attachment
begins with an innate stimulus response in this case it is food, this provided the innate which is pleasure
- the food is the UCS (unconditioned stimulus) and the pleasure is the UCR (unconditioned response)
- during the infants first weeks it learns things that associate with the UCS for example who feed them this becomes the neutral stimuli (NS)
- if the NS is consistently associated with the UCS then it will take on its own properties and produce the same response as the UCS
- therefore the NS becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) and provides a conditioned response (CR)
who came up with operant conditioning?
BF Skinner, John Dollard, Neal Miller
explain operant conditioning in terms of building an attachment
- caused by operant conditioning and drive reduction theory
1. a drive motivates a behaviour for example decreasing discomfort e.g. feeling hungry
2. the infant is fed and this discomfort is decreased causing pleasure and reward this is a positive reinforcement
3. the food is the primary reinforce
4. person supplying the food is therefore the secondary reinforce
Who came up with social learning theory?
Albert Bandura, Dale Hay, Joe Vespo
What is social learning theory?
children observe parents attachment behaviours and mirror this, if they behave appropriately they are rewarded
Behavioursists v non-behaviourists - research with animals
Behaviourists - believe that humans learn the same way as animals therefore we can generalise the way we behave
non behaviourists - attachment involve innate predispositions and mental activity that is explained by conditioning
- behaviourists - oversimplified version of human behaviour therefore lacks validity
Evaluation of learning theory
Is it all down to food?
other studies show other elements impact attachment for example Harlow, Schauffer and Emerson
advantages of learning theory?
does explain some of it
- infants do learn through associationa dn reinforcement
- attention and response from caregiver could be main reason for attachment
- responsiveness is something that infants imitate and therefore learn how to conduct a relationshiop
why id drive reduction theory largely ignored?
- only explains a limited number of behaviours,
- many things people do have nothing to do with reducing discomfort
- some people increase discomfort
- does not explain secondary reinforcement - they do not reduce discomfort yet are reinforcing
why is Bowlby’s theory better?
explains why attachment forms
offers advantages of attachment
better explantnations of the facts
what are the stages of attachment?
stage1 - the asocial stage
stage 2 - indiscriminate attachment
stage 3 - specific attachment
stage 4 - multiple attachments
What is the purpose of stage 1 and what is its name
the asocial stage
- birth - 2 months
- similar response to all objects
- starts to show preference towards social stimuli e.g a smile
- interactional synchrony and reciprocity plays a role in establishing infants relationship
What is the purpose of stage 2 and what is its name
indiscriminate attachment
- 2 - 7 months
- more social and prefer human contact
- can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people
- no stranger anxiety and comforted by anyone
what is the purpose of stage 3 and what is its name
specific attachment
- 7 moths
- separation anxiety
- primary attachment figure - formed with the person who not spends the most time with them but responds to their needs the best
- stranger anxiety
what is the purpose of stage 4 and what is its name
multiple attachment
- soon after primary attachment
- forms multiple attachments these are called secondary attachments
- can show separation anxiety towards these attachments
describe the Schauffer and Emerson study
- 60 infants from Glasgow from working class families
- aged between 5 and 23 weeks
- studied till they were 1 year old
1. visited mums every 4 weeks
2. asked infants response to 7 everyday separations
3, asked to describe the type of protest
4. rated on 4 point scale
5. asked who the protests were aimed at
what was wrong with Schauffer and Emerson’s study?
based on mums reports - systematic error and decreases internal validity and reliability due to investigator effects working class families only historically may not apply this decreases external validity
Are multiple attachments equivalent?
Bowlby - one significant attachment figure this is called monotropy , and other secondary attachments are second to this and used as a safety note
Rutter - all attachment figures are equal and all integrated into an infants attachment type
cultural variations in attachment stages
collectivist cultures who focus on the group share things such as child care therefore they don’t apply to the stages
sagi et al - in family based sleeping arrangements attachment with mothers is twice as common than in communal environments
whats wrong with stage theories?
suggests development is inflexible this becomes standard by which families are classed at and may be classed as abnormal
What is bowlbys main principal of attachment?
Strong attachment and the consequences of strong attachment are adaptive
What are the components of Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment?
Why attachment forms?
How attachment forms?
The consequences of attachment
Bowby’s monotropic theory if attachment:why attachment forms?
It forms as a survival feature, an infant who is not attached is less well protected than an infant who is attached
- attachment is formed in two directions, the caregiver has to also be attached to the infant
Bowlby’s monotonous theory of attachment: how attachment is formed?
- Infants have a critical period in which they have an innate drive to become attached - this is usually 3-6 months after this time it becomes very hard to form an attachment
- Attachment is determined by sensitivity - infants become more attracted to the mothers who are more responsive
- Social releasers - behaviour that elicits caregiving and forms an attachment
- Montropy- infants having one special emotional bond, all secondary attachments act as safety nets
Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment: consequences of attachment
Internal working model
- in short term gives the child an insight into the caregivers behaviour and allows the child to influence behaviour and form a relationship
- long term its a template for all future relationships as it generates expectations about what innate relationships our about
Continuity hypothesis
- individuals who are strongly attached are more socially and emotionally contempt when older
Evaluation - Bowlby
Is attachment adaptive?
- attachment develops after 3 months as late mechanisms to protect infants - distant ancestors would have to develop it as soon as possible
Evaluation Bowlby
A senstive period rather than critical
Rutter et al suggested there was no critical period although attachments were less likely to form after 6 months but not impossible
Evaluation Bowlby
Multiple attachment versus montropy
Multiple attachment- no primary or secondary model but integrated into an internal working model
Bowlby - suggested secondary attachments do contribute in social development but there is a hierarchy
- prior and glasser agree with Bowlby
Evaluation of Bowlby
Continuity hypothesis
according to Bowlby one outcome of attachment is the effect it has on other relationships
Sroufe et al proved this - the study followed participants from early infancy to late adolescent and found a continuity between early attachment and later emotional social behaviour.
- the ones classified as securely attached were less isolated and more popular and empathetic this supports continuity hypothesis
Evaluation of Bowlby
what is the alternative explanation for attachment
kagan
- suggests that the infants temperament is what controls attachment behaviour, infants who have an easy temperament are more likely to become strongly attached as its easier to interact with them.
- Belsky and Rovine provide evidence for this, for example they found that infants between 1 and 3 days old who were more behaviourally unstable were later classed as developing insecure attachment they also suggested it depended on the mothers responsiveness
