Attachment Flashcards
reciprocity
how mother and infant interact by responding to each others signals
interactional synchrony
mother infant reflect both the actions and emotions of each other and do this in a synchronised manner
interactional synchrony
Isabella et al
30 mother infants pairs
assessed interactional synchrony and mother infant relationships
high levels of synchrony and quality of relationship
stages of attachment
Schaffer and Emerson
Asocial attachments
Indiscriminate attachments
Specific attachments
multiple attachments
Asocial
stages of attachment- Schaffer and Emerson
show some preference to familiar adults
recognise/start to form bonds with carer
Indiscriminate attachment
stages of attachment- Schaffer and Emerson
2-7 months
show preference to people not objects/recognise familiar adults
no separation/stranger anxiety
Specific attachment
stages of attachment-Schaffer and Emerson
around 7 months
show separation/stranger anxiety
specific attachment with primary care giver
Multiple attachment
stages of attachment-Schaffer and Emerson
after attachment is formed with one adult the baby starts to express attachment behaviours to others
Monotropic theory
Bowlby
Bowlbys Monotropic theory
monotropy
social releases
internal working model
strengths of carer-infant interactions
research uses controlled observation-validity
research support-Isabella et al
weaknesses of carer-infant interactions
hard to know what exactly is happening
doesn’t give any further detail
parent-infant attachment
Schaffer and Emerson
the mother is normally the first attachment formed secondary attachments are normally made a few weeks after
75% of infants formed attachment with father by 18 months
role of the father
Grossman
longitudinal study
quality of attachment with mothers was related to attachment in teens but not father
quality of father play related to attachment in teens
fathers as primary caregivers
field
filmed 4 month old infants face to face interaction with mother primary caregiver, father secondary caregiver, father primary caregiver
father primary caregivers like mother primary caregiver spends more time smiling/holding infants, this behaviour is more important when forming attachment
stages of attachment
Schaffer and Emerson research
60 babies 31 boys and 29 girls
Glasgow working class families
baby and mother visited at home for first year and at 18 months
asked questions about stranger and separation anxiety
weeks 25-32 50% of babies showed separation anxiety
by 40 weeks 80% had specific attachment and 30% had multiple attachments
strengths of Schaffer and Emerson research
good validity
detailed qualitative data
weaknesses of Schaffer and Emerson research
small sample
longitudinal study-high drop out rate
factors that affect the relationship between fathers and children
degree of sensitivity
type of attachment with own parents
marital intimacy
supportive co-parenting
Lorenz’s research
imprinting
randomly divided a clutch of goose eggs-half hatched with mother in natural environment and other in an incubator with the first moving object they saw being Lorenz
incubator group followed everywhere and control group followed mother
identified critical period in which imprinting takes place
if imprinting didn’t happen in that time the chicks didn’t attach to a mother figure
Lorenz’s research
sexual imprinting
case study
peacock imprinted on a giant tortoise
in future the peacock would only show courtship towards giant tortoises
Harlow’s research
4 conditions- cloth and wire mother produce milk
cloth produce milk not wire
wire produce milk not cloth
neither wire or cloth produce milk
the baby monkeys cuddled the cloth mother over the wire one
showed comfort is more important then food
Harlow
maternal deprivation
monkeys who had been reared by both wire and cloth mothers had long term effect
they didn’t bred as often, were unskilled at mating and rejected their young
duration of critical period
up to 90 days
strengths of Lorenz
practical applications
use of control group increases validity
weaknesses of Lorenz
extrapolation issues
animal ethics
strengths of harlow
practical application
allows research to be conducted that wouldn’t be allowed to humans (understand behaviour)
weaknesses of Harlows research
small sample size
extrapolation issues
animal ethics
learning theory
miller and dollard
cupboard love
children attach to the main caregiver as they provide food
learning theory
miller and dollard
classical conditioning
us-food ur-pleasure ns-caregiver cs-caregiver cr-pleasure
learning theory
miller and dollard
operant conditioning
as they baby cries the caregiver responses this reinforces the crying. the baby then directs crying at receiving comfort from the caregiver e.g. food
the is both positive reinforcement as the babe receives the comfort they want and negative reinforcement as the crying is removed from the caregiver
learning theory
sears et al
as caregivers provide food, the primary drive of food become generalised therefore attachment is a secondary drive learned by association
strengths of learning theory
reliable as scientific basis
supportive evidence hay and vespo
supportive research of learning theory
hay vespo
modelling can be used to explain attachment behaviours
children observe parents affectionate behaviour and imitate it
parents also tell children how to be in relationships and reward good behaviour with hugs and kisses
weaknesses of learning theory
reductionist
Isabella-quality of attachment
bowlbys monotropic theory
social releasers
critical period
monotropy
bowlbys monotropic theory
social releasers
a social behaviour/ characteristic the elicits caregiving and leads to attachment
ensure attachment forms from parents to infant
e.g. smiling/crying/giggling
bowlbys monotropic theory
monotropy
a child has an innate drive to attach to one caregiver
primary attachment figures: law on continuity
law of accumulated separation
bowlbys monotropic theory
monotropy
law of continuity
more predictable and constant the better quality of attachment
bowlbys monotropic theory
monotropy
law of accumulated seperation
effects of every day separation add up
Bowlbys monotropic theory
critical period
the period which attachments must be formed
up to 2 years
bowlbys monotropic theory
internal working model
children forms a mental representation of their relationship with the primary caregiver, this serves as a model for future attachments
this also effects their ability to be a parent
weaknesses of bowlbys monotropic theory
rutter-attachments can be made after this period
extrapolation-harlow and Lorenz
Rutter-importance of mothers are exaggerated
strengths of bowlbys monotropic theory
construct validity
supportive research
strengths of bowlbys monotropic theory
Brazelton
observed mothers and babies during their interactions, reporting existence of reciprocity and interactional synchronicity. Obs then led to an experiment; mothers told to ignore social releasers, babies become frustrated, then curled up and laid still. Supports significance of infant behaviour in eliciting caregiving.
