Attachment Flashcards
Attachment
a close emotional relationship between an infant and their caregiver
Sensitive responsiveness
caregiver responses appropriately to signals from the infant
Imitation
infant copies the caregiver’s action and behaviour
Meltzoff and Moore
found infants between 2 & 3 weeks of age appeared to imitate facial expressions & hand movements of the experimenter
Interactional synchrony
infants react in time with caregiver’s speech, resulting in a ‘conversation dance’
Reciprocity
Interaction flows back and forth between the caregiver and infant
asocial phase of attachment
0-3 months: learns to separate people from objects
doesn’t have strong attachments
Indiscriminate attachment phase
6 weeks and 7 months, distinguish and recognise different people
Discriminate attachment phase
7-11 months, becomes able to form a strong attachment with an individual
Multiple attachment phase
9 months, can form attachments to many different people
Schaffer and Emerson
60 babies - Glasgow every 4 weeks for 18 months
found: 8 months 50 babies had more than one attachment
Evaluation: small sample observer bias
Lorenz
Geese: automatically attach to the first moving thing they see after hatching (imprinting)
Observed the goslings, they followed him as they normally would follow their mother
Harlow
Contact comfort: source of food or comfort is frightened
cloth surrogate: comfort wire: only for food
Grew up and showed signs of social and emotional discomfort
Bowlby (monotropy)
Monotropic theory
1) evolution, biological need to our main caregiver
2) We have one main attachment - biological mother provides a safe base.
3) We have an internal working model: gives us a template for future relationships
4) critical period: formed during first 3 years of life
Secure
strong bond between the child and its caregiver
seperated: distressed
reunited: comforted
Insecure-avoidiant
separated from caregiver
can be comforted by a stranger
Insecure-resistant
child uneasy around their caregiver, upset if separated
no comfort from strangers, resisted from caregiver
Ainsworth
Strange situation: controlled observation: 12-18 month old infants left in a room w/ mother 15% insecure avoidant 70% secure 15% insecure-resistant
Van ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg
Cross-cultural studies meta-analysis of 32 countries secure attachment most common western: avoidant, highest - germany non-western: resistent, highest - japan Differences in rearing children
Grossman et al
claimed more ‘avoidant’ infants may be found in Germany due to the fact they value independence
Bowlby (maternal deprivation)
44 juvenile thieves
17 thieves separated from mum before age of 2
14 diagnosed w/ affection less psychopathy
12/14 were separated from mum
long term consequences
Robertson and Robertson
Separation study - naturalistic observation
short separation observed and filmed
john (18 months) - residential care 9 days
day 1 - protested
after day 2 - attention from other nurses
after - showed detachment
collection - resistent
short term effects
Bowlby’s strengths and weaknesses
+VE: Goldfarb - orphanage children who were socially and maternally deprived were later less intellectually and socially developed
-VE: can be criticised, other factors were not considered for 44 thieves - poverty,
Goldfarb could have studied children social deprivation rather than maternal deprivation
Skeels and Dye
found children who had been socially deprived during first 2 years of life quickly improved IQ scores if they were transferred to a school where they got one-to-one care
