Attachment Flashcards
define “reciprocity”
infants coorfinate thier actions with their carer, in a kind of conversation
define “interactional synchrony”
imitation of specific facial/hand gestures, Meltzoff and Moore found infants as young as 2-3 weeks did this
evaluate infant/carer interactions
one: may be pseudo imitation, though Meltzoff and Morre claim it’s intentional, others, like Piaget, believe its more of a “response training” because they are rewarded with a smile.
two: failure to replicate, many have tried to replicate the findings of Meltzoff and Moore, but have failed, suggesting a lack of validity. Others have tried to replicate Murray and Trevarthen and found that infants couldn’t distinguish between their real mother and a video
one: they can affect the strength of attachment in later life. Those who were strongly attached had stronger levels of interactional synchrony. Also found the more imitation, the happier the infant after 3 months.
two: research by Murray and Trevarthen, observed two-year-olds interacting with either their mother on tv live, or a video. Found the children were distressed and turned away from the tv on the video- actively eliciting a response
give a brief overview of Shaffer and Emerson’s stages of attachment
1: indiscriminate attachment- 2 months- similar responses to animate/inanimate objects
2: the beginnings of attachment- 4 months- preference for social interaction- comforted by anyone
3: discriminate attachment- 7 months- development of primary attachment- separation anxiety etc
4: multiple attachments- 7+- infants develop of circle of attachments
evaluate Shaffer and Emersons stages of attachmetn
one: unreliable data, some mothers may be less sensitive to infant cues and so won’t report them
two: biased sample, the 1960s, low temporal validity, also from all working class family- a lot has changed e.g. over 25 years, the no. of dads staying home had quadrupled
.May not have multiple attachments, but secondary
.Cultural variations-collectivists/individualists
explain classical conditioning in terms of learning theory as an explanation for attachment
based on Pavlov’s dogs, an innate stimulus response, the baby associates mother with food which creates a conditioned response of joy
explain operant conditioning in terms of learning theory as an explanation for attachment
based on Skinner’s rats, drive reduction theory, we have the drive to stop unpleasant feelings, like hunger, positive reinforcement so the behaviour will be repeated, child seeks mother for a reward which is food
evaluate learning theory in terms of explanations for attachment
.humans are more complex than animals, we are not based on purely stimulus-response
.suggests food is the main things, but Harlow’s monkeys showed otherwise
.drive reduction is largely ignored now, we do things that make us uncomfortable e.g. bungee jumping
.other explanations, like Bowlby’s theory, which can also explain why attachments are formed, not just how
outline Bowlby’s theory of attachment (monotropic)
.suggest attachment is an innate, survival function
.babies have innate drives to attach
.a critical period to attach- 3-6 months
.rather than food being the important factor, it was sensitivity to cues
.social releasers- smiling elicits caregiving
.forms an internal working model- template for later life
.continuity hypothesis- securely attached infants go on to be securely attached, adults
evaluate Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment
.adaptive- infant monkeys instantly clutch to their mothers
.it may really be a sensitive period rather than a critical period, though attachment is less likely, it isn’t impossible
.Stroufe found support for the continuity hypothesis, he followed infants to adulthood, those with a more secure attachment had higher social competence and were less isolated
.an alternative explanation is Kagans “temperament hypothesis”, which suggests infants with better temperaments will attach easier. a study found infants who showed behavioural instability, went on to be insecurely attached
outline Ainsworth’s Strange Situation
.procedure- 9x9 foot room to track movement
.8 episodes
.seperation from mother
.reunion with mother
.stranger response
.looked at the infants and made notes every 15 seconds
.found 1. secure attachment 2. insecure- avoidant 3. insecure resistant
evaluate Ainsworth’s Strange Situation
.some say there might be a fourth attachment, insecure- disorganised (lacks coherent strategy to deal with stress at separation, seems strongly attachment but reacts with fear to mother) Van Ijzandoorne found 15% were insecure disorganised
.high inter-rater reliability, 0.94 agreement in observations
.RWA- we can intervene if we see something insecure, we can encourage better interaction and signal understanding
.low internal validity, some say it doesn’t measure what it intends to measure (attachment type) rather it measures relationships.
outline cultural variations of attachment types
.Van Ijzendoorne + Kronenberg- meta-analysis of 32 studies, 8 countries
.found secure was most common everywhere
.avoidnat was second everywhere but Isreal + Japan
.variation WITHIN cultures was 1.5 times greater than variance BETWEEN cultures
.similarities- even in African tribes where infants were breastfed by many women, they still had one primary attachment
.differences- Germans had high rates of insecure attachment due to the country keeping interpersonal distance between infant and carer. Also, Japan had no insecure avoidant but high levels of insecure resistant, study even had to be stopped due to such distress at separation
evaluate cultural variations of attachment types
.The similarities may be down to mass media rather than innate mechanisms or cultural traditions
.They compared countries, not cultures, very different, did not take sub-cultures into account, e.g. found urban Tokyo had similar readings to the West but rural Tokyo had high readings of resistant
.Cultural validity of the SS may be low as it was developed by American standards e.g. it suggests that “willingness to explore” is a reading od security but to Japan, dependence is connected to secuitry, even the theory is biased, e.g. continuity hypoth suggests openness of emotions but in Japan, they are told to be less self-orientated
.However, this does mean we can have a somewhat accurate set of indigenous thoeries, we can set small universal theories
outline Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation
.44 thieves, 88 children from guidance centre, 44 were convicted thieves, the others were a control group
.Found those with affectionless psychopathy had experienced frequent and early separation
.39% of the thieves had experienced separation, none of the control had
.14 of the 44 were diagnosed with affectionless psychopathy
.Bowlby stress the importance of early bonding and stressed the need for not only food, but care, warmth, and a continuous relationship
.He suggested detrimental effects could appear if it was in the critical period of 2 and a half years or up to 5 years old
