Attachment Flashcards
What is an attachment
A two way emotional bond
What is reciprocity
When infants coordinate their actions with a caregiver in a kind of conversation, taking turns e.g one person smiles the other one smiles back
What age do interactions become increasingly reciprocal
One month onwards
What is the research on reciprocity
Tronick et al the still face experiment- researchers asked mothers who had been interacting with baby in conversation to stop moving and don’t respond when the baby tries to get them to and gets distressed. Results= babies expect and anticipate concordant responses to their smiles, unethical
What is interactional synchrony
A type of interaction between parent and child in which partners share a mutual focus, mirror each other’s affect, exhibit a high degree of reciprocity and are responsive to each other’s cues. Like reciprocity but with more of a focus on the emotional factors than on behaviour
What’s the research on interactional synchrony
Meltzoff and Moore - infants were presented with three facial expressions and one hand movement. Had a dummy in so we’re still during the movement. After presentation of behaviour from model dummy removed and saw if the baby reflected the expression.
What was the aim and the results of the experiment on interactional synchrony
Aim= to investigate interactional synchrony in 2-3 week old infants
Results= significant associations between models behaviour and infants so very young infants will spontaneously imitate facial and hand movements of adult models. Could be reciprocity due to no emotional connection but mirror mean interactional synchrony. Complete stranger so no emotional attachment
Evaluation points for care giver interactions with humans
Problems with testing infant behaviour- infants can’t tell you why they behave the way they do so don’t know if mirroring is conscious and deliberate or not.
Failure to replicate- studies failed to find the same thing as Meltzoff and Moore. Marian et al found they couldn’t distinguish difference between videotaped and real life adult suggesting the baby doesnt respond to the adult but to something else however acknowledged that the problem could lie with the procedure not the babies ability to replicate expressions
Cultural validity- interactional synchrony isn’t related to security of attachment in all cultures. Levine et al showed mothers in Kenya don’t interact closely with kids even though they have secure attacmentns
What was Schaffer and Emersons research about
Aim= to investigate early attachments in particular the age they develop, emotional intensity and whom they're directed at 60 babies 31 male 29 female from Glasgow majority working class observed every month for the first year then again at 18 months. Researchers asked about separations and stranger anxiety
What were some results from Schaffer and Emerson
Between 25 and 30 weeks 50% infants showed separation anxiety to a specific adult. Specific attachment
40 weeeks 80% of babies had a specific attachment 30% displayed multiple attachment
Problems with the research and the stages(Schaffer and Emerson)
Isn’t representative as all from one area of country, could be differences between social classes. temporal, was from the 1960 childcare has changed a lot since then, no of fathers staying at home has quadrupled (cohen et al)
Impractical- takes a long time as a longitudinal study
Subjective- some mothers think same levels of stress are worse than others this creates a systematic bias and challenges the validity of the data
Stage theories are inflexible it suggest multiple attachments can’t form first but in some cultures and situations multiple attachments may come first. this creates a standard against which families are judged and may be classed as abnormal
What were the stages of attachment identified by Schaffer
Pre attachment stage birth to 3 months- prefer humans over objects
Indiscriminate stage 3 to 8 months- discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar people but allow strangers to handle
Discriminate attachment 7/8 months onwards- develop specific attachments stranger and separation anxiety
Multiple attachments 9 months onwards - strong emotional ties with caregivers fear of strangers reduces
Name some research on the role of the father
Tiffany field- filmed face to face interaction with primary caregiver mums and secdonary fathers and primary fathers. Both primary attachments spent more time smiling imitating and holding infants gender isn’t important it’s the type of interactions
Evaluation of Lorenzs research
Guiton demonstrated leghorn chicks will imprint on the first moving thing it sees
Like the yellow gloves. Supporte the view that the animals aren’t hard wired to imprint on a certain thing also tried to mate with the glove so proves they’ll have strange sexual imprinting
Evaluation of Harlows research
The experiment lacked validity because the two mothers varied in more ways than being a wire mother or a cloth mother so it became a confounding variable
What is the learning theory of attachment
All behaviour is learned rather than innate when children are born they’re a blank slate and everything they become can be explained by the experiences they have
Includes operant and classical conditioning
What is classical conditioning
Learning through association, a neutral stimulus is constantly paired with an unconditioned stimulus so that it eventually takes on the properties of this stimulus and becomes a conditioned stimulus that gives a conditioned response
UCS=UCR
NS+UCS=UCR
CS=CR
What is opérant conditioning
Learning through reinforcement
A behaviour is learnt when it is rewarded. It involves learning though consequence
Positive reinforcement is reward by adding something good
Negative reinforcement is reward by taking away something bad
Punishment adding something bad
Evaluation of learning theory
Contact comfort is more important than food backed up by harlows research and contradicts the idea that a mother is only valued for her food.
Has some explanatory power as infants do learn through reinforcement but doesn’t take into account other viable reinforcements e.g attention and responsiveness
Learning theory ignores other factors associated with attachment e.g reciprocity and interactional synchrony
Why are attachments important
Attachment behaviour evolved as a survival function as infants would be in danger if they weren’t close to an adult. Two way as it allows the parent to ensure that the infants are cared for
What was bowlbys monotropic theory
Monotropic because he placed great emphasis on a child’s attachment to one particular caregiver and thus attachment is more important than others He believed the more time a baby spends with primary care giver the better
what two principles support monotropic theory
Law of continuity- the more constant and predictable a child’s care the better quality of attachment
Accumulated separation- effects of every separation from mother adds up the most healthy dose is zero
Statistics for the role of the father
2013 5.3 million British mothers in employment
Males comprising 10% of those who care for kids while partner works
9% of single parents are male
Evaluation of multiple attachments and the role of the father
Multiple attachments equivalent- bowlby view infant forms one special emotional relationship others are secondary as a safety net and provide other functions e.g dad play time. Argue - Rutter all attachment figures equivalent
Benefits- able to form and conduct social relationships. If lose one has others to fall back on
Evidence that men are less sensitive to infant cues e.g Herman etal but conflicting research is Frodi et al. Showed video tapes of infants crying no physiological difference in response between men and women
Inconsistent findings
Explain the procedure for Lorenz study
Clutch of gosling eggs and split them in two groups. One left with real mother other in an incubator. Incubator group first moving thing they saw was Lorenz and imprinted on him. To test this placed them all back together with markings about which group and saw who they went to
Findings of Lorenz study
Split up again showed no recognition of mother
Imprinting restricted to limited period called critical period up to two days. If not done within this time they can’t at all. Lorenz did however note that some animals won’t imprint on human backs up the generalisability issues
Long lasting effects from Lorenz study
Process is long lasting irreversible
Early imprinting has effect on sexual imprinting. Whatever they first imprint onto will become what they want to mate with
What was the aim of Harlows researxh
To study the behaviour of infant monkeys separated from their mothers at birth to test affects of separation
What was procedure of Harlow research
Two wire mothers with different heads. One also wrapped in cloth. Eight monkeys were studied for 165 days. Four monkeys bottle on cloth other four bottle on wire. Measurements made of time with each mother and response when frightened by mechanical teddy bear
What were the Harlow findings
All eight spent most time with cloth covered mother. Those with wire bottle spent little time while feeding then returned to cloth. When frightened with cloth mother. Playing with new things monkey kept one foot on cloth for reassurance suggest infants develop attachment to person offering contact comforts
Harlow long lasting effects
Motherless monkeys developed abnormally. Socially abnormal, froze or fled when approached by other monkeys. Sexually abnormal didn’t cradle babies. If monkeys spent time with peers before three months old could recover if more than six months were unable to recover- critical period
What is bowlbys critical period
Babies have innate drive to be attached. The critical period for attachment in infants is around 3-6 months. Infants who don’t have opportunity to form an attachment during this time have trouble in later life
What are the social releasers?
Smile cry follow grip
They activate the adult attachment system
Why are they called social releasers
Purpose is to activate the adult attachment system. Bowlby noticed it was a reciprocal process- both mother and baby have an innate predisposition to become attached and social releasers trigger the responses in caregiver
What’s bowlbys internal working model
Child forms a mental representation of their relationship with primary caregiver. Serves as a model of relationships thus effects child’s later relationships. Bring positive aspects e.g love and trust into future ones or expect bad treatment
How does the internal working model effect family life
Affects child’s ability to be a parent themselves. Base their own parenting behaviour on their own experiences.
Evaluation of monotropic theory
Fact that multiple attachments can only be formed after the primary one not supported by Schaffer and Emerson
Support for social releasers - brazleton et al research showed babies become motionless and distressed when no response to releasers
Support for internal working model-Bailey et al asked 99 mothers about their childhood experience found correlation with poor or good parenting when observed.
A sensitive period rather than critical- true to an extent but it is not impossible
What is the procedure for ainsworths strange situation
Controlled observation comprised of 8 episodes taking about 3 minutes. Looking for specific behaviours- proximity seeking, exploration, response to reunion and stranger anxiety. Measures type and quality of attachment
What are the 8 episodes
Experimenter takes kid and mum into unfamiliar room brings infant toys.
Child and caregiver left alone
Unfamiliar adult enters sits and reads plays with infant
Caregiver leaves infant with stranger
Caregiver returns stranger leaves
Caregiver leaves baby alone
Unfamiliar adult returns
Caregiver returns
Findings of ainsworths strange situation
Combined data from several studies to make total of 106 middle class infants observed.
What were the three attachment types found from ainsworths research
Secure attachment- happy in mothers presenxe, distressed when mother leaves. Wary of stranger 60-75% British toddlers
Insecure avoidant- ignored mother seems indifferent. Easily comforted by stranger treated mother and stranger same 20-25%
Insecure resistant- fussy difficult cries a lot distressed when mother leaves not comforted by return anger resists stranger 3%
Evaluation of strange situation
Observations high reliability- inter observer reliability was high meaning the judges of the behaviours found almost perfect agreement .94 agreement when 1 is perfect
Real world application- allows parents to better understand infants signals of distress and increase their understanding of what it’s like to be anxious e.g circle of security project by cooper et al
Cultural variation
What should happen in different cultures according to Bowlby with attachment
Suggests that attachment evolved as a biological function of protection of infant increasing survival. If it was innate secure attachment should be optimal form for all regardless of cultural variations
What research investigates cultural variations of attachment
van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg 32 studies of attachment types in 8 different countries. Overall 32 studies gave results for 1990 kids data was meta analysed - combined weighted for sample size.
What is bowlbys critical period
Babies have innate drive to be attached. The critical period for attachment in infants is around 3-6 months. Infants who don’t have opportunity to form an attachment during this time have trouble in later life
What are the social releasers?
Smile cry follow grip
Why are they called social releasers
Purpose is to activate the adult attachment system. Bowlby noticed it was a reciprocal process- both mother and baby have an innate predisposition to become attached and social releasers trigger the responses in caregiver
What’s bowlbys internal working model
Child forms a mental representation of their relationship with primary caregiver. Serves as a model of relationships thus effects child’s later relationships. Bring positive aspects e.g love and trust into future ones or expect bad treatment
How does the internal working model effect family life
Affects child’s ability to be a parent themselves. Base their own parenting behaviour on their own experiences.
Evaluation of monotropic theory
Fact that multiple attachments can only be formed after the primary one not supported by Schaffer and Emerson
Support for social releasers - brazleton et al research showed babies become motionless and distressed when no response to releasers
Support for internal working model-Bailey et al asked 99 mothers about their childhood experience found correlation with poor or good parenting when observed.
A sensitive period rather than critical- true to an extent but it is not impossible
What is the procedure for ainsworths strange situation
Controlled observation comprised of 8 episodes taking about 3 minutes. Looking for specific behaviours- proximity seeking, exploration, response to reunion and stranger anxiety. Measures type and quality of attachment
What are the 8 episodes
Experimenter takes kid and mum into unfamiliar room brings infant toys.
Child and caregiver left alone
Unfamiliar adult enters sits and reads plays with infant
Caregiver leaves infant with stranger
Caregiver returns stranger leaves
Caregiver leaves baby alone
Unfamiliar adult returns
Caregiver returns
Findings of ainsworths strange situation
Combined data from several studies to make total of 106 middle class infants observed.
What were the three attachment types found from ainsworths research
Secure attachment- happy in mothers presenxe, distressed when mother leaves. Wary of stranger 60-75% British toddlers
Insecure avoidant- ignored mother seems indifferent. Easily comforted by stranger treated mother and stranger same 20-25%
Insecure resistant- fussy difficult cries a lot distressed when mother leaves not comforted by return anger resists stranger 3%
Evaluation of strange situation
Observations high reliability- inter observer reliability was high meaning the judges of the behaviours found almost perfect agreement .94 agreement when 1 is perfect
Real world application- allows parents to better understand infants signals of distress and increase their understanding of what it’s like to be anxious e.g circle of security project by cooper et al
What should happen in different cultures according to Bowlby with attachment
Suggests that attachment evolved as a biological function of protection of infant increasing survival. If it was innate secure attachment should be optimal form for all regardless of cultural variations
What research investigates cultural variations of attachment
van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg 32 studies of attachment types in 8 different countries. Overall 32 studies gave results for 1990 kids data was meta analysed - combined weighted for sample size.
What were the cultural variations findings
Variations between studies in same country were 150% greater than those between countries. In USA varied from 46-90% securely attached
What other cultural research is there for attachments
Italian - simonella et al see whether proportion of babies of different attachment types still applies from previous studies, found a lower rate of secure attachment from before.
Evaluation of cultural variations in attachment
Similarities may not be innately determined- according to bowlby universal similarities are caused by innate mechanisms unmodified by culture. van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg suggest some cultural things e.g mass media spread ideas about parenting
Cross cultural research- strange situation made by American researcher based on British theory question if Anglo American theories can be applied to other cultures. It is an imposed Etic that lack of stranger anxiety and no comfort upon return means an insecure attachment
What does etic and emic mean
Etic means cultural universals
Emic means cultural uniqueness
What is the idea of maternal deprivation focused on
The continual presence of nurture from a mother or mother substitute is essential for normal psychological development of babies and toddlers both emotionally and intellectually
Explain separation vs deprivation
Separation means child isn’t in presence of primary attachment figure. Brief separations where child is with substitute caregiver is not significant. Deprivation means extended separations, lose an element of care which by definition causes harm
What’s the critical period for maternal deprivation
First 30 months of life critical period for psychological development. If child is separated from mother with no substitute, deprived of emotional care during critical period then psychological damage is inevitable
What’s the effect of maternal deprivation on intellectual development
Of children deprived of maternal care in critical period, suffer mental retardation characterised by abnormally low IQ. Demonstrated in studies of adoption
How does maternal deprivation affect emotional development
Bowlby identified emotionless psychopathy as the inability to feel guilt or emotion for others. Prevents relationships and associated with criminality. Cannot appreciate the feelings of victims so lack remorse
What research did bowlby do on maternal deprivation
Aim- examine link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation
Procedure- 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing, interviewed for signs of aff. Psych characterised as lack of guilt about actions and victims. Families also interviewed in order to establish if teenagers had experienced prolonged early separations from mothers
What were the findings of bowlbys research on maternal deprivation
14 of 44 thieves were affectionless psychopaths. Of the 14 12 had experienced prolonged separation in the first 2 years of their lives. Only 5 of the remaining thieves had experienced separations. Concluded early separation caused affectionless psychopathy
Evaluating bowlbys maternal deprivation theory
Further support - goldfarb looked at 30 orphans half of which were fostered so had a mother figure. Those who fostered had IQ of 96 compared to 68
Counter evidence- hilda Lewis partially replicated study on a larger scale of 500 found history of prolonged separation didn’t link to criminality or issues forming relationships
Critical period more of a sensitive period- reported case of twin boys deprived from age 18 month to 7 years recovered fully
What does institutionalisation mean
Institution refers to hospital or orphanage where children live for a long continuous period of time. In such places often little emotional care provided
What is the research for effects of institutionalisation
Rutter Romanian orphan study
Procedure: Group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain test what good care could recover from poor early experiences. Physical cognitive and emotional development assessed at age 4 6 11 and 15. A group of 52 British kids as a control group.
What were the findings of the Rutter Romanian orphan study
When first in U.K. adoptees signs of mental retardation and severely undernourished. 11 yo showed differential rates of recovery related to age of adoption. Mean IQ of kids adopted before 6 months 106, between 6 months and two years 86 after two years 77. Differences remained at age 16. After 6 months showed disinhibited attachment
What is disinhibited attachment
Attention seeking clinginess and social behaviour aimed indiscriminately towards all adults
Evaluation of Romanian orphan studies
Real life application- results led to improvements in the way children are cared for e.g having key workers instead of lots of caregivers for one child- avoids disinhibited attachments.
Value of longitudinal study proves the negative affects can reversed compared to short studies where may assume affects are irreversible
Only looked at one factor- physical conditions appalling lack of cognitive stimulation poor follow up care also affects results
How do early attachments affect relationships in later childhood
Securely attached = best quality childhood friendships
Insecure= friendship difficulties
Bullying behaviour predictions from attachment type Wilson and smith found secure children not involved, insecure avoidant the victim insecure resistant the bully
How do early attachments affect Romantic relationships
Gerard McCarthy studies 40 women compared attachment type to quality of attachments. Secure best adult friends and romances
Insecure resistant bad friends
Insecure avoidant intimacy issues
How early attachments affect parenthood
Internal working models affect child’s ability to parent own child. Types of attachment tend to be generational
Evaluating early attachments affecting later life
Evidence is mixed - Zimmerman assessed infant attachment type and adolescent attachment to parents. Very little relationship between them
Research is correlational- not prove causation. Often other explanations for continuity of attachment types. E.g child’s temperament
What are the parts of bowlbys monotropic theory
Monotropy
Social releases and critical period
Internal working model
what are the conflicting views on multiple attachments
Bowlby- child has one primary attachment and although children have other attachments these are of minor importance to the primary.
Rutter- multiple attachments of equal importance with them combining to form the childs internal working model
