attachment Flashcards
describe the 2 different types of infant interaction
reciprocity synchrony- when a baby and its caregiver respond to eachothers actions, they both give and elicit a response from eachother e.g. mum smiles, baby smiles
interactional synchrony- caregiver and infant reflects the actions and emotions of eachother in a rhythmic fashion. the infant and caregivers behaviour and emotions are synchronised because theyre moving in a similar pattern e.g. the baby smiles and the caregiver laughs
who invented the stages of attachment and what was the procedure
schaffer and emerson
studied 60 babies at mouthly intervals for the 1st 18 months of their life (longitudinal study). they were studied in their own home and a regular pattern was identified. . their interactions with their carers were observed and carers were interviewed. a diary was kept by the mother to give evidence for the development of attachment
what are the stages of attachment
asocial attachment (0-6 weeks) indiscriminate attachment (6 weeks- 6 months) specific attachment (7 months>) multiple attachment (10-11 months>)
describe asocial attachment
babies produce similar emotions to people and objects
they dont prefer specific people
they have a bias towards human like stimuli and prefer faces and eyes
describe indiscriminate attachment
babies become more vocal
they can tell people apart and prefer human company
they dont prefer specific people and dont show a fear of strangers
describe specific attachment
babies begin to show separating anxiety and fear of strangers
describe multiple attachment
multiple attachment are made after the first attachment
babys shows attachment behaviour towards several people
evaluate schaffer and emersons stages of attachment, 3 W and 1 S
W- low population validity because most Ps came from Glasgow and were working class families, which means they cant be generalized
W- small sample size (60) reduces the strength of the conclusions drawn from the study
W- the diary could hold demand characteristics
S- a diary allows better recall in the inrerviews.
describe the role of the father
mothers usually adopt a more caregiving nurturing role, whereas a father adopts a more play-mate role .e.g fathers encourage risk taking
infants prefer contact with their father when in a postive emotional state and their mothers when theyre distressed and wanting comfort
why is it hard to generalise the role of the father
cultural issues- in modern families fathers are less likely to engage in physical play in middle-class Indian families
social policy- in the UK fathers have only recently been given parental leave
biological factors- HEERMAN men seem to lack the emotional sensitivity to infant cues
the child- GENDER FREEMAN suggested that male infants prefer the attachment of their father. children are more likely to attach to their father during late childhood
temperament- MANLOVE fathers are less likely to be involved with their infant if the child has a difficult temperament
describe Bowlbys monophonic theory and the important aspects it contains
we have an innate to attach for survival, which gives us an adaptive advantage
social releasers- babies have social releasers which unlock the innate tendency of adults to care for them. crying to attract attention and smiling to maintain interest
critical period- babies have to form the attachment with their caregiver during a critical period. this takes place during birth-2 1/2 years. Bowlby said that if this doesnt happen the baby will be damaged for life
adaptive- this is because if an infant has an attachment to a caregiver theyre kept safe, given food and kept warm
monotropy- bowlby believed that infants form one very special attachment with their mother
internal working model- the IWM is a template for all furture relationships. your IWM is a schema that determines in your mind how far your capable of being loved and how far you can give love
explanations for attachment- learning theory
dollard and miller. state that attachment is learnt through classical and operate conditioning
CLASSICAL- food (UCS) produces pleasure (UCR). the infant associates food with their mother (CR)
OPERANT- the presence of the caregiver is reinforcing for the infant. the infant gains pleasure/reward as they are being fed. the reinforcement process is therefire reciprocal and strengthens the emotional bond
what does secondary drive hypothesis mean in terms of learning theory
dollard and miller used this term to describe the process of operant and classical conditioning. this involves primary drives (food) being associated with secondary drives (closeness)
describe and evaluate Harlows research into animal studies 2 W and 1 S
he reared 16 baby monkeys with 2 wire model ‘mothers’. in one condition milk was dispersed by the plain wire monkey and in the 2nd the milk was dispersed by the cloth-covered monkey
findings- the baby monkeys cuddled the soft object in the preference to the wire and sought comfort from the cloth covered monkey regardless of dispersed milk
conclusion- showed that contract comfort was more important to monkeys than food when it came to attahment. he concluded that the critical period is 90 days otherwise attachment is impossible. when the monkey grew older they become aggressive and less social from being maternally deprived
W-cant be generalized to humans
W- ethically questionable for the monkeys
S- can help us understand some human behaviour as monkeys are the closest animal (psychologically) to humans
describe and evaluate lorenz research into animals studies, 1 W and 1 S
imprinting theory- took a large clutch of goose eggs and kept them until they hatched. half of them were placed until a goose mother whilst lorenz kept the other half. when the geese hatched lorenz imitated a mother duck quacking, upon which the ducks regarded him as their mother
conclusion- he found that geese followed the 1st moving object they see during a 12-17 hour period which suggests that attachment is innate and programmed genetically
W- GREEN states that on a biological level all mammals have the same brain structure as humans, the only difference relates to size and number of connections
S- questionable whether findings can be applied to complex human behaviour. it is unlikely that observations of animals reflect the emotional connections and interactions that characterize human behaviour
describe ainsworths strange situations procedure
the security of attachment in 1-2 year olds were investigated using the ‘strange situation’ procedure in order to determine the nature of attachment behaviours and styles of attachment. they were observed on separation anxiety, stranger anxiety, reunion behaviour
describe the observations of securely attached infants
separation anxiety- distressed when mother leaves
stranger anxiety- avoident of strangers when alone, friendly when mother is present
reunion behaviour- positive and happy
other- used the mother as a safe place to explore
describe the observations of insecure resistant attachment
separation anxiety- intense stress
stranger anxiety- infant avoids the stranger and shows fear
reunion behaviour- the infant approaches the mother but resists contact and tries to push her away
other- the infant cries more and explores less
describe the observations of insecure avoident attachment
separation anxiety- no sign of stress
stranger anxiety- the infant is ok with the stranger and plays normally
reunion behaviour- the infant shows littler interest
others- the mother and stranger are able to comfort equally
what were the results of the strange situation and evaluate 3W and 1S
insecure avoident- 15%
secure- 70%
insecure resistance- 15%
W- population validity- study used american families which means it cant be generalised
W- low ecological validity due to being in a lab
W- KAGEN argued that the attachment formed may be due to the babies temperment rather than the caregiver. SS places too much empathsis on the role of the mother
S- easy to replicate as it folllows standardised procedure
who conducted the cultural variation of SS, describe
van ijzendoorn conducted a meta-analysis on 32 studies using Ainsworths SS. attachment types both between and within cultures were studied
findings- GB 45% securely attached
JAPAN 24% resistant
GERMANY 35.3% avoident
evaluate the cultural variation of SS, 2W
W- the SS was created and tested in the USA which means it may be culturally biased as it will reflect the norms and values of american culture
W- biased samples which cannot claim to be representative of each culture. e.g. only 36 infants were used in japan which is ver small
describe the influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships
IWM- for future relationships- if a child has a loving relationship and secure attachment to their mother theyll assume that this is how all relationships are supposed to be
later childhood- attachment is associated with the quality of peer relationships, in childhoo securely attached infants tend to go on to develop good quality relationships, whereas insecurely attached infants later have friendship difficulties
adulthood- IWN also effects the childs ability to parent their own children. BAILEY et al studied 99 mothers and their attachment to their own mother and baby. the majority of women developed the same attachment with their baby as they had with their own mother
who studied the romanian orphans and describe the procedure
rutter et al who was interested in seeing if the effects of institutional care could be overcome in the long-term, through nurturing and enriching environment
procedure- condition 1 children adopted before the age of 6 months
condition 2 - children adopted between 6m and 2yrs
condition 3- children adopted after 2 yrs
findings- 50% of Romanians were retarded in cognitve functioning and most underweight. at the age of 4 the Romanian orphans showed great improvement in physical and cognitive development, with the orphans adopted before 6 m doing as well as british adopted children
conclusion- the negative effects of institutionalization can be overcome by nurturing care
what are the effects of institutionalisation
disinhibited attachment- rather than showing fear of strangers theyd run up to any adult and demand their attention. when the adult would leave theyd only met them that day
what does bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation suggest. what are the consequences on intellectual development and emotional development
suggests that psychological development is dependent on the attachment of these bonds between the critical period can have serious consequences
intellectual development- maternal deprivation results in mental retardation characterized by abnormally low IQs
emotional development- bowlby identified affectionless psychopaths as the inability to experience quilt or strong emotion for others. this prevents the person developing normal relationships and is associated with criminality because they lack remorse
what study supports bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation
44 juvenile thieves study
procedure- group 1 thief group 31 boys and 13 girls
group 2 control group 34 boys and 10 girls with emotional problems
they matched for age and IQ
The children and their parents were interviewed and tested by Bowlby to investigate the long-term effects of maternal deprivation
findings- 14 children from group 1 were identified as affectionless psychopaths, 12 of these had experienced prolonged separation of more than 6 m from their mothers in their first 2 yrs of life
out of 44 children in the control group, only 2 had experienced prolonged separation and none of these were affectionless psychopaths
Describe an evaluation for Bowlbys internal working model or ainsworths SS- the love quiz
Hazan and Shaver (1987) studied relationships to find out whether romantic love among adults shows the same attachment styles as those found between children and their parents, in terms of being secure or insecure.
Questions asked about issues such as fear of closeness, jealousy and obsessive preoccupation.
Findings- Securely attached: has a healthy balance between wanting closeness and being comfortable with independence.
Avoidant: tends to avoid closeness and is excessively independent, i.e. dislikes relying on others.
Anxious: clingy and insecure; is very uncomfortable with independence.
What was main and Goldwyn theory, how does it support Romanian orphan studies?
Earned security- Suggests that having a good relationship later in childhood can help a child overcome poor relationships in infancy
Evaluate caregiver-infant interactions
Babies can’t communicate so inferences have to be draw
Research may be socially sensitive in terms of mothers being accpected to stay home with the infant
Give 3 examples of cultural variations
Italian study- SIMONELLA
50% secure and 36% avoidant
Increasing number of mothers of very young children work long hours and use professional childcare. Cultural variations are very important
Korean- jin
Most infants being secure
Most insecure were resistant rather than avoidant which is similar to KROONENBERG who studied japan suggesting Korea and Japan have similar child-rearing
