Attachment Flashcards
Reciprocity
A description of how 2 people interact. Mother-infant interaction is reciprocal in that both infant and mother respond to each others signals and each elicits a response from the other
Interactional synchrony
Mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions of other and do this in a co-ordinated (synchronised) way.
Types of observation:
Naturalistic observation
This technique involves observing the spontaneous behaviour of participants in natural surroundings.
The researcher simply records what they see in whatever way they can.
Types of observation:
Controlled observation
- The researcher plans, observes and records the behaviour of participants in a controlled environment.
- Participants have usually given their consent and there is a risk of participant reactivity as they know they are being observed. .
Types of observation:
Participant observation
-The researcher is involved in the observation under investigation.
Types of observation:
Non-participant observation
-The researcher is not involved in the observation under investigation and observes and records the behaviour of others from a distance.
What is Bowlby’s monotropic theory?
Bowlby’s theory (1969) is an evolutionary theory. He proposed infants form an attachment to a caregiver because attachment is adaptive (aids survival). It states that attachments are innate, i.e you are born with it.
The acronym, ASCMI (like ‘ask me’), summarises the theory.
Bowlby’s monotropic theory:
A= Adaptive
A = Adaptive – attachments are an advantage, or beneficial to survival as it ensures a child is kept safe, warm and fed
Bowlby’s monotropic theory:
S = Social releasers
S = Social releasers – e.g. a cute face on a baby.
These unlock the innate tendency for adults to care for a child because they activate the mammalian attachment system.
Bowlby’s monotropic theory:
C = Critical period
C = Critical period – This is the time in which an attachment can form i.e. up to 2.5 to 3 years old.
Bowlby suggested that if an attachment is not formed in this time, it never will. If an attachment does not form, you will be socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically stunted.
Bowlby demonstrated this in his 44 juvenile thieves study, where maternal deprivation was associated with affectionless psychopathy and mental retardation.
Bowlby’s monotropic theory:
M = Monotropy
M = Monotropy – means ‘one carer’.
Bowlby suggested that you can only form one special intense attachment (this is typically but not always with the mother).
This attachment is unique, stronger and different to others.
Maternal deprivation, which is characterised by a lack of a mother figure during the critical period for attachment formation, results in emotional and intellectual developmental deficits i.e. affection less psychopathy and mental retardation.
Bowlby’s monotropic theory:
I = Internal working model
I = Internal working model – This is an area in the brain, a mental schema for relationships where information that allows you to know how to behave around people is stored.
Internal working models are our perception of the attachment we have with our primary attachment figure.
Therefore, this explains similarities in attachment patterns across families.
Those who have a dysfunctional internal working model will seek out dysfunctional relationships and behave dysfunctionally within them.
AO3: Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment
Monotropy is an example of socially sensitive research.
Despite Bowlby not specifying that the primary attachment figure must be the mother, it often is (in 65% of cases).
Therefore, this puts pressure on working mothers to delay their return to work in an effort to ensure that their child develops a secure attachment.
Any developmental abnormalities in terms of attachment are therefore blamed on the mother by default.
This suggests that the idea of monotropy may stigmatise ‘poor mothers’ and pressure them to take responsibility.
Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation
This is the theory that an attachment is essential for healthy psychological and emotional development. It states that there will be many negative consequences of maternal deprivation (being deprived/separated from a mother-like figure), such as:
● An inability to form attachments in the future (see the Internal Working Model)
● Affectionless psychopathy (being unable to feel remorse)
● Delinquency (behavioural problems in the child’s teenage years)
● Problems with cognitive (brain) development
Type of attachment:
Secure
Using this procedure, Ainsworth was able to identify 3 types of attachments:
● Secure = this was the most popular attachment type (with both types of insecure attachments being equally as common).
This was found when the infant showed some separation anxiety when the parent/caregiver leaves the room but can be easily soothed when the parent/caregiver returns.
A securely attached infant is also able to play independently but used their parent/caregiver as a safe base to explore a new environment.
This usually accounts for 65% of children.
Type of attachment:
Insecure resistant
● Insecure resistant = this is when the infant becomes very distressed and tries to follow them when the parent/caregiver leaves, but when they return, the infant repeatedly switches from seeking and rejecting social interaction and intimacy with them.
They are also less inclined to explore new environments.
This usually accounts for 3% of children, and so is the least common attachment type.
Type of attachment:
Insecure avoidant
● Insecure avoidant = this is when the infant shows no separation anxiety when their carer leaves the room and shows no stranger anxiety when a stranger enters the room.
They may show anger and frustration towards their carer and actively avoid social interaction and intimacy with them.
They are able to explore and play independently easily, no matter who is present.
This accounts for around 20% of children.
Cultural Variations in Attachment - Van Izjendoorn
Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988) wanted to investigate if attachment styles (secure and insecure) are universal (the same) across cultures, or culturally specific (vary considerably from place to place, due to traditions, the social environment, or beliefs about children).
They did not collect the data for their study, instead they analysed data from other studies using a method called meta analysis. Data from 32 studies in 8 different countries was analyzed.
Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg found that secure attachment was the majority of infants (70%).
The lowest percentage of secure attachments was shown in China, and the highest in Great Britain.
It was also found that Western countries that support independence such as Germany had high levels of insecure avoidant.
Whereas Eastern countries that are more culturally close, such as Japan, had quite high levels of insecure resistant. The exception to the pattern was China which an equal number of avoidant and resistant infants.
Institutionalisation
Institutionalisation in the context of attachment refers to the effects of growing up in an orphanage or children’s home.
Children who are raised in these institutions often suffer from a lack of emotional care, which means that children are unable to form attachments.
Disinhibited attachment
Disinhibited attachment is where children don’t discriminate between people they choose as attachment figures.
The child doesn’t seem to prefer his or her parents over other people, even strangers.
The child seeks comfort and attention from virtually anyone, without distinction.
They will treat strangers with overfriendliness and may be attention seeking.
Romanian orphans study
Rutter’s Study
Procedure: Rutter (1998) studied Romanian orphans who had been placed in orphanages, aged 1-2 weeks old, with minimal adult contact. This was a Longitudinal study and natural experiment, using a group of around 100 Romanian orphans and assessed at ages 4, 6 and 11, then re-assesed 21 years later.
58 babies were adopted before 6 months old and 59 between the ages of 6-24 months old. 48 babies were adopted late between 2-4 years old. These were the 3 conditions Rutter used in his study.
Findings: Those who were adopted by British families before 6 months old showed ‘normal’ emotional development compared with UK children adopted at the same ag
What is an attachment?
An attachment can be defined as a close two way emotional bond between 2 individuals in which each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security.
Strength of caregiver interactions:
Controlled observations capture fine detail
Observations of mother-infant interactions are generally well controlled procedures, with both mother and infant being filmed, often from multiple angles.
This ensures that very fine details of behaviour can be recorded and later analysed.
Furthermore, babies don’t know or are that they are being observed so their behaviour does not change in response to controlled observation - which is generally a problem for observational research.
This is a strength of this line of research because it means the research has high internal validity.
Limitation of caregiver interactions:
Its hard to know what is happening when observing infants
Many studies involving observation of interactions between mothers and infants have shown the same patterns of interaction (Gratier 2003).
However, what is being observed is merely hand movements or changes in expression. It is extremely difficult to be certain, based on these observations, what is taking place from the infants perspective.
This is a limitation of studies observing mother- infant interactions because it means that we cannot really know for certain that behaviours seen in mother-infant interaction have a special meaning