Attachment Flashcards
Define reciprocity, and in terms of interactions.
A two way, mutual interaction, it is a form of interaction between infant and caregiver involving mutual responsiveness, both parties produce responses to each other, ie smiling.
How does reciprocity influence development.
Reciprocity influences the child’s physical, social and cognitive development, as is becomes the basis for trust and mistrust, shaping how the child will relate to the world and create relationships.
Define interactional synchrony.
A form of rhythmic interaction between infant and caregiver involving mutual focus, reciprocity and mirroring of behaviour. Infants coordinate actions with caregivers.
When is interactional synchrony most likely to develop.
It is most likely to develop if the caregiver attends fully to the baby’s state, provides playful stimulation when the infant is alert and attentive, and avoids pushing things when an overexcited or tired infant is fussy.
Who’s study on imitation shower better quality of relationship at 3 months, and what is a limitation of this?
Heimann, and the limitation is that it is not clear wether it is cause or effecf of the early synchrony.
Outline a disadvantage into observation of interaction, relating to the actual thing there observing.
The observation is merely hand movements, or changes in expression. It is extremely difficult yo be certain what is taking place in the infants perspective. Eg Is the imitation deliberate? Therefore we cannot suggest that the behaviour has special meaning.
What is one advantage in the way interaction is observed and studied?
It normally involves very controlled procedures, from multiple angles and therefore catching every change in behaviour and observable emotion, yielding qualitive data that can be analysed.
What is another advantage of study into interactions, involving awareness of babies to being tested?
Unlike adults babies can’t comprehend that they are under observation and therefore their behaviour does not change, and they act as natural as possible. Meaning there is no individual bias and no demand characteristics improving validity.
Who conducted the study that yielded the stages of attachment?
Shafer and Emerson (1964)
Who conducted the study that yielded the stages of attachment?
Shafer and Emerson (1964)
Outline the procedure of Shafer and Emerson.
Studies 60 babies in a longitudinal study over 18 months, at monthly intervals.
The children we’re all studies in their own home (Natural study), and a regular pattern was identified in the development of attachment.
Interaction observed, and carers interviewed, carers were also asked to keep a diary involving 3 measures.
1: stranger anxiety 2: separation anxiety 3: social referencing ( degree that look to carers for advice)
What did Schafer and Emerson find?
They found 4 states of attachment. A social (0-6 weeks) - indiscriminate attachments (6 weeks - 7 months) - specific attachment ( 7 months - 9 months) - multiple attachment ( 10 months onwards)
What is a the first stage of attachment and outline it.
A social attachment - Many kinds of stimuli both social and non social produce a favorable reaction.
What is the second stage of attachment and outline it.
Indiscriminate attachments - infants indiscriminately enjoy human company, and most babies respond to any caregiver. Get upset when individual ceases to interact with them, from 3 months -> the babies smiles more at familiar faces.
What is the the third stage of attachment and outline it.
Specific attachment - where infant gives had preference towards a specific caregiver and baby looks to certain people for security comfort and protection. Shows stranger anxiety and separation anxiety.
What is the final stage of attachment and outline it.
The baby becomes increasingly independent forming multiple attachments, by 18 months the majority have formed multiple attachments.
What makes makes it more likely that you’ll form attachments?
The right response to certain signals by the infant, not the person they have spent the most time with. Schafer and Emerson called this sensitive responsiveness.
What was the overall most important conclusion fo Schafer and Emerson’s study?
That attachments did not form from who feeds the child but tho those white devote attention and attune to the babies needs and key signals.
Outline multiple attachments in greater depth involving percent that had multiple attachments at 18 months, and how they vary.
By 18 months 31% of babies had five or more attachments, mother was main attachment for half of them and father for most of the rest. And the attachment formed varied in strength, and are structured in a hierarchy.
How does the Schafer and Emerson study have low population validity?
Because the infants we’re all from Glasgow and mostly working class families, furthermore there was a small sample size of 60 reducing the validity of the conclusion.
How is Schafer and Emerson’s data in accurate and unreliable?
Because firstly how could the parents keep diary’s while being clearly very busy? Showing either in accurate or rushed. And the diary had high demand characteristics as their will be a social desirability as mother’s won’t want to report negative experience.
What is the expectation in Western cultures involving father’s?
There is a greater emphasis on the father taking role in the bringing up of his children.
What is a possible explanations for the role of the father increasing in significance?
The number of women in full time employment has increased.
What is the difference in care styles between mothers and fathers?
Mother’s adopt the caregiving and mature role, while father’s usually adopt more of a play mate role eg father’s are more likely to encourage risk taking with things such as learning to ride a bike throwing kids in the air.
Why is it hard to generalise about the father’s role? There are 3 reasons.
Culture (father’s aren’t allowed in some cultures), father’s age as father’s can still have kids at old ages, and finally about of time father spends away from home. Long shifts etc.
How are there cultural differences in the role of the father? And how is this view stereotypical? And how does culture in India differ from culture here?
Until recently men were expected to be the money Maker and not have direct involvement in child’s care.
However this view is very stereo typical as the father’s may not be involved in care but they are involved in play and guidance etc.
In today’s Indian family’s father’s are far less likely to engage in physical play.
How we’re father’s less likely than mother’s to get time with newborns? And how has social policy changed today to support this?
In the uk, until last year father’s we’re unable to get any parental leave so the responsibility of the child was implicitly given to mothers.
Now men have been given the policy that allowed them parental leave, however this is not the case in every country so patters of attachment are different ( cultural difference)
Who’s study showed that men lack the emotional sensitivity to infant cues?
Heermen 1994
What did heerman suggest about emotional curs in relation to men and women?
He found that men lack the emotional sensitivity that women have to infant cues, he related it to the face women produce a hormone oestogen.
Who’s study counteracted Heermans ( in relation to emotional sensitivity), and what did he find?
Frodi (1978) he found that mens emotional response was the same as women’s.
What did Freeman 2010 find about genders and children in relation to the father? And then in early adolescence?
That male children we’re far more likely to have a father attachment figure than female children?
Children are more likely to be attached to their father when in young adolescence.
What did Manlove 2002 find about father’s relationship with temperamental children?
He found that father’s we’re less likely yo be involved with a child with a bad temperament.
What was the aim of Harlow’s study? And why are the monkeys he used well suited to an attachment test?
Get wanted to study the mechanism by which newborn money’s bond with their mothers.
They are well suited as they are highly dependant on the mother’s for nutrition, protection, comfort and socializing.
What was the usual behaviorist explanation for attachment? What was Harlow’s theory and what does this suggest?,
The usual theory suggested that infants would attach to the caregiver that provides food.
However Harlow suggested it was the caregiver that provides ‘tactile comfort’, suggesting infants have an innate need to touch or cling for emotional comfort.
Outline the procedure of Harlow’s study.
16 monkeys were separated from their mothers immediately after birth, and places with two surrogate mothers, one made or wire and one covered in soft cloth.
Eight of the monkeys got milk from the wire mother and 8 got milk from the cloth mother.
What did the results show about his original hypothesis? And what happened when a frightening object was placed in the cage? And when did they explore more?
That his hypothesis was correct as both sets of monkeys spent more time with cloth mother even if she did not feed it, the group with a feeding wire mother would only go to her if hungry.
If a frightening object was placed in the cage they would always go to the cloth mother, and the infant would explore more if the cloth mother was present.
What 5 differences did Harlow find between surrogated children and normal children?
1: Surrogated were much more timid
2: they didint know how to act with other monkeys
3: they were easily bullied and wouldent stand up for themselves
4: they had difficulty mating
5: the females were bad mothers
How did the effects on monkeys with surrogate mothers change from below 90 days and above.
Below 90 days the effects could be reversed if places in a normal environment could form attachments and after 90 days the effects could not be reversed.
What did Harlow conclude about ‘contact comfort’? And what does it show?
That is was more important that food in the formation fo attachment. This also shows that contact is preferable to food but not sufficient for healthy development.
What did he conclude about the maternal depravation caused by the surrogate mothers?
And what did he rename it due to this and what small study did he do to support this rename?
That is leads to emotional damage but that it’s impact could be reversed in monkeys if an attachment was made before the end of the critical period. And if it lasted over critical period no time with mother’s etc could fix it.
He renamed it social depravation, he also brought up some monkeys with time in a playroom with 3 other monkeys a day and they grew up normally. (No meternal mother)
How was Harlow’s study unethical?
His work was unnecessarily cruel, and of limited value to understand the effects of depravation on humans, the means we’re greater than the reward.
How did Harlow’s study give the monkeys emotional harm?,
When they we’re introduced from isolation into a cage with a normal monkey with their mother, the isolated baby Huddle’s in fear and depression in a corner.
How did Harlow’s study affect the monkeys in later life ( especially mothers) )?
When they became parents some.monleys became neurotic and smashed their babies face into the floor and rubbed back and forth.
How is Harlow’s study sometimes justified by it’s insight to social behaviour and attachment?
His research shifted the dominant belief that attachments were created by a relation to physical care such as food, rather than emotional.
How could it be argued that Harlow’s results outweigh the costs?
His research influenced the theoretical work of John bowlby, the most important psychologist in attachment history. And it convinced people of emotional care in hospitals, children’s homes etc.
How has Harlow’s study influenced the world? ( Not involving importance of emotional care in homes)
His study being as horrific as it was, started a ‘revolution’ in the use of animal studies and animals especially in research such as that. This has had a beneficial affect on the world and the use of animals in research.
Outline the procedure of lorenz’s study.
He took a cluster or goose eggs and kept them till they were about to hatch out. Putting half of the eggs under s goose mother and kept half for himself. When they hatched Lorenz imitated a goose quacking and they then followed him as their mother.
What are the findings of Lorenz study? What is the critical period and what does this show?
He found that geese follow the first moving object they see, during a 12-17 hour critical period, knows as imprinting, suggesting attachment is innate programmed genetically.
What did Lorenz suggest about the consequences of imprinting? How does it relate to feeding (behaviourist) and how long until not attachment will occur?
They were crucial for short term survival, and long term internal templates for later relationships.
It does not require any feeding.
if no attachment has developed within the 32 hours it is unlikely any attachment will develop at all.
