Attachment Flashcards
Define attachment
A close two way emotional bond between two individuals in which each individual sees the other as essential for there own emotional security
Name and describe the three characteristics of attachment
Proximity- people try to stay physically close to who they are attached to
Separation Distress- people become distressed when the attachment figure leaves their presence
Secure base behaviour- infants display secure base behaviour when they regularly return to their attachment figure when playing
Define reciprocity
Where the actions of one partner leads to a response from the other
Turn taking
Define interactional synchrony
When an infant mirrors the actions of another person
Describe the supporting evidence for interactional synchrony
Meltzoff and Moore:
An adult model would display one of three facial expressions and the child’s response was filmed, found that babies would attempt to imitate facial and physical gestures
Evaluate Meltzoff and Moore’s research
❌difficulties with observations:
It is difficult to be certain what is taking place from the infants perspective
✅controlled observations- validity
Have high control over variables and babies show no demand characteristics
Give a criticism of evaluation of caregiver infant interactions
❌Working mothers
this research suggests that children may be disadvantaged by the way that they are brought up, this blames the mother especially if they returned to work soon after> suggests that mothers should not return to work so has socially sensitive implications
Describe Lorenz’s research
Investigate the process of IMPRINTING , where youngsters follow and form attachment with the first large moving object they meet
He took some geese, condition A being hatched by the mother and other hatched in an incubator
Lorenz was the first large moving animal the hatchlings encountered
Found that those hatched by the mother followed the mother about, whereas those hatched in an incubator followed Lorenz around
Lorenz also found that this would only happen within a brief set time period known as a critical period
Describe Harlows Research
Worked with rhesus monkeys (similar to humans more so than geese)
Two types of mother were constructed : a harsh wire mother and a soft towelling mother
Four different conditions; ie wire mother producing milk and towelling mother producing no milk
The monkeys were frightened with a loud noise
Results: monkey preferred contact with the towelling mother when given a choice of surrogate mothers, regardless of whether she produced milk
Conclusion: rhesus monkeys have an innate unlearned need for contact comfort suggesting that attachment concerns emotional security more than food
Describe the dysfunctional behaviour the rhesus monkeys in later life experienced
Timid
Unpredictable with other monkeys
Difficulty mating
Females were inadequate mothers
Briefly Evaluate animal studies
❌generalising from animals to humans
✅value for theory
✅practical application
Describe: animal studies
❌generalising from animals to humans
It is difficult to generalise animals to humans
Humans are far more emotionally developed more so than a goose or monkey
Describe animal studies
✅value for theory
Harlow drew attention to the fact that food was not a priority
Harlow made us aware of the long term consequences of not forming an attachment, this included being inadequate mothers
Describe: animal studies
✅practical application
It has helped social workers understand risk factors in child neglect and abuse and so intervene to prevent It
Describe bowlbys Monotropic theory
A- adaptive= innate features that ensure survival , eg rooting reflex
S-social releasers= these unlock the innate tendency in adults to care for them (eg baby face and crying)
C- critical period- babies must form an attachment within a certain (birth and 2.5 yrs)
M-monotropy- infants form one special attachment with their mother
I- internal working model- all future relationships will be based upon this early attachment
Describe the supporting evidence for bowlbys Monotropic theory
Lorenz
Geese formed one attachment (Monotropic)
It was an innate feature to aid survival (adaptive)
Supports critical period (formed attachment within 5-24 hrs)
Describe some evidence that challenged bowlbys Monotropic theory
Rutter
Research carried out research on i orphans found that adoptees who did not form attachment within critical period could form an attachment outside of this period
Not critical but “sensitive period”
Give another piece of evidence that supports bowlbys Monotropic theory
Hazan and Shaver
Used a questionnaire called “love quiz” to examine current attachment experiences and history
Volunteer sampling
Found positive correlation between attachment type and later love experiences
SUPPORTS INTERNAL WORKING MODEL
Criticise hazan and shavers research
❌questionnaire
❌retrospective data
❌cause and effect cannot be established
❌volunteer sample (does not represent whole of country and only specific demographics)
Briefly state all the evaluation points of bowlbys Monotropic theory
✅supporting evidence: Lorenz
❌rutter
✅hazan and shaver (can be criticised ❌)
❌socially sensitive
Describe learning theory
Cupboard love
Children learn to love whoever feeds them
Child learns (classical conditioning) to form an attachment with mother as he forms association between mother and food
And through operant conditioning the food reinforces the attachment
Briefly evaluate learning theory
❌Harlow
❌reductionist / ignores innate features
❌newer learning theory
Describe why Harlow is a criticism of learning theory
The rhesus monkey preferred the cloth covered wire mother over the wire mother which could feed, shows that the monkey sought contact comfort over the food, this challenges the cupboard love theory which is proposed by learning theory
How does the Learning theory ignore innate factors
Suggests that learning theory outlines that much of how attachments are formed are due to innate factors - these include adaptation and social releasers, neither of which are taught or learned (supported by Lorenz: geese did not have to be taught to form an attachment)
What is the newer learning theory which has replaced learning theory
Social learning theory
We learn behaviour as a result of modelling and imitating of behaviour.
What did Schaffer do
The stages of attachment
Describe the different stages of attachment
Stage 1: asocial- an infant shows similar response to objects and people
Stage 2: indiscriminate- infant now shows a preference for human company over non human company
Stage 3: discriminate- infant has a preference for one care giver
Stage 4- multiple- attachment behaviours are now displayed towards several different people
Describe Schaffer and Emerson’s study
They designed a longitudinal study to look at the gradual development of attachment
Used observation and interviews
Attachment was measured in two ways: separation anxiety
Stranger anxiety
Evaluate the methodology of Schaffer and Emerson’s study
✅longitudinal design -same children were used so prevents participant variables ✅ecological validity- carried out in a real life setting ❌limited sample- Glasgow working class children so limits its generalisability ❌temporal validity - study was conducted in the 1960s- things have changed significantly in terms of women going back to work.
Some might argue that men are not equipped to form attachments, both psychologically and socially, why is this
Nature- mothers provide food for the child and carry it for 9months
Mothers breast feed forming a closer attachment to child
Socially- generally more nurturing and caring due to being encouraged to play mother role when younger (ie being given dolls)
Geiger (1996) argued that fathers could not be caregiver why
PLAYMATE NOT CAREGIVERS
Fathers play interactions with infant are more exciting in comparison to the mothers. However mothers interactions were more affectionate and nurturing
Describe Field (1978) in relation to role of the father
GENDER NOT THE ISSUE
Filmed a 4 month old babies in face to face interaction with primary caregiver mother/father and secondary caregiver fathers. It is not important about gender only the quality of the relationships
Describe Belsky in relation to role of the father
MARRIAGE AND FATHER ROLE
Found that males with higher reported levels of marital intimacy also display secure father- infant attachment than those who do not have marital intimacy
What is ainsworth’s strange situation
Strange situation is a procedure for assessing the quality of attachment and involved a series of episodes where the child is left alone and adults come in and out of the room
Describe the procedure used in ainsworths strange situation
Covert observation, the psychologist looked at the following behaviours: secure base behaviour, stranger anxiety, separation anxiety and response in reunion
What behaviour would be seen in a secure attachment
- Infant explores and regularly returns using mother as a safe base
- medium separation anx
- medium stranger anx
- joy on reunion
What behaviour would be seen in a insecure avoidant attachment
- explores and does not use mum as a safe base
- low separation anxiety
- low stranger anxiety
- no joy on reunion
What behaviour would be seen in a insecure resistant attachment
- little willingness to explore
- high separation anxiety
- hot and cold stranger anxiety
- not easily comforted by mother and rejects attempts of mothers comfort
Briefly evaluate ainsworths strange situation
✅methodology ( lab experiment )
✅good predictive validity
❌culturally limited
Explain why ainsworths strange situation may be considered to have good predictive validity
The test can accurately predict a behaviour that will occur in later life, ie children with secure attachment will have generally better outcomes, whereas insecure resistant attachment is associated with worse outcomes such as mental health illnesses
Why may ainsworths strange situation be considered culturally limited
Name a study that supports this
It’s method can be limited to western cultures only, because caregivers from different cultures behave differently in the strange situation.
Takahashi- the test does not work in japan as caregivers are very rarely separated from their child, so as u would expect there are high levels of separation anxiety
How may attachments in Israel be different to attachments in Japan
Japan- mothers are rarely separated from their babies- would show very high levels of separation anxiety
Israel- children raised in a Kibbutz, groups of children shared a home with a nanny to care for them, parents would visit for 3hrs a day- would show low levels of separation anxiety
Describe Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg research into cultural variations
A meta analysis (a technique that combines findings from numerous studies)
Conducted a meta analysis of 32 studies across 8 countries looking at close to 2000 children
Found that- UK highest secure attachment
Israel highest resistant
Germany highest avoidant
Evaluate cultural variation research
✅large samples- reducing effect of outliers- high population validity
✅standardised methodology- increase reliability
✅Simonella et al (2014)
❌ethnocentric method of assessment
Why is research into cultural variations ethnocentric
Because it uses behavioural classes which were developed based off middle class American children, criticises other cultures which have complete different ways of bringing up a child
Explain Simonella research
Simonella conducted a study to see whether the proportions of babies in different attachment types matched those in previous studies. He found 50% secure (the same) however 36% avoidant - this has increased, could be said to be due to mothers working longer hours and using childcare.
Define deprivation
Occurs when the attachment is formed but broken later on in life
Define privation
Occurs when a child does not form any attachment at all
Describe bowlbys theory on maternal deprivation
Biwlby argues that disruption to the attachment bond - even short term- result in serious and permanent damage to the child’s emotional social and intellectual development. And would have serious long term consequences
Define affectionless psychopathy
Term used to describe individuals with no sense of shame or guilt
Describe bowlbys 44 thieves study
44 juvenile theives and a contro group of 44 controls of similar age and intelligence
Assessed using interviews ( mother n child ) as well as case histories and psychological testing
Found that 86% of affectionless psychopaths experienced prolonged attachment separation
Only 4% of controls had experienced frequent early separations
FOUND A LINK BETWEEN EARLY SEPARATIONS AND LATER SOCIAL MALADJUSTMENTS
Evaluate bowlbys maternal deprivation theory
❌interview bias- bowlby himself did the interview- questions validity
❌retrospective data- asks participant to look back- could lie/forget/schemas
❌critical period is not actually critical
Descrbie why the cartilage period may actually not be critical ( koluchova)
Two Czech twins never formed attachment with mother who died shortly after birth, did not form another during critical period, went on to acheive emotional and intellectual maturity despite years of abuse and had normalcy and perfectly ordinary relationships with their own children.
Define institutionalisation
A term for the effects of living in an institutional setting, refers to a place like a hospital or orphanage.
Describe Rutter research in regard to Romanian orphans
- Under communist rule, Romania banned contraception + abortion in the 1960s
- Led to a massively over populated country and an abundance of children being born
- the Nuffield foundation decided to monitor the impact of this poor care and absence of attachment longitudinally
- 165 Romanian orphans were tracked longitudinally, 111 were adopted before the age of two and 54 were adopted after The age of two
- Those adopted early caught up with the British children those who were not adopted early had significant cognitive social and physical developmental problems some even similar to autism
Name the four overall effects of institutionalisation
1) disinhibited attachment- friendly towards strangers…
2) mental retardation - low IQ
3) delinquency- antisocial behaviour
4) affectionless psychopathy- no sense of guilt/empathy…
Evaluate Romanian orphans studies
❌methodology- lack of control, potential influence of other variables (low IQ due to poor education?)
❌problems with generalisability- conditions were so bad that they cannot be compared to ordinary orphanages
✅chugani- PET scans of 10 (❌small sample) adopted Romanian orphans- mild neurocongitive impairment and attention and social deficits
What is continuity hypothesis
The idea that there is a link between the early relationship and later emotional behaviour
Evaluate how early attachment can affect relationships in adulthood
✅McCarthy- studied 40 adult women when infants, found secure had best relationships, avoidant struggled with intimacy and resistant had problems maintaining relationships
✅Hazan and shaver love quiz found I securely attached adults tended to fear intimacy and be jealous
❌hazan and shaver= volunteer sample/ questionnaire
Describe Bailey research into relationships as a parent and early attachment
Assessed 99 mothers- found mothers who reported poor attachment to their own parents were much mor likely to have a poor relationship with their children
Evaluate early attachments on later relationships
❌correlational- cannot establish cause and effect
❌uses self report- IWM is unconscious so difficult for us to look into
Define Shaba s
Dhdheheh
