Attachment

Question 1

Attachment

Answer 1

An emotional bond between two people that endures over time.

Question 2

Learning Theory

Answer 2

An explanation of attachment. A set of theories from the behaviourist approach, that emphasise the role of learning in the acquisition of behaviour.

Question 3

Drive Reduction

Answer 3

Argues that when we feel discomfort, this creates a drive to reduce this discomfort.

Question 4

Schaffer’s Stages of Attachment

Answer 4

Stage 1: Asocial Stage (first few weeks) Stage 2: Indiscriminate Attachment (2-7 months) Stage 3: Specific Attachment (around 7 months) Stage 4: Multiple Attachments (around 1 year).

Question 5

Seperation Anxiety

Answer 5

Distress shown by an infant when separated from an attachment figure. Behaviour used to judge attachment.

Question 6

Animal Studies

Answer 6

Carried either for ethical or practical reasons. Attachment animal studies include Harlow’s monkeys and Lorenz’s geese research.

Question 7

Harlow (1958)

Answer 7

Studied the importance of contact comfort over food with monkeys.

Question 8

Insecure-avoidant Attachment

Answer 8

An attachment type characterised by low-anxiety but weak attachment.

Question 9

Monotropic

Answer 9

Bowlby’s theory that one particular attachment is different from all the others and of central importance to the child’s development.

Question 10

Childhood Relationships

Answer 10

Affiliations with other people in childhood, including friends and classmates, and with adults such as teachers.

Question 11

Social Releasers

Answer 11

Bowlby suggested that babies are born with a set of innate cute features and behaviours that encourage attention from adults. Activate the innate adult attachment system.

Question 12

Adult Relationships

Answer 12

Those relationships the child goes on to have later in life as an adult. These include friendships and working relationships but most critically relationships with romantic partners and own children.

Question 13

Institutionalism

Answer 13

Refers to the effect of living in an institutional setting where children live for long, continuous periods of time. Very often little emotional care provided.

Question 14

Secure Attachment

Answer 14

Generally thought of as the most desirable attachment type, associated with psychologically healthy outcomes.

Question 15

Proximity Seeking

Answer 15

Behaviour used to judge attachment. An infant with a good attachment will stay fairly close to the caregiver.

Question 16

Disorganised Attachment

Answer 16

Characterised by a lack of consistent patterns of social behaviours. Such infants lack a coherent strategy for dealing with stress of separation.

Question 17

Maternal Deprivation

Answer 17

Emotional and intellectual consequences of separation between a childhood and their mother or substitute. Bowlby said that continuous care is essential for normal psychological development.

Question 18

Individualist Cultures

Answer 18

Typically Western and emphasise independence, individuality and autonomy at the expense of group goals, resulting in a strong sense of competition.

Question 19

Socially Sensitive

Answer 19

Results could be used to make people feel guilty or other negative emotions (controversial).

Question 20

Schaffer and Emerson (1964)

Answer 20

Glasgow babies. Investigated different stages of attachment and when they occurred.

Question 21

Grossman (2002)

Answer 21

Longitudinal study studying the role of the father in child development. Results suggested that father’s role is more about play and stimulation than nurturing.

Question 22

Affectionless Psychopathy

Answer 22

A behaviour disorder in which the individual has no ability to experience shame or guilt and lacks a social conscience. This means that they may find it ‘easier’ to commit crimes.

Question 23

Collectivist Cultures

Answer 23

Typically Eastern and emphasise group membership, interdependence and cooperation.

Question 24

Cultural Variations

Answer 24

The differences in norms and values that exist between people in different groups. In attachment, concerned with differences in the proportion of children of different attachment types.

Question 25

Insecure-resistant Attachment

Answer 25

An attachment type characterised by strong attachment and high anxiety.

Question 26

Hazan and Shaver (1987)

Answer 26

Conducted study of the association between attachment and adult relationships. Love Quiz.

Question 27

Critical Period

Answer 27

The time within which an attachment must form if it is to form at all. Bowlby extended the idea proposing that human infants have a sensitive period after which it will be difficult to form an attachment.

Question 28

Internal Working Models

Answer 28

Mental representations we all carry with us of our attachment to our primary caregiver. Important in affecting our future relationships because they carry our perception of what relationships are like.

Question 29

Longitudinal Study

Answer 29

When you study the same people at multiple points in time. E.g. Schaffer and Emerson’s Glasgow baby study.

Question 30

Stranger Anxiety

Answer 30

Distress shown by an infant when approached by an unfamiliar person. Behaviour used to judge attachment.

Question 31

Interactional Synchrony

Answer 31

‘The temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behaviour’. Reflecting both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a synchronised way. Brings about social development as infants begin to understand what care-givers are thinking and feeling which is important for empathy.

Question 32

Reciprocity

Answer 32

How two people interact. Respond to each other’s signals and each elicits a response from the other. Brings about social development as it prepares the infant for taking turns in conversation.

Question 33

Lorenz (1935)

Answer 33

Experiment of geese imprinting to the first moving object they see regardless of who fed them. Also studied sexual imprinting.

Question 34

Sexual Imprinting

Answer 34

Acquiring a template of the characteristics of a desirable mate.

Question 35

Bowlby (1944)

Answer 35

44 thieves study. Examined link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation.

Question 36

Deprivation

Answer 36

The child loses an element of the primary attachment figures emotional care, with no suitable substitute. This then becomes an issue for development.

Question 37

Meltzoff and Moore (1977)

Answer 37

Studied interactional synchrony between infant and caregiver.

Question 38

Imprinting

Answer 38

An innate readiness to acquire certain behaviour during a critical or sensitive period of development.

Question 39

Continuity Hypothesis

Answer 39

Individuals who are securely attached in infancy continue to be socially and emotionally competent. They are likely to have secure relationships as adults.

Question 40

Response to Reunion

Answer 40

Behaviour used to judge attachment. How the child reacts towards the caregiver after separation for a short period of time under controlled conditions.

Question 41

Strange Situation Ainsworth (1969)

Answer 41

A controlled observation designed to test attachment security. Infants are assessed on their response to playing in an unfamiliar room, being left alone, left with a stranger and being reunited with a caregiver.

Question 42

Seperation

Answer 42

The child is not in the presence of the primary attachment figure. Brief separations, particularly where the child is with a substitute caregiver, don’t have a significant impact on development.

Question 43

Exploration and Secure-Base Behaviour

Answer 43

Behaviour used to judge attachment. Good attachment enables a child to feel confident to explore, using their caregiver as a secure base.

Question 44

Van lJzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)

Answer 44

Meta-analysis of proportions of attachment types across a range of countries.

Question 45

Rutter et al. (2011)

Answer 45

English and Romanian Adoptee study. Studying the effects of institutionalism.

Question 46

Jin et al. (2012)

Answer 46

Study to compare proportions of attachment types in Korea to other studies.

Question 47

Multiple Attachments

Answer 47

Attachments to two or more people. Most babies appear to develop multiple attachments once they have formed one true attachment to a main carer.