Attachment Flashcards
What is the definition of an infant?
a child below the age of 2, derivative from the latin word “infans”, meaning “unable to speak”.
How do caregiver-infant interactions affect social development?
If an individual lacks caregiver-infant interactions, this can lead to poor social skills, poor academia and intellect and stunted brain development.
What is the Caregiver-Infant interaction of reciprocity?
A reciprocal interaction between caregiver ad baby, in which each party’s behavior elicits a response from the other (i.e. a baby pointing and a caregiver laughing)
How can interactional reciprocity reflect sociability in later life?
It can often be the gateway to learning how to engage in conversation (especially the meaningless ones– e.g. “How are you?”- “I’m fine how are you”). These interactions are reciprocal as both parties engage and both parties warrant a response from the other.
What is the Caregiver-Infant interaction of Synchrony?
When a caregiver and infant reflect the actions of the other in unity (e.g. mirroring each others facial and body movements).
How does Interactional Synchrony differ from interactional reciprocity?
Synchrony is different to reciprocity as, in synchrony, the actions have to be the same (i.e . both the caregiver and infant laughing/clapping), whereas the behaviors in reciprocity do not have to be the same, but do have to elicit more response.
how is synchrony important in creating an emotionally responsive primary attachment?
Meltzoff proposed that infants associate their actions/expressions with their own mental states, so the infant would project their mental state (and therefore mood/emotion) onto the caregiver performing the same acts. This would help the infant begin to understand what the caregiver is thinking/feeling, resulting in the pair being more accustomed to each others needs and therefore forming a more secure attachment (this could also lead to development of social skills due to receptiveness/sensitivity).
What is one study that investigated Interactional Synchrony?
Meltzoff and Moore
What was the aim of M_____f and M___e’s study?
Meltzoff and Moore- To investigate interactional synchrony by testin how infants copy an adult’s facial expressions.
What was the independent variable in M_____f and M___e’s study?
Meltzoff and Moore The expression the adult used when interacting with the baby ( i.e. if the adult opened their mouth, if they stuck out their tongue etc.)
What was the dependent variable of M_____f and M___e’s study?
Meltzoff and Moore Whether or not the baby copied the expression (to ensure accurate results, the babies’ responses were taped and the adult participant was kept oblivious of their exact aim)
What was the aim of S______r and E_____n’s study?
Schaffer and Emerson- To investigate attachment formation, particularly the age when attachment occurs, the emotional intensity of the attachment and the target of the attachment.
Briefly outline the method of S______r and E_____n’s study
Schaffer and Emerson- during the 1960s, Schaffer tested on 60 babies and their mothers from Glasgow- all from skilled working class families. They tested: Separation Anxiety by asking parents what protest behaviors their child showed when they left and Stranger Anxiety observing how a baby responds to unfamiliar adults trying to cuddle/interact with the infants
What were the findings of S______r and E_____n’s study?
Schaffer and Emerson- between 25 and 32 weeks of age, average 50% of babies showed separation anxiety from their primary caregivers, meaning they made a specific attachment.
By 40 weeks, 80% of the infants had specific attachments, while 30% of them had multiple attachments.
What are the 4 stages of Attachment (according to Schaffer and Emerson)?
Indiscriminate Attachment, Beginnings of Attachment, Discriminate Attachments and Multiple Attachments.
How would an infant seem during Indiscriminate Attachment?
The child would show no preference for any objects/people, they would not have any preferred people or objects, but may show response to social stimuli (i.e. faces or teddies), though this does not indicate attachment, just stimulation.
How would an infant seem during Beginnings of Attachment?
The infant would be able to distinguish familiar people from strangers, but there would be no stranger anxiety yet, and there may still be no primary attachment.
How would an infant seem during Discriminate Attachment?
At this stage, separation anxiety and preference for the primary caregiver would have become present, and the infant would be reliant on the emotional attention and support of their primary caregiver (if neglected, this could lead to stunted brain development and pathological issues in later life).
How would an infant seem during Multiple Attachments?
At this stage, discriminate attachments would be formed with secondary figures (often showcasing separation anxiety from these attachment figures).
Why might the four stages of attachment not be universally applicable? Clues- Culture Autism Downs Syndrome
US and UK cultures tend to focus more on their close family’s needs, whereas other cultures use shared childcare, and this could discourage primary attachment. Sagi et al, who compared attachments in infants raised communally and in families, found small families formed more close attachments). Children with autism and down syndrome may also struggle with attachment, as children with autism may form attachments much later on, or only form a primary attachment, and then stop. People with downs may skip the stage of indiscriminate attachment and move to multiple attachment, meaning they form attachments easily, and want to become close with strangers (seemingly friendly)(This is individual/dispositional as downs is a chromosomal disorder).
How could the self-report methodology in Schaffer and Emerson’s study be considered unreliable?
The use of open questions to the mothers, questioning their motherhood, could have caused demand characteristics such as the desirability effect. Some mothers were also probably more perceptive to their child than others. Also, as of the time of the study, many of these mothers would have been stay-at-home mothers, which could have made their attitudes to childcare vary from contemporary ones.
What is imprinting?
An infant’s readiness to make a bond with the mother which takes place during a specific time period, usually the first few hours after birth. If it doesn’t happen in this period, it isn’t likely to happen at all.
What is Sexual Imprinting?
the idea that imprinting will affect adult mate preferences, meaning that animals will mate with the same sort of object as they imprinted on.
Name one study that investigated imprinting
Lorenz (1959)
Briefly outline the method of L____z’s (1959) study
Lorenz collected gosling eggs and tested them while they hatched. He divided them into two groups, one hatched naturally, so first saw the mother, and the other hatched in an incubator, so the first thing they saw was Lorenz. He marked each gosling and mixed the groups, so they all spent time with both him and the mother in a group, after first contact. The goslings who first saw Lorenz imprinted on him and followed him round.
What were the findings of L____z’s (1959) study?
Lorenz- He discovered the Critical period- a period of time in which the animal must be exposed to a moving object. If the animal does not imprint during this critical period, it will not imprint at all (this is usually within the first two days).
Briefly outline the method of Harlow (1959)
Harlow tested on 8 infant monkeys. He created two wire monkey “mother” sculptures, one with a wire head, one with a cloth head, each holding a bottle. He measured how much time the infants spent with each mother, and if the monkeys sought comfort from either when exposed to a threat (a mechanical teddy bear)
How does Bowlby’s monotropic theory contrast that of the Learning Theory of Attachment?
It suggests attachment is innate rather than learned.
How did Bowlby think attachment was an evolutionary adaptation?
Bowlby believed attachment was due to survival instinct, as infants need protection and adults must pass down genes. He believed humans developed this due to our extended childhood (18+ years reliance).
What are social releasers?
Assets that babies are born with that trigger the Innate Adult Attachment System. These can be:
Physical: big eyes, small chin, small, chubby- or
Behavioral: e.g. crying, cooing, gripping fingers etc.
What is Innate Adult Attachment System?
attachment was reciprocal, so both baby and mother had instincts to attach. Social releasers trigger this system, and it causes us to attach to the infant based on these.
What does monotropy mean?
The theory that an infant’s Primary attachment Figure influenced social development more than others, so was the most important attachment. Bowlby believed our instincts were to attach to mothers.
What is the Inner Working Model?
The idea that our primary attachment created an inner working model (like a schema) that we use as a template for future
relationships and expectations of love.
What is The Continuity Hypothesis?
It theorised that people securely attached in infancy had more secure adult relationships. It was later proven by Bowlby’s theory of Maternal Deprivation.
What were the specifics of Ainsworth’s strange situation study?
It was a laboratory study, where a controlled situation was contrived in order to test the security of attachment between 100 middle class mothers and their babies.
How many situations were created in Ainsworth’s study?
8 situations, some involving confederates
What was the first contrived situation (stage 1) of Ainsworth’s strange situation study?
The mother and infant go into a new room, the mother sits down and the baby is left to explore ( tests secure base attachment and desire for proximity)
What was the second contrived situation (stage 2) of Ainsworth’s strange situation study?
A confederate “stranger” enters the room and interacts with mother. This would therefore distract the mother from the baby and move focus to the stranger, which tests stranger anxiety.
What was the third contrived situation (stage 3) of Ainsworth’s strange situation study?
The confederate stranger tries to play with the baby. This tests separation anxiety.
What was the fourth contrived situation (stage 4) of Ainsworth’s strange situation study?
The mother leaves the room and the stranger attempts to comfort the baby ( testing separation and stranger anxiety)
What was the fifth contrived situation (stage 5) of Ainsworth’s strange situation study?
The mother returns and tries to mollify baby (testing secure base attachment).
What was the sixth contrived situation (stage 6) of Ainsworth’s strange situation study?
The mother leaves the room and leaves the infant alone. This tests seeking proximity, secure base attachment and separation anxiety.
What was the seventh contrived situation (stage 7) of Ainsworth’s strange situation study?
When mother is absent, the stranger returns and attempts to comfort the baby ( tests stranger anxiety).
What was the seventh contrived situation (stage 8) of Ainsworth’s strange situation study?
Mother returns to mollify baby. Tests secure base attachment.
What were the two attachment types found by Ainsworth’s study?
Insecure avoidant attachment, Insecure Resistant attachment and Secure attachment .
What is Insecure avoidant attachment?
How many participants in Ainsworth’s study?
The child shows little to no anxiety, doesn’t seek proximity and doesn’t require mollification from mother. Type in 22% of infants in the study.
What is secure attachment?
How many participants in Ainsworth’s study?
The child explores happily, but still seeks proximity to mother. The child will still show mild anxiety and require mother’s mollification. This is the attachment type seen in 66% of the participants.
What is insecure resistant attachment?
How many participants in Ainsworth’s study?
The child shows high anxiety (separation and stranger) but rejects the mother’s mollification.
Briefly outline Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation
Bowlby theorised that infants deprived of maternal care in a critical period would have long term consequences, such as emotional underdevelopment and mental illness.
How do critical periods apply to Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation?
0-2.5 years. If the child was continually/repeatedly separated from the mother or deprived from emotional attachment/care to this mother, the child might have developmental issues. This risk continued to the age of 5. However, after this time, temporary separation from the mother will not cause lasting damage.
What was the procedure taken in Bowlby’s 44 Juvenile Thieves Study?
Bowlby took a sample of 88 children from the orphanage he worked at (for orphans and kids with incarcerated parents), all showing emotional maladjustment. 44 of these kids had been caught stealing. He thought 32 of these “thieves” were affectionless psychopaths. Bowlby then delved into the children’s records and investigated their upbringing.
How did the findings from Bowlby’s 44 Juvenile Thieves Study support his theory of maternal deprivation?
Bowlby found 86% of the thieving children with affectionless psychopathy experienced frequent separations from their mother during infancy. The control participants (the 44 non thieving participants) had almost no accounts of early maternal deprivation, whereas 39% of the thieves did
What category of study was Rutter et. Al?
A longitudinal study
What concept of attachment did Rutter’s study’s findings inspire?
Institutionalism
What is institutionalism?
Institutionalism refers to the effect of living in an institutional setting (i.e. outside the family or family home). This is usually due to the child having a lack of primary care and can cause emotional, social and pathological complications.
What was the type of study used in Rutter et al?
It was a natural experiment, as the independent variable (the neglect of the orphans and the age of adoption for each orphan) was predetermined, so didn’t need to be changed.
What tragic event inspired Rutter et al 2010?
After Romanian leader Ceausescu tried to improve the economy by increasing the population, he started encouraging more women to give birth by offering more, benefits, lower taxes and public recognition whilst also banning abortion. However, many romanian families could not afford these children. Later, orphanages were discovered with terrible conditions: no washing conditions, basic furniture, cramped living space, inadequate food and most crucially- with no care for the children, just a living space.
What was the sample size in Rutter et al’s study?
165 of the romanian orphans were observed
What were the different conditions of the sample tested in Rutter et Al (2010)?
111 of the orphans were adopted before the age of 2
54 of the orphans were adopted before the age of 4
How were the participants tested in Rutter et Al (2010)?
They were assessed at different ages in life: 4,6,11, and 15
How did Rutter ensure validity in the construction of his study?
He used a control group of 52 British-born orphans, adopted before the age of 6 months and compared the developmental levels of the romanian orphans to the development of this control group.
How did the Romanian orphans in Rutter et Al’s study appear to have adapted when first tested?
They initially lagged behind the control group in terms of size, growth, strength and mental capacity (many showed retardation).
How did age of adoption affect the development of the orphans in Rutter et al?
Those who were adopted at a younger age (6 months and younger) tended to recover from the symptoms of institutionalisation better. For example, those adopted younger than six months tended to have much higher IQs than the other orphans, sometimes even displaying above average IQs.
How did age of adoption affect the attachment type of the orphans in Rutter et al?
Children adopted after the age of six months often showed disinhibited attachment. Those adopted when six months old or younger rarely showed this.
How can institutionalisation affect physicality?
A child who suffers adverse effects from institutionalisation can display signs of physical underdevelopment or restricted growth. Rutter called this Developmental dwarfism.
How can institutionalisation affect behavior (in terms of dispositional abnormality)?
Institutionalised children can develop quasi-autism (displaying symptoms of autism) repeating rituals or twitches obsessively, or example twitching, tapping tables, spinning in circles.
How can institutionalisation affect adult attachment/parenthood?
Institutionalisation can cause poor parenting in later life- often being more likely to be neglectful or abusive.
How does institutionalisation relate to Bowlby’s theory of the inner working model?
Institutionalisation can cause a lack of internal working model, often with children raised in institutionalised settings having difficulty interacting with peers and forming close relationships.
How can institutionalisation affect intellect?
Severe institutionalisation or lack of are in infancy can cause intellectual underfunctioning (low IQ), often being in the bottom 30% of IQ in the population, sometimes eve in the bottom 10-15%. Some institutionalised children need extra help with academic schooling because of this.
What was the general conclusions from Rutter et Al.?
If children deprived of attachment when young from healthy and supportive attachments in later life, they can recover from the negative effects of this deprivation. He suggested that deprivation did not cause irreversible damage, but rather slower development.
What was H___n and S____r meant to test?
Hazan and Shaver– It tested the presence of the inner working model and how early attachments affect later relationships.
What was the methodology of H___n and S____r ?
Hazan and Shaver—- A “love quiz” was placed in an American,local small town newspaper. It asked questions about current attachment experiences and attachment history, as well as questions about attitudes towards love.
What were the findings of H___n and S____r ?
Hazan and Shaver— The test showed a positive correlation between security of attachment and positive/negative experience of love (i.e. securely attached adults describe their relationships and love as happy and trusting), therefore securely attached individuals would have a more positive inner working model
How can inner working models affect behavior?
A positive inner working model can result in better Childhood friendships in individuals and a secure base attachment can result in being more socially competent in childhood. An insecure attachment type can relate to poor or neglectful parenting in adulthood. A secure attachment type in infancy can also result in longer lasting romantic relationships in adulthood.
What was V__ L________n testing?
Van Ljzendoorn wanted to see how different cultures affected attachment type. The two types of culture that he focused on were:
Individualist Cultures- focus more on the individual, and personal development/success (often capitalist countries show this, such as the U.S. or U.S.A
Collectivist Cultures- focuses on the security and support of a group, emphasizing ideals like group co-operation (often communist and eastern countries).
What was the methodology of V__ L________n?
Van Ljzendorn– Meta-analysis using secondary data from 32 Ainsworth’s strange situation replicas. 18 of the studies were in the U.S and two thirds were in western/individualist countries.
What were the findings of V__ L________n?
Van Ljzendorn– Secure attachment was the mode attachment type.. Germany and Holland had the highest levels of Insecure-avoidant attachment. Japan had the lowest levels of insecure-avoidant attachment. Eastern countries had the highest insecure-resistant attachment (Israel, China, Japan)
What is one point that criticises learning theory of attachment?
Infant’s form secondary attachments early on, and these attachments would not be based on the attachment figure providing food, as the primary attachment would be more often associated with feeding.
What is the temperament hypothesis?
How does this relate to Bowlby’s monotropic theory?
Temperament hypothesis suggests that children who were easy to care for were more likely to attach than children who were difficult to care for.
This was supported by Belsky and Rovine, who found children with conditions that caused difficult/unpredictable behavior, insecure attachment were more likely.
suggests attachment is not just due to innate responses, but is affected by the child’s dispositional factors.
What is one beneficial application of Bowlby’s theories (both monotropic and maternal deprivation?)
Due to Bowlby’s findings, care of children has been modified, so patients have a specific carer (known as a keyworker) who focuses on one child, allowing for intensive care and attachment,preventing deprivation.
What is one positive of Ainsworth’s strange situation study?
Scientific method - very high inter-rater reliability
The study was replicated often over time, with the strange situation being easy to reconstruct and adapt to test different IVs
What is one limitation of Ainsworth’s strange situation study?
It can be considered ethnocentric due to all the mothers being middle class. It also shows gynocentrism.
How was Ainsworth’s study later developed?
Later, after the study, Ainsworth found disorganized attachment. This could cause ambivalent or confused behavior towards the parent. disinhibited attachment was also recognised, even later, often seeing the child being overly needy and showing high anxiety, or attaching alacritously with unfamiliar adults.
What is one positive of Van Ljzendoorn’s study?
Meta-analysis methodology
The comparison of results from multiple studies increases the validity of any assumptions/findings and can eliminate the chance of anomaly.
What is one negative of Van Ljzendoorn’s study?
It was biased towards individualist cultures. 18 of the studies were in the US, an individualist culture, and two thirds of the countries tested were western and individualist. This could have been why secure attachment was the mode, and this might have not been the case if more Eastern/collectivist countries were tested.
What is one criticism of Maternal Deprivation relating to disposition?
Psychopathy can be caused by a lack of development in the frontal lobe/ lack of connection between this and the amygdala. It can also be caused by genes (i.e. MAOA or COMT). Therefore, it could be caused by dispositional factors rather than deprivation.
What were two issues with the methodology of Hazan and Shaver?
It was correlational research. It could be that attachment types and security of later relationships/positive inner working model are not cause and effect correlational factors.
Recollections in adults of infancy are likely to be flawed, due to retrieval distorting the memory, or associating other factors later on. The self report questionnaire also makes the study susceptible to extraneous variables such as leading questions causing the admirability effect.
What were two criticisms of Meltzoff and Moore?
Failure to replicate Meltzoff and Moore, for example, a study by Koepke failed to replicate its findings, though M&M argued that this was because the study was less controlled. This could suggest poor construct validity.
poor ecological validity because of testing on infants. This could be because of twitching and frequent mouth moving, it was difficult to tell if the infant was just moving its mouth or responding to the adult.
How could Schaffer and Emerson be argued to have cultural bias?
The sample was all working-class, all mothers and all from Glasgow in the 1960s.
What study that relates to Schaffer and Emerson and culture suggests a correlation between family size and attachment ?
Schaffer disregards how attachment can vary due to different cultures and psychological abilities. E.g. US and UK cultures tend to focus more on their close family’s needs, whereas other cultures use shared childcare, and this could discourage primary attachment. This is supported by Sagi et al, who compared attachments in infants raised communally and in families (small families formed more close attachments)
What study uses rubber gloves and chicken to support imprinting?
Guiton (1966), which tested if leghorn chicks would imprint on rubber gloves-they did- supported the idea of imprinting, also supported the idea of sexual imprinting.
How can we criticise Harlow, relating to ethics?
The study created lasting emotional harm, many of the monkeys later struggled to form relationships with their peers, struggled with mating, struggled with raising offspring and showed increased aggression
What are some real world applications that relate to Bowlby’s monotropic theory?
Due to Bowlby’s findings, care of children has been modified, so patients have a specific carer (known as a keyworker) who focuses on one child, allowing for intensive care and attachment,preventing deprivation.
What is one evaluation of Ainsworth’s study relating to reliability? (and applications)
Scientific method - very high inter-rater reliability
The study was replicated often over time, with the strange situation being easy to reconstruct and adapt to test different IVs. It also helped give insight to caregivers (via the CoSP) to help detect signals of stress/anxiety in infants.
What is is one criticism of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation study relating to cultural bias?
It could be culturally biased as it only used american middle class mums
What is one evaluation of Ainsworth relating to adaptability?
Ainsworth needed to add a 4th type to explain all attachments. Later, after the study, Ainsworth found disorganized attachment. This could cause ambivalent or confused behavior towards the parent. disinhibited attachment was also recognised, even later, often seeing the child being overly needy and showing high anxiety, or attaching alacritously with unfamiliar adults.
Adaptability is a key tenet of science and shows temporal validity
WHat was one evaluation of Van Ljzendoorn related to data?
It was a meta-analysis methodology. The comparison of results from multiple studies increases the validity of any assumptions/findings and can eliminate the chance of anomaly.
WHat was one criticism of Van Ljzendoorn related to culture?
The study was biased towards individualist cultures. 18 of the studies were in the US, an individualist culture, and two thirds of the countries tested were western and individualist. This could have been why secure attachment was the mode, and this might have not been the case if more Eastern/collectivist countries were tested.
WHat was one criticism of Van Ljzendoorn related to nations?
May actually be nation, not culture, that determines attachment type. For example, Germany and Holland are individualist in culture, but had the highest levels of insecure avoidant attachment. This could be due to the nation’s general attitude, encouraging children to deal with and raise themselves.
Which country showed the highest levels of anxious-avoidant children in Van Ljzendoorn’s study?
Germany
Which country in Van Ljzendoorn had the lowest levels of insecure avoidant attachment?
Japan
In Van Lizendoorn’s study, did attachment type vary more within cultures or between cultures?
WIthin cultures
