attachment Flashcards
what is frame-by-frame analysis
is when researchers record behaviours of participants with a camera and make detailed observations of each frame. leads to more reliable observations
what is longitudinal study
when a researcher investigates the same participants at multiple timepoints to see how they change over time
two strengths of conducting longitudinal study are
- it allows researchers to gain deeper insights into behaviour and how it changes over time
- it gives researchers insights into how early experiences shape behaviour
- can see if results are reliable across time
one weakness of longitudinal studies are
attrition: when, across the study, the researcher loses some of their participants from the sample
when a researcher can’t directly manipulate an independent variable they can use other types of experiments called
quasi experiments and natural experiments
what is the problem with natural and quasi experiments
we can’t control all extraneous variables that could influence the dependent variable. we can’t directly test cause and effect
what do attachment researchers often study
independent variables that are unethical to manipulate. and often conduct natural and quasi experiments
what should a researcher do if they directly want to manipulate the independent variable.
conduct an animal study
what is an advantage of conducting an animal study
no need to rely on natural or quasi experiments
can still directly test cause and effect
what are the limitations to conducting an animal study
might not be considered ethical as might cause distress to the animals
the results of animal studies may not generalise to humans because animals are very different to humans
why do researchers argue animal studies are needed
- the benefits of the research outweigh the negative impacts of the research
- even if animals are quite different to humans, they have sufficiently similar behaviours and genes for the results to be still valid
what are the four stages of attachment
pre-attachment stage
indiscriminate attachment stage
the discriminate attachment stage
multiple attachment stage
what is the pre-attachment stage
in the first 0-3 months new born babies don’t show a preference and treat all people the same
what is the indiscriminate attachment stage
babies begin to prefer familiar people. babies yet form an attachment to one particular person. begins around 3-7 months of age
what is the discriminate attachment stage
at 7 months babies begin to show a clear strong preference for one person
what is the multiple attachment stage
9 months onwards and where children form attachments with several people
what was Schaffer and Emerson’s aim of their study
to see how babies form attachments with their parents
what type of study did Schaffer and Emerson conduct
naturalistic and longitudinal study
what did Schaffer and Emerson asses in their studies
-they assessed whether babies displayed separation anxiety by observing the babies behaviour when they are taken away from their caregivers
they also assessed whether babies displayed stranger anxiety by observing babies behaviours when they were in the presence of strangers
what is Schaffer and Emerson’s study
conducted a longitudinal study, using a naturalistic observation. they followed 60 babies and their families from birth to 18 months. babies were observed in the presence of strangers to assess stranger anxiety, and their caregivers were removed asses stranger anxiety
what did Schaffer and Emerson find
- evidence for the four stages of attachment
- 87% of babies formed attachment with two or more caregivers
- babies formed stronger attachments if caregivers displayed high sensitive responses
one strength of Schaffer and Emerson’s study
naturalistic observation this means that the results are more likely to have ecological validity and generalise to how babies and babies behave in everyday life
two weaknesses of Schaffer and Emerson’s study
- the research may be prone to observer bias
- the results may be prone to social desirability bias due to the use of an interview
what is observer bias
the tendency for researchers to see what they expect when conducting observations
what is social desirability bias
participants may give inaccurate answers that they think are socially desirable, to avoid being judged negatively
what do babies develop stronger attachments to
parents who have sensitive responsiveness
examples of caregiver interactions
- reciprocity
- interactional synchrony
what is reciprocity in care-giver infant interactions
the infant and caregiver both take turns in an interaction, so they respond to each others actions
what is interactional synchrony
when caregiver and infants perform similar actions in time with each other
what did isabella find about attachment
isabella et al showed that there is a positive correlation between interactional synchrony and the strength of the attachment bond
evaluation for Isabella’s study
- A strength of these studies is that the method enables researchers to collect highly detailed, reliable observations
- limitation-observations may suffer observer bias
- limitation- they are correlational studies, making it hard to infer a cause and effect
sensitive responsiveness
Sensitive responsiveness refers to how sensitive a caregiver is to their baby’s needs. Caregivers who have a high degree of sensitive responsiveness are sensitive to the baby’s needs, and respond quickly when the baby tries to interact with them.
what are the two theories of attachment
the learning theory of attachment
Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment
what does the learning theory of attachment say about infant-caregiver attachments
attachments are learned through the experience of being fed by caregiver.
The reason babies form attachment to their caregiver is because their caregiver feeds them
what are the two types of conditioning
classical conditioning is when neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus through repeated association with an unconditioned stimulus.
operant conditioning is when we learn to associate our actions with an outcome
the role of classical conditioning and attachment
- At first food is an unconditioned stimulus and caregivers are a neutral stimulus.
- over repeated experience of being fed by their caregiver, babies learn to associate their caregivers with food
- As a result, caregiver becomes a conditioned stimulus, and babies develop a happy conditioned response to their caregiver
how can behaviours be reinforced
positive reinforcement-we learn to repeat a behaviour to get a rewarding result
negative reinforcement- we learn to repeat a behaviour to avoid an unrewarding outcome
the role of operant conditioning and attachment
Babies learn to associate the action of staying close to their caregiver with the outcome of getting food. Since this outcome is rewarding, babies repeat the action of staying close to their caregivers. so, the action of staying to the caregiver has been reinforced through positive reinforcement
why do babies learn to stay near their caregiver
to avoid unpleasant feeling of being hungry. so, the action of staying close to the caregiver has been reinforced through negative reinforcement
How does operant conditioning contribute for forming an attachment
the action of staying near the caregiver is reinforced through positive reinforcement, by babies learning that they get food when they are near their caregiver
the action of staying near the caregiver is reinforced through negative reinforcement, by babies learning they can reduce hunger by staying near to caregiver
what type of study was Harlow’s experiment
a laboratory experiment an the monkeys where divided into two groups of four.
what was the independent variable of Harlow’s study
the amount of time the babies spent with each mother
what was the dependent variable of Harlow’s study
the type of mother that provided milk
what was the results of Harlow’s study
he found that babies always choose the towel mother regardless of whether she provided milk.
what could Harlow conclude
attachments in monkey’s are driven by comfort
what theory does Harlow’s study not support
the learning theory of attachment, instead suggesting that attachments are formed by comfort not food
what was the aim of Harlow’s study
to test the learning theory of attachment by investigating whether monkey’s chose comfort or food
procedure of Harlow’s study
- he separated 8 baby monkeys from their mother and provided them and provided the with a fake wire mother or a fake towel mother.
- for one group the wire mother provided milk and for the other group the towel monkey provided milk
- Harlow measured the amount of time the monkey’s spent with each mother
when was Harlow’s study conducted
1959
a strength of Harlow’s study
well controlled, because it was a laboratory experiment this means that Harlow could control all the extraneous variables- the amount of milk produced/living conditions
three limitations of Harlow’s study
- the two types of fake mothers had different experiences, which could act as a confounding variable
- the study was conducted on monkey’s not human babies, the results may lack generalisability and the results may not tell us how babies form attachments
- the study might be unethical, as monkey’s were put in a destressing situation that might cause psychological harm
what is the appearance of the moms head in Harlow’s study
confounding variable
what can an laboratory experiment help establish
a cause and effect relationship between the depended and independent variables
what can the extraneous variable help establish in Harlow’s study
a cause and effect relationship between the depended and independent variables
what does the learning theory suggest about attachments
LTA says that attachment are learned by experience through classical and operant conditioning and are driven by infant’s desire for food
what study suggests that the LTA is believable
strength of learning theory of attachment
Dollard and Miller as they suggest that babies get fed over 2,000 times in the first year by their caregiver this means that there is plenty of time to form association between food and their caregiver.
weaknesses of the LTA
- isn’t supported by Harlow’s monkey study
- isn’t supported by findings from metapelets in Israel
what happened when baby monkey’s where placed in a cage with only a wire monkey
baby monkeys showed signs of distress and stress
