Attachment Flashcards
Attachment
Close two way emotional bond between two individuals in which each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security
Animal studies
In psychology these are studies carried out on non human animal species rather than human, either for ethical or practical reasons, practical as animals breed faster and researchers interested in seeing results across more than one generation of animals
Learning theory
A set of theories from the behaviourist approach to psychology that emphasises the role of learning in the acquisition of behaviour. Explanations for learning of behaviour include classical and operant conditioning
Monotropic
Term sometimes used to describe bowlby theory indicating that one particular attachment is different from all the other and central importance to child development
Critical period
Time with which attachment must form if it is to form at all
Internal working model
Our mental representation of the world, such as representation we have of out relationship to our primary attachment figure which affects are future relationships as it carries are perspective of relationships should be like
What did Lorenz research allow others to understand better
To understand infant caregiver attachment better
When did Lorenz first observe imprinting
When his neighbour gave him a newly hatched duckling and it followed him around
What was Lorenz procedure with the goose
Set up a classic experiment where he randomly divided a large clutch of goose eggs, half the eggs were hatched with the mother goose in natural environment and half were hatched in a incubator with Lorenz
What was Lorenz findings
Incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere but control group followed the mum everywhere, when the groups mixed together, experimental group still followed Lorenz everywhere, called imprinting where bird species that are mobile at birth follow the first moving thing they see and Lorenz identified a critical period when this must happen, depending on species it is only a few hours after hatching and if imprinting doesn’t happen chicks didn’t attach to a mother figure
What was the second thing Lorenz investigated
Relation between imprinting and adult mate preferences
What case study did Lorenz describe
A peacock that’s as born in a reptile house and it’s first moving object was a giant tortoise and as an adult the same peacock only showed courtship behaviour to giant tortoises, so Lorenz concluded that the peacock had undergone sexual imprinting
Why was Harlows research important
As he used monkeys which are similar to humans and would show similar attachment results
What did harlows research find about the importance of contact comfort
New borns in a cage alone often died, but they survived if they had something to cuddle like a cloth or blanket
What was Harlows procedure
Tested the idea that soft objects served some of the mothers function, he had 16 monkeys and observed their behaviour with a wired monkey dispensing milk and a cloth covered monkey which wasn’t dispensing milk (they acted as mothers) and tested moneys response when they were scared by adding a noisy mechanical teddy
What were Harlows findings
Baby monkey cuddled cloth monkey and sought comfort from it when it was scared regardless of which mother dispensed the milk, showing contact comfort is more important to baby monkeys than food in attachment behaviour
How long did Harlow follow the monkeys for
To adulthood
What did Harlow find about the long lasting effect of maternal deprivation
Monkey with plan wire was most dysfunctional but even ones with the cloth mother didn’t develop normal social behaviour, the monkeys were more aggressive, less social and bread less as they were unskilled at mating and when they were mothers they neglected and attacked and in some cases killed their children
What did Harlow conclude that the critical period for attachment to form normal development was
90days and after this attachment was impossible and damage of early deprivation was irreversible
What is a strength of Lorenz research
Existence if support of imprinting as Regolin and Vallotigara exposed chicks to simple shape combinations that moved (triangle w rectangle) then a range of different shape combo were added but they followed the first one most closely which supports Lorenz view that animals have innate mechanism to imprint on moving object in critical period
What is a limitation of Lorenz research
Birds are very different to humans and mammal attachment is more complex than birds for example it is a two way process, and Lorenz ideas can’t be generalised to humans but some kind of imprinting explains some human behaviour
What is a strength of Harlow research
Important to real world application as it can help social workers understand that lack of bonding may be a risk factor in child development and it can help prevent poor outcomes according to Howe, also it helps understand importance of attachment in monkeys at zoos and in wild breeding programmes, so Harlows research is theoretical and practical
What is a limitation of Harlow research
It cannot necessarily be generalised to humans, monkeys more similar to humans than birds but human brain is still more complex and it isn’t appropriate to generalise Harlows findings
Ethical issue with Harlows research
Baby monkey had long term and severe distress but Harlow research was practical
Who said caregiver infant interaction can be explained by learning theory
Dollard and Miller
What approach emphasises the importance that caregiver provides food
Cupboard love.
What is cupboard love
Children learn to love whoever feeds them
What is classical conditioning and an example
Learning to associate 2 stimuli together so we respond to both in the same way we respond to one, e.g. food is an unconditional stimulus as it gives us pleasure but we don’t learn it and so we give an unconditional response
What stimulus does a caregiver start as and then what happens in classical conditioning
Caregiver starts as a neutral stimulus as gets no response from the baby but over time the caregiver feeds the baby and then the baby associates the caregiver with food, so neutral stimulus becomes a conditional stimulus as sight of the caregiver provides a conditional response
What is the conditional response the baby would give to the sight of their caregiver
Love and so attachment forms to their caregiver
Which psychologist believed in classical conditioning
Pavlov
What is operant conditioning
Learning from consequences of behaviour, if behaviour gives pleasant response it will be repeated again
In operant conditioning what is behaviour said to be
Reinforced so if behaviour gives an unpleasant response/ punishment it won’t be repeated
What is an example of a behaviour which provides a pleasant response in operant conditioning
When baby cries for comfort, important behaviour in building attachment and crying gives a response from caregiver such as feeding
What happens in operant conditioning if the caregiver provides the right response
Behaviour is reinforced and baby will in future cry to seek comfort and the caregiver will respond with comforting ‘social suppressing’ behaviour
Why is reinforcement a two way process
When a babies cry is reinforced, caregiver gets negative reinforcement as crying stops because the caregiver escapes from something unpleasant so it is reinforced and this mural reinforcement strengthens attachment
As well as conditioning what else does learning theory draw the concept of
Drive reduction
What kind of drive is hunger and why
A primary drive as it is innate and a biological motivator as we are motivated to eat in order to reduce the hunger drive
What did Sears et al suggest in learning theory
As caregiver provides food, primary drive of hunger becomes generalised to them so attachment is a secondary drive learned by association between caregiver and satisfaction of a primary drive
Who believed in operant conditioning
Skinner
What is a limitation of learning theory explanations for attachment
The lack of support from other animal studies
Which animal studies contradict the idea of learning theory and why
Lorenz geese imprinted on first moving object regardless of its association with food and Harlows monkeys preferred cloth mother than the mother providing food
What does the limitation of learning theory due to lack of support from other animal studies show
Shows factors other than association with food are important in attachment formation
What is another limitation of learning theory explanations
The lack of support from studies of human babies
Which psychologist conducted studies in human babies which contradict learning theory
Schaffer and Emerson found babies tend to form attachment to their mother regardless of who feeds them and Isabella et al found high levels of interactional synchrony predicted the quality of attachment not food
What does the lack of support from other studies on human babies show about learning theory
Suggests that food is not the main factor in attachment formation in humans
What is a strength of learning theory
Elements of conditioning could be involved in some aspects of attachment, although unlikely that association to food plays the central role in attachment, it may still have a role
What is an example of a babies behaviour which isn’t to do with food
Baby may associate feeling warm and comfortable with the presence of a particular adult and it may influence babies choice of primary caregiver
What may learning theory still be useful in
Understanding development of attachments
What is the counterpoint of the strength that learning theory could be involved in some aspects of attachment and who said that
Both classical and operant conditioning explanations see baby playing passive roles in attachment development, simply responding to associations with comfort and reward but Feldman and Eildelman showed babies take an active role in interactions to produce attachment so conditioning may not be an adequate explanation of any aspect of attachment
What did Hay and Vespo suggest about learning theory
Parents teach their children to love them by demonstrating attachment behaviours like hugging, parents also reinforce loving behaviour by showing approval to their babies show attachment behaviour such as cuddles to their parents
Why does social learning perspective have more advantages than learning theory
It is based around two way interactions so it fits better with research into reciprocity
What theory did Bowlby reject and what did he look at instead
Rejected learning theory and looked at Lorenz and Harlow work for an evolutionary explanation
What did Bowlby believe
Attachment was an innate system that gives survival advantages, so attachment evolved as a mechanism to keep young animals safe to ensure they stay close to their adult caregiver
What does Bowlby theory mainly described as
Monotropy as he emphasised child’s attachment to one particular caregiver and he believed child’s attachment to one particular caregiver is different and more important
What did Bowlby say about monotropy
He said the more time a child spends with their primary caregiver the better
What two principles did Bowlby use to clarify monotropy
Law of continuity-more constant and predictable child care, the better quality their attachment is & law of accumulated separation-effects of every separation from primary caregiver add up (safest dose it 0)
What did Bowlby say babies were born with and why
A set of cute innate behaviour like smiling and gripping to attract mothers attention know as social releases
What is the purpose of social releasers and what did this tell Bowlby about attachment
To activate adult social interaction to make adult attached to the baby and Bowlby reconsider attachment was reciprocal as both mum and baby are hard wired to form attachments
What gradually builds a relation between caregiver and infant and when does this begin
Interplay between adult and child attachment systems gradually builds a relation between them and can begin in early weeks of life, known as critical period around 6months when baby’s attachment system is active
What did Bowlby call the critical period and why
Sensitive period between 6month and 2years and if attachment isn’t formed in this period the baby will find it hard to make one in later life
What was the final thing Bowlby proposed about attachment
Child forms mental representation of their relationship with their primary attachment figure called internal working model as it sets model for what relations should be like
What will a child believe if their first relation was reliable and loving
They will expect future relationships to be like that and they will also bring these qualities to a relation
What will children treated poorly in their first relation expect of later ones
They will treat people poorly and expect the same in return
What does internal working model also process the effect of
Effects child’s ability to parent themselves as people base their parenting on their own experience which explains why children from functioning families tend to have similar families themselves
What is a limitation of Bowlby theory
Concept of monotropy lacks validity, Schaffer and Emerson found although most babies form one attachment first, some form multiple at the same time
Why is monotropy not valid
First attachment has a strong influence in later behaviour, but other attachments to family members provide all the same key qualities like support and safety
What does lack of validity of monotropy mean for Bowlby theory
He may be incorrect that there is a unique quality and importance to child’s primary attachment
What is a strength of Bowlby research
Supporting evidence of the role of social releasers as their is strong evidence showing babies cute behaviours are designed to elicit caregiver interactions
What study showed supporting evidence for social releasers and what does this indicate
Brazelton et al observed babies trigger interaction with adults using social releasers, babies who were shown to be normally responsive became more distressed and some curled up motionless when the caregiver didn’t respond to their releases, illustrating role of social releasers in emotional development and suggest they are important in attachment development
What is another strength of Bowlby theory
Support for internal working model as Bailey et al assessed attachment relations in 99mums and their babies, researchers measured mothers attachment to their primary attachment figure and found mothers with poor attachment to their parent, were more likely to have poor attachment to their baby
How does Bailey et al research support that of Bowlby
Supports idea that mothers ability to form attachments to their baby is due to internal working model and that it comes from their own early attachment experiences
What is a counter point to internal working model
Some psychologist believe genetic differences in anxiety and sociability effect social behaviour in babies and adults which could impact their parenting - Korienko. Means that Bowlby may have overstated importance if internal working model in social behaviour and parenting at the expense of other factors
What was the stranger situation
Developed by Mary Ainsworth with aim to observe key attachment behaviours as a means of assessing the quality of a baby’s attachment to their caregiver
What observation is stranger situation
A controlled observation procedure designed to measure the security of attachment a baby shows towards their caregiver
Where did stranger situation take place
In a room with controlled conditions (lab) with a 2way mirror and cameras through which psychologist can observe the babies behaviour
What were the 5 behaviours being observed in stranger situation
Proximity seeking. Exploration and secure base behaviour. Stranger anxiety. Separation anxiety. Response to reunion.
What is proximity seeking
Baby with good quality attachment will stay fairly close to their caregiver
Exploration and secure base behaviour
Good attachment enables baby to feel confident to explore using caregiver as a secure base
What is Stranger anxiety
A sign of close attachment is anxiety when a stranger approaches
What is separation anxiety
Sign of close attachment is to protest when separated from attachment figure
What is response to reunion
Babies who are securely attached greet caregivers return with pleasure and seek comfort
