attachment Flashcards
what is reciprocity (caregiver-infant interactions)?
-mothers respond to infant alertness (from 3 months close attention between mother and infant).
what is interactional synchrony?
- interactions become coordinated.
- isabella: quality of attachment related to synchrony.
evaluate caregiver-infant interactions (studies).
- hard to know what is happening = simple gestures and expressions have to be assumed.
- controlled observations = captures fine details of the interactions
- purpose of synchrony and reciprocity = Feldman: just observations, the purpose is not entirely understood.
what is the role of the father?
-Grossman = attachments to fathers less important but fathers may have a different role i.e. play and stimulation.
what is the typical parent-infant attachment?
-traditionally mother-infant, (other attachments figures like fathers may be important).
how can the fathers be primary caregivers?
-Field: fathers as primary caregivers adopt attachment behaviour more typical of mothers.
evaluate attachment figures.
- inconsistent findings = different research questions - the overall picture is unclear.
- children without fathers aren’t different = suggests father role isn’t important
- fathers aren’t primary attachment figures = may be due to traditional gender roles or biological differences.
what are the aims, methods and findings of Schaffer and Emerson’s attachment study (stages of attachment).
- aims: investigate the age of attachment formation and who attachments are formed with.
- method: mothers of 60 from Glasgow reported monthly on separation anxiety.
- findings: most babies showed attachment to a primary caregiver by 32 weeks and showed multiple attachments soon after this.
evaluate Schaffer and Emerson’s study.
- good external validity = observations were in participants’ natural environment.
- longitudinal design = same participants observed at each age, eliminating individual differences.
- limited generalisability = all families were from the same area and was over 50 years ago meaning there’s a lack of generalisability.
what are the four stages of attachment?
- asocial stage (little observable social behaviour)
- indiscriminate attachment (accepts cuddles of anyone, more observable).
- specific attachment (stranger and separation anxiety in regards to strangers).
- multiple attachments (attach. behaviours directed towards more than one adult (secondary).
evaluate the four stages of attachment.
- asocial stage = hard to observe, so doesn’t mean they are asocial.
- conflicting evidence = van Ijzendoom: research in different contexts found multiple attachments may appear first.
- measuring multiple attachments = protesting children at adult departure doesn’t equal attachments.
what is the procedure, the findings and the conclusion of Lorenz’s animal research?
- procedure = Goslings saw Lorenz when they hatched.
- findings = newly hatched chicks attach to the first moving object they see (imprinting).
- sexual imprinting = adult birds try to mate with whatever object they imprint on.
evaluate Lorenz’s animal research.
- generalisability = birds and mammals have different attachment systems, which may not be relevant to humans.
- questionable observations = Guiton: birds imprinting on rubber gloves later preferred their own species.
what are the procedures, findings, and conclusions of Harlow’s animal research?
- procedure = baby monkey’s given cloth or wire “mother” with feeding bottle attached.
- findings = monkeys clung to cloth surrogate rather than wire one, regardless of which dispensed milk.
- maternally deprived = monkeys grew up socially dysfunctional.
- critical period = after 90 days, attachments would not form.
evaluate Harlow’s animal research.
- monkeys similar genetic makeup to humans, however not completely the same
- theoretical value = demonstrated that attachment depends more on contact comfort than feeding.
- practical value = Howe: informal understanding of risk factors in child abuse.
- ethical issues = suffering of the monkeys would be human-like.
what is classical conditioning?
- caregiver (neutral stimulus) associated with food (unconditioned stimulus) which provokes an unconditioned response.
- caregiver becomes a conditioned stimulus provoking a conditioned response.
what is operant conditioning?
crying behaviour reinforced positively for the infant (receives comfort) and negatively for the caregiver (has to provide comfort).
how can attachment be a secondary drive?
through association with hunger.
evaluate learning theory (classical conditioning and operant conditioning).
- animal studies = Lorenz and Harlow showed that feeding is not the key to attachment.
- human research = Schaffer and Emerson: most primary attachment figures were the mother, even if another carer did the feeding.
- ignores other factors = cannot account for the importance of sensitivity and interactional synchrony.
what is monotropy (Bowlby’s theory)?
-one particular attachment is different in quality and importance than others.
what are social releasers and the critical period (Bowlby)?
-innate cute behaviours in the first two years.
what is the internal working model? (Bowlby)
mental representations of the primary attachment relationship are templates for future relationships.
evaluate Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment.
-mixed evidence = some babies formed multiple attachments without a primary attachment.
Suess: other attachments may contribute as much as primary ones.
-support for social releasers = Brazelton: when social releasers were ignored, babies became upset.
-support for internal working model = Bailey: quality of attachment is passed through generations in families.
what are the procedures of Ainsworth’s strange situation?
-procedure = 7 stages controlled observation, assessed proximity seeking, exploration, secure base, stranger and separation anxiety and response to a reunion.
