Attachment - Bowlby and Ainsworth Flashcards
What is Bowlby’s evolutionary / monotropic theory?
attachments are formed due to both the mother and infant having innate drives to attach to each other caused by social releasers
these social releasers have evolved to be more effective
a baby forms a mental representation of the relationship formed which is used as a model for all later relationships
What are the 2 types of social releasers?
physical
behavioural
What are social releasers?
a set of innate features and behaviours in babies that encourage attention from adults
What are physical social releasers?
the typical ‘baby’ face - big eyes, small nose, small chin etc
What are behavioural social releasers?
behaviours that draw attention to themselves - crying, gripping, cooing etc
What is monotropy?
the idea that the relationship between an infant and primary caregiver is the most important relationship in development, but especially important for emotional development
What is the internal working model?
the mental representation an infant forms of their relationship with their primary caregiver
What is the continuity hypothesis?
individuals who are securely attached in infancy continue to be socially and emotionally competent and are more likely to have secure relationships as adults
What is the procedure for Ainsworth’s strange situation?
IV - series of structured situations in a specific order
DV - secure base behaviour, stranger anxiety
What are the 8 structured situations in Ainsworth’s strange situation?
- Mother + infant enter the room - mother sits and infant on the floor free to explore
- A stranger enters and talks to the mother
- Stranger attempts to engage with the infant
- Mother leaves the room, stranger attempts to comfort the baby (if upset) and play with them
- Mother returns and stranger leaves
- Mother leaves and infant is alone
- Stranger returns and attempts to comfort + play with infant
- Mother enters and stranger leaves
What were the conclusions from Ainsworth’s strange situation?
the 4 attachment types
What are the 4 attachment types?
Insecure-avoidant
Insecure-resistant
Disorganised
Secure
What is an insecure-avoidant attachment?
infant doesn’t seek proximity or show secure-base behaviour towards primary caregiver
little to no stranger or seperation anxiety
no comfort required at reunion
What is an insecure-resistant attachment?
seeks more proximity to caregiver/more secure-base behaviour and explores less
huge stranger + seperation anxiety
resists comfort during reunion
What is a secure attachment?
Infant explores happily but regularly shows secure-base behaviour
moderate stranger + seperation anxiety
requires comfort at reunion
What is a disorganised attachment?
Ainsworth added this later for infants she couldn’t fit into the other 3
orphans or infants with no attachments / no constant attachment figure
What type of relationship would an insecure-avoidant infant have with the primary caregiver?
neglect from parents
What type of relationship would an insecure-resistant infant have with their parents?
too much attention, overbearing parents
What issues could insecurely attached infants face later in life?
insecure-avoidant: depression, no friends
insecure-resistant: anxiety, more likely to be clingy
What are some strengths from Ainsworth’s strange situation?
inter-rater reliability - all observers had 94% correlation in scores
What are some weaknesses of Ainsworth’s strange situation?
sample bias - all middle class, from the same state in america
parents knew they were being watched - social desirability bias
infants in unfamiliar setting - mundane realism
4th attachment type only added later because Ainsworth realised the first 3 didn’t describe all infants
experiment done in 1970s, role of mother changes - historical validity
What is an individualist culture?
a culture that emphasises independence and individuality at the expense of group goals
more likely to produce insecure-resistant infants
What is a collectivist culture?
a culture that emphasises cooperation and group goals at the expense of individuality
more likely to produce insecure-avoidant infants
What is an example of a meta-analysis done on cultural variations in attachment?
meta analysis of 32 strange situation replications
looked for interculture and intracultural differences
secure always the most common
insecure-avoidant more common in collectivist
insecure-resistent more common in individualist
