Attachment (P1) Flashcards
Caregiver-infant interactions (AO1)
Attachment - strong, enduring and emotional bond between 2 people (infant and caregiver)
Reciprocity - caregiver- infant interaction is a two way mutual process (turn-taking)
Interactional synchrony - caregiver and baby reflect actions and emotions of the other
Research:
Meltzoff and moore observed interactional synchrony in babies and found expressions to mirror the adult more than predicted
Isabella et al assessed 30 mother and babies degree of synchrony and found higher degrees with better quality mother-baby attachment
Tronick had mothers interact as normal and then look away and look back with a still face - resulted in babies distress from lack of interaction - suggest baby is an active partner in communication
Care-giver interactions (AO3)
P: Findings are socially sensitive
E: Isabella’s research suggests mothers should stay at home as being at work means less opportunities for interactional synchrony meaning they may feel as though they don’t have a strong attachment
T: causes distress to parents who must work to financially survive
P: difficult to interpret infants behaviour
E: we can only observe the babies actions and cannot be sure why they are doing them - is the baby doing it on purpose or not?
T: limits the explanatory power of the research as it only describes
P: controlled observations used recordings - small details aren’t missed
E: no detail is lost and can be later analysed
T: high validity and can be watched by other observers to check for inter rater reliability
P: practical issues
E: infants require round the clock care which means interruptions may occur
T: limits the amount of data collected
P: caregivers are aware they are being observed
E: demand characteristics may occur
T: reduces validity - do not reflect reality
Role of the father (AO1)
Schaffer and Emerson - 75% of infants had formed an attachment with the father at 18 months during multiple attachment stage - not as significant as not the primary caregiver
Bowlby - father is more likely to engage in physical activity and novel play (play companion) than mother - significant in a different way
MacCallum - found children in single parent households do not develop differently from those in more conventional families - not significant as those without a father show no difference
Role of the father (AO3)
P: Society may play a role in shaping the role of the father
E: traditionally - fathers were the breadwinners and mothers were the carer, Now - normal for males to adopt nurturing role
T: research such as Bowlby may be outdated
P: Evolution may determine role of the father
E: females have more opportunities to produce oxytocin due to breastfeeding and childbirth allowing them to naturally bond with baby
T: suggests role of the father is fixed
C: interactionist approach may be better as evolution may not be relevant anymore but instead the environment
P: Researcher bias
E: preconceptions about how the father does not have a nurturing role may cause observers to report this regardless
T: research lacks internal validity
P: real world application
E: parenting advice from fields research showing males can be the primary caregiver if needed - flexibility of role of the father
T: reduced parenting anxiety and workload can be shared
Schaffers stages of attachment (AO1)
Separation anxiety - upset when caregiver leaves
Stranger anxiety - upset when with a stranger
Research:
Glasgow baby study - researchers visited 60 glaswegian mothers and babies in their homes once a month for a year and a final time at 18 months - identified 4 distinct stages in development of infant attachment behaviour
Asocial - first few weeks - similar behaviour between humans and objects
Indiscriminate - 2 to 7 months - prefer familiar people but accept comfort from any adult
Specific - 7 months + - primary attachment to one individual and shows both anxieties
Multiple - 1 year - form secondary attachments with familiar adults
Schaffer stages of attachment (AO3)
Research:
P: low population validity
E: only used babies from working class backgrounds in Glasgow, but research shows child rearing responsibilities vary such as multiple attachments being the norm in collectivist cultures
T: cannot generalise
P: observed in natural environment
E: authentic behaviour
T: high ecological validity
Stages:
P: real world application
E: day care - early stages of attachment they can be comforted by an adult but if they start daycare later, care from unfamiliar adults may cause distress
T: helps parents make decisions about daycare
P: issue with studying babies
E: asocial stage - babies are immobile and poor coordination so it is hard to know the intentions of their actions
T: means they may actually be quite social but they just do not have the ability to show it, appearing asocial, undermining the validity of asocial stage
P: culture bias
E: in collectivist cultures some babies form multiple attachments in the first few months due to being cared for by other family members which isn’t reflected by schaffer and emerson
T: not universal
Animal studies of attachment (AO1)
Imprinting - an innate readiness to develop a strong bond with mother which takes place at a specific time in development
Critical period - the time which imprinting must occur in order do avoid irreversible consequences (hours after birth)
Sexual imprinting - animals show courtship behaviour towards whatever species they imprint on
Research:
Lorenz - gosling eggs left with natural mother or separated in an incubator, who followed lorenz (first thing they saw) and after the two groups were placed together.
Found incubator group followed lorenz and normal group followed mother goose. Incubator group also showed no recognition toward mother and found a critical period.
Harlow - 2 wire mothers, (one with cloth and other with food dispenser) and investigated the time each monkey spent with each mother.
Found all 8 monkeys spent most time with cloth mother and only spent a short time with the wire mother to get food. Also found when frightened they clung to cloth mother suggesting they go to whoever provides contact comfort.
Motherless monkeys were socially abnormal and neglected their young and found critical period of 3 months.
Animal studies of attachment (AO3)
P: cant extrapolate findings from bird studies and apply to humans
E: humans are more complex and show more emotional attachment to young than birds and can still form attachments at most ages
T: we cannot generalise the findings to humans as we cannot be sure they apply
P: ethical issues
E: the monkeys suffered as they were purposely frightened and had consequences that lasted beyond the immediate research, some even killed their own offspring
T: gives psychology a negative perception
P: cofounding variables
E: the two wire mothers differed in more ways than one as their heads were also different meaning the monkeys may have just preferred the ‘better looking’ one
T: cause and affect cannot be established
Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment
Adaptive - forming an attachment helps ensure survival of the child (bowlby suggested attachment occurs after 3 months however evolution suggests it should be immediate)
Social releasers - innate infant behaviours that encourage a nurturing response from adult (isabella et al - synchrony)
Critical period - birth to 2.5 years and if not then they will be damaged socially (lorenz)
Monotropy - infants form one very special and intense attachment with mother (schaffer - multiple attachments)
Internal working model - first attachment provides a template for future relationship expectations
Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment (AO3)
P: too much emphasis on monotropy
E: Thomas suggests it may be more beneficial having multiple attachments to support infants with social and emotional needs
T: decreases validity of key assumption that monotropy is adaptive
P: socially sensitive
E: places pressure on primary attachment figure to form a loving nurturing attachment otherwise their life may be negatively affected
T: may have consequences of mothers not returning to work
F: economic impact as more maternity leave payouts and decreased worker productivity
Learning theory of attachment (AO1)
Classical conditioning - learning through association
UCS (food) - UCR (pleasure)
UCS (food) + NS (mother) - UCR (pleasure)
CS (mother) - CR (pleasure)
Operant conditioning - learning through consequence
- positive reinforcement (crying and being fed)
- negative reinforcement
Learning theory of attachment (AO3)
P: environmentally deterministic
E: whoever feeds us is who we become attached to
T: ignored freewill, reducing validity
P: reductionist
E: reduces attachment down to simple associations with food and responses to crying
T: too simplistic, need holistic approach
The strange situation (AO1)
- Observation of 3 minute episodes consisting of a stranger entering the controlled room, the mother leaving and then returning
- 100 middle class Americans
- Separation anxiety - distress when separated from caregiver
- Stranger anxiety - distress when in presence of unfamiliar adults
- Reunion behavior - how the child reacts when united with caregiver
- Willingness to explore - whether a child feels free to explore using caregiver as a secure base
1: the child is encouraged to explore
2: a stranger enters and tries to interact
3: caregiver leaves stranger and child together
4: caregiver returns and stranger leaves
5: caregiver leaves child alone
6: stranger returns
7: caregiver returns, reunited with child
The strange situation (AO3)
P: Culture bias
E: created and tested in America so only reflect individualistic cultures whereas in collectivist cultures like Japan the child is rarely separated from the mother
T: not universal as only apply to western cultures
P: Controlled conditions
E: lab experiment using specific time frames for when the mother leaves and returns, and used same toys and layout for all
T: high validity and reliability
C: low ecological validity - artificial environment
P: 4th attachment type unaccounted for
E: disorganised attachment - mis of avoidant and resistant behaviours
T: lowers credibility of Ainsworth’s theory as it is incomplete
P: high predictive validity
E: children securely attached have best later outcomes such as more success in education or relationships, but children who are insecure-resistant have worst later outcomes such as more likely to be bullied or have adult mental health problems
T: increases predictive validity
