Attachment study pack Flashcards
Caregiver infant interactions
Observational research
- 1977
- adult model displays are of three facial expressions and hand gestures
- dummy placed in mouth when gestuire displayed to prevent response
- dummy removed and childs expression filmed
- infant copied
- shown to an observer to judge behaviour, they did not know the behaviour that was being imitated
- all scores greater than 9.2
1983
- repeated with 3 day old babies this ruled out the idea that imitation learned
Reciprocity
research in the 1970s showed that infants co-ordinate actions with caregivers for example they move in rhythm like in conversation
- Brazelton (1979) - the rhythm is important as it enables the carrier to anticipate behaviour and respond this builds up attachment
interactional synchrony
- this is a different kind of interaction between infants and caregivers called interactional synchrony, Meltzoff and Moore conducted the first study of interactional synchrony
- and found that infatns as yound as two to 3 weeks old imitated specific facial and hand gestures
- later did the same study but did it with 3 day olds and the fact that infants as young as this were displaying the same behaviour ruled out the possibility that the imitation behaviours are learned
real or pseudo-imitation
Meltzoff and Moore thought that the imitation was intentional whereas John Piaget believed that the response was training
- training - infant repeats behaviour that was rewarded (with a smile) therefore operant conditioning and pseudo - imitation
- intentional - Murry and Trevarthen - they used 2 month olds which interacted with there mother on a webcam in real time then in not real time, when the mother did not interact and respond the baby became distressed this proved that they were an active part in the relationship
The development of attachment spread
stage 1 - the asocial stage
the asocial stage
- birth - 2 months
- similar response to all objects
- starts to show preference towards social stimuli e.g a smile
- interactional synchrony and reciprocity plays a role in establishing infants relationship
stage 2 - indiscriminate attachment
indiscriminate attachment
- 2 - 7 months
- more social and prefer human contact
- can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people
- no stranger anxiety and comforted by anyone
stage 3 - specific attachment specific attachment - 7 moths - separation anxiety - primary attachment figure - formed with the person who not spends the most time with them but responds to their needs the best - stranger anxiety
stage 4 - multiple attachments
multiple attachment
- soon after primary attachment
- forms multiple attachments these are called secondary attachments
- can show separation anxiety towards these attachments
Animal studies
Lorenz Research
- took some gosling eggs and divided them into 2 groups
- one group with natural mother other in incubator
- when the incubator eggs hatched the first moving object they saw was Lorenz
- to test the imprinting Lorenz marked the chicks then mixed them up
- Goslings divided themselves up
- incubator chicks flowed Lorenz
- imprinting restricted to definite period of time called the critical period
- some animals do not imprint on humans
- irreversible
- long lasting
- preference on later mate, they chose to mate with object on which they imprinted
Harlow’s Research
- created 2 wire mothers with different heads
- one mother was wrapped in cloth
- 8 monkeys studied for 165 days
- 4 monkeys had milk bottle on cloth mother and the other 4 on wire mother
- measurements made to how long spent with each and responses made when frightened
- all 8 spent most time with cloth mother even when it did not have the feeding bottle
- those who fed on wire only spent small amount of time there
- when frightened they clung to cloth
- when playing with new toy they had one paw on cloth mother
- they were socially and sexually abnormal when older and did not play with other monkeys or cradle their offspring
- after 3 months they could recover but after 6 months they could not
- critical period
Learning theory of attachment
Classical conditioning
begins with an innate stimulus response in this case it is food, this provided the innate which is pleasure
1. the food is the UCS (unconditioned stimulus) and the pleasure is the UCR (unconditioned response)
2. during the infants first weeks it learns things that associate with the UCS for example who feed them this becomes the neutral stimuli (NS)
3. if the NS is consistently associated with the UCS then it will take on its own properties and produce the same response as the UCS
4. therefore the NS becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) and provides a conditioned response (CR)
Operant conditioning
- caused by operant conditioning and drive reduction theory
1. a drive motivates a behaviour for example decreasing discomfort e.g. feeling hungry
2. the infant is fed and this discomfort is decreased causing pleasure and reward this is a positive reinforcement
3. the food is the primary reinforce
4. person supplying the food is therefore the secondary reinforce
Social learning theory
children observe parents attachment behaviours and mirror this, if they behave appropriately they are rewarded
Bowlbys monotropic attachment theory
Why attachment forms
It forms as a survival feature, an infant who is not attached is less well protected than an infant who is attached
- attachment is formed in two directions, the caregiver has to also be attached to the infant
How attachment forms
- Infants have a critical period in which they have an innate drive to become attached - this is usually 3-6 months after this time it becomes very hard to form an attachment
- Attachment is determined by sensitivity - infants become more attracted to the mothers who are more responsive
- Social releasers - behaviour that elicits caregiving and forms an attachment
- Monotropy- infants having one special emotional bond, all secondary attachments act as safety nets
The consequences of attachment
Internal working model
- in short term gives the child an insight into the caregivers behaviour and allows the child to influence behaviour and form a relationship
- long term its a template for all future relationships as it generates expectations about what innate relationships our about
Continuity hypothesis
- individuals who are strongly attached are more socially and emotionally contempt when older
Strange situation
Procedure
the aim was to see how infants behaved under conditions of mild stress and novelty
- research room was a 9x9 foot space marked off into 16 squares to record the infants movement, designed by using 8 episodes to highlight certain behaviours
1. separation from caregiver
2. reunion with caregiver
3. response to a stranger
4. the novel environment which aims to encourage exploration and test the secure base concept
5. the data is collected by a group of observers using a video recorder or a two way mirror they would record every 15 seconds then use behavioural categories scaling them 1-7
findings combined data from 106 different studies using middle class families, they noted the similarities and differences and found different attachment types
Secure attachment Type B
- calm interaction with the caregiver
- wont cry if caregiver leaves the room
- cry if left with a stranger
- soothed by bodily contact
- uses caregiver as a secure base to function independently
- seek and are comfortable with social interaction
insecure avoidant type A
- avoid social interaction intimacy
- show little response to separation
- do not seek proximity when reunited
- show no tendency to cling or resist to be put down
- high level of anxiousness
- happy to explore without caregiver
Insecure resistant type c
- seek and resist intimacy and social interaction
- respond to separation immediately and with intense distress
- act similarly towards strangers
- display conflicting desires for contact on reunion
Cultural variations in attachment
Van IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg
Aim: if inter-cultural differences existed (differences between different cultures and countries)
if there were intra-cultural differences (differences in findings within the same culture
Procedure: Conducted a meta-anaylsis of the findings from 32 studies of attachment behaviour they examined over 2,000 strange situations classifications in 8 different countries.
Findings: differences were small - secure attachment was the most common then insecure avoidant was the second except in Israel and Japan these were collectivist counties
- secure attachment was the best for social and emotional development as well as innate and biological processes
Cultural Similarities
- - Tronicket et al supported all the findings - studied African tribe, the eje they lived in extended family groups infant were looked after and breast feed by different women, but they slept with there own mother therefore they still only had one primary attachment
Cultural differences
- -Grossman and Grossman - found infants in Germany which were classed as being insecurely attached rather than securely this might be due to different child rearing practices in German culture which involved more interpersonal distance between parents and children
- Takakshi - 60 middle class Japanese infants found similar rates of secure attachment found by Ainsworth no evidence of insecure-avoidant attachment by high rates of insecure resistant attachment - they were distressed by being left alone so much of the studies were stopped - Japense infants were rarely separated from their mothers so developed a strong bond
Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation
Theory of maternal deprivation
The Value of maternal care
findings from Bowlby’s 44 thieves study as well as findings from Spitz and Wold and Skodal and Skeels shows that infants need a warm intimate and continually relationship with a mother to ensure normal mental health
Critical period
when a child is frequently separated it can become emotionally disrupted this will only occur if it happens before the age of 2.5 years, if there is no substitute mother, still at risk until the age of 5, if there is a substitute then this may not result in deprivation
Long term consequences
emotional maladjustment
mental health issues such as depression
Key study: 44 thieves
Procedure: analysed the case histories of a number of patients in the child guidance clinic in London all of the children were emotionally maladjusted
studied 88 children half of which had been caught stealing and the other half were a control group, Bowlby suggested that the thieves were affectionless psychopaths as they lacked normal signs of affection shame or sense of responsibility
Findings: The ones diagnosed as affectionless had experienced separation, 86% experienced frequent separation, compared with 17% of the other thieves, none of the control group had experienced separations whereas 39% of all thieves had
Romanian orphan studies: Effects of institutionalisation
Key studies: Rutter and Sonuga-Barke
Procedure: led a study on Romanian orphans since early 1990s called ERA, this study included orphans who spent time in an institution and therefore suffered from the effects of institutionalisation
of the group 111 were adopted before the age of 2 and 54 before the age of 4
the adopetes were tested at the ages of 4,6,11,15 to assess their physical cognitive and social development they also got information form teachers and parents
this information was compared with 52 children adopted in UK before the age of 6 months
Findings:
at the time of adoption the Romanian orphans lagged behind in everything - they were smaller,weighed less and some were categorised as mentally retarded
by the age of 4 some had caught up to the british adoptees but this mainly happened if they were adopted before the age of 6 months
beyond the age of 6 months significant deficits remained - they had disinhibited attachment, peer relationship problems
this showed that the long term consequences were less serve if the children had a chance to form an attachment (adopted before 6 months) but were more serve if they did not form an attachment
Other studies of Romanian Orphans
- Le Mare and Audet - 36 orphan studies to adopted families in Canada, the dependent variable was health and physical growth, by 4.5 years they were still smaller but by 10.5 they were the same size
- Zeanan et al - 136 Romanian children who spent 90% of lives in an institution and control group who had never been in one, 12-31 months and assessed by strange situation - disinhibited attachment shown in institutionalised orphans
Effects of institutionalisation
- physical underdevelopment - smaller, Gardner 1972 stated that lack of emotional care rather than poor nourishment is the cause of what has been called deprivation dwarfism
- intellectual under functioning - cognitive development is also effected by emotional deprivation
- disinhibited attachment - a form of insecure attachment, children do not discriminate between people and attachment figures - over friendly and attention seeking
- poor parenting - quiton et al - 50 women raised in an institution compared with 50 reared at home - institutionalised found it hard being at home
The influence of early attachment
The role of the internal working model
the infant learns about a relationship from experience, the infants learn what relationships are and how parent s behave in them, its an operable model of self attachment history, operable means it can predict behaviour in the future
Key study: Hazan and Shaver
Procedure:
placed a love quiz, in the rocky mountain news, the quiz asked questions about current attachment history experience to identify childhood attachment types they were then asked attitudes towards love this was the assessment of the current working model, analysed 620 responses 205 from men 415 from women from a cross-section of the population
Findings: found that prevalence of attachment types was similar of attachment styles
56% secure
25% avoidant
19% resistant
they also found a positive correlation between attachment types and love experiences, therefore they had a positive internal working model
- securely attached - happy and friendly trusting this lasted 10 years of average
- avoidant resistant - 5-6 years on average
Behaviours influenced by the internal working model
- Poor parenting - Harlow et al and Quinton et al - in some humans the lack of internal working model shows that individuals have difficulty forming relationships with their own children
- Childhood Friendships - Minnesota child parent study found evidence for continuity hypothesis, securely attached was higher rated in social compentence and less isolated this made them more popular and empathetic this is explained using the internal working model, they are more friendly so they make friendships easily
- Romantic relationships - Hazan and Shaver demonstrated link between relationships and attachment type
- Mental Health - lack of attachment during critical period would result in the lack of internal working model, children with no preferred attachment could not relate to others, this is evident before the age of 5 due to change of caregiver and extreme neglect, - attachment disorder
The role of the father
Primary attachment figure
Fathers less likely to be primary attachment figure as they spend less time with the infant
Lamb reported that studies have shown little relationship between father accessibility and infant father attachment
Possible that most men are not psychologically equipped to form an intense attachment because the lack the emotional sensitivity that women offer this may be due to biological or social factors
There is evidence that men are less sensitive to cues than mothers but Frodo et al showed videotapes of infants crying and found no differences in the physiological responses of men and women
Men do form secure attachments with there children as in the case of single parent male families and research found that in two parent families where the father is the primary caregiver both parents often share the role of the primary attachment figure
Secondary attachments
Fathers have important roles as secondary attachments figures
Research has highlighted that fathers are more playful and active and better at providing challenging situations for their children whereas mother are more conventional and tend to read stories to their children
It may be that a lack of sensitivity from fathers can be seen as positive because it fosters problem solving by making greater communicative and cognitive demands on children
