Attatchment

Question 1

Define attachment

Answer 1

Close two-way emotional bond between 2 individuals. They see the other as essential for their own emotional security

Question 2

Define reciprocity

Answer 2

Reciprocity is the exchange of interactions between two people
Eg. Caregiver smiles, infant smiles back

Question 3

Research about caregiver-infant interaction

Answer 3

Tronik - asked mothers enjoying a dialogue with their child to stop moving and maintain a static and emotionless expression. The baby would then try to tempt interaction by smiling and would become increasingly distressed when met with no response.
Metzoff and Moore - observed interaction at 2 weeks old. Adults displayed one of the distinctive expressions (eg. Mouth open, tongue out) or hand movements. An association was found between the expression of adult and action of baby showing it is not learned but innate.

Question 4

What is interactional synchrony

Answer 4

• Is engaged in this two-way pattern of interaction and is laying the foundations for an attachment to form.
• The interaction is rhythmic and can include infant and caregiver mirroring each other’s behaviour and emotion.
Eg. Caregiver and infant smile simultaneously

Question 5

Evaluate caregiver-infant interaction

Answer 5

+Babies don’t know or care that they’re being watched so no demand characteristics show meaning behaviour doesn’t change
-ambiguity of behaviour, difficult to establish meaning behind actions so could be deliberate or accidental

Question 6

Research for interactional synchrony

Answer 6

Isabella et al (1989) found that securely attached mother infant pairs had shown more instances of interactional synchrony in the first year of life suggesting that strong emotional attachments are associated with high levels of synchrony.

Question 7

Why might research into mother-infant interaction be considered unethical or socially sensitive

Answer 7

High levels of synchrony associated with better quality mother-infant interactions so suggest that the other returning to work mould consider her a bad mother or make her feel guilty for returning.

Question 8

What are the stages of attachment

Answer 8

Asocial stage (0-6 weeks) - similar response to objects and people

Indiscriminate attachments (6-8weeks) - preference for human company. Ability to distinguish between people and objects

Specific attachments (7months+) - infants show a preference for one caregiver, displaying separation and stranger anxiety. Looks to particular people for security, comfort and protection

Multiple attachments (10/11months+) - attachment behaviours are displayed towards several different people

Question 9

Infant attachment cycle

Answer 9

Baby has a need —> baby cries —> needs met by caregiver —> trust develops —> baby has a need

Question 10

Research into early infant attachment

Answer 10

Schaffer and Emerson - longitudinal study, observed 60 Glaswegian babies for 18 months mostly from skilled working class families. Babies were visited once a month for 1 year and then again at 18 months.

Researchers asked parents to observe their children in different circumstances and keep a diary of their observations and report back.

Found that between 25-32 weeks up to 50% of babies showed separation anxiety towards a particular adult. At 40 weeks nearly 30% had formed multiple attachments

Found that there was little relationship between the time spent together and attachment

Question 11

Evaluation of Schaffer and Emerson’s study

Answer 11

High external validly as it was a naturalist observation so can be generalised to real life settings

Poor sample so may not be representative or able to generalise to all

Question 12

Evaluate the stages of attachment

Answer 12

Difficulty gathering meaningful data from infants in the asocial stage as they are immobile and have little coordination. Studies have also shown babies to prefer the face/voice of their mother than of a stranger

Cultural variations- some cultures differ in ethos of raising a child. Van ijzendoorn’s meta analysis found that in some cultures, multiple attachments are the norm and are formed much earlier. Eg. Uganda, most infants are cared for by several adults and form multiple attachments very young

Question 13

Outline the role of the father in attachment

Answer 13

Mother tends to be more interactive and spend more time with their baby
Mothers are usually the primary attachment figure
Father generally have less interaction early on so rarely primary attachment
Mothers - 65% primary attachment figure
Fathers - 3% primary attachment figure

Question 14

Research for role of father

Answer 14

Schaffer found that the majority of babies became attached to their mother first at around 7 months and within a few weeks/months formed secondary attachments. Father - 3%, Mother - 65%

Grossman carried out a longitudinal study looking at parents behaviour and it’s relationship to the quality of children’s attachments into their teens
Quality of infant attachment with mothers was related to the quality of adolescent attachments suggesting that fathers attachment is less important
Quality of fathers play was related to the quality of adolescent attachments suggesting fathers have a different role, one that is more to do with play and stimulation than nurturing.

Question 15

Evaluation of role of the father

Answer 15

Poor temporal validity, society has changed/adapted to a point that gender stereotypes have been reduced/diminished
Evidence shows that fathers adopt behaviours more typical of mothers when taking on the role of primary caregiver
No biological reason as to why it can’t be the father

Question 16

Why are animal studies used

Answer 16

To look at the formation of early bonds between non-human parents and their offspring
Attachment behaviour is common to a range of species and so animal studies can help us understand attachment in humans

Question 17

Lorenz study

Answer 17

Took a large clutch of eggs and kept them until hatching
Half the eggs were placed with the goose mother in a natural environment and the other half with him in an unnatural environment
Found that once they hatched they followed the first moving object they saw between 13 - 16 hours.
Found that this was the critical period. This process is known as imprinting and suggests attachment is innate and genetically programmed

Question 18

imprinting

Answer 18

Has consequences for both short term survival and in the longer term forming internal templates for later relationships. Imprinting occurs without any feeding taking place
If the animal hasn’t seen a moving object within the critical period it won’t imprint
If no attachment is formed within 32 hours it is unlikely any attachment will ever develop
Imprinting is irreversible
Sexual imprinting- later mates are chosen bas upon the object they imprinted on

Question 19

Evaluation of lorenz animal study

Answer 19

Provided influential findings
Animals don’t develop conscious thoughts whereas humans do so can’t be applied
Lots of experiments taken place after showed the same results

Question 20

Harlows animal study

Answer 20

Aimed to show that attachment is not based on the feeding bond between mother and infant
16 monkeys were separated from their mothers immediately after birth and placed in cages with access to two surrogate mothers, one made of wire and one covered in soft cloth
8 of the monkeys could get milk from the wire mother and 8 from the cloth mother
Studied for 165 days
Found that both groups of monkeys spent more time with the cloth mother even if she had no milk
They would only go to the wire mother when hungry
When a frightening object was placed on the cage the monkey took refuge with the cloth mother as they saw it as their safe base
Experienced emotional damage when left for 90 days or more but could be reversed if left for less than 90 days, supporting the idea of a critical period

Question 21

Research supporting sexual imprinting

Answer 21

Guiton found that chicks could imprint on an inflated yellow rubber glove. Chicks also tries to mate with the glove, supporting Sexual Imprinting. Found that it could be reversed by spending time with their own species.

Question 22

What do animal studies mean for humans

Answer 22

Suggests that there is in fact a critical period for developing an attachment. Bowlby said this was between 0-5 years. If an attachment was not developed during this period then the child would suffer irreversible developmental consequences eg. Low iq, increased aggression, poor socialisation

Question 23

What is learning theory

Answer 23

The application of classical and operant conditioning to attachment to understand how children form attachments through learning

Question 24

Evaluation of harlows animal study

Answer 24

Supports the evolutionary theory of attachment in that attachment is innate

Supports the importance of bonding between mother and baby and that deprivation of this will cause emotional damage

Infants form attachment through comfort and not food

Highly unethical

Question 25

Classical conditioning in attachment

Answer 25

Unconditioned stimulus= food/milk
Unconditioned response = pleasure
Neutral stimulus = mother
Conditioned stimulus = mother
Conditioned response = pleasure

Baby feels pleasure from being fed. The mother feeds the baby the food and the baby feels pleasure. The baby therefore makes a subconscious association between the mother and pleasure, therefore forming the attachment

Question 26

Operant conditioning in attachment

Answer 26

Baby cries because it wants food—> baby relieves food —> reward reinforces action so baby repeated it

Question 27

Evaluate operant conditioning

Answer 27

No research to back this

Lorenz’s geese attached to the first thing they saw, even without being fed suggesting attachment is innate
Harlow found that monkeys based attachment on comfort and security rather than food
Schaffer and Emerson found that 39% of babies formed an attachment to someone other than who fed them proving it isn’t the main requirement for forming attachment

Question 28

Bowlby’s monotropic theory

Answer 28

The tendency to form attachments is innate and is present in both mothers and infants
Evolution is the process whereby useful features are introduced into a species to aid survival and reproduction
Attachment has evolved because of its survival value
Adopted the idea of a critical period

He observed and interviewed children separated from their families in ww2

Question 29

MICIS

Answer 29

Monotropy, single special attachment to mother
Internal working model, a template/expectation for all future relationships
Critical period, birth-2.5 years old if no attachment formed child will be damaged (socially, emotionally, physically, intellectually)
Innate, born with drive to attach
Social releasers, unlock the innate tendency of adults to care for infant

Question 30

Evaluation of Bowlby’s

Answer 30

Critical period idea supported by Tizards study which found that children living in orphanages who hadn’t formed attachments had difficulty forming relationships as they grew up

Schaffer found that nearly 1/3rd of infants formed multiple attachments that showed no preferred attachment figure, going against his idea of monotropy

Question 31

Strange situation

Answer 31

Mary ainsworth carried out a controlled observation to study infants response to being separated from caregiver

Mother sits in room while child is placed on the floor and is free to explore (tests secure base)
Stranger enters the room and talks briefly with the mother. The stranger then tries to engage with the infant through play and talk (tests stranger anxiety)
Mother leaves the room so baby is alone with the stranger who tries to comfort baby if they get upset and try to play with them (tests separation anxiety)
Mother returns and stranger leaves (tests reunion behaviour)

Question 32

Strange situation 5 behavioural categories

Answer 32

Proximity seeking, an infant with good attachment will stay close to the caregiver

Exploration and secure base behaviour, good attachment enables a child to feel confident to explore

Stranger anxiety, anxiety when a stranger approaches

Separation anxiety, protest at separation from caregiver

Response to reunion, child reaction to being reunited with caregiver

Question 33

Secure attachment in strange situation

Answer 33

Safe base - use mother as a safe base to explore

Stranger anxiety - avoid stranger when mother leaves but friendly when present

Separation anxiety - distressed when mother leaves

Reunion behaviour - happy when mother returns

Question 34

Insecure resistant in strange situation

Answer 34

Safe base - doesn’t explore at all, cries

Stranger anxiety - avoids stranger, fears them

Separation anxiety - shows signs of intense distress

Reunion behaviour - approaches mother to seek reunion but then resists and pushes away

Question 35

Insecure avoidant

Answer 35

Safe base - doesn’t care, explores without a problem

Stranger anxiety - okay with stranger, plays normally

Separation anxiety - no signs of distress

Reunion behaviour - shows little interest

Question 36

Conclusion of strange situation

Answer 36

Attachment differences depended upon the sensitivity of the mother
Sensitive mothers generally had securely attached children
Less sensitive/responsive mothers had more insecurely attached children
Attachment affected by sensitivity/responsiveness of caregiver

Question 37

Factors impacting a mothers responsiveness to a child

Answer 37

Employment of mother
Illness 
Stress
Marital separation
Siblings

Question 38

Evaluation of strange situation

Answer 38

Controlled environment so lacked ecological validity and can’t be applied to real life situations. Baby put in unfamiliar environment and being left with a stranger whci is very unrealistic

Procedure may indirectly measure/recognise factors involving individual differences. Some infants may be naturally more reactive and expressive due to high temperament. Likewise a child may not be very reactive but not for lack of secure attachment

Mothers behaviour may change, showing demand characteristics and therefore decreasing the validity of the results

Question 39

Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 39

Bowlby was asked after the Second World War to write a report on the mental health of homeless children in post war Europe p
Said the deprivation from the primary caregiver in the critical period (2.5 years) would have harmful effects
Critical period prolonged to 5 years if new attachment figure is introduced

If no attachment is formed then a child will experience issues intellectually, emotionally, socially and developmentally
Internal working model - lead to an inability to be a good parent in the future

Question 40

Bowlby’s 44 thieves study

Answer 40

Test his maternal deprivation hypothesis

Interviewed children and their family who attended a clinic where he worked. He compared the backgrounds of 44 juvenile thieves to the backgrounds of 44 other non delinquent children

Found that 14/44 thieves showed affectionless psychopathy whereas 0/44 non delinquents showed this
86% of the 14 affectionless psychopaths had experienced prolonged separation before age 5 whereas only 2 of the control group had experienced this

Separation in early life led to long term effects affecting emotional development. Link between maternal deprivation and affectionless psychopathy

Question 41

Evaluation of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study

Answer 41

Biased, all boys so don’t know if this is the same for girls
Lacks population validity, making generalisations to greater population difficult
Data collection is retrospective
Can’t prove cause and effect, many other factors could influence behaviour eg. Crime due to poverty
Failed to explain the two control group deprived people that didn’t become thieves

Question 42

PDD model

Answer 42

Robertson and Robertson developed an breakdown of separation response

Protest - can last several hours/days, child cries lots, throw themselves around and seek mother figure, refuse comfort from other adults or exaggerated clinginess

Despair - no longer anticipates mother return and becomes increasingly hopeless, rejects comfort from others, often displays rocking/thumb sucking/cuddling inanimate objects

Detachment - regains interest in environment and accepts comfort from others, reject mother upon her return

Question 43

Romanian orphans study

Answer 43

Rutter et al
Many Romanian orphans adopted by British parents so he aimed to see if the good care received had reversed the effects of their institutionalisation
165 orphans tested at age 4, 6, 11, 15 on emotional, physical and cognitive development against control group of British orphans

Found a correlation between rate of recovery and age of adoption (adopted younger=better recovery)
IQ of 102 for those adopted before 6 months
IQ of 86 for those adopted 6 months-2 years
IQ of 77 for those adopted after 2 years