attatchment (addition to quizes) Flashcards
define attachment
a close two way emotion bond between two people where they both see the other as important for their emotional security
3 behaviors involved in attachment
proximity seeking - always wanting to be close to the other person
separation distress - distressed when attachment figure leaves their presence
secure base behavior - need regular contact with them - a child will return to caregiver at regular intervals (even if securely attached)
define reciprocity
A description of how two people interact. Mother and infant interactions is reciprocal as both respond to each others signals and elicits a response from the other
define interaction synchrony
mother and infant reflect both actions and emotions of the other and do this synchronized
3 evaluative points of observing infant caregiver interactions
hard to know what’s happening - cant be sure whether the infants behavior is conscious or deliberate
controlled observations - often filmed from multiple angles to capture small details, good validity - infants behavior doesn’t change
don’t tell purpose - cant tell the purpose of these interactions however some evidence that its important in development of mother infant attach + development ( moral ect..
Summarize the method used by Shaffer and Emmerson
Used 60 babies from working class families in Glasgow and interviewed the mother kinds of protests shown in everyday situations where they leave them at both 1 year and 18 months
3 evaluation points about Shaffer and Emmerson’s study
good external validity - carried out in their own homes and most observations done by the parent themselves
longitudinal design - good internal validity as no confounding variables as same children followed up on
limited sample - all families same social status and same area all 50 years ago - don’t generalize to other social and historical contexts
Name the 4 stages of attachment in Shaffer’s theory
asocial - first few weeks behavior is same towards humans and inanimate objects
indiscriminate - 2-7 months prefer humans to inanimate objects but behavior is same towards everyone
specific - around 7 months show anxiety towards strangers have one specific primary attachment figure (65% biological mother)
multiple - by 12 months able to form secondary attachments with people they spend a lot of time with
another name for learning theories approach to explaining attachment
cupboard love- emphasizes importance of caregiver as a provider for food
describe how classical conditioning is used to develop an attachment
We learn to associate a caregiver with them providing food.
food= ucs to conditioned stimulus
pleasure = ucr
caregiver = neutral stimulus to conditioned stimulus
after conditioning, when the baby sees the caregiver they immediately expect food so get the conditioned response of pleasure - this is considered love to a learning theorist
describe how operant conditioning is used to strengthen an attachment
explains why babies cry for comfort - it leads to a response from the caregiver e.g. feeding which when comforted reinforces crying - positive reinforcement
caregiver is negatively reinforced as the crying stops
mutual reinforcement strengthens the attachment
What is drive reduction
hunger is a primary drive - it is innate we are motivated to eat to reduce the hunger drive.
caregivers provide food so primary drive becomes associated to them - attachment is a secondary drive learned to associate caregiver with satisfaction of a primary drive.
evaluation of learning theory and attachment
counter evidence (animal) - harlow showed monkeys preferred cloth mother who provided comfort over wire mother who provided food and Lorenz geese imprinted on mobile object before being fed. counter evidence (food) - schaffer + Emmerson showed most primary attach to mothers even if they didn't feed them ignored other factors - quality is affected by levels of reciprocity ad interactional synchrony. If it was purely feeding no need for complex interactions and would not expect correlation between them and quality of attach.
positive evaluations
some elements of conditioning may be involved - association between primary caregiver and comfort and social interaction is important in building an attachment. But to much focus on feeding.
newer explanation - observe parents and siblings and see rewards of attachment (such as praise) and acquire attach behaviors by vicarious reinforcement
How did Bowlby propose his theory
An evolutionary explanation that attachment was an innate system for survival. Imprinting and attachment are important in keeping young animals close to caregivers and provide them safety from hazards
why is Bowlby’s theory described as monotropic
placed great emphasis on child’s attachment to one particular caregiver which is different and more important than the rest. Called primary attachment figure
What two principles did Bowlby put forward to clarify his momotropy theory
- the law of continuity - the more consistent and predictable a child’s care is the better quality of attachment
- law of accumulated separation - effects of every separation adds up so therefore zero separation is the best
what are social releasers and what is their importance
cute behaviors such as smiling and cooing which enhance attachment by encouraging attention from adults
induces caring behaviors which ensures the survival of offspring
both mother and infant have an innate predisposition to become attached and social releasers trigger it in adults
what is the critical period
around two years the infant attachment system is active and at this point they are most sensitive - if an attachment is not formed at this point then they will find it harder to make one later in life
summarise and compare critical periods in different species
geese - mobile and immature, vulnerable so imprint fast
fish - mobile and mature so no attachment
birds- immobile and immature, need care so medium length attachment period
humans - immobile and lengthy immaturity period longer attachment period and more emotional context
how does difference in critical period provide evidence for Bowlby’s theory
existence length and nature is all related to adaptive benefits for survival of offspring
how do orphan studies show evidence for the critical period
longer time in orphanages the worse the effects much worse after 2 years
what is an internal working model
a mental representation the child forms of their attachment with their primary caregiver and later serves as a model for what a relationship should be like
what relationships does someone’s internal working model effect?
friendships and romantic relationships - someone who had a loving relationship with their mother will expect to be treated and treat others in that way
parenting - base their parenting behavior on own experiences parenting
for each type of relationship what evidence is there that it relates to working memory model
friendships - Myron-Wilson + Smith - insecure avoidant more likely to be victims and insecure resistant likely to be bullies
romantic -Fraley - 0.39 correlation between attach in infancy and later in life
parenting - Bailey - correlation between mothers own attachment experience and that with their own children
What mixed evidence is there about Bowlby’s theory
- Schaffer and Emmerson showed could form multiple attachments at omce rather than attach to p.c.g and then others
- unclear how unique first attach is mother usually have more effect on later life - not different in quality
how does the still face experiment by Bazleton show evidence for social releasers
observed interaction between mother and child and then told mother to stop responding to babies signals.
Babies initially showed distress but some eventually curled up and lay motionless.
The strength of the response supports Bowlby’s ideas of the significant of social releasers to elicit attachment
what independent variable was Lorenz testing and what was the key result he found
Divided a group of geese eggs randomly in half and half hatched in natural environment with mother and the other half where they first saw Lorenz
group hatched in incubator followed Lorenz and half hatched in the presence of their mother followed the mother, even when mixed. Identified imprinting had to happen within critical period otherwise they would not attach to mother figure at all.
What ethical issues could be identified in Lorenz’s study
protection of the geese was low - separation from mother could be stressful and could effect development later on
If there is a lack of generalizability to humans, why do we do animal studies?
attachment quite different in geese to mammals - geese mobile and vulnerable humans immobile and humans show emotion in attachment
But it suggests human attachment also evolved for it’s own species evolutionary needs.
describe the procedure of Harlow’s study
16 young monkeys first separated from mother and reared with two wire mother dispensing milk and the cloth mother not.
where did the monkeys spend most of the time?
on the cloth mother especially when in a strange room or frightened
ethical issues in Harlow’s study
protection is low the separation from the mother was stressful and monkeys showed signs of maternal deprivation did not develop normal behavior showed signs of aggression and less sociable. Unskilled at mating and even attacked and killed own children
How do Harlow’s finding contradict learning theory
attachment is driven by contact comfort rather than by food
to what extent can we generalize Harlow’s findings to humans
somewhat - both monkeys and humans are mammals with similarly long periods of dependency but less emotionally complex
who developed the strange situation
Mary Ainsworth
what was the strange situation used for
observe key attachment behaviors to measure child’s attachment to caregiver
what three attachment types did Ainsworth identify
insecure avoidant (A) secure (B) insecure resistant (C)
what percentage of infants fell into each category Ainsworth identified
insecure avoidant - 22%
secure - 66%
insecure resistant - 12%
what 3 responses were recorded in the SS
stranger in room- stranger anxiety
mother leaves - separation anxiety
mother returns - reunion behavior
how did the three attachment types react to each of the situations
A- stranger low, separation low, return ignores
B- stranger moderate, separation moderate, return easy to calm
C- stranger high, separation high, return hard to calm
from the mother of each type what behaviors did they predict
A- ignored infant
B- sensitive and responsive
C- inconsistent
why does the strange situation have good validity
has good predictive validity - able to predict later outcomes based of attach types
what is meant by good inter rate reliability (ss)
agreement between the observers about what attachment type to classify the children to
why cant we be sure the infants attach type is due to the behaviors
could be response not cause due to own personality
why might the SS not be a good measure of attachment type in all countries
its culture bound does not have same meaning outside of western Europe + USA
- caregivers behave differently from different cultures
- children respond differently due to childhood experiences
van Ijzendoorn - cultural variation procedure
meta analysis - less likely to be fluke
cross cultural - imperfect biased to western world
32 studies using strange situation
8 countries, 1990 children
van Ijzemdoorn - cultural variation findings
same types of attachments A, B and C
B is most common in all countries
order of frequency commonly B A C
what countries had
- low insecure resistant
- high insecure avoidant
- high insecure resistant
- western modern countries - US and Europe
- Germany -encourage independence
- Japan + china - encourage dependency
how much more variation is there within countries than between them
50%
why there might be lower rates of secure attachments across countries
more women going to work outside of the home
additional studies of cultural variation
Simonella - Italian study - found lower rates of secure attachments
why were samples in Ijzendoorns study unrepresentative of culture
more focused on country within a country many different cultures with different child rearing practices
e.g. Tokyo - urban is less traditional women work more etc. rural more trad. women spend time with children
How does Bowlby’s theory raise issues about the role of fathers
internal working model - based on primary cargiver - usually mother
monotropy - single different in quality more likely to be mother
in Schaffer and Emmerson’s study was % had secondary attach to father at 18 months
75%
Grossman - study of role of father
longitudinal study both parents behavior in quality of attach into teens
fathers attach not related to attachment later in life
but was related to quality of adolescent attach
more to do with play than nurturing
father as primary caregiver
adapt and take on roles typical of mothers
Tiffany Fields - father as primary caregivers spend time smiling imitating etc.
shows key to attachment is not gender but level of responsiveness - usually mother due to either
1. traditional gender roles (women expected to be more nurturing)
2. hormones - high levels of oestrogen
difference in children with same sex families / without father
no difference
name the 3 attachment types identified in the strange situation
secure
insecure avoidant
insecure resistant
what did Kerns find about later relationship for the 3 attachment types
secure - best quality friendships
both insecure - difficulty forming friendships
what relationship did Myron - Wilson and Smith find between attachment type and bullying
secure- uninvolved
insecure avoidant - victim
insecure resistant - bully
what components of Bowlby’s theory are relevant to understanding later relationships
continuity hypothesis
monotropy
internal working model - the quality of this mental representation will affect later relationships loving relationship will seek functional relationship and those who were too unloved or too emotionally close will portray those behaviors in a relationship
what did Zimmerman find about infant attachment type and adolescent attachment to parents
little relationship or continuity over time between childhood and adolescent attachment
McCarthy study
longitudinal of 40 women who had been assessed when young
secure - best adult relationship and friendships
insecure resistant - problems maintaining friendships
insecure avoidant - struggled with intimacy
Fraley study
0.39 moderate correlation between adult and infant relationships
meta analysis all longitudinal studies
only moderate correlation, must be other factors involved
name other factors identified which affected adult relationships
parents divorce
parental death ( both Zimmerman)
child’s temperament
parenting style (contradicts Bowlby)
all data from studies into attachment is correlational
can’t identify cause and effect
why do a lot of studies into attachment types and influence have poor validity
use self report techniques not in infancy but rather later on in life
so relies on
1. accurate recall
2. having a realistic view on own relationships
what type of relationship did Bowlby identify as needed for healthy development
warm
intimate
continuous
what is maternal deprivation
a loss or disruption of the presence of the mother or mother substitute
2 major ways Bowlby claimed deprivation affected development
- intellectually - lower IQ than normal
2. psychological - affectionless psychopathy (inability to feel guilt or emotion towards others, deceit and stealing)
Bowlby’s 44 thieves study - procedure
44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing and 44 disturbed non criminal teenagers - all interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy and families interviewed to see if they had periods of long separation
Bowlby’s 44 thieves - findings
- 14 of 44 thieves affectionless psychopaths (12 were separated)
- 5 of rest of 30 thieved experienced separation
- 2 pf 44 non criminals had experienced separation
methodological issues with 44 thieves study
bias from Bowlby he carried out interviews already knowing if child had been separated or not
problems with other sources of evidence Bowlby used
war orphans - were traumatized + had more aftercare so may be due to later development rather than separation
orphans - poor quality institutions so deprived of lots of aspects of care not just maternal care.
possible extraneous variables of 44 thieves and orphan studies
- income of family
- traumatized war orphans
- quality of substitute care
- physical deprivation
problem with idea of critical period
psychological damaged was not inevitable - example of twin boys locked in cupboard from 18 months till 7 years. later looked after by two loving adults and recovered fully
more of a sensitive period
Bowlby’s lack of clarification between deprivation and privation
deprivation- loss of primary attachment figure after attachment happens - minor effects
privation - loss of primary attachment figure before attachment occurs - big effects on later development t
what is meant by institutionalistion
term for living in an institutionalized setting e.g. orphanage and in turn the effects on development of social and life skills as a result of long periods in institutions
what is meant by disinhibited attachment
pattern of attention - seeking behaviors with a lack of selectivity in social relationships
Rutter’s English and Romanian adoptee studies
165 Romanian adoptees and 52 British adoptees at the same time
IQ:
1 if adopted before 6 months - 102
2. adopted between 6 months and 2 years - 86
3. adopted after 2 years 77
before 6 months rarely showed disinhibited attachment, after 6 months significant signs of disinhibited attachment
Zeanah - Bucharest Early Intervention Project
95 children 90% of life in care +50 children never been in care -strange situation used
74% control securely attached
19% of institutionalized were securely attached
65% of institutionalized disorganized attachment
44% of institutionalized disinhibited
what is a disorganized attachment (type D)
mixture of insecure avoidant and insecure resistant
have difficulty forming both romantic and friendship relationships
1. maintain proximity
2. avoid contact
3. resist cuddling
4. afraid of main carer
5. prefer strangers
3 behaviors of primary caregiver that lead to type D
maltreatment
frightening behavior
failure to respond to infants signals
what happened in other orphan studies but not in the Romanian orphan study
traumatic or long list of negative events leading up to institutionalization
what occurred to Romanian orphan that made it hard to conclude lack of maternal care was the key factor
poor physical care and mental stimulation
problems of causality in Rutters study but not Zeanahs
Rutter did not randomly allocate children to be adopted or not however in Zeanahs they were which removed confounding variables of children being chosen by parents
lack of generalizability of Romanian orphan studies
had experienced high levels of deprivation unlike normal and extreamly low levels of intellectual stimulation
the unusual situational variables lead to lack of generalizability
