Attatchment (paper 1) Flashcards
What is attachment
A close two-way emotional bond between two individuals who sees the other as essential for their own emotional security.
It can be recognised by the behaviours:
.proximity
.separation distress
.secure base behaviour
What are the two main caregiver-infant interactions
reciprocity
Caregiver and infant respond to each others signals and each elicits a response from the other
interactional synchrony
Caregiver and infant reflect both the actions and the emotions of the other in a coordinated way
Summarise Meltzoff and Moore’s study
Observed the beginning of interactional synchrony. An adult displayed one of 3 facial expressions/distinct gestures. The baby’s response was filmed and labelled by independent observers. The babies mirrored the adults more than chance would predict.
Summarise Isabella et al’s study
Observed 30 mothers and infants together and assessed the degree of synchrony and the quality of mother-infant attachment.
Evaluation of caregiver-infant attachment research
-difficult to interpret behaviour
-unnatural setting may affect behaviour
-observations do not tell us the purpose of interactional synchrony or reciprocity
-research can be socially sensitive
+ good validity as babies cannot show demand characteristic
+high reliability, interactions usually filmed in laboratory
Outline the research of Schaffer and Emerson
the father as a secondary caregiver
At around seven months only 3% of babies fathers were the sole object of attachment. In 27% of cases, the father was the joint first object of attachment with the mother. Within a few weeks or months infants formed secondary attachments with the father and other family members.
Outline the research of Grossman
the father as a play mate
A longitudinal study that looked at both parents behaviour and its relationship to the quality of children’s attachment in their teens.
Father’s infant attachment was less important than the mothers.
However the quality of father’s play with infants was was related to the quality of adolescence attachment.
Outline the research of field
fathers as primary carers
Filmed 4 month old babies in face to face interaction with primary caregiver mothers, secondary and primary caregiver fathers. Primary fathers spent more time like mothers smiling, imitating and holding infants. Shows fathers have the potential to be the more emotion focused primary attachment figure. The key to attachment is the level of responsiveness not the gender of the parent.
Evaluate ‘role of the father’ research
-inconsistent findings as different researchers ask different questions
-if fathers have a distinct role we would expect those without them to be different, (MacCallum and Golombok found children in same sex/ single parent families do not develop any different)
+could have benefits for fathers aiming to be granted joint/full custody, has important implications
+could offer advice to parents as to who should take the primary role.
economic implications
Increasingly fathers stay at home, contribute less to economy but mothers may return to work contributing more to economy.
The gender pay gap may be reduced there may be changes to laws in paternity leave.
Stages of attachment definition
Qualitatively different behaviours linked to specific ages
Outline Schaffer and Emerson’s study
Aim:
to investigate the formation of early attachments, in particular at the age where they develop their emotional intensity and to whom the emotions are directed.
Method:
.60 babies 31 m 29f. All from Glasgow, majority from skilled-working class families
.babies and mother visited at home every month for 1 yr then again at 18 months
.mothers asked questions about protests their babies showed in 7 everyday separations, to measure attachment. They also assessed stranger anxiety.
Findings:
-Between 25 and 32 weeks about 50% of babies showed signs of separation anxiety.
-attachment tended to be to the caregiver who was most interactive and sensitive to the infant (not necessary who spent the most time with them)
-by the age of 40 weeks, 80% of the babies had a specific attachment and almost 30% displayed multiple attachments
What are the stages of attachment
asocial stage
-baby recognising and forming bonds with carers
-behaviour to non human objects and humans are similar
-show some preference for familiar adults
indiscriminate stage
-from 2-7 months babies more social
-preference for people
-accept comfort from any adult
-don’t usually show separation anxiety
discriminate attachment
(From 7 months)
-stranger anxiety
-separation anxiety
-have specific primary attachment figure
multiple attachments
-shortly after babies extend attachment to multiple adults (secondary attachments)
Stages of attachment evaluation
+ good external validity
Observation done at home by parents, behaviour was natural
+longitudinal study
Children followed up over 18months of the study,
Means no individual differences
Increases internal validity
+ sample size 60babies + their carers
Large sample gathers greater data
However all babies were from same district and social class
Results cannot be generalised to other social contexts
- problems studying asocial stage,
Babies below 2 months are generally immobile so difficult to make judgements on behaviour
-conflicting evidence on multiple attachments
Bowlby suggests single main carer at first, researchers who look at different cultural contexts argue multiple attacks occur from the outset
-limited behaviour measures
Behaviours measured are crude,
Schaffer and Emerson used stranger anxiety and separation anxiety to distinguish a stage of attachment. More complex emotions are involved than the two typically used.
However use of simple measures allows the study to be scientific
Outline Lorenz’ research
aim
Tested idea of imprinting and how goslings attach to their caregivers
procedure
Randomly divided clutch of goose eggs
Half hatched with mother
Half hatched in incubator, first moving object seen was Lorenz
findings
Followed first moving object after 13-16hrs. Incubator group followed Lorenz, control group followed the mother. This continued when groups were mixed
conclusions
There is a critical period in which imprinting needs to take place,
When imprinting did not occur in this time chicks did not attach to a mother figure
Evaluation ideas of Lorenz research
G-findings may not generalise to humans (we are immobile at first)
R-procedure was standardised and replicated
A-could suggest critical periods of attachment to parents
V-the study measured what it wanted to investigate
E-there are ethical issues with removing birds from their mothers.
Outline Harlows research
aim
Tested the idea that soft objects serve some sort of the functions of a mother, the importance of contact comfort
procedure
Reared 16 baby monkeys with two wire mothers, one condition had milk dispensed by a plain wire mother, other condition had milk dispensed by the cloth-covered mother.
He measured the amount of time the monkey spent with each surrogate mother and the amount of time they cried for their biological mother
findings
Monkeys cuddled the soft object in preference to the wire one and sought comfort from the cloth one when frightened.
Monkeys willing to explore a room full of toys when the cloth mother was present but displayed phobic responses when the wire mother was present
conclusions
Contact comfort was of more important to the monkeys than food when it came to attachment behaviour
Harlows evaluation
-real world value
Helps professionals to promote bonding, also applied to zoos and breeding programmes
-generalisability to humans
Monkeys more similar to humans that birds but human minds and behaviour are more complex
-ethical issues
Procedure caused severe long term distress to participants may not be outweighed by theoretical and practical values
Outline Bowlbys theory
Monotropy
One particular attachment is different in quality and importance than others
social releasers and the critical period
Innate cute behaviours elicit care.
Critical period up to 6 months possibly extending to 2 years
internal working model
Mental presentation of the primary attachment relationship is a template for further relationships
bowlbys evaluation
-the concept of monotropy lacks validity.Rudolph Schaffer and Peggy Emmerson found a significant minority of babies formed multiple attachments at the same time
+there is evidence supporting the role of social releasers T.Berry Brazelton et al instructed PAF to ignore their babies social releasers.babies became distressed. Illustrates importance in emotional development
+there is support for the internal working model.Heidi Bailey et al assessed attachment relationships in 99mothers and their 1yr old. Looked at mothers attachment to their ownPAF and quality of attachment with baby. Poor attachment with PAF = poor attachment with baby
Outline the aim and procedure Ainsworth’s strange situation
Aim
To observe key attachment behaviours as a means of assessing the quality of a babies attachment to an attachment figure
The behaviours
-proximity seeking
-exploration and secure base behaviour
-stranger anxiety
-separation anxiety
- response to reunion
procedure
.Baby is encouraged to explore
.Stranger enters, talks to caregiver and approaches baby
.caregiver leaves stranger with baby
.caregiver returns stranger leaves
.caregiver leaves baby alone
.stranger returns
.caregiver returns reunites with baby
What did the strange situation conclude?
There are three main types of attachment
1) type A - insecure avoidant
2) type B - secure
3) type C - insecure resistant
A. B. C.
Proximity Low Strong High
Seeking
Exploration & high Moderate Low
Secure base
Behaviour
Stranger Low Moderate high
Anxiety
Separation Low Moderate high
Anxiety
Response Easily Ignores Hard
To reunion Calmed To
Calm
Outline Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation
.If children suffer maternal deprivation for too long within the first 30 months (critical period)
They would suffer delayed intellectual development characterised by an abnormally low IQ
.Children also suffer damage to their emotional development:
Bowlby linked maternal deprivation to affectionless psychopathy
Outline Bowlby’s 44 thieves study
aim
To examine the link between affectionless psychopathy (AP) and maternal deprivation
procedure
.44 teenagers accused of steeling were used
.interviewed for signs of AP (lack of guilt, empathy, attention etc)
.families interviewed to establish wether there had been any prolonged early separation from their mothers
.Control group of non criminal but emotionally disturbed young people
findings
.14 could be described as AP
.12 of the 14 APs had experienced prolonged separation during the first 2yrs of life
.only 2 out of 44 controls had experienced long term separations
Evaluation of maternal deprivation
+suporting evidence
Bifulco et al found women who had experienced separation from their mothers were more likely to experience depression or anxiety disorder compared to those who did not
+practical application
Work led to changes in the way children are cared for in hospitals ie greater flexibility in visiting hrs
Therefore the theory has been applied to child rearing practices
-flawed methodology
Bowlby interviewed boys himself to assess affectionless psychopathy so results may be influenced by researcher bias, this shows research to support the hypothesis is flawed.
Plus his sample included children orphaned during wwII so were often traumatised and deprived of many types of care so results aren’t valid
-counter evidence
Lewis partially replicated the 44 thieves study on a larger scale (500 participants) showing that prolonged separation from the mother did not predict criminality or difficulty forming close relationships
This suggests other factors may affect the outcome of early maternal deprivation.
-privation vs deprivation
Bowlby did not clarify his definition of deprivation. Rutter claimed that Bowlby did not make it clear whether attachment bond had formed but then been broken or never formed at all. Suggesting there is a distinction between privation and deprivation. A lack of clarity on this distinction may affect the validity of research findings.
Evaluate bowlbys 44 thieves
G
small sample size
Study completed 1950, historical context such as the war have influenced results
R
Interview unstructured and not standardised
Most attempts to replicate failed to produce similar results. Hilda Lewis looked at 500 young people and found no association.
A
Parents are encouraged to visit their children in hospital
V
He conducted interviews himself so there may be researcher bias. The sample contained children who may have been abandoned because of the war so may have experienced some trauma.
E
Being labelled as affectionless psychopaths may be psychologically harmful. Mothers may feel guilt that their actions lead to them being affectionless psychopaths.
What is institutionalisation
A term for the effects of living in an institutional setting for a prolonged period of time ie a hospital or orphaned. In such places there is often very little emotional care provided.
What is disinhibited attachment
A type of insecure attachment where children do not form close attachments. Such children will treat strangers with inappropriate familiarity and may be attention seeking.
Outline Rutter’s ERA study
Aim
To investigate the extent to which good cafe could make up for poor early experiences in institutions.
Procedure
Followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans that had been adopted in the uk, their physical, cognitive and emotional development has been assessed at 4,6,11,15 & 22-25yrs. A group of 52 children from the uk adopted at the same time served as a control group.
Findings
firstly
1/2 the adoptees showed signs of delayed intellectual development and majority were severely under malnourished.
11yrs
they showed different rates of recovery (related to their age of adoption)
before six months: IQ = 102,
Rarely showed disinhibited attachment.
Six months - two yrs: IQ = 86, signs of disinhibited attachment
two yrs + : IQ = 77,
signs of disinhibited attachment
Differences remained the same at age 16
conclusions
Early maternal deprivation and a failure to form an attachment within the critical period can lead to long lasting effects on development in later life.
Outline the Bucharest early intervention project
Aim
Procedure
95 Romanian children aged 12-31 months who had spent most of their lives in institutional care. Compared to a control group of 50 children who have not lived in an institution.Their attachment type was measured using the strange situation and carers were asked about any unusual social behaviour.
Findings
Securely attached:
74% of control group
19% of institutionalised group
Disinhibited attachment:
Less than 20% of control group
44% of institutionalised group
Conclusions
Early maternal deprivation and a failure to form an attachment within the critical period can lead to long lasting effects on development
Evaluate the Romanian orphan studies
+/- higher internal validity than previous studies. Orphans had not previously experienced any loss or trauma before being institutionalised, they were orphaned because of a social policy present at that time. This meant the effects of institutionalisation could be studies in isolation. However validity may also be lowered as the children were in appalling physical conditions as well as a lack of cognitive stimulation which may have affected their development.
+ results have lead to improvements in the way children are cared for within institutions. For example within children’s homes rather than employing a greater number of staff there is a greater focus on making sure caregivers play a more central role to children. This shows the practical real life applications results have led to.
- The long terms effects of institutionalisation are still not clear. Children within the study are only assessed up until they were teenagers. It may be that later in development they may catch up developmentally. Therefore we can only draw limited conclusions.
- a problem with the ERA study is that Children were not randomly assigned to conditions. Researchers did not intervene with the adoption process meaning more sociable children were typically adopted first. Whereas to control this confounding variable the Bucharest early intervention project had orphans randomly allocated to institutional care or fostering. However interfering with this decision for a child is highly unethical as it may have life long implications.
What are the five studies ( and their findings )of the influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships
Kerms peer relationships in childhood:
Securely attached = best quality
Insecure attached = difficulties
Myron-Wilson and smith bullying:
Secure = unlikely to be involved
Insecure avoidant = victim
Insecure resistant = bullies
McCarthy friendships and romantic relationships:
Securely attached = best relationships
Insecure resistant = difficulty maintaining friendships
Insecure avoidant = struggle with intimacy in romantic relationships
Hazan and Shaver romantic relationships:
Securely attached = good long lasting relationships
Insecure avoidant = jealousy and fear of intimacy
(Patterns of attachment behaviour are reflected in romantic relationships)
Bailey et al parenting:
Internal working model affects ability to parent. Majority of women shared the same attachment type as their babies and own mothers.
What were the procedures of the five studies that assessed the influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships
kerms
(I actually don’t know the procedure of this one, will google)
Myron-Wilson and Smith
-used standard questionnaires
-196 children aged 7-11 from London
McCarthy
-40 adult women who were assessed as babies to establish attachment type
Hazan and Shaver
-analysed 620 replies to a ‘love quiz’
-assessed current and past relationships and attachment type
Bailey et al
-measured using the strange situation
-99 mothers and babies
What is/ are culture and cultural variations
Culture refers to the norms and values that exist within any group of people
Cultural variations are the differences in norms and values that exist between different groups of people
Outline the three studies of cultural variations
van ljzendoorn and kroonenberg (1988)
Aim: looked at the proportions of the 3 main attachment types across a range of different countries
Procedure: Used 32 studies from 8 countries where the strange situation had been used. Data was meta-analysed
Findings: wide variations between countries.
Secure = most common in all countries
Insecure resistant = least common overall
Insecure avoidant = most common in Germany
The variations between studies within the same country were 150% > those between countries.
Simonella et al (2014)
Aim: see wether the proportions of babies of different attachment types still matched previous studies
Procedure: assessed 76 12 month old infants using the strange situation
Findings: 50% = secure, 36% = insecure avoidant this is a lower rate of secure attachment than other studies.
Conclusions: researchers suggest this is because increasing numbers of mothers work long hrs and use professional childcare, finding suggest cultural differences make a dramatic difference to patterns of attachment.
Jin et al (2012)
Aim: compare attachment types in Korea with to other studies
Procedure: strange situation used to assess 87 children
Findings: the overall proportion of attachment types were similar to those in most countries.
More of those classified as insecurely attached were resistant only one child being avoidant. This is smaller than the distribution of attachment types in Japan
