Developmental-attachment Flashcards
What is attachment
attachment is the emotional bond that forms between infant and caregiver. Begins with interactions between them and the responsiveness of the caregiver.
Meltzoff and Moore
study infants as young as 2 weeks copying caregivers facial expressions. claimed this was the first building block in learning how to build relationships.
high internal reliability- lab study so variables were controlled and therefore clear establishment of cause and effect.
high internal validity- babies don’t know they’re being observed so no demand characteristics.
researcher bias- subjective, don’t know if behaviour or baby is down to faces pulled by caregiver.
low external validity- not been tested on all babies, sample is only US babies.
Schaffer and Emerson stages of attachment
60 babies from Glasgow were studied observing them every 4 weeks for the first year and again at 18 months. Asocial (0-6 weeks)- short lived attention seeking behaviour like crying but it isn't directed at anyone, suggesting attachment could be made with anyone. indiscriminate attachment (6 weeks-7 months)- child seeks and is happy to receive attention from anyone. preferences are shown to familiar faces that get a greater response from the infant. Specific attachment (7-11 months)- child primarily attached to the main caregiver. a child becomes distressed if they're separated and the child is wary of strangers. (strange situation) multiple attachments (10+ months)- child can start to form other attachments with people high external and ecological validity- completed in the house of the families so ppts act naturally. low external validity- small sample, from one place, can't say babies are all the same. can't be generalised bias and inaccuracy- data was collected by the mothers, demand characteristics other research- meltzoff and moore, found interactional synchrony at 16 days, contradicts A-social stage.
Animal research of attachment, Lorenz
2 batches of goslings, one hatched naturally with their mother and the other hatched in an incubator with Lorenz as their first moving object to be seen. concluded once imprinting has taken place its permanent.
low external validity- geese aren’t human babies, can’t be generalised
high internal reliability- easy method that can be replicated.
Animal research of attachment, Harlow
different conditions where monkeys were put in a cage with a fake mother either cloth or wire and their behaviour was studied. monkeys preferred cloth mothers regardless of if she gave them food.
social implications- understand postnatal depression and why mothers struggle to nurture eg ptsd
ethics- very unethical, monkeys affected for life, deprived of attachment, killed other monkeys
low external validity- can’t be achieved naturally and cant be generalised to humans, can’t be done in any other way, different critical periods.
Explanations of attachment, learning theory-classical conditioning
occurs when response is produced naturally by a certain stimulus that becomes associated with another stimulus that isn’t normally associated with that response. eg. crying and getting a bottle from the caregiver, eventually crying so the caregiver comes into the room and the child gets attention.
Explanations of attachment, learning theory-operant conditioning
based on law of effect, where any action that has a pleasurable outcome will be repeated again in similar circumstances. Positive reinforcement- receiving something good for performing a certain behaviour.
What is monotropic theory
humans are born with an innate drive to make one serious primary attachment. This is more important than other attachments made. This has evolved from staying close to caregivers to avoid hazards like wild animals and now traffic and electricity.
Ainsworths strange situation
Was a controlled observational study designed to test the security of an attachment. infants were tested in their emotional and behavioural response when left alone by their primary caregiver and a stranger introduced.
secure attachment- 60-75% of british toddlers, explore happily but regularly go back to mother. moderate separation and stranger anxiety.
insecure avoidant attachment- 20-25% of british toddlers, explore the environment and don’t check on mother much, no reaction to caregiver leaving.
insecure resistant attachment- less than 10% of british toddlers, explore less. massive stranger anxiety and separation distress. resist comfort in the reunion stage.
high external reliability- highly operationalised and could be replicated. high internal reliability- procedure was standardised and it was done in a controlled setting. weakness- changes for different cultures, the test has a different meaning in other countries. low external validity- sample size was restricted to 100 middle class americans and their infants, can't be generalised or representative to wider populations.
Ijzendoorn, cultural variations
The study looked at the different proportions of attachment across 32 studies in different countries with different cultures. data was meta-analysed, results were combined and weighed for sample size to make an overall conclusion.
UK had highest rate of secure attachment and china had the lowest
Simonella et al- found italian children up to 12 months were only 50% secure within a higher rate of insecure avoidant. linked to higher rates of working mothers.
jin et al- south korea has similar results to japan, supporting the theory that most children will be secure.
high internal validity- large sample, reduces impact of anomalous results. strength
high internal reliability- standardised methodology
low external validity- not globally or culturally representative so cant be generalised.
weakness- finding could be misleading and distorted by a high number of American results.
Difference between deprivation and separation
separation- short term, caused by the parents working, or unforeseen circumstances eg hospital. leads to protest, despair and detachment.
deprivation- long term and permanent separation. eg death, imprisonment and divorce.
Bowlbys 44 thieves, maternal deprivation
examined the link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation. studied 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing. them and their families were interviewed to establish whether the thieves had early separation from their mothers. 14/44 were described as affectionless psychopaths. 5 out of remaining 35 pots had experienced separation. In control group 2/44 experienced prolonged separation. Control group, with non criminal but emotionally disturbed children.
intellectual development- if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period they would suffer delayed intellectual development, meaning abnormally low IQ. Godfarb found lower IQ in children who had remained in institutions as opposed to those who were fostered and had a higher standard of emotional care.
Affectionless psychopaths showed lack of affection and guilt
low internal validity- bowlby used other sources of evidence where behaviour and inability to form attachments may have been caused by later developmental difficulties rather than separation.
Low internal reliability- Experimenter bias, he could have asked misleading questions as he conducted himself. Testing was unfair, lacked control over variables.
Counter evidence- Lewis replicated on 500 young people, found a history of prolonged separation didn’t predict criminality or difficulty forming close relationships. Other factors may affect the outcome of early maternal deprivation.
Weakness- further research has shown damage is not inevitable following prolonged separation. Some cases have good outcomes provided the child has some social interaction and good aftercare.
Low external reliability- other research hasn’t produced the same results, some even having opposed findings. Bowlby’s samples were small and relied on those 44 thieves having been accused of stealing, making them already suspects of stealing.
Counter evidence- Lewis did study on larger scale and found there was no link with maternal deprivation and criminality/ psychopathy.
Institutionalisation, Rutters Romanian orphanage study
followed a group of 165 orphans adopted in britain to test to what extent good care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions.
social implications- led to improved way children are cared for in institutions. having key workers
high internal validity- studied without confounding variables.
low external validity- lack generalisability as unusual situational variables. Romanian orphanages had particularly poor conditions.
ethics- when children are randomly allocated to families, it’s methodologically better but raises ethical issues.
Influence of early attachment on later relationships
hazan and shaver study- analysed 620 replies to a love quiz printed in an american newspaper. The quiz assessed current or most important relationships, general love experiences like number of partners and asking respondents to choose which statement best describes them. 56% of respondents had secure attachment, who were most likely to have a good long lasting romance. 25% were insecure avoidant who tended to reveal jealousy or fear of intimacy. 19% were insecure resistant.
attachment types tend to be passed down through generations as people base their parenting style on their internal working model. In a study done by Bailey et al they found the majority of woman had the same attachment classification as their babies and their own mothers.
low internal validity- study relies on how honest and realistic ppts are. demand characteristics.
high external reliability- could be replicated as was tested on random people.
iwm- high predictive validity- infants with poor upbringing are more likely to be inconsistent or neglectful parents themselves.
social context- allows us to understand our relationships are affected by iwm. has improved counselling techniques, especially to those who have suffered childhood trauma or abuse.
issues with validity- most info gathered will be self reports. lack internal validity as affected by social desirability.
issues with reliability- most studies are completed as observations, may be subjective.
some social disorders, e.g. adhd and autism will affect later relationships because of the nature of the individual social disorder not how they were bought up.
