Developmental psychology- Attachment

Question 1

Define attachment

Answer 1

An enduring, two-way, emotional tie to a specific other person.

Question 2

What are the 5 caregiver-infant interactions?

Answer 2

Bodily contact
Mimicking 
Caregiverese 
Interactional synchrony
Reciprocity

Question 3

What is interactional synchrony?

Answer 3

The coordinated rhythmic exchanges between carer and infant.

Question 4

What is reciprocity?

Answer 4

The interaction of similar behaviour patterns between carer and infant.

Question 5

What is caregiverese?

Answer 5

Modified form of language that is high pitched, slow and repetitive which aids communication between carer and infant.

Question 6

What are the 4 behaviours that characterise an attachment?

Answer 6

Proximity seeking
Distress on separation
Pleasure when reunited
General orientation of behaviour towards primary caregiver

Question 7

What are the 4 stages of attachment identified by Schaffer and Emerson and the time periods in which they occur?

Answer 7

Asocial stage (0 - 6 weeks)
Indiscriminate attachment stage (6 weeks - 6 months)
Discriminate attachment stage (6 months - 10 months)
Multiple attachments stage (10 months+)

Question 8

What was the aim of the Schaffer and Emerson study?

Answer 8

To assess whether there was a pattern of attachment formation that was common to all infants and to identify and describe the distinct stages by which all attachments form.

Question 9

What was the procedure of the Schaffer and Emerson study?

Answer 9

A longitudinal study was conducted upon 60 newborn babies and their mothers from a working class area of Glasgow. Mothers and babies were studied each month for the first year of their lives and then again at 18months. Observations were conducted as well as interviews with mothers asking questions about who caused the infant to smile or caused them distress.

Question 10

How was attachment measured in the Schaffer and Emerson study?

Answer 10

Separation protest

Stranger anxiety

Question 11

What is one advantage of the Schaffer and Emerson study?

Answer 11

The study is highly valid due to the mundane realism of observations conducted under everyday conditions.

Question 12

What are the disadvantages of the Schaffer and Emerson study?

Answer 12

Data was collected from mothers that are prone to bias
There were large differences in when attachments were formed, this caused doubt that the process of attachment is not exclusive in nature.

Question 13

What was the traditional role of the father?

Answer 13

Fathers were primary breadwinners that took a minor role in the parenting of their children.

Question 14

What is the sensitive responsiveness hypothesis?

Answer 14

More secure attachments are made when the carer is recognising and responding to infants’ needs.

Question 15

What 4 factors have been identified that affect the relationship between fathers and children?

Answer 15

Degree of sensitivity = sensitive responsiveness
Type of attachment with own parents
Marital intimacy
Supportive co-parenting

Question 16

What was the aim of the imprinting study by Lorenz?

Answer 16

To investigate the mechanisms of imprinting where the infants follow and form an attachment to the first large moving object that they meet.

Question 17

What was the procedure of Lorenz study?

Answer 17

Lorenz split a clutch of goose eggs into two batches, one of which was hatched naturally by the mother, and the other hatched in an incubator, with Lorenz making sure he was the first moving object the newly hatched goslings encountered. Following behaviour was then recorded. Lorenz then marked all the goslings and placed them under an upturned box. The box was then removed and following behaviour again recorded.

Question 18

What were the findings of Lorenz?

Answer 18

After the birth of the goslings the ones hatched naturally followed the mother and the ones hatched in an incubator followed Lorenz.
When released from the upturned box all the goslings returned to their retrospective ‘mothers’.
Lorenz reported that goslings that imprinted on humans would, as matured adult birds, attempt to mate with humans
Lorenz noted imprinting would occur within a critical period of 4 and 25 hours

Question 19

What was the aim of Harlow’s study?

Answer 19

To test learning theory by comparing attachment behaviour in baby rhesus monkeys given a wire surrogate mother producing milk with those given a soft towelling mother producing no milk.

Question 20

What was the procedure of Harlow’s study?

Answer 20

Two types of surrogate mothers were constructed - a harsh ‘wire mother’ that provided milk and a soft ‘towelling mother’ that provided no milk. The amount of time spent with each mother, as well as feeding time was recorded. The monkeys were frightened with a loud noise to test for mother preference during stress. A larger cage was also used to test the monkeys degree of exploration with each mother present.

Question 21

What were the findings of Harlow’s study?

Answer 21

Monkeys preferred contact with the towelling mother when given a choice of surrogate mothers, regardless of whether she produced milk. Monkeys with only surrogate mothers had diarrhoea (a sign of stress). When frightened by the loud noise, monkeys cling to the towelling mother in conditions where she was available. Monkeys with towelling mothers explored more in the larger cage

Question 22

What were the conclusions drawn from Harlow’s study?

Answer 22

Rhesus monkeys have an innate, unlearned need for contact comfort suggesting that attachment concerns emotional security more than food. Contact comfort is associated with lower levels of stress and a willingness to explore, indicating emotional security.

Question 23

What are the two explanations for attachment?

Answer 23

Learning theory

Bowlby’s monotopic theory

Question 24

What is learning theory?

Answer 24

The belief that attachments develop through conditioning processes.

Question 25

What is classical conditioning? Give an example of how it can be applied in the context of attachment.

Answer 25

Occurs when a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a particular response.
The primary caregiver becomes associated with the pleasure of receiving food and so infants become attached. The neutral stimulus of the caregiver is paired with the natural response of being fed.

Question 26

What is operant conditioning? Give an example of how it can be applied to the context of attachment.

Answer 26

Individuals learn from the consequences of their actions, which can be positively or negatively reinforced.
An infant is rewarded with favourite foods by their primary caregiver where food is the primary reinforcer and the caregiver is the secondary reinforcer. From then on the infant will seek to be close to the primary caregiver because they become a source of reward.

Question 27

What is positive reinforcement? Give an example in the context of attachment.

Answer 27

Receiving something pleasurable for performing a certain behaviour.
E.G-receiving pocket money for doing chores

Question 28

What is negative reinforcement? Give an example in the context of attachment.

Answer 28

Removing a negative stimulus for performing a certain behaviour.
E.G-No longer being grounded because they did their chores.

Question 29

What is cupboard love theory?

Answer 29

The belief that attachments are formed with people who feed infants

Question 30

What is Bowlby’s monotropic theory?

Answer 30

Bowlby’s idea that infants have an inbuilt tendency to make an initial attachment with one attachment figure.

Question 31

What are social releasers? Examples?

Answer 31

Innate infant social behaviours that stimulate adult interaction. E.G- crying, smiling and clinging.

Question 32

What is a critical period?

Answer 32

A specific time period within which an attachment must form.

Question 33

What is an internal working model?

Answer 33

A cognitive framework used to understand the world, self and others, that act as a template for future relationships based on an infants’ primary attachment.

Question 34

How have animal studies supported Bowlby’s theory?

Answer 34

Lorenz found that goslings have a critical period supporting bowlby’s critical period in human babies.
Lorenz found that goslings imprinted on humans exhibit sexual advances to humans, this shows the importance of the behaviour upon future relationships supporting Bowlby’s continuity hypothesis.

Question 35

What is Bowlby’s continuity hypothesis?

Answer 35

The idea that there is consistency between early emotional experiences and later relationships as a result of the quality of the persons internal working model.

Question 36

What is the strange situation?

Answer 36

The accepted observational testing method for measuring attachment types developed by Mary Ainsworth.

Question 37

What is separation anxiety?

Answer 37

The degree of distress shown by infants when parted from attachment figures.

Question 38

What is stranger anxiety?

Answer 38

The degree of distress shown by infants when in the presence of unfamiliar persons.

Question 39

What is the aim of Ainsworth’s strange situation?

Answer 39

To assess how infants behave under conditions of mild stress and novelty, in order to test stranger anxiety and separation anxiety and the secure base concept identifying the quality of mother-infant attachments.

Question 40

What was the procedure of Ainsworth’s strange situation?

Answer 40

Comprised of 7 episodes lasting 3 minutes each. The testing room is an unfamiliar environment in which the infant is free to explore with the mother present. A stranger enters, greets the carer and attempts to play with the child. The carer then leaves the child with the stranger. The carer re-enters and the stranger leaves. The carer leaves the child alone. The stranger re-enters. The stranger leaves and the carer re-enters.

Question 41

What were the 5 behavioural categories recorded in the strange situation?

Answer 41

Proximity seeking
Reunion behaviour 
Separation anxiety 
Stranger anxiety 
Willingness to explore

Question 42

What were the 3 types of attachment found by the strange situation?

Answer 42

Insecure-avoidant
Securely attached
Insecure-resistant

Question 43

What are the key characteristics of an insecure-avoidant attachment?

Answer 43

Infants are willing to explore, have low stranger anxiety, are unconcerned by separation and avoid contact at the return of their caregiver.

Question 44

What are the key characteristics of a secure attachment?

Answer 44

Infants are keen to explore, have high stranger anxiety, are easy to calm and are enthusiastic at the return of their carer.

Question 45

What are the characteristics of an insecure-resistant attachment?

Answer 45

Infants are unwilling to explore, have high stranger anxiety, are upset by separation. Seek and reject contact at the return of their caregiver.

Question 46

What were the conclusions drawn from Ainsworth’s strange situation?

Answer 46

Sensitive responsiveness is the major factor determine the quality of attachments. Sensitive caregivers tend to have securely attached children.

Question 47

What was the aim of Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s meta analysis of the strange situation?

Answer 47

To assess the extent of inter and intra cultural differences in attachment types and to assess similarities and differences in the amount of each attachment type in separate samples.

Question 48

What was the procedure of Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s meta analysis?

Answer 48

32 studies from 8 countries that used the strange situation to assess mother-infant attachments were compared by the number of each attachment type.

Question 49

What were the findings of Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s meta analysis?

Answer 49

Overall attachment types - Type A (avoidant) = 21% Type B (secure) = 67% Type C (resistant) =12%

Question 50

In Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s meta analysis the highest number of insecure-avoidant attachments were found in German samples. Why is this?

Answer 50

Germany has an individualistic culture in which the ideal child is non-clingy, independent and does not make demands on the parents. Therefore, results in children that are unconcerned by the separation and return of their caregivers.

Question 51

In Ijzendoorn and Krooneneberg’s meta analysis, the highest proportion of insecure-resistant attachments were in sampled from Israel, China and Japan. Why is this?

Answer 51

These countries are collectivist countries in which infants are brought up by the entire community, not just the biological parents. Therefore, results in children that seek contact with parents due to parents acting as primary caregiver, but reject them as they are not a major attachment figure as they have been shared causing many minor attachments being formed.