Lecture 6 - Attachment

Question 1

What is an attachment?

Answer 1

an emotional bond with a primary caregiver

Question 2

Bowlby 1958?

Answer 2

• proposed that infants have an innate drive to form a close relationship with a caregiver
• they produce social releaser behaviours e.g. crying, smiling which elicit a response from the caregiver

Question 3

Maternal deprivation hypothesis?

Answer 3

breaking this bond any time in the first 5 years of life can lead to profound cognitive, social and emotional consequences - e.g. aggression, depression, delinquency

Question 4

What are the stages of attachment?

Answer 4

1. Birth - 6 weeks = pre attachment phase
   -> orienting & signalling to anyone
2. 6 weeks - 6-8 months = attachment in the making
   -> increasingly orienting to and seeking comfort from primary caregiver
3. 6-8 months - 18-24 months = ‘clear cut’ attachment
   -> stays close to primary caregiver, separation protest, fear of strangers
4. 18-24 months + = formation of reciprocal relationship
   -> with mother/caregiver, child increasingly accommodates mothers needs, reduction in immediate proximity-seeking, development of internal working model of relationship

Question 5

Bowlby’s internal working model?

Answer 5

• this captures the child’s beliefs about how trustworthy others are, their own value and their own social effectiveness
• influenced by Lorenz’s theory of imprinting
• believe that attachment had a critical period
• Harlow looked at this in primates and found that moneys need ‘contact comfort’ from the mother and not just food

Question 6

Ainsworth - the strange situation procedure?

Answer 6

• Used at 12-24 months to measure attachment
  1. Mother, infant & experimenter in room
  2. Mother & infant play
  3. Stranger enters, talks to mum, plays with infant
  4. Mum leaves, stranger plays with baby
  5. Mum returns, stranger leaves, mum settles infant
  6. Mum leaves, infant is alone
  7. Stranger comes in, tries to settle infant, then stands back
  8. Mum returns, stranger leave, mum settles infant

Question 7

How do you measure how the infant reacts with the mum on reunions?

Answer 7

• these are scored every 15 secs on a scale of 1-7 intensity
  1. Proximity and contact seeking: where the infant seeks to be close to the mother
  2. Contact maintaining: when the infant clings to the mother
  3. Avoidance of proximity and contact: where the infant does not seek out the mother and appears indifferent
  4. Resistance to contact and comforting: where the infant refuses to settle and is petulant

Question 8

What else do you measure on the strange situation?

Answer 8

• whether or not the infant uses the mum as a base to explore from the start
• how the infant behaves when the mother is absent

Question 9

Type A - insecure avoidant?

Answer 9

• Does not play much with mother
• Is not distressed by her absence, plays happily with stranger
• Avoids interactions with mother even during reunions,
• Operate independently of their attachment figure, mother may not be responding to their needs adequately

Question 10

Type B - secure?

Answer 10

• Uses mother as a secure base for exploration
• Plays with stranger only when mum is there, distressed when mum leaves, happy to see her return and easily calmed down from any distress related to her absence
• These children posses a ‘representational model of attachment figures as being available, responsive and helpful’

Question 11

Type C - insecure resistant/ insecure ambivalent?

Answer 11

• Less exploration than average
• Very distressed by mothers absence, afraid of stranger
• When mother returns, seeks contact with her but also shows resistance e.g. pushing away
• The child is at the same time clingy and resistant, perhaps the mother has given inconsistent responses to the child

Question 12

Type D - Insecure disorganised?

Answer 12

• This was later introduced by Main and Solomon (1986)
• No consistent/ organised obvious strategy for gaining contact with mother or for being soothed and comforted
• Contradictory behaviour (e.g. cries a lot but then indifferent)
• Misdirected behaviour (going to stranger rather than parent on reunion)
• Freezing or fear of parent

Question 13

Are genes the reason for individual differences?

Answer 13

• no
• from 110 twin pairs assessed in the strange situation, genetics explained only 14% of the variance so doesn’t seem to be genetic in origin

Question 14

What is the effect of cultural norms on attachment?

Answer 14

• Van ijzerdoorn conducted a meta-analysis looking at attachment types across cultures
• found that there was higher type A (avoidant) in Germany as mothers are more likely to foster independence , higher type C in Japan & Israel as mothers tend to stay at home and spend a lot of time with their children
• intracultural variation is 1.5 times higher than the variation we see across cultures

Question 15

What is the effect of early experiences on attachment?

Answer 15

• maternal deprivation hypothesis = infants need a continuous relationship with mother
• infants deprived of this may experience poor outcomes
• high quality care is related to better linguistic and cognitive scores in primary school, until 11 years

Question 16

Maternal sensitivity hypothesis?

Answer 16

• Bowlby/ Ainsworth suggest that the mothers response to the infant determine attachment
• interventions to improve sensitivity improve attachment

Question 17

Meins et al?

Answer 17

• suggested that sensitivity is too broad and not predictive enough
• focussed on the content of responses rather than promptness

Question 18

What are the later effects of attachment?

Answer 18

• secure attachment at 12 months predicts:
  -> curiosity & problem solving at 2yrs
  -> social confidence at nursery at 3 yrs
  -> empathy & independence at 5 yrs