PAPER 1 - Attachment Flashcards
how do we first form an attachment ?
- non-verbal communication
- more sensitive to signals the deeper the relationship
what is RECIPROCITY ?
- related response
- increasingly matched reactions
what is INTERACTIONAL SYNCHRONY ?
- mirroring
- same actions
what did Melzoff and Moore observe ?
- interactional synchrony
- babies could imitate both facial and manual gestures
- building blocks for social and cognitive development
what is PROXIMITY ?
people try to stay close to those who they are attached to
what is a SECURE BASE ?
even when we are independent we tend to make regular contact
what is SEPARATION ANXIETY ?
people become distressed when an attachment figure leaves
What did SHAFFER AND EMERSON study ?
development of attachment
Describe the key characteristics of Shaffer and Emerson’s development of attachment study ?
- longitudinal study
- working class family homes
- 60 infants
- Glasgow
- mother would say how child reported to separation
How old were the infants in Shaffer and Emerson’s study ?
5 -23 weeks - studied at monthly intervals for the first 18 months
What is the first stage of attachment ?
ASOCIAL STAGE - 0 - 6 weeks
What is the second stage of attachment ?
INDISCRIMINATE ATTACHMENT - 6 weeks - 6 months
What is the third stage of attachment ?
SPECIFIC ATTACHMENT - 7 - 9 months
What is the fourth stage of attachment ?
MULTIPLE ATTACHMENT - 10+ months
What happens in the ASOCIAL STAGE ?
- similar response to objects and humans
- bias towards people
- like looking at faces
What happens in the INDISCRIMINATE ATTACHMENT stage ?
- more sociable
- easily comforted by anyone
- don’t prefer specific individuals
What happens in the SPECIFIC ATTACHMENT stage ?
- separation anxiety
- protest when primary caregiver leaves
- fear of strangers
What happens in the MULTIPLE ATTACHMENT stage ?
- multiple attachment
- by 1 year most infants had multiple attachments
What is the ROLE OF THE FATHER
- 10% stay at home dads
- playmate
- males can adapt to be sensitive to child’s responses
What is the FIRST factor that affects the attachment of a father to their child ?
DEGREE OF SENSITIVITY
- more sensitive to child’s needs = better attachment
What is the SECOND factor that affects the attachment of a father to their child ?
TYPE OF ATTACHMENT TO OWN PARENTS
- single-parent fathers tend to form similar attachments with their children that they had with their parents
What is the THIRD factor that affects the attachment of a father to their child ?
MARITAL INTIMACY
- intimacy that father has with their parents affects attachment
What is the FOURTH factor that affects the attachment of a father to their child ?
SUPPORTIVE CO-PARENTING
- amount of support father gives his partner e=affects type of attachment
What did GEIGER study ?
fathers play interactions were more playful than mothers
What did LAMB study ?
children prefer interacting with father when in positive emotional state
What are the key points of LORENZ’S study ?
- animal study
- imprinting
- geese
- 50% with natural mother
What time did Lorenz find was the strongest tendency for imprinting ?
13 - 16 hours
After what time had the tendency to imprint passed ?
32 hours
What is IMPRINTING
a process that BINDS a YOUNG ANIMAL to a CAREGIVER in a SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP
Outline the key features in HARLOW’S study
- effects of privation
- 16 monkeys
- wire mother
- cloth mother
What did Harlow discover in his privation study ?
- both groups spent more time with cloth mother
- took refuge with cloth mother
- explore more with cloth mother present
What is the LEARNING THEORY ?
children learn to become attached
What is CLASSICAL CONDITIONING ?
- associations between different stimuli
FOOD: UCS = UCR
MOTHER: NS = NR
What is OPERANT CONDITIONING ?
- learning by reinforcement
What did BOWLBY investigate ? (1)
- monotropic theory of attachment
- evolution explanation
What is MONOTROPY ?
- a child attaches to one caregiver more than others
- the more time the baby spends with this primary attachment figure the better
What is the FIRST LAW linked with monotropy ?
THE LAW OF CONTINUITY
- the more constant and predictable a child’s care is, the better the attachment
What is the SECOND LAW linked with monotropy ?
THE LAW OF ACCUMULATED SEPARATION:
- the more time you spend with your child the better the attachment
What is the INTERNAL WORKING MODEL ?
- template for future relationships
- based on infant’s primary attachment
Bailey et al is research evidence for Bowlby’s monotropy theory - what did they research ?
- 99 mothers
- 1 year old babies
- quality of attachment
- interview and observations
- found poor attachments with own parents resulted in poor attachments to children
What did AINSWORTH study ?
THE STRANGE SITUATION
- quality of attachment between mother and child
What 4 things did the observers in Ainsworth’s study record ?
- willingness to explore
- separation anxiety
- stranger anxiety
- reunion anxiety
What percentage of children were SECURELY ATTACHED ?
66%
What percentage of children were INSECURE AVOIDANT ?
22%
What percentage of children were INSECURE RESISTANT ?
12%
What did VAN IJZENDOORN study ?
- cross cultural variations in attachment
- meta analysis
- 32 separate studies
- 8 countries
- 2000 babies
Where was secure attachment most common ?
West cultures (highest - GB)
Where was secure attachment least common ?
China
Where was avoidant attachment most common ?
Germany
Where was avoidant attachment least common ?
Japan
Where was resistant attachment most common ?
Israel
Where was resistant attachment least common ?
GB
Where variation WITHIN a country greater or fewer than those BETWEEN countries ?
GREATER - 150%
USA: one study found 46% secure // one study found 90% secure
Why are Israeli children resistant attachment ?
- reared in a KIBBUTZ
- used to being separated from mothers
Why are Japanese children resistant attachment ?
- similar to israel but for different reasons
- rarely left mothers
- distress was due to shock not insecurity
Why are German children avoidant attchament ?
- independent children are desired
- less anxious about separation
What did BOWLBY investigate ? (2)
MATERNAL DEPRIVATION THEORY
What are the key elements of Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory ?
- attachment to mother figure is essential for PSYCHOLOGICAL, EMOTIONAL AND INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
In terms of maternal deprivation, what is the critical period ?
first 2.5 years of life
What is the first EFFECT on DEVELOPMENT of maternal deprivation ?
INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
- low IQ
- Goldfarb (1955) - low IQ - children in institutions
What is the second EFFECT on DEVELOPMENT of maternal deprivation ?
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
- affectionless psychopathy
- inability to feel guilt
- prevents normal relationships
What is an INSTITUTION ?
where people live for a long time
What is INSTITUTIONALISATION ?
effects of living in an institution / little emotional care / subsequent development
What did RUTTER study ?
ERA STUDY
- romanian orphans
- 165 orphans
How many of the romanian orphans where adopted by the age of 2 ?
111
How many of the romanian orphans where adopted by the age if 4 ?
54
Hoe many British children where the Romanian children compared to ?
52 - adopted by 6 months
What where the findings of Rutter’s study ?
- by 4 (if adopted by 6 months) the R had caught up with B
- adopted after 6 months = DISINHIBITED ATTACHMENT
What did HODGES & TIZARD study ?
- longitudinal study
- ex-institutionalised children
What are the key elements of Hodges and Tizard’s study ?
- 65 children
- by age 4…
- 24 adopted
- 15 natural homes
- assessments at 8 and 16
What were the results of Hodges and Tizard’s study ?
DIFFERENCES (between adopted and restored)
- adopted had close attachments
SIMILARITIES
- both were more likely to seek adult attention
- less successful in school
What are the 4 effects of institutionalisation ?
physical underdevelopment
intellectual under-functioning
disinhibited attachment
poor parenting
What is PHYSICAL UNDERDEVELOPMENT as an effect of institutionalisation ?
- physically small
- lack of emotional care rather than poor nourishment
What is INTELLECTUAL UNDER-FUNCTIONING as an effect of institutionalisation ?
- cognitive development
- from emotional deprivation
What is DISINHIBITED ATTACHMENT as an effect of institutionalisation ?
- attention seeking
- clinginess
- towards familiar and unfamiliar adults
What is POOR PARENTING as an effect of institutionalisation ?
- QUINTON ET AL
- found parenting difficult
- supported by Harlow’s monkey study
What did SROUFE ET AL study ?
CHILDHOOD RELATIONSHIPS
- secure attachment = more popular / self-esteem / confidence
What did SMITH ET AL study ?
ATTACHMENT TYPE AND BULLYING
- 196 children
- london
- secure = least likely
- IA = likely to be VICTIMS
- IR = likely to be BULLIES
What did HAZAN and SHAVER investigate ?
LOVE QUIZ
- correlation between attachment type and approach to future romantic relationship
- support for internal working model
What did secure attachment describe love as ?
- happy
- friendly
- accepting partners despite faults
What did resistant attachment describe love as ?
- involving obsession
- jealousy
- worry that partner didn’t love them
What did avoidant attachment describe love as ?
- feared intimacy
- emotional highs and lows
- don’t need love to be happy
What are the STRENGTHS of Melzoff and Moore ?
INTERNAL VALIDITY
- person doing the judging didn’t know what behaviour was being measured
DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS
- babies can’t change behaviour to suit the experiment
What are the LIMITATIONS of Melzoff and Moore ?
RELIABILITY
- infant’s mouth in fairly constant motion
What are the STRENGTHS of Shaffer and Emerson - stages of attachment ?
NATURAL STUDY
- behaviour was unlikely to be affected by observer
SAGI ET AL
- kibbutz
- closeness of attachment is twice as common in family-based arrangements
What are the LIMITATIONS of Shaffer and Emerson - stages of attachment ?
VALIDITY
- mothers’ report = bias
POPULATION VALIDITY
- same district and social class
CULTURAL VARIATIONS
- individualistic cultures = main concern of themselves and immediate family
- collectivist cultures = concerned with the group
What are the STRENGTHS of role of the fathers ?
RESEARCH SUPPORT
Geiger - fathers are more playful
Lamb - fathers adapted to becoming main caregiver
LIMITED FOCUS
- research focuses on single mothers
- poor socio-economic
- may be the reason kids do less well in school and relationships
What are the STRENGTHS of Lorenz - imprinting ?
RESEARCH SUPPORT
- Guiton = chicks and rubber gloves
IMPORTANT INFO GAINED
- critical period
What are the LIMITATIONS of Lorenz - imprinting ?
GENERALISING
- mammals show more emotional attachment
VALIDITY
- Guiton
- chicks eventually learned to mate with other chicks
What are the STRENGTHS of Harlow - effects of privation ?
GENERALISING
- mammals are easier to generalise to humans
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
- help social workers understand the effects of privation
- breeding programmes
What are the LIMITATIONS of Harlow - effects of privation ?
CONFOUNDING VARIABLES
- two heads were also different
ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY
- lab study
What are the STRENGTHS of the learning theory ?
AMPLE OPPORTUNITY FOR REINFORCEMENT
- dollard and miller
- babies fed 2000 times in first year
SOME EXPLANATORY POWER
- do learn through associations
- food isn’t main reinforcer but is a reward
What are the LIMITATIONS of the learning theory ?
CONTACT > FOOD
- Harlow
- Shaffer and Emerson - 39% main attachment wasn’t mother
ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATIONS
- Bowlby
- innate tendency to attach
- adult programmed to become attached to infants
What are the STRENGTHS of Bowlby - monotropy theory of attachment ?
SUPPORT FOR IWM
- Bailey = 99 mothers = poor attachment to own mothers meant poor attachment to child
- McCarthy (results supported those of IWM)
What are the LIMITATIONS of Bowlby - monotropy theory of attachment ?
MULTIPLE ATTACHMENT
- Shaffer and Emerson = 39% mother not main attachment figure
ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATIONS
- Kagan - Temperament Hypothesis
- temperament affect relationship between mother and child
What are the STRENGTHS of the strange situation ?
PREDICTIVE VALIDITY
- predict later development
- secure = better relationships and success at school
INTER-RATER VALIDITY
- Bick et al - 94% agreement because of controlled conditions
What are the LIMITATIONS of the strange situation ?
OTHER ATTACHMENT TYPES
- Main and Solomon = disorganised attachment - mixture of IA and IR
VALIDITY
- only looks at attachment to the mother
What are the STRENGTHS of Van Ijzendoorn - meta analysis ?
ETHICALLY SOUND
- no new data collected
APPLICATIONS TO PSYCHOLOGY
- develop understanding of different child rearing practices and their impact on attachment
What are the LIMITATIONS of Van Ijzendoorn - meta analysis ?
ETHNOCENTRIC PROCEDURE
- developed in america
- may not be suitable to use in other cultures
NOT TRULY REPRESENTATIVE
- only looked at 1 study in China
- 18 in the usa
What are the STRENGTHS of Bowlby - maternal deprivation ?
RESEARCH SUPPORT
- 44 Juvenile Thieves
- 14 showed little affection
- 12/14 frequent early separation
bifulco = 250 women lost mothers before 17 - doubled risk of mental illness
What are the LIMITATIONS of Bowlby - maternal deprivation ?
CRITICAL PERIOD MORE OF A SENSITIVE PERIOD
- damage is not inevitable
- twin boys isolated from 18 months - 7
DEPRIVATION AND PRIVATION
- privation = never formed
- deprivation = formed and lost
What are the STRENGTHS of the effects of institutionalisation ?
LONGITUDINAL STUDIES
- prove effects can disappear
- increase validity
APPLICATIONS
- improvements in child care
- have key workers
NO CONFOUNDING VARIABLES
- romanian children weren’t dealing with other traumas
What are the LIMITATIONS of the effects of institutionalisation ?
STUDIES ARE LIMITED
- we don’t have much research into adulthood
ROMANIAN ORPHANS NOT TYPICAL
- really poor conditions
- hard to generalise
What are the LIMITATIONS of early attachment on later relationships ?
VALIDITY IN MEASUREMENT
- most studies don’t make use of the strange situation to classify attachment type but use interviews
- relies on self-report being honest
- retrospective nature relies on accurate recollections
OVERLY DETERMINISTIC
- research has found people having happy relationships even without secure attachment
What are the STRENGTHS of the early attachment on later relationships ?
LONGITUDINAL STUDIES
- don’t have the same problems as self-report techniques
- Simpsom et al = support research of Hazan and Shaver
