Paper 1: Attachment Flashcards
Define “attachment”?
A two way enduring emotional tie to another specific person where they see the other person as essential for their emotional security.
What is meant by “Reciprocity”?
Reciprocity is where the mother and infant respond to each other’s signals and each elicits a response from the other – a conversation.
What are the strengths of research into infant-caregiver interactions?
(+) It is studied in controlled observations which are higher in validity.
(+) has practical applications because parents can be educated into the positive effects of good interactions.
Describe the first two stages of attachment according to Schaffer.
- Asocial – the infant shows little preference for any people and responds to objects and people in similar ways.
- Indiscriminate Attachment – babies prefer people to objects and will accept attention from anyone. Do not show stranger/separation anxiety.
What are the two opposing explanations of attachment?
Learning Theory – attachment is a learned behaviour and occurs to the person that feeds the infant because of classical and operant conditioning.
Monotropic Theory – attachment is an innate behaviour passed down through evolution.
Describe learning theory of attachment.
Learning theory argues attachment forms because of :
Classical conditioning – an association is formed between caregiver and food and so infants attach to their feeder.
Operant conditioning – attention and food act as reinforcements.
Explain what social releasers are.
These ‘unlock’ the innate tendency of adults to care for them. They include: Physical – the typical ‘baby face’ features and body proportions (e.g big eyes) Behavioural – e.g. crying, cooing
Describe 3 ways of observing if an attachment has been formed.
Proximity: People stay physically close to attachment figures.
Separation Distress: People seem distressed when they are away from the attachment figure.
Stranger Distress: distress in the presence of an unknown person.
What is meant by “Interactional synchrony”?
Interactional synchrony – mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions of the other AND they do this in a co-ordinated, synchronised way, mirroring each other.
What are the weaknesses of research into infant-caregiver interactions?
(-) It is socially sensitive research because it can make parents feel bad if their have poor interactions /separations from infants.
(-) It can be difficult to make firm conclusions when observing infants because it is difficult to know if an infant movement is intentional.
Describe the last two stages of attachment according to Schaffer.
- Specific Attachment – Infants show stranger & separation anxiety especially when separated from primary care giver.
- Multiple Attachments – infants start to attach to more than one person. Fear of strangers tends to lessen.
Are fathers just as biologically able as women to be caregivers?
Mixed evidence. Hrdy (1999) - Reported that fathers are less able to detect low levels of infant distress, suggesting they are less suitable as prime attachment figures. But – Lamb (1987) found that fathers who become main care providers seem able to quickly develop more sensitivity to children’s needs.
Describe the key features of monotropic explanation of attachment.
· Attachment is evolutionary - adaptive
· There is a critical period
· Children form one main attachment
· Babies use social releasers to stimulate attachments
· Infants form an internal working model based on primary attachment.
Explain what Bowlby believed about the critical period.
Bowlby saw infants as needing to form an attachment between birth and 2 1/2 years. If no attachment is formed then it could have irreversible long term consequences for the infant.
What things strengthen an attachment bond?
- Bodily Contact
- Mimicking
- Cargiverese – “baby talk”
- Interactional Synchrony
- Reciprocity
Describe a study that supports interactional synchrony?
Meltzoff & Moore (1977) Found infants as young as 2-3 weeks imitated facial expressions and hand gestures.
Describe a study that supports reciprocity?
Tronick (1979) – asked mothers to stop moving and maintain an unsmiling expression. Babies would try and tempt the mother into interaction by smiling and became distressed when their mother didn’t respond.
What are the four stages of attachment according to Schaffer?
- Asocial
- Indiscriminate Attachment
- Specific Attachment
- Multiple Attachments
Explain how fathers interactions in terms of play might be different to mothers.
Fathers may have more of a playmate role rather than caregiver role. E.g Geiger (1996) found fathers play interactions were more exciting than mothers.
Describe the process of classical conditioning in attachment according to the learning theory.
Food (UCS) produces pleasure (UCR). The food (UCS) becomes paired with the mother (NS) to produce pleasure. Then the mother (CS) becomes conditioned to produce pleasure (CR) even when not producing food.
Explain what Bowlby believed an internal working model is.
This is a model (template/blueprint) for future relationships (e.g friendships and romantic relationships) based on the relationship with the primary attachment figure.
Explain how operant conditioning is involved in attachment.
Positive Reinforcement: E.g a baby cries and gets attention (a positive reinforcement) so they learn to cry again.
Negative Reinforcement: They may be then given food – takes away unpleasant feelings of hunger.
What are the findings of the Lorenz study?
The geese chicks (goslings) immediately imprinted on the first thing they saw. This also impacted on their sexual behaviour when mature. He also found there was a critical period in which the chicks had to imprint.
What are some of the evaluation points for Lorenz?
(+) the research has practical applications (e.g in orphan sheep and migratory birds).
(-) some argue it isn’t possible to generalise research to humans as it uses animals.
What are some of the evaluation points for Harlow?
(+) The research has practical applications (e.g in preventing the harmful effects of lack of attachments).
(-) research can be seen as unethical because the infants were harmed.
(-) there was a confounding variable because the two “mothers” heads differed as well.
What were the 3 attachment types identified by Ainsworth (and what one was added later?)?
- Secure
- Insecure Avoidant
- Insecure Resistant
Later: Insecure Disorganised
Describe an insecure-resistant child.
These infants appear fussy even with mother present. They show very high levels of stranger anxiety and separation distress. They seek the mothers comfort on reunion but show anger and resist her attention at the same time.
Describe the findings of the Van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg study.
It was found that the most common attachment type was securely attached. In Western cultures the dominant insecure type is anxious-avoidant (Type A), whereas in non-Western cultures it is anxious-resistant (Type C).
How can the animal studies criticise the learning explanation?
(-) Harlow found that infants attach to a mother for comfort instead of food so shows attachment isn’t about food.
(-) Lorenz showed that geese imprint on the first thing they see after hatching regardless of who feeds them so is against learning theory because it supports this is innate.
What is imprinting?
The tendency for some newborn animals (e.g birds) to very quickly attach to the animal/thing it sees after birth and begins to pattern its behaviour after them.
How do the animal studies of the attachment support Bowlby’s ideas?
Harlow found that infants who didn’t form attachments were severely damaged like Bowlby believed.
Lorenz and Harlow both showed the importance of a critical period on development on attachments.
Lorenza showed attachment might be innate also supporting Bowlby’s view.
What are the 8 episodes of the strange situation?
- The caregiver and infant arrive
- The caregiver sits, the infant explores
- Stranger enters & interacts with them
- Caregiver leaves, stranger comforts child
- Caregiver returns and stranger leaves
- Caregiver leaves so infant is alone
- Stanger enters and interacts with child
- Caregiver returns and stranger leaves.
Describe a securely attached infant.
These infants play contently and return regularly to their mother. They show moderate separation distress and stranger anxiety. They show happiness on reunion but will soon continue to play.
What is the temperament hypothesis with regards to the strange situation?
It is possible that an infant’s attachment type is based on the biological personality of the infant instead of the sensitive responsiveness of the mother.
What countries had the lowest and highest percentage of insecure resistant in the Van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg study?
Highest: Israel
Lowest: Great Britain
What are the procedures of the Lorenz study?
Lorenz separated a collection of geese eggs into two groups. One which would see Lorenz upon hatching and one which would see their mother.
What are the procedures of the Harlow study?
Harlow had infant monkeys that were taken from their mothers and placed into cages with cloth and/or wire mother monkeys. He monitored the length of time the infants spent with their “mothers” and how they acted when frightened.
What did Harlow find through his study?
· Baby monkeys preferred the cloth mother, regardless of if she produced milk.
· If frightened they would cling to the cloth mother.
· Monkeys with the cloth mother explored more in the larger cage.
What 5 things were examined in the strange situation?
Proximity Seeking
Exploration and Secure Base
Stranger Anxiety
Separation Distress
Response at Reunion
Describe an insecure-avoidant child.
These infants show little difference in their behaviour to a stranger and to their mother. They don’t show separation distress or stranger anxiety. They don’t seek comfort on reunion and don’t return to mother regularly when playing.
Describe the procedures of the Van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg study.
The researchers carried out a meta-analysis of 32 studies (carried out in 8 different countries) that used the strange situation to classify attachment types.
What countries had the lowest and highest percentage of insecure avoidant in the Van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg study?
Highest: Germany
Lowest: Japan
What are the three stages of short term separation?
Protest
Despair
Detachment
What are the consequences of maternal deprivation?
Poor Intellectual Development: deprived children could suffer “retardation” & abnormally low IQ.
Poor Emotional Development: maternal deprivation can cause affectionless psychopathy.
Explain the evaluation points of the Romanian Orphans study.
(+) practical applications with positive changes to orphanages.
(-) could be confounding variables
(-) difficulty generalising from the Romanian Orphanages as they were particularly bad.
Explain what disinhibited attachment is (found in children in institutions).
Where children treat near strangers with inappropriate familiarity (over friendliness) and are attention seeking.
Rutter argues it is due to the many carers the children have in the orphanages.
What was found from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project?
A group of institutionalised children were randomly assigned to either remain in the institution or were given high quality foster care. It was found that a lot more children from the foster group were securely attached than the ones still in care. The foster care group also had gains in IQ.
Describe any studies that showed how poor attachments can lead to poor parenting.
Bailey (2007) found the majority of mothers studied had the same attachment classification with their infant as they did to their own mother.
Harlow – the monkeys which were deprived of attachments went on to be poor parents
Quinton (1984) – women raised in institutions have more issues in raising kids.
Outline the implications for the economy from attachment research.
Children that are securely attached are more likely to be productive members of society, contributing to the economy.
Bowlby’s ideas about the importance of the mother-infant relationship could mean mothers are less likely to work and could affect the economy.
Explain the difference between Privation and Deprivation.
Deprivation is where a child has formed and then lost an attachment bond.
Whereas Privation is where the child hasn’t formed an attachment bond at all.
Describe the procedures and findings of the 44 thieves study.
Procedures: 44 teenagers accused of stealing were interviewed and their childhoods were examined for separations from mother.
Findings: 14/44 were affectionless psychopaths. 12 of these had experiences prolonged separation. Only 2 of controls had experienced separations.
Explain the 4 effects of institutionalisation.
Physical underdevelopment
Intellectual Underfunctioning
Disinhibited Attachment
Poor Parenting
Explain what Rutter’s English and Romanian Adoptee study did (procedures).
Rutter has followed a random sample of 165 Romanian children. The Romanian children were studied at ages 4, 6, 11 & 15. As a control group, 52 adopted children from the UK who hadn’t lived in institutions were also studied.
Describe the Hazan and Shaver procedures.
Researchers asked p’s to fill in a LOVE QUIZ which asked them to select statements that reflect their feelings about romantic relationships. They also assessed their childhood relationships and categorised them into the attachment types (secure etc).
Explain what Genie contributed to our understanding of attachment.
Genie was severely neglected and was found at the age 13. She never fully regained language or intellectual ability and so can support the idea of a critical period.
What do the Czech Twins show for a critical period?
The Czech twins were severely neglected and found at the age of 7. They recovered normally despite their deprivation. This shows that the effects of deprivation are reversible and so the “critical” period may be more of a sensitive period.
What countries had the lowest and highest percentage of securely attached, in the Van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg study?
Highest: Great Britain
Lowest: China
Give a couple of evaluation points for the maternal deprivation hypothesis.
(-) Some have shown that maternal deprivation effects are reversible (contrary to what Bowlby thought).
(-) the research is only correlations. It cannot be proven that the cause of issues in adulthood.
(+) Research has practical applications.
(-) Research is socially sensitive
Explain what is meant by institutionalisation.
This is where the child adopts the rules and norms of the institution and can impair functioning. It often leads to a loss of personal identity (deindividuation).
Explain what Rutter’s English and Romanian Adoptee study found.
At age 11 the rates of recovery were related to the age of adoption. Children adopted after 6 months showed disinhibited attachment. There were rapid improvements in those children adopted before the age of 6 months.
Describe the Hazan and Shaver findings.
They found a positive correlation between attachment type and love experiences. Secure had longer lasting and trusting relationships. Insecure people were prone to loneliness.
Why is Bowlby’s research and theories criticised for being “socially sensitive”?
Because Bowlby implied the importance of the mother-infant interactions. It could put pressure onto mothers to stay at home with their children when this may not be what they want to do.
Explain a few criticisms of the strange situation.
- Low Ecological validity – it was an artificial setting
- It didn’t assess attachment type with other family members
- It is criticised for being culturally biased.
- It is based on subjective judgements.
