Psychology - Attachment Flashcards
What is attachment?
Attachment is an emotional bond between two people in which each seeks closeness and feels more secure when in the presence of the attachment figure.
How are caregiver-infant interactions typically initiated?
Caregiver-infant interactions are baby-led, with the adult responding to the behavior of the baby.
What is reciprocity in caregiver-infant interactions?
Reciprocity is a form of interaction where the infant and caregiver respond to each other’s signals, eliciting responses from one another.
Give an example of reciprocity.
Smiling – when a baby smiles, it triggers a smile in the caregiver, and vice versa.
Why is reciprocity important for development?
Reciprocity influences a child’s physical, social, and cognitive development, forming the basis for trust or mistrust and shaping future relationships.
What did Jaffe et al. observe about newborns and reciprocity?
From birth, babies move in a rhythm during interactions, resembling the turn-taking in a conversation.
What is interactional synchrony?
Interactional synchrony is when two individuals mirror each other’s emotions and behaviors during interaction.
Provide an example of interactional synchrony.
A caregiver laughing in response to an infant’s giggling sound and tickling them.
How does a caregiver’s attentiveness affect interactional synchrony?
Synchrony develops best when the caregiver attends to the baby’s state, stimulates playfully when appropriate, and avoids overstimulation when the baby is tired.
What did Heimann find about imitation and relationship quality?
Infants who demonstrate a lot of imitation early tend to have better quality relationships at 3 months, although causation is unclear.
What are the limitations of research on interactional synchrony?
Observations may not reveal whether infant behaviors are deliberate or unconscious, making it hard to determine the special meaning of these behaviors.
What are the stages of attachment development identified by Schaffer and Emerson?
- Asocial stage (0-6 weeks)
- Indiscriminate attachments (6 weeks-7 months)
- Specific attachment (7-9 months)
- Multiple attachments (10+ months)
What behaviors indicate the development of specific attachment?
Fear of strangers and distress when separated from a particular caregiver.
What is sensitive responsiveness?
The ability of a caregiver to respond accurately to a baby’s signals, crucial for forming strong attachments.
What are some criticisms of the Schaffer and Emerson study?
Low population validity, small sample size, unreliable diary data, and lack of historical validity due to changing gender roles.
What is the significance of multiple attachments in infants?
By 18 months, most infants form multiple attachments that vary in strength, often structured in a hierarchy.
How would you explain Laura’s distress when her mother drops her off at the childminder?
Laura, at 7 months, is in the specific attachment stage. Her distress shows separation anxiety, a normal behavior in this stage.
How long might Laura’s separation anxiety last?
This behavior typically diminishes as she transitions into the multiple attachments stage around 10 months.
What roles do fathers typically adopt compared to mothers in child-rearing?
Fathers usually adopt a play-mate role, engaging in physical games and encouraging risk-taking, whereas mothers often take a caregiving and nurturing role.
When do infants typically prefer contact with their fathers versus their mothers?
Infants prefer fathers when in a positive emotional state and wanting to play, and mothers when distressed and seeking comfort.
What factors affect the role of the father in attachment?
Culture, the father’s age, time spent away from home, and psychological factors such as emotional sensitivity.
What did Field’s research suggest about the father’s ability to be a primary caregiver?
Fathers can adopt behaviors typical of mothers when in the main caregiver role, showing that responsiveness, not gender, determines attachment.
How do cultural and social policies influence the role of fathers?
Cultural expectations and policies like paternity leave shape fathers’ involvement. For instance, lack of paternal leave in the UK historically reinforced mothers as primary caregivers.
What did Harlow’s study with rhesus monkeys demonstrate about attachment?
Attachment is based on contact comfort rather than food, as monkeys spent more time with a cloth-covered surrogate than a wire one that provided food.
What are criticisms of Harlow’s study?
Ethical concerns due to emotional harm caused to the monkeys, limited generalizability to humans, and confounding variables (e.g., differing appearances of surrogate mothers).
How does Harlow’s study relate to real-life implications, such as robotic caregiving?
It suggests emotional care is vital, so replacing human caregivers with robots could negatively affect children’s emotional development.
What is imprinting, according to Lorenz?
Imprinting is the process where young animals attach to the first moving object they see during a critical period (12-17 hours post-hatching).
What did Lorenz’s research suggest about attachment?
Attachment is innate and occurs during a critical period, supporting the idea that attachment behaviors are biologically programmed.
What are criticisms of Lorenz’s theory?
Imprinting may not be irreversible, as Hoffman and Guiton found that animals could form normal behaviors after exposure to their own species.
What does the learning theory of attachment propose?
Attachment is learned through classical conditioning (association of caregiver with food) and operant conditioning (reinforcement from interaction).
How has research contradicted the learning theory?
Harlow’s monkeys preferred comfort over food, and Schaffer and Emerson found infants attached to those who responded sensitively, not just feeders.
What is a limitation of the learning theory?
It oversimplifies human attachment by focusing solely on learned behaviors and neglecting innate biological predispositions.
What does Bowlby’s monotropic theory emphasize about attachment?
Attachment is vital for survival, is biologically programmed, and involves a primary attachment figure (monotropy).
What is the critical period for forming attachment, according to Bowlby?
The critical period is between 0–2.5 years, during which attachment must form, or it may not occur at all.
What is the internal working model in Bowlby’s theory?
It is a cognitive framework from early attachment experiences that influences future relationships and interactions.
What evidence supports Bowlby’s monotropic theory?
Lorenz’s imprinting study and Ainsworth’s Strange Situation provide support, showing the importance of a primary attachment figure and internal working models.
What are criticisms of Bowlby’s monotropic theory?
Schaffer and Emerson found multiple attachments are common, and research like Van Ijzendoorn suggests networks of caregivers can provide better support than a single figure.
What was the main aim of Ainsworth and Bell’s Strange Situation study?
To observe and assess the attachment behaviors of infants in a controlled setting when exposed to situations of separation and reunion with their caregiver and interactions with a stranger.
What type of study design was used in the Strange Situation?
A controlled observation.
Who were the participants in the Strange Situation study?
About 100 middle-class American infants and their mothers.
What was the primary method of observation in the Strange Situation study?
Observing the child’s behavior from behind a one-way mirror to ensure the child was unaware of being observed.
What behaviors were the observers specifically noting in the Strange Situation?
Willingness to explore, separation anxiety, stranger anxiety, and reunion behavior.
What does the Strange Situation procedure simulate?
The flow of familiar and unfamiliar presence in a child’s everyday life.
How do securely attached infants respond to separation anxiety?
They show distress when the mother leaves.
How do resistant infants respond to separation anxiety?
They show intense distress when the mother leaves.
How do avoidant infants respond to separation anxiety?
They show no sign of distress when the mother leaves.
What is the response of securely attached infants to stranger anxiety?
They avoid strangers when alone but are friendly when the mother is present.
How do resistant infants respond to stranger anxiety?
They avoid the stranger and show fear of the stranger.
