Topic 2- Attachment Flashcards
What is an Attachment?
A strong, long-lasting emotional tie or bond between two people, usually a caregiver and child.
What is reciprocity?
Where the actions of one person get a response from the other person, although response is not necessarily the same
What is interactional synchrony?
Behaviour is synchronised when it is carried out at the same time.
What did Meltzoff and Moore (1977) investigate?
INTERACTIONAL SYNCHRONY
What did Tronick et al (1979) investigate?
RECIPROCITY
What are the four stages of attachment
1- (birth to 2 months) asocial/preattachment stage
2-(2-7months) indiscriminate attachment stage
3-(7-12 months) specific/ discriminate attachment stage
4-Multiple attachments
Animal studies of attachment?
LORENZ AND HARLOW
GREYLAG GOOSE AND RHESUS MONKEYS
Outline - Meltzoff and Moore (1977)
Controlled experiment w/ infants 2-3 weeks old.
Adult displayed 1/3 facial expressions and one hand gesture
Observed and recorded
Found that there was an association between the behaviour of the infant and adult model
A later study found same levels of infants who were 3 days old =BEHAVIOUR IS INNATE
Outline- Tronick et al (1979)
Filmed controlled observations of mothers + babies. Mothers were asked to stop moving and maintain a static unsmiling expression on their faces
Babies would try and get their mothers to interact and showed confusion and distress when there was no engagement
demonstrating babies aren’t passive in their interactions with caregivers +have an active role in reciprocal interactions
Evaluating research into caregiver-infant interactions
+use well controlled observational procedures, which were filmed and can be replicated
Outline -Schaffer and Emerson
Only 3% of infants has their father as their first attachment, in nearly a third of the babies fathers were the first joint attachment figure. Fathers today are more likely to be involved with babies compared to working class fathers in Glasgow. In 2013 office for national statistics showed 10% of those who care for children whilst their partner goes to work are male and 9% British single parents are male.
Outline - lamb
Observed 7-13 month old infants at home and found mothers and fathers hold their children for different reasons. Mothers- nurture, restrict
Fathers- playful purposes
Mothers - preferred as sources of comfort (in unfamiliar settings
Fathers -preferred as playmates.
Outline Paquette
Found fathers are more likely to encourage toddlers to take risks and to be brave during physical play than mothers - supports lamb
Outline Grossman
Longitudinal study
Found a correlation between infant relationships with their mother and attachments in adolescence , but no correlation between infant relationships with their father and attachments in adolescence. Quality of fathers play was related to the quality of adolescent attachment
Outline -Lorenz
Took a large clutch of eggs from GREYLAG goose- half placed by him and half by goose mother when hatching -followed who they first saw “imprinting”
Mixed them all together and after they went to their respective ‘mother’s’
Imprinting occurs during critical period and is irreversible. It is also directly linked to sexual behaviour (animals choose a mate with the same kind of object which they imprinted)
Criticisms- Lorenz
Difficult to generalise
Overstated the importance and permanence of imprinting
(Guiton et al found chickens who imprinted on yellow rubber gloves would try and mate with them as adults, after being around their own species were able to engage in normal sexual behaviour - imprinting isn’t irreversible)
Outline-Harlow
Demonstrating attachments not based on feeding
8 infant RHESUS monkeys taken from mothers at birth and studied for 165 days
-grew up with two surrogate mothers (wire and cloth) half were in cages with feeding bottle on wire mother and other half feeding bottle on cloth mother - they all showed preference to cloth mother
Also Harlow scared them with mechanical figure, monkeys fled to cloth mother for comfort
All monkeys developed abnormally- socially, sexually and unable to cradle offspring. However if the monkeys spent time with peers before 3 months - they seemed to recover, more than 6 months with wire mothers created permanent damage. SUPPORTS CRITICAL PERIOD FOR DEVELOPMENT OF ATTACHMENTS
Criticisms - Harlow
+ controlled experiments + generalisation to humans is possible
- ethical issues
- confounding variable - clothe and wire surrogate mothers also had different faces
What’s within the learning theory of attachment
Operant and classical conditioning
What is the main assumption of the learning theory explanation of attachment?
Children learn to become attached to their caregiver because they give them food - can be due to associations and behaviour can be altered by patterns of reinforcement
Evaluate the learning theory of attachment
+ substantial body of lab evidence to support the principles of the learning theory - well controlled, objective and replicable
- classical conditioning is not a sufficient explanation for attachment
- Harlow found that physical contact, rather than food, is vital for attachment in infant RHESUS monkeys
Outline van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg
Meta-analysis, comparing results of 32 studies using the strange situation in 8 different countries
Findings; variation within a culture was 1.5 greater than the variation between different cultures
In all cultures the highest % of children were securely attached
There were variations between cultures
Israel and Japan have less avoidant and more resistant attachments than west Germany. Israel and Japan have similar % for insecure resistant attachments but probably for different reasons.
44 juvenile thieves
Studied 88, 44 were a control group, 44 caught stealing - bowl you suggested that some of them had shown signs of affection less psychopathy - found that some of the thieves had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers at a young age.
Hazan and shaver
“Love quiz” in an American newspaper, collecting info from people about early attachment experiences -205 male responses 415 female responses.
Securely attached - happy and lasting relationships in adulthood
Insecure types- divorced and true love seemed to be rare
Secure 10 years
Resistant 5
Avoidant 6
What happens within the stages of attachment?
Stage one- babies respond to people like they do with objects, and voices as sounds.
Stage two-can now distinguish between people and things and show sociability towards people over inanimate objects. Not yet attached. No fear of strangers and can be comforted by anyone. Reciprocity and intersectional synchrony play a role in establishing the infant’s relationships but this is not oriented towards specific individuals.
Stage three- babies show separation protest, separation anxiety and stranger fear. Form a strong attachment to one individual.
Stage four- extend attachments to other people they spend time with.
Evaluate stages of attachment
- The reason Schaffer found “asocial” behaviour very early in is because the babies have poor mobility and coordination and not necessarily because they are asocial
- Issues with the population and temporal validity of Schaffer and Emerson’s study.
- disagreement over when multiple attachments occur
Outline Quinton et al
Ex institutional women
Extreme difficulties when parents E.g more frequently in care and women less sensitive, supportive and warm- compared to non-institutionalised women
-may not be early institutionalisation that explained their lack of parenting.. more to do with inadequate models for how to parent
Outline John bowlbys monotropic theory of attachment
- Attachment has survival value
- relationship with mother acts as a template or model for later relationships- template is called an internal working model
- there is a critical period
Evaluation of bowlbys theory of attachment
+influential-discovered characteristics such as delinquency, affection-less psychopathy and intellectual retardation. Led to changes in the ways children were looked after-this research has practical implications for the economy
+evidence that attachments form an internal working model which effects later relationships- HAZAN AND SHAVER
-criticised as being ethnocentric
-Schaffer and Emerson prove that infants can have more than one attachment
Outline Mary ainsworths strange situation
Lasted 20 minutes
100 middle class USA infants from 12-18 months - to test the quality of infants attachment by looking at exploration, reactions to a stranger and reunion with mother.
O shows C and I room and leaves.
C watches as I explores and plays.
S enters silently, then talks to C and I. C leaves.
S interacts, talks and plays with I.
C returns, S leaves. C comforts I. C leaves.
I is left alone.
S enters and interacts with I.
C enters, greets I and picks up I. S leaves.
What were the findings of Ainsworth’s strange situation
Securely attached -70%
Insecurely attached- avoidant- 20%
Insecurely attached- resistant - 10%
Conclusion- secure was seen as ‘normal’ and ‘best’. Sensitivity of the caregiver is of cruicial importance in explaining the type of attachment-
Securely attached- sensitive to infants needs and responded in an emotionally expressive way
Avoidant- uninterested in their infants - reject them and are self centred and rigid
Resistant- behaved inconsistently
Evaluate ainsworth and bell’s research using the strange situation
+easily replicated due to systematic procedures
+ reliability as there are high levels of inter-observer reliability
-not a valid measure of attachment- children who go to day care may show insecurely attached avoidant behaviour
-validity ~MAIN AND WESTON found children behaved differently depending upon which parent they were with
-not enough classification types~ MAIN AND CASSIDY identified a 4th classification called “disorganised” or Type D- inconsistent behaviour, confusion and indecision.
Outline Fox
Cultural variations in attachments
Israeli Kibbutzim - children spent a large proportion of time looked after by a metapelet in a communal children’s centre-tests showed the mother was still the primary attachment figure despite shared care
Outline tronik
Cultural variations in attachments
African tribe- the Efe from Zaire. Infants are looked after and breast fed by different women, although they did sleep with their own mother at night- 6 months old infants still showed one primary attachment
Outline Takahashi
Used Strange sitch to study 60 middle class Japanese infants and their mothers.
Found similar rates of secure attachment but no infants were avoidant-insecure. 32% were resistant insecure.
Because…
They were much more disturbed after being left alone that 90% of the time this step topped because the infants were so distressed.
Evaluation of research into cultural variations in attachments
-The SS may be unsuitable for classifying attachment in different cultures. e.g reflecting the norms and values of USA society (ethnocentric) German children are encouraged to be independent -avoidant
Israeli children are used to being separated from their mothers but rarely see strangers and Japanese children are never separated from their mothers -resistant
- false to see each country- there are various subcultures including rural/urban within countries
- cross-cultural similarities may be explained by the effects of mass media rather than innate cultural similarities
Outline the research that led to Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation
Based on his work as a psychiatrist in a child guidance clinic in London 30s and 40s.
44 JUVENILE THIEVES- analysed cases of adolescents, they were all ‘emotionally maladjusted’.
88- 44 who had been caught stealing and 44 control group.
Some of the thieves exhibited signs of affectionless psychopathy- lacking normal signs of affection, guilt or remorse for their actions. Through interviews he found that this was due to prolonged separations from their mothers at a young age (hospitalised or put into foster care)
12/14 of the affectionless thieves were separated from their mothers
Outline bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation
critical period ~ first 30 months of life (if child is deprived of emotional care for an extended period during this time-high chance of psychological damage)
Effects of maternal deprivation include
i mental retardation
ii affectionless psychopathy (inability to have deep feelings for other people and consequent lack of meaningful relationship)
Evaluation of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation
RUTTER said Bowlby’s failed to distinguish between the effects of maternal deprivation and privation. Privation effects last longer and are more serious.
LEWIS-partially replicated 44 thieves but assessed 500 young people. In the larger sample, prolonged separation/ deprivation did not predict later criminality or emotional disturbance.
BOWLBY ET AL-group of children with TB+ control group. All under 4 when they were first hospitalised, nursing regimes were strict. However, no signs of delinquency or problems forming social relationships.
Argued that not all children will be affected by emotional disruption in the same way- insecurely attached become more distressed.
Outline hodges and tizard
Aimed to investigate the effects of failure to form attachment (privation) on later social and emotional development+ to test Bowlby’s hypothesis that lack of a continuous relationship between infant and mother in first few years of life would have permanent long term negative effects
65 children placed in an institution when less than 4 months old. Children had excellent physical care, but they had no opportunity to form attachments with staff. 50 carers.
4yrs- 24 children had been adopted and 15 back to their biological mothers. Interviews were conducted with the children, parents, teachers and peers.
Differences found between the ex-institutionalised children and the control group, but no signs of affectionless psychopathy or low intelligence. They were however, more attention seeking and more indiscriminately affectionate than non- institutional children.
8yrs-most of the kids had formed close attachments with parents, attention seeking from adults and less successful in making friends.
16yrs- more closely attached than the restored children. All ex-institutionalised children less likely to have a special friend, be part of a crowd or to be liked by other children. They were also more quarrelsome and likely to be bullies.
ALL had difficulty in peer relationships- ability to form relationships may have been damaged by early privation.
Evaluate hodges and tizard
+ study exploits a naturally occurring situation which couldn’t be set up deliberately due to ethical reasons - high validity
-sample is small and more than 20 children couldn’t be found by the end of the study (attrition) sample may be biased and it’s possible the more troubled children dropped out - hard to generalise the results
-cannot be certain that the IV caused the DV- natural experiment meant there was less control than a lab experiment.
Children may have been selected for adoption bc they were more attractive and socially able in the first place - meaning their temperament becomes a confounding variable and we cannot be sure about the effects of early privation on lager social development.
Outline RUTTER et al
165 Romanian orphans assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15.
111 adopted before the age of 2, a further 54 by the age of 4. Compared with control groups of 52 British children who were adopted in the U.K. before age of 4
All Romanian children developed their physical, cognitive and social measures at a slower rate to the British children.
Adopted before 6 months of age- ‘normal’ emotional development when compared with British children
Adopted after 6 months of age- showed disinhibited attachments and problems with peers
Evaluation of RUTTER et al
+ used a range of methods to assess children’s behaviour including semi- structured interviews and observation- making research rich and detailed.
- methodological issues with the research- difficult to obtain info from the quality of care in many of the institutions in Romania (difficult to assess the extent of privation in the early environments of the children)
- attrition is also an issue in this longitudinal research
Evaluation of research into institutionalisation
+ important practical applications which may have benefitted the economy through government social policy e.g Rutgers research led to important changes to adoption policy.
-lack of control over the research e.g methodological issues of the research including natural experiments and also extraneous variables such as children having pre existing problems.
Outline Bowlby’s later findings to do with the internal working model
Adult relationships are likely to reflect early attachment styles, as experiences with the primary attachment figure influence the child’s expectation of similar experiences in later relationships
BOWLBY proposed that individuals develop an internal working model of the self in relation to the PCG. These internal working models influence the child’s expectations about future relationships
Outline Sroufe et al
Conducted the Minnesota parent-child study. Followed participants from infancy to late adolescence and found continuity between the classification of an early attachment and social competence in later childhood. Those who were previously classified as securely attached were less isolated, more popular with peers and more empathic as older children.
Early attachments are also believed to impact upon mental health in later childhood. The lack of an attachment during the critical period would lead to a lack of an internal working model.
A mental health condition termed ‘reactive attachment disorder’ has been identified which is demonstrated by no preferred attachment figure and an inability to interact with others before the age of 5- suggesting that disruption to the attachment process in infancy can impact upon later childhood relationships quite significantly.
Evaluation of the influence of childhood experiences in adult relationships
MORRISON ET AL asked male and female college students in USA to complete questionnaires describing their current or most recent relationship. Also completing an attachment style inventory to assess their attachment type. Students with avoidant attachment types described more hostility in their adult relationships than student with a secure attachment type
Retrospective- self report measures
Subjective and subject to social desirability/demand characteristic issues ALSO correlation is establish therefore no cause and effect
Need to distinguish between relatedness and relationships which result from the interplay between two peoples attachment styles.
This view of early experiences is ‘overly deterministic’. - it assumes that early relationships/ experiences will certainly affect later life.
However, may be argued that people have a certain amount of free will to overcome negative or unstable early experiences SIMPSON points out that the research does not indicate that our past ‘unalterably determines’ the course of our future.
