Types of Attachment Flashcards
Schaffer and Emerson’s theory about the stages of attachment, although generally correct, doesn’t take into account many factors. State 3.
Individual differences.
Family size.
Family placement.
Disabilities.
Personality.
Environment you are born in.
What is a secure attachment?
The result of a strong positive relationship between infant and caregiver, so that although the child shows separation, he or she is easily comforted by the caregivers return.
What is an insecure attachment?
Weak emotional relationship between child and caregiver, leading to an anxious and insecure relationship which can have a negative effect on development.
State 3 factors that create insecure attachments.
Health of PCG.
Lack of attention from parents (same-sex).
PCG’s job.
Abuse.
Differences in maternal sensitivity in infants whose mothers lacks sensitivity.
Temperament, with which a child is born may be a biologically determined factor.
What did Baer and Martinez state in 2006?
Children who are maltreated are more likely to be insecurely attached.
The nature of attachment is of great importance to what?
Development.
What percentage of young children in most countries are securely attached? What about insecure?
70%.
30% are insecurely attached.
Teens/adults with secure attachments are likely to be what 3 things?
Better development.
More socially-able.
More confident.
Teens/adults with insecure attachments are likely to be what 3 things?
Untrusting.
Search/ run from affection. (Humanism links: conditional and unconditional positive regard).
Have a lower self-esteem.
Outline Wartner et al’s study from 1994.
(Supports the idea that secure attachments increase an infant’s confidence and social strength)
(The value of secure attachments)
Supports the idea that secure attachments increase an infant’s confidence and social strength.
This is because they observed that securely attached children showed more competence in their play.
Children are able to confidently explore their environment, whilst using their PCG as a base.
This suggests that secure attachments are more beneficial for infant development than insecure attachments.
They also found that 82% of children at the age of 18 months and 6 years remained in the same category of attachment.
This reinforces the significance of early attachments, and how important it is for an infant to develop a secure attachment.
What did Belsky and Fearon state in 2002?
Securely attached children had a greater social confidence, school readiness, expressive language and receptive language.
When did Harlow conduct his Baby Monkey study?
(Harry Harlow’s Baby Monkeys, 1959)
1959.
What was the aim of Harlow’s research?
(Harry Harlow’s Baby Monkeys, 1959)
Test learning theory by comparing attachment behaviour in baby monkeys given a wire surrogate mother producing milk with those given a soft towelling mother with no milk.
What was the procedure of Harlow’s research?
(Harry Harlow’s Baby Monkeys, 1959)
Two surrogate mothers were constructed, one a ‘harsh wire’ and the other a ‘soft towelling’.
16 baby monkeys were used, four in each four conditions:
- Towelling mother (no milk) with wire mother (milk). - Towelling mother (milk) with wire mother (no milk). - Wire mother (milk). - Towelling mother (milk).
The amount of time spent with each mother, as well as feeding time, was recorded.
The monkeys were frightened with a loud noise to test for mother preference during stress.
A larger cage was also used to test the monkeys degree of exploration.
State 3 findings from Harlow’s study.
(Harry Harlow’s Baby Monkeys, 1959)
Monkeys preferred contact with the towelling mother when given a choice between both, regardless of whether milk was produced. They even stretched between the mothers in order to gather food and stay in proximity.
Monkeys with only a wire surrogate mother had diarrhoea, a sign of stress.
When frightened the monkeys clung to the the towelling mother when she was available.
In the larger cage conditions, monkeys with towelling mothers explored more and visited their surrogate mother more often.
What was concluded from Harlow’s study?
(Harry Harlow’s Baby Monkeys, 1959)
Rhesus monkeys have an innate, unlearned need for contact comfort, suggesting that attachment concerns emotional security more than food.
Contact comfort is associated with lower levels of stress and a willingness to explore, indicating emotional security.
State two evaluative points from Harlow’s study.
(Harry Harlow’s Baby Monkeys, 1959)
Study involved animals and therefore we cannot extrapolate the results to humans.
There are ethical issues involving the separation of baby monkeys and the stress caused to them.
Overtime, Harlow publicly distanced himself from the work of who? What did Harlow think of Bowlby?
(Harry Harlow’s Baby Monkeys, 1959)
Bowlby and Ainsworth, as well as Lorenz’s views on imprinting.
He especially did not believe that his work supported Bowlby’s belief of a child’s innate need for mother love.
What was the aim of Ainsworth and Bell’s Strange Situation?
(Ainsworth and Bell’s Strange Situation, 1970)
Investigate individual variation in infant attachments; in particular differences between secure and insecure attachments.
When did Ainsworth and Bell’s Strange Situation occur?
(Ainsworth and Bell’s Strange Situation, 1970)
1970.
What was the procedure of Ainsworth and Bell’s Strange Situation?
(Ainsworth and Bell’s Strange Situation, 1970)
The strange situation test lasts for just over 20 minutes and was used on American infants ages between 12 and 18 months.
It takes place in the laboratory and the method used is controlled observation.
What happens in the first stage of the Strange Situation?
(Ainsworth and Bell’s Strange Situation, 1970)
30 seconds.
Mother/ caregiver, infant and researcher in the room.
Researcher brings the other into the room and rapidly leaves.
What happens in the second stage of the Strange Situation?
(Ainsworth and Bell’s Strange Situation, 1970)
3 minutes.
Mother/ caregiver and infant in the room. Mother/ caregiver sits; infant is free to explore.
What happens in the third stage of the Strange Situation?
(Ainsworth and Bell’s Strange Situation, 1970)
3 minutes.
Stranger, mother/ caregiver and infant in the room.
Stranger comes in and after a while talks to mother/ caregiver and then to the infant.
Mother/ caregiver leaves the room.
