Week 4 - Perspectives on attachment and love Flashcards
What did Harlow investigate?
Harlow investigated the relative importance of feeding or ‘contact comfort’ for the development of infant attachment.
What was the procedure Harlow did?
Procedure – Harlow’s research involved raising infant rhesus monkeys with two ‘surrogate mothers’ in controlled conditions. The surrogates were both wire frames shaped like adult monkeys, but one of them was covered with a soft cloth. Harlow varied which of the surrogates dispensed milk and then observed which surrogate the infants would cling to by measuring how long they clung to each surrogate.
What were the findings of Harlow’s research?
Findings - Harlow found that regardless of which surrogate dispensed milk, the infant monkeys preferred to stay close to the cloth surrogate, especially when they were frightened.
Conclusion – Harlow concluded that contact comfort was more important to the development of attachment than food.
Additional findings and conclusion – He also observed the monkeys over an extended period to see the long-term consequences (e.g., social and emotional) of these attachment conditions. Harlow observed significant long-term problems in the infants raised by surrogates. They experienced difficulties socialising and mating, and if they did become parents, they tended to neglect, and sometimes even attack, their young. Harlow concluded this showed the necessity of contact comfort for healthy psychological development.
Harlow also believed in the continuity principle. What research did he do into this?
Harlow also believed in the continuity principle. His theory, ‘learning to learn, described the ability of animals to slowly learn a general rule that could then be applied to rapidly solve new problem sets. Harlow presented monkeys with two stimuli (a red block and a thimble for example) one was predetermined ‘correct’ and reinforced with food (red block) and the other was ‘incorrect’ and not reinforced with food (thimble). Monkey learned to apply shape-reward rules to other stimuli.
What are some behaviours that elicit attachment?
Sucking - Food and comfort
Cuddling - Mould to adult for comfort
Looking - Invitation from infant to adult
Smiling - 5 weeks to objects, 3 months to attachment
Crying - Gain assistance, cold, wet, hungry
What is Maternal deprivation?
Bowlby theory of maternal deprivation (1951) rests on his claim that young children should “experience a warm, intimate, and continuous relationship with his mother (or permanent mother substitute) in which both find satisfaction and enjoyment””.
Bowlby argued that children who do not experience this relationship have suffered ‘maternal deprivation’ and may suffer significant and irreversible mental health consequences.
- He likened good maternal care to vitamins, and its absence to malnutrition.
Bowlby argued the consequences of maternal deprivation are most severe in the case of complete deprivation.
According to Bowlby, complete deprivation would have consequences for the child’s intellectual, physical and social development.
What is partial deprivation?
A less severe form of maternal deprivation is partial deprivation. This can happen if the child is temporarily removed from the care of its mother. It might also happen if the child remains with a mother who is unable to properly care for it.
Although Bowlby argued the consequences of partial deprivation are less severe, they can still harm the child’s emotional development, resulting in anxiety, depression, and neediness.
What is affection-less psychopathy?
The most severe example of these consequences is a condition Bowlby labelled affection-less psychopathy. This is characterised by a lack of concern for others, lack of guilt and inability to form meaningful and lasting relationships.
What is complete deprivation?
This occurs when the child grows up without one main person to care for them (a common situation in institutions such as residential nurseries and hospitals).
Is maternal deprivation permanent?
Negative effects of maternal deprivation were permanent or irreversible in 25% of children
What is Monotropy?
The heart of Bowlby’s monotropic theory is the concept of monotropy (also called a monotropic relationship or monotropic bond). This refers to the warm, loving relationship (i.e., an attachment) an infant shares with one person, usually, but not necessarily, its mother.
Bowlby proposed an evolutionary explanation for the monotropic relationship. He argued infants are born with the need to establish and maintain a monotropic relationship, as the close bond is a survival necessity for infants.
Bowlby proposed that infants are born with a set of innate behaviours (e.g., sucking, clinging, following, crying, and smiling) called social releasers. These are proximity seeking behaviours that aid the survival of an infant by drawing the attachment figure (e.g., the mum) back to the infant and help maintain the monotropic bond.
What is the critical period hypothesis?
Bowlby suggested that the first two year’s of a child’s lie represented a critical period, during which a child must form a monotropic relationship.
Bowlby argued these years were critical as if the child does not form a monotropic relationship during this period, then they will experience long-term and irreversible consequences for their social, emotional and intellectual development
Bowlby argued the key factor in forming an attachment in the critical period was not food but emotional sensitivity. A carer who is emotionally sensitive will respond to their child’s social releasers.
What is stranger anxiety?
Expressions of discomfort, such as clinger to caregiver, in the presence of strangers
What is separation anxiety?
Tendency to react with distress when separated from caregiver
What was the aim of the ‘Strange situation?
The Strange Situation is a procedure devised by Mary Ainsworth in the 1970s to investigate individual differences in attachment behaviours in young children (9-18 months old).
