Attachment Flashcards
(38 cards)
what is reciprocity?
- infant coordinates actions with the caregiver like a conversation
- 2 way mutual process
. behaviour of CG elicits response in infant and vice versa
. forms attachment/bond between CG and infant - if CG doesn’t respond, baby could be distressed
- Feldman, 2007: this interaction is frequent from around 3 months and involves close attention to each other’s verbal signals and facial expressions
what is interactional synchrony?
- PCG and infant reflect the actions of each other in a coordinated way
- Meltzoff and Moore (1977) found that infants from 2-3 weeks imitated facial and hand gestures
. being able to do this from as young as 2 weeks suggests that it is not a learned response, but evolutionary/innate - Isabella et al looked at 30 mothers and their infants and found that higher degree of interactional synchrony meant better quality of infant-mother attachment
caregiver-infant interactions AO3
- CAUSE AND EFFECT: reciprocity and interactional synchrony may not lead to better quality attachments, but instead babies may participate in these interactions due to their specific attachment with the CG
🗸 SUPPORING EVIDENCE: S + E found that sensitive responsiveness (which was communicating and responding to the baby) led to earlier and stronger formation of attachment. which supports the idea that interactions between the infant and CG strengthens attachments. increased validity
+: SUPPORT FROM ISABELLA ET AL
. 30 mothers: found that higher degree of interactional synchrony meant better quality of infant-mother attachment
+ PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF RESEARCH INTO CG-INFANT INTERACTION
Condon and Sander (1974) said that children can synchronise their movements with the sound of an adult’s voice .Brazleton et al demonstrated that the way the two interact changes slightly according to the rhythm, pitch, volume etc of the adult’s speech.
The presence of this interaction is linked to better communication between the parent and child when the child is older
🗸 INFANTS AS SUBJECT: babies don’t understand that they are in an experiment so cannot show demand characteristics, more valid observations
- PURPOSE OF BEHAVIOUR: can only infer purpose as we cannot speak to the baby or know what they think.
+ : observations tend to be very controlled.
there are behavioural categories (like smiling, crying etc) to infer behaviour which means they are more likely to have inter observer reliability.
Brazleton recorded from multiple angles and used advanced eye tracking technology to make more accurate conclusions on interactions.
APFC Schaffer and Emerson
AIM- aimed to investigate formation of early attachments
PROCEDURE- 60 babies from Glasgow- skilled, working class families
. experimenter visited mum and baby monthly for 1 year, then visited at 18 months
. mum also kept diary of baby’s behaviour
. took place in mother and baby’s home
. investigated separation and stranger anxiety
FINDINGS-
50% of babies showed separation anxiety towards certain CG from 25-32 week period- specific attachment
. baby attached to the CG who communicated with them most via e.g. expressions/signals not who they spent most time with
. 40 weeks: 80% have formed specific attachment 30% have formed multiple attachment
. 18 months: 75% have attachment to father and separation anxiety for both parents. 31% had 5 or more attachments.
CONCLUSION: early attachment develops by 40 weeks and infants are most attached to those who interact with them most.
what were Schaffer and Emerson’s stages of attachment?
. asocial
. indiscriminate
. specific attachment
. multiple attachment
explain the asocial stage
0-8 weeks
. many kinds of stimuli, both human and non-human produce a favourable reaction, such as a smile.
. show preference to adults who can calm the baby easier
. happier in the presence of other humans
explain the indiscriminate stage
2-7 months
. infants indiscriminately enjoy human company and most babies respond equally to any caregiver.
. they get upset when an individual ceases to interact with them.
. from 3 months infants smile more at familiar faces and can be easily comforted by a regular caregiver.
explain the specific attachment stage
7-12 months
infants show a special preference to a single attachment figure. The baby looks to particular people for safety, comfort and protection. It shows fear of strangers (stranger fear) and unhappiness when separated from their specific attachment (separation anxiety).
. usually the biological mother
explain the multiple attachment stage
<1year
. The baby becomes increasingly independent and forms several attachments. By 18 months the majority of infants have form multiple attachments.
what is sensitive responsiveness?
- S + E found that attachment was most likely to be formed with CG who best responded to baby’s signals, not who they spent most time with
. strongly attached infants had mothers who quickly responded to baby’s demands
Stages of attachment AO3
+ LONGITUDINAL STUDY: more data collected, so the finding are more reliable as anomalies are less significant
-: SELF REPORT: self-report techniques used to collect data like the mother keeping diary of baby’s behaviour, which could be subjective or suffer from social desirability, reducing validity
-: SAMPLE: only 60 babies used, all from Glasgow and working class families. not generalisable to whole population- cannot nomothetically apply findings
-: CULTURALLY RELATIVE:
. research done in Western cultures, where it is more likely that baby forms specific attachment before then forming multiple attachments
Van Izjendoorn looked at collectivist cultures, where multiple caregivers are the norm (child rearing done collectively). he found that babies formed multiple attachments from the outset.
cross cultural differences means S+E’s stages of attachment likely cannot be universal or else there is risk of imposed etic.
+ NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION: in natural home of parents and the baby, so less demand characteristics form parents- more valid data collected from observation.
-: OVERT OBSERVATION: parents were still aware that they were being observed so may act in a different way to which they normally would.
-: SOCIALLY SENSITIVE?
. majority of children formed specific attachment for mother.
. what does this mean for returning to work?
discuss role of the father.
-: S+E found that by 18 months, 75% of babies had attached to father, shown by separation anxiety.
. typically, the mother was a specific attachment, and infants formed attachments to father much later, 25% would have w=even formed it after 18 months
. suggests the role of the father is limited especially in early attachment.
-: Grossman suggested that the role of the father is different to that of the mother
. longitudinal study looking at each parent’s behaviour and its relationship to quality of attachment to child into their teens
. quality of attachment between teen and mother was related to quality of attachment at infancy, but quality of father’s play was related to quality of father-teen attachment later on
. suggests that the father’s role is to do with play and stimulation rather than nurturing.
t= role of father in attachment is more apparent in later life.
-: biological differences in men and women undermine the role of rather in attachment
Taylor et al: sociobiological theory
. female hormones like oestrogen create higher levels of nurturing (nurturing behaviours are more innate in women than men) so mothers are pre disposed to be primary attachment figure
. essentialist view of attachment, that gender differences of attachment are fixed.
. undermines role of father
+: these biological differences can be overcome, if father displays behaviours typically displayed by mothers.
Field recorded 4 month old babies in face-to-face interactions with their PCG
conditions were if child was interacting with PCG mother, secondary CG father, or PCG father.
both PCG mothers and fathers spent more time communicating with child, smiling, holding hands, imitating.
. father can be a nurturing attachment figure and the key thing is sensitive responsiveness of parent.
-: role of father undermined by McCallum + Golombok
children growing up in lesbian or single mother families did not tend to develop differently than those with heterosexual parents, if the role of the father was so important we would expect to see a difference in development.
+: socially sensitive to imply that father has little-no role in attachment
. influences gender dynamics in relationships after having a child
. mother may feel more obliged to stay at home and not return to work, as research implies she is more important. this could even have economic implications if she was the breadwinner.
Lorenz’s study A01
IMPRINTING: bird species that are mobile from birth attach to and follow the first moving thing they see
PROCEDURE:
randomly divided clutch of goose eggs: 1/2 hatched with mother in natural enviro. and other 1/2 hatched in an incubator where the first moving thing they see was Lorenz
FINDINGS:
. incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere and control group followed mother goose everywhere
. when the 2 groups were mixed together, the contorl group still followed mother and experimental group followed Lorenz
CRITICAL PERIOD: time period where imprinting must take place- depending on species of bird this could be as little as a few hours after birth.
. if imprinting does not happen in this time, chicks do not attach themselves to a mother figure
what is sexual imprinting? A01
- courtship behaviour towards the species you imprinted on
- birds that imprinted on a human later showed courtship behaviour towards humans
- case study (1952): peacock reared in the reptile house of a zoo- imprinted on giant tortoises and as an adult the peacock tried to court these tortoises
Harlow’s research A01
AIM: understand attachment in humans by observing Rhesus monkeys. investigated the importance of contact comfort when he found out that new-borns kept alone in a cage would usually die unless they had something soft to cuddle.
PROC: tested the idea that a soft object would serve some functions of a mother
. reared 16 baby monkeys with 2 wire made mothers, but one covered in soft cloth
con1- wire and cloth monkey both give milk- all monkeys go to cloth monkey
con2- only wire monkey gives milk- still all go to the cloth:
con3- monkeys are made to be scared- go to cloth monkey to be comforted
FINDINGS: all monkeys preferred the cloth monkey to the wire one, and chose it even when it went against their biological needs for food.
CONCLUSION: monkeys prioritise contact comfort over food
what did Harlow say about maternal deprivation and critical period?
MD: monkeys used were deprived of the mother so Harlow followed them to see if this led to permanent effects
1. aggressive
2. less sociable
3. bred less often than others
4. unskilled at mating
5. those who became mothers neglected their young and would at times kill them
CP: mother figure must be introduced to infant within 90 days for attachment to form, after this, attachment is impossible and damage caused by early deprivation is irreversible.
animal studies AO3
LORENZ:
- TESTED ON GEESE: attachment formed by geese is different to mammalian attachment systems
. we have high order processing, so more complex attachment.
emotion linked to attachment e.g. mother is also attached to infant)
. we can form attachments at any age, not just infancy
. NOT GENERALISABLE
- CONTRADICTING RESEARCH: Guiton et al
. chickens who imprinted on yellow washing gloves would later try mate with them but with experience learned to prefer other chickens
. decreases validity as it suggests that impact of imprinting is not as permanent as Lorenz thought.
HARLOW:
- GENERALISABILITY: used monkeys- emotional and social communication is different to humans, so findings cannot be applies to human attachment
+ RHESUS MONKEYS: monkeys are a species most similar to humans and rhesus monkey genetics and human genetics have 93% concordance rate
+: EFFECTS OF MD CAN BE APPLIED TO HUMANS
. Bowlby has similar findings on the negative effects of maternal deprivation
. found reduced sociability and social skills such as affectionless psychopathy.
+: PRACTICAL APPLICATION, CRITICAL PERIOD
. both Lorenz and Harlow show that attachment is an innate process and happens within a specific time frame.
. research into the critical period was then developed by Bowlby, to see how it can be applied to humans, and he found humans have a critical/sensitive period of 2.5 years.
. research is highly influential in how it has been built upon.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF RESEARCH INTO CONTACT COMFORT : e.g. in care homes, can give baby a blanket for contact comfort
. good because studies gives us information on how we can form better attachments at infancy preventing bad long term effects.
outline learning theory of attachment A01
- DOLLARD + MILLER: emphasis on the role of learning in attachment behaviour- CC
- food=primary drive attachment=secondary drive
UCS (food) > UCR (pleasure)
NS (CG) > …
NS + UCS > UCR
CS > CR
when food is associated with a CG, it will elicit the UCR of pleasure in the baby, and over time the baby will associate CG with food, so forms an attachment to CG - OC explains how attachment behaviour is reinforced
. explains why babies cry for comfort
. crying leads to response from CG e.g. feeding and if CG gives correct response, crying is reinforced- PR
. CG undergoes NR because crying stops of they comfort baby
. mutual reinforcement strengthens the bond
learning theory AO3
COUNTER EVIDENCE: feeding may not be that important in forming attachment
. S +E found that most infants formed specific attachment to mother despite both parents doing the feeding. concluded sensitive responsiveness was more important
. undermines D + M theory of ‘cupboard love’ - food not primary drive
IGNORES PRESENCE OF UNIVERSAL ATTACHMENT BEHAVIOURS
claims that main motivation for forming attachment is food. does not take into account role of interactional synchrony and reciprocity in forming attachment
. e.g. Isabella et al. found interactional synchrony is crucial in forming a good quality attachment
. and Brazleton found that interactional synchrony not only increased attachment quality at infancy but was an important indicator of how come communication would be once infant was older.
if ‘cupboard love’ were true there would be no purpose for these complex interactions.
- COUNTER EV. : Harlow
. used monkeys and found that they values contact comfort over need for food.
. directly contradicts theory of ‘cupboard love’ because they prioritised contact comfort over food.
. reduced validity of LTE.
+ : Harlow’s research may be less generalisable to humans as he tested on monkeys - : the fact that he found that less advanced animals than humans have developed passed prioritising basic evolutionary needs like food suggests that humans also must have done so, since our attachment systems are more complex.
Bowbly’s monotropic theory of attachment A01
- thought attachment was an evolutionary response
- MONOTROPY: emphasis on 1 CG
. attachment to this CG is different to other and more important.
. usually bio. mother- does not have to be - LAW OF CONTINUITY : the more constant and predictable the childcare is, the better the quality of attachment
- LAW OF ACCUMULATED SEPARATION: effect of every separation from PCG adds up (e.g. leaves for 1 hour one day and 30mins the next day, total separation time is 1.5 hours)
. constant care leads to better and stronger attachment - SOCIAL RELEASERS: innate ‘cute behaviours’ that babies are born with e.g. cooing/smiling
. encourages adults to give them attention and triggers their attachment system- makes them love the baby
. attachment is an innate response - INTERNAL WORKING MODEL: template of attachment which is formed by early attachments, and will influence later attachments
. good early attachment=good later attachment
SENSITIVE PERIOD: as opposed to critical period
. if baby does not form an attachment in first 2.5 years of life, it will be hard to form later attachments, but NOT IMPOSSIBLE.
Bowlby A03
-: CULTURALLY RELATIVE
. idea of monotropy is not seen in collectivist cultures where infant is exposed to multiple caregivers of equal importance from birth
. here, children are able to form multiple attachments from early on in life.
. theory of monotropy has been formed from western norms.
applying monotropy to these cultures would risk imposed etic
- CONTRADICTING EVIDENCE: S + E
. found small number of infants were able to form multiple attachments form the outset.
. suggests that even in Western cultures, monotropy may not be completely generalisable.
+: RESEARCH SUPPORTING SOCIAL RELEASERS
from observations into interactional synchrony, Brazleton et al conducted an experiment
. PCGs were instructed to ignore their baby’s signals (e.g., smiling or cooing) for a period of time. essentially, to ignore their social releasers.
. babies showed signs of distress in response and after a prolonged period of ignoring, some babies curled up and lay motionless.
. implies that babies expect their social behaviours to elicit some form of care in the CG.
-: inferring intentions behind baby’s distress
. subjective
. what if the baby was instead distress because they expected a certain response based on how the CG had previously reacted to their actions
. it is not that an innate function of social releasers is being prohibited, but that what the child has learnt about interactions is being subverted.
t= not concrete evidence of attachment systems like social releasers being innate/evolutionary as Bowlby’s theory says
+ SUPPORTING EVIDENCE FOR IWM: Bailey et al
. 99 mothers with a 1 year old child
. assessed attachment quality between the mother and their mothers and also assessed attachment quality between mother and their baby.
. mothers with poor attachment with their mothers had poor attachment with their baby
. more valid
+: research from BEIP supporting effects of negative IWM
44% showed disinhibited attachment.
negative consequences of poor IWM and of prolonged separation from CG
- SOCIALLY SENSITIVE: implication on the choices that mothers make
. law of accumulated separation: lots of time away from PCG= bad attachment which may disadvantage child
. burden on mothers e.g. less inclined to go back to work - : ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS- less people contributing to the economy
Strange situation procedure A01
- Ainsworth’s SS- assessment of attachment based on Bowlby’s theory
1. CG takes baby into lab and baby is left to explore
. tests exploration and secure base
2. stranger enters and approaches infant
. tests stranger anxiety
3. CG leaves so infant and stranger are left alone together
. tests stranger and separation anxiety
4. CG returns and stranger leaves
. tests reunion behaviour
5. CG leaves so infant is alone
. tests separation anxiety
6. stranger enters and interacts with infant
. tests stranger anxiety
7. CG returns and greets infant
. tests reunion behaviour
what were the findings of SS?
- babies classed into 3 types, A, B, C
- A: insecure avoidant
. explores freely, doesn’t worry about where mum is
. low levels of separation anxiety
. low levels of stranger anxiety
. not bothered when mum comes back
. 20-25% of babies - B: securely attached
. explores while using mum as secure base (looks for her)
. moderately upset when mum goes
. moderately wary of stranger
. comforted by mum on her return
. 60-75% British babies - C: insecure resistant
. does not explore, stays near mum
. high levels of separation anxiety
. high levels of stranger anxiety
. not comforted by mum on her return
SS AO3
+ RELIABLE: controlled behavioural categories when assessing baby’s attachment type (like crying to suggest stranger/separation anxiety)
. increases chances of inter-observer reliability
. Bick et al: 94% of the time observers agreed on the type of attachment
. less subjective
. more generalisable
- MAY NOT MEASURE ATTACHMENT
. could be measuring temperament (e.g. type A had good temperament so does not cry that much)
- based on Bowlby’s theory, but they assume that mother is the monotropic attachment, perhaps type A babies don’t have monotropic attachment with mother, so are less comforted by her
. does not tell us about attachment: low face validity
+:PREDICTIVE VALIDITY.
Ward et al found that infants who were insecure resistant went to on to have issues with mental health in adulthood
. evidence for validity of concept as it can explain subsequent outcomes
. we can use SS to predict potential implication, and put in extra support from the offset.
- CULTURALLY RELATIVE: SS only studies Western babies, and is based off Western norms.
. different cultures raise their kids differently, so reaction to strange situation may be different
e.g. Japan, mothers rarely separated from baby (do not work) so child would have higher levels of separation anxiety
. leads to imposed etic, as a Japanese child may be classed as insecure resistant, whereas in Japan high levels of separation anxiety could be seen as a sign of a secure attachment.
. bad as SS cannot be universal assessment of attachment so we cannot achieve universality
t= SS may only have predictive value in Western cultures.
- DOES NOT APPLY TO ALL INFANTS
. Main and Solomon found that a minority fit into a 4th type of attachment, which was disorganised, a mix of all 3
