attachment Flashcards
1
Q
what is reciprocity?
A
when both caregiver and baby respond to each other’s signals and each elicits a response from the other
2
Q
how many times do mothers pick up on babies ‘alert phases’?
A
2/3 of the time
3
Q
what is the interaction of the mother and baby described as?
A
A dance
4
Q
do babies take an active or passive role in reciprocity?
A
active
5
Q
what is interactional synchrony?
A
caregiver and baby reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a co-ordinated (synchronised) way
6
Q
what did Meltzoff and Moore (1977) find?
A
found that babies’ expression and gestures were more likely to mirror those of the adults more than chance would predict
7
Q
what was the Isabella et al. (1989) experiment?
A
- observed 30 mothers and babies together and assessed the degree of synchrony and the quality of mother-baby attachment
- They found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attachment
8
Q
Evaluation of Caregiver-infant interactions
A
Filmed observations:
- checked by other researchers so high inter-rater reliability
- babies didn’t know they were being observed
Difficulty observing babies:
- hard to interpret a babies behaviour
Developmental importance:
- reciprocity and IS don’t tell us the purpose of these behaviours
Counter:
- Isabella et al
9
Q
what was Schaffer and Emerson (1964) procedure?
A
- 60 babies from Glasgow
- mostly working-class families
- researchers visited mother and baby every month for 18 months
- investigated separation anxiety by asking mothers about behaviour during everyday separations
- investigated stranger anxiety by asking mothers questions about child’s response to unfamiliar adults
10
Q
what were the 4 stages of attachments Schaffer and Emerson found?
A
- Asocial
- Indiscriminate attachment
- Specific attachment
- Multiple attachment
11
Q
Schaffer and Emerson evaluation
A
- has external validity Counter: mothers may have been biased
- poor evidence for the asocial stage
- RWA to day care
-
12
Q
what percentage of cases was the father the sole and joint first object of attachment
A
sole object - 3%
joint first object - 27%
13
Q
what percentage of secondary attachments were the father?
A
75%
14
Q
What did Grossmann et al 2002 find?
A
- quality of attachment with the father was less important for adolescent attachment than the quality of attachment with the mother
- the quality of the fathers play with babies was related to quality of adolescent attachments
- fathers have a different role
15
Q
what did Field (1978) find?
A
- primary caregiver fathers, like mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding babies than secondary caregiver fathers
- fathers can be primary attachment figures
- level of responsiveness is the key to the attachment relationship, not the gender of the parent
16
Q
role of the father evaluation
A
- confusion over research questions
- conflicting evidence
- using findings in parenting advice
17
Q
Lorenz findings and conclusions
A
- incubator group followed Lorenz, Control Group followed the mother
- identified a critical period in which imprinting takes place
- if imprinting did not occur during this time, Chicks did not attach themselves to the mother figure
- Sexual imprinting also occurs whereby the birds acquire a template of the desirable characteristics required in a mate
18
Q
Lorenz evaluation
A
- (str) support for the concept of imprinting
- (lim) generalising from birds to Humans
- (str) applications to human behaviour
19
Q
Harlow findings and conclusions
A
- Baby monkey’s cuddled the cloth-covered mother in preference to the plain-wire mother regardless of which dispensed milk - suggests that contact comfort was of more importance than food when it came to attachment behaviour
- the monkeys sought comfort from the cloth mother when frightened
- as adults, the monkeys who had been deprived of their real mothers suffered severe consequences - they were more aggressive, less sociable and less skilled in mating than other monkeys
20
Q
Harlow Evaluation
A
- (str) real-world value
- (lim) generalising from Monkeys to Humans
- (lim) ethical issues
21
Q
what is Drive Reduction?
A
- Hunger is a primary drive, an innate biological motivator
- we are motivated to eat to reduce the hunger drive
- attachment is a secondary drive learned by an association between the caregiver and the satisfaction of a primary drive
- Sears et al. (1957) - suggested that, as caregivers provide food, the primary drive of hunger becomes generalised to them
22
Q
Learning theory evaluation
A
- (lim) counter-evidence from animal studies
- (lim) counter evidence from human studies
- (str) some elements of conditioning may be involved Counter: ignores the fact that babies take an active role in the interactions that produce attachment
23
Q
why did Bowlby believe the more time spent with the primary attachment figure the better?
A
- Law of continuity - the more constant a child’s care, the better the quality of attachment
- Law of accumulated separation - the effects of every separation add up
24
Q
what are social releasers
A
- babies are born with a set of innate ‘cute’ behaviours that encourage the attention of adults
- the purpose is to activate adult social interaction
25
what was Bowlby's critical period?
up to 2 years
26
what was Bowlby's internal working model of relationships?
the child forms a mental representation of the relationship with their primary attachment figure which serves as a 'template' for what relationships are like
27
evaluation of Bowlby's theory of monotropy
- (lim) the concept of monotropy lacs validity
- (str) evidence supporting the role of social releasers
- (str) support for the internal working model
28
what were the 5 categories that Ainsworth used to judge attachment quality in the strange situation?
1. proximity seeking
2. exploration and secure-base behaviour
3. stranger anxiety
4. separation anxiety
5. response to reunion with the caregiver after separation for a short period of time
29
what are the three types of attachment?
Secure:
- baby happy to explore but seeks proximity to caregiver
- shows moderate separation anxiety and stranger anxiety
- requires and accepts comfort from caregiver on reunion
Insecure avoidant:
- baby explores freely but does not seek proximity
- shows little/no separation and stranger anxiety
- avoids contact at the reunion stage
Insecure resistant:
- baby explores less and seeks greater proximity
- shows considerable stranger and separation anxiety
- resists comfort when reunited with caregiver
30
Aisnworth's strange situation evaluation
- (str) good predictive validity
- (str) good inter-rater reliability
- (lim) may be culture bound
31
van IJzendoorn and Kroonenburg findings
- secure attachment was the most common classification in all countries, but ranged from 50% in China to 75% in Britain
- in individualist cultures, rates of insecure-resistant attachment were similar to the original sample
- in collectivist cultures, samples from China, Japan and Israel showed rates of above 25%
- variations between results of studies within the same country were actually 150% greater than those between countries
- in the US, one study found 46% securely attached compared to one sample as high as 90%
32
simonelli study
- assessed 76 babies aged 12 months in Italy using the Strange Situation to see whether the proportion of attachment types still matched previous studies in Italy
- found that 50% were secure and 36% insecure-avoidant - mothers work longer hours and use childcare more
33
Jin et al. (2012) study
- compared the attachment types of 87 Korean babies to proportions in other studies
- found similar patterns of secure and insecure attachment to other studies but there was only one baby that was avoidant - similar to Japan maybe because of their similar child-rearing practices
34
cultural variations evaluation
- (str) use of indigenous researchers
- (lim) the impact of confounding variables
- (lim) imposed etic
35
what is necessary for normal emotional and intellectual development according to Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation?
continuous emotional (maternal) care
36
Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation AO1
- continued emotional care is essential
- separation may lead to maternal deprivaiton
- separation is different from deprivation
- critical period of 2 and a half years
- intellectual development: lower IQ
- Emotional development: affectionless psychopathy
37
findings of 44 thieves study
- 14 of the 44 thieves could be described as affectionless psychopaths
- 12 of these had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers in the first 2 years of their lives
- in contrast, only five of the 30 remaining 30 'thieves' had experienced separations
- suggests prolonged early separation/deprivation caused affectionless psychopathy
38
Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation evaluation
- (lim) sources of evidence for maternal deprivation are flawed Counter: Levy et al 2003 rat separation for a day
- (lim) Bowlby confused deprivation and privation
- (lim) critical period is more of a sensitive period
39
Romanian orphan study procedure
- 165 Romanian orphans
- 52 adopted children from UK in control group
- Physical, cognitive and emotional development has been assessed at 4,6,11,15 and 22-25 years
40
Romanian orphan study findings
- half of the orphans showed delayed intellectual development when they came to the UK
- at age 11, recovery rates were related to their age at adoption:
- those adopted before 6 months had a mean IQ of 102 and those adopted after 2 years had a mean IQ of 77 and these differences continued to be apparent at age 16
- frequency of disinhibited attachment related to the age at adoption
- apparent in children adopted after they were 6 months old: clinginess, attention-seeking and indiscriminate affection to strangers
- rare in children adopted before the age of 6 months
41
what is disinhibited attachment?
- such children tend to be equally friendly and affectionate towards people they know well or total strangers
- this may be an adaptation to multiple caregivers
42
Romanian Orphan studies evaluation
- (str) RWA
- (str) fewer confounding variables than other research
- (lim) lack of data on adult development
43
Hazan and Shaver (1987) findings
- secure respondents were the most likely to have good and longer lasting romantic relationships
- Avoidant respondents tended to be jealous and fear intimacy
44
influence of early attachment on later relationships
- (str) strong research support Counter: not all evidence supports this
- (lim) validity issues with retrospective studies
- (lim) possible confounding variables
