Attachment Flashcards
(40 cards)
what is reciprocity
Interactions between caregivers and infant involving mutual responsiveness - biological
what is interactional synchrony
interaction between caregiver and infant are ‘synchronised’ so that their responses reflect each other (mirroring)
what are the 4 key behaviours that show attachment
Maccoby (1980):
Seeking proximity by child and PAF
distress on separation (separation anxiety)
pleasure when reunited
general orientation of behaviour towards PAF
give research support for reciprocity
Tronick et al (1975):
condition 1- mother presents herself but doesn’t respond to baby smiling, baby becomes distressed
condition 2 - mother presents herself but father talks behind her, baby becomes distressed
condition 3 - mother presents herself and responds to baby, baby isn’t distressed
give research support for interactional synchrony
Meltzoff and Moore (1997):
found babies as young as 12-27 days old were able to imitate facial and physical gestures to some degree
describe Shaffer and Emerson’s study into stages of attachment (1964)
- longitudinal study in Scotland following attachments of 60 infants
- using naturalistic observations every 4 weeks up to 1 year and again at 18 months
- attachment was measured by assessing
condition 1: levels of separation protest (how they react to being separated from attachment figures)
condition 2: levels of stranger anxiety (how they react to strangers)
what were the results of Schaffer and Emerson’s study (1964)
39% of babies formed PAF with someone other than main carer
31% of infants had 5+ attachments
87% of infants had 2+ attachments
If an infant was less attached to their mothers, then the mothers would take longer to respond to the babies needs (sensitive responsiveness)
what are the 4 stages of attachment according to Schaffer and Emerson (1964)
1: Asocial stage/pre-attachment (0-3 months) - before any attachments form
2: indiscriminate attachment stage (3-7 months) - don’t fully discriminate against strangers. begin to show discrimination
3: discriminate/specific attachment stage (7-8 months) - attach to people of preference. stranger anxiety/fear develops
4: multiple attachments (9+ months) - form stronger attachments. stranger anxiety reduces
what are the aspects to the role of the father
1: degree of sensitivity - must have a small amount of sensitivity in order to meet needs of baby
2: type of attachment - how you were parented affects how you parent
3: marital intimacy - more intimate with partners means more likely to have better attachment with baby
4: supportive co-parenting - bigger role, mother more likely to have secure attachment with baby
give research support for equal roles of parents
Frodi et al (1978):
measured bp and sweat of mothers and fathers when their own baby is crying. found there was no physiological difference between mothers and fathers suggesting they have the capacity of an equal role as parents
give research support for opposing roles of parents
Geiger (1996):
showed fathers’ play interactions are more exciting and pleasurable than mothers’, while mothers are more nurturing and affectionate supporting idea fathers being playmates rather than caregivers - complimentary roles
what are the categories for species in development
altricial animals - born underdeveloped and need constant care e.g. humans
precocial animals - animals that are born fully developed therefore don’t need constant care e.g. giraffes
what is imprinting and the types
attach onto first big moving object they see when born
filial imprinting - social attachments between parents and offspring
sexual imprinting - learn to direct sexual behaviour at members of own species
outline Lorenz’ study into imprinting (1935)
took 12 greylag gosling eggs. left half with mother. took other half. put in incubator and raised them. ones left with mother were normal. ones taken - offered himself as a model for imprinting. they followed him around as if he was their mother. they didn’t recognise their own mother. tended to develop relationships with humans rather than geese. some attempted to mate with humans.
outline the results and conclusion of Lorenz’ study (1935)
put all geese in box (closed). when opened all geese raised by the mother went to the mother. all geese raised by him went to him.
suggests tendency to respond to first object is innate.
imprinting is genetic - respond to specific animal/object
what were the 4 conditions in Harlow’s Maternal deprivation study (1958)
1: cloth mother provides food, wire does not
2: wire mother provides food, cloth does not
3: only wire mother in cage - has milk
4: only cloth mother in cage - has milk
what were the results of Harlow’s study (1958)
1: infants spent more time with cloth mother no matter food provider.
2: ones only with wire had diarrhea - stress
3: clung to cloth mother when scared
4: monkeys explored more in larger cages when with cloth mother
what were the conclusions of Harlow’s study (1958)
1: biologically preprogrammed need for comfort - suggests comfort is more important than food
2: contact comfort is associated with lower stress - better security
3: likely crucial factor in human infant-parent attachment
Describe the learning theory as an explanation of attachment
involves classical conditioning (association between events and stimuli) and operant conditioning (reinforcement). both cause and strengthen attachment bond between carer and infant
describe Bowlby’s monotropic theory as an explanation of attachment
- attachment is monotropic (preference for one person)
- innate and adaptive (biological and evolutionary)
- infants use social releasers to elicit caregiving and develop attachment with PAF
- monotropic attachment has a critical period of 2.5 years
- monotropic attachment forms our internal working model (attachment we use as a model for all other attachments)
what is the law of accumulated separation
the more frequent and the longer an infant is separated from who they have their monotropic attachment with, the more damaging it is for them - leads to maternal deprivation
what is the law of continuity
the more time spent between an infant and the person they have their monotropic attachment with, the healthier the attachment will be and therefore the healthier they will be
what is sensitive responsiveness
to what extent does the parent respond to their infant in a meaningful way AND how quickly do they do so - the more meaningful response and the faster response, the healthier the attachment bond is (according to Bowlby)
describe Ainsworth’s strange situation (1969)
- took 100 infants aged 9-18 months
- 7.8 by 7.8 room
- time sampling recording infant actions every 15 seconds
- measured behaviour in 5 categories: prox seeking, reunion behaviour, exploration, separation anxiety, stranger anxiety
