Attachment Flashcards
(109 cards)
1
Q
What is an attachment?
A
An emotional bond between a parent/caregiver and an infant
2
Q
What is reciprocity?
A
When an infant and caregiver interact by imitating eachother in turns like a conversation
3
Q
What is interaction synchrony?
A
When an infant and caregiver interact at the same time by imitating eachother
4
Q
What was Meltzoff and Moore’s aim?
A
To investigate at what age children imitate and interact
5
Q
What was Meltzoff and Moore’s procedure?
A
Conducted a lab experiment using a video of an adult who displayed 3 facial expressions which was shown to infants of 2-3 weeks old. The infants were then observed by independent observers.
6
Q
What were the findings of Meltzoff and Moore’s study?
A
Independent observers watched the videos twice and found that infants did imitate. The scores given were a calculated as having an inter observer reliability of .92
7
Q
What was Meltzoff and Moore’s conclusion?
A
As imitation was shown in infants 3 days old, it was suggested this infant-caregiver interaction is innate
8
Q
What were the strengths of infant-caregiver interactions?
A
- forms the basis for social development
- is important for the development of infant-caregiver attachment
- there is research support (infants showed distress when video of mother doesn’t interact with them)
9
Q
What were the weaknesses of infant-caregiver interactions?
A
- other studies have failed to replicate Meltzoff and Moore’s study
- it is hard to reliably test infants as they are always moving
10
Q
What is stranger anxiety?
A
Distress shown by an infant when a stranger approaches them/ interacts with them
11
Q
What is separation anxiety?
A
The distress shown by an infant when separated from their caregiver
12
Q
What is a primary attachment figure?
A
The person who has formed the closest attachment with a child
13
Q
What is multiple attachment?
A
Having more than one attachment bond
14
Q
What is Stage 1 of the Stages of Attachment model?
A
- asocial stage
- up to 6 weeks
- no discrimination between humans and non-humans
15
Q
What is Stage 2 of the Stages of Attachment model?
A
- presocial stage
- 6 weeks - 6months
- prefer humans to non-humans
16
Q
What is Stage 3 of the Stages of Attachment model?
A
- Specific attachment stage
- 7-12 months
- start to form a primary attachment
- shows stranger and separation anxiety
17
Q
What is Stage 4 of the Stages of Attachment model?
A
- Multiple attachment stage
- 12 months+
- primary attachment bond is strong
- forming more attachments with familiar people
18
Q
What are the strengths of the Stages of Attachment model?
A
- there is supporting research (Bowlby agreed that infants form one most important bond)
19
Q
What are the weaknesses of the Stages of Attachment model?
A
- it is a stage theory which can be seen as inflexible and therefore problematic
- the sample used by Schaffer and Emerson was biased (working class families from Glasgow in the 1960s)
- cultural bias
- their data is unreliable as the data was self-reported by mothers who may have been subject to social desirability bias
20
Q
What research suggests that fathers are important attachment figures?
A
- Geiger - fathers have a more playful and physically active role which provide challenging situations
- Frank et al - it is often that both parents share the role of primary caregiver
21
Q
What research suggests that fathers aren’t important attachment figures?
A
- Schaffer and Emerson - found that only 3% of families had fathers as the primary attachment figures and. 27% was joint
- there are biological and social factors (men lack emotional sensitivity and have less oestrogen than women)
22
Q
What are the strengths of research to the role of the father?
A
- it is common for research to be longitudinal so it has a high validity
- can be used to offer advice to parents which can reduce parental anxiety
23
Q
What are the weaknesses of research into the role of the father?
A
- research is inconsistent - some psychologists focus on fathers being the primary attachment figures and some focus on them being the secondary
- research varies in methodology and findings suggesting the question remains unanswered
24
Q
What was the aim of Lorenz’s animal study?
A
To investigate whether infant animals imprint on the first subject they meet
25
What was Lorenz’s procedure?
- gosling eggs were separated into 2 groups (half in an incubator and half with the natural mother)
26
What were Lorenz’s findings?
- the incubator eggs first saw Lorenz and followed him (imprinted)
- when all the gosling eggs were put together, the incubator goslings showed no recollection of their mother
- found imprinting had a critical period of 2 days
- some animals do it imprint on humans e.g curlews
27
What long-lasting effects did Lorenz find?
- imprinting is long-term and irreversible
- sexual imprinting = animals choosing a mate that is similar to their caregiver
28
What are the strengths of Lorenz’s study?
- Guiton supported Lorenz’s research (leghorn chicks imprinted on t yellow rubber gloves and showed sexual imprinting)
- Lorenz’s research has been highly influential in developmental psychology by providing research for Bowlby to develop his own theories
29
What are the weaknesses of Lorenz’s study?
- Guiton found contradicting data (the leghorn chicks could recover if put with their own species)
- his research was conducted only on animals so it is hard to generalise to humans
30
What was the aim of Harlow’s study?
to investigate the driving force behind why attachments occur
31
What was Harlow’s procedure?
- two mothers (one made out of wire and one made out of cloth)
- 8 infant monkeys were studied for 165 days
- 4 were fed by the wire mother and 4 were fed by the cloth mother
- he measured amount of time spent with each mother and their reactions to being frightened
32
What were Harlow’s findings?
- all 8 monkeys spent most time with the cloth mother
- when frightened, all 8 sought comfort in the cloth mother
- suggests attachments are formed with the person who gives comfort and not food
33
What long-lasting effects did Harlow find?
- the monkeys developed abnormally (foze/led when approached by other monkeys)
- didn’t show normal mating behaviour
- didn’t cradle their babies
- the monkeys could recover if they were returned to their species before 3 months old (critical period of 3-6months)
34
What were the strengths of Harlow’s research?
- his research was a lab experiment which meant it was repeatable and therefore reliable
35
What were the weaknesses of Harlow’s study?
- lacks internal validity (the two mother heads were different which may have acted as a confounding variable)
- as it is an animals study it is hard to generalise to humans
- ethical issues (emotional harm to monkeys)
36
What is imprinting?
an innate readiness to develop a strong bond with the mother which takes place during a specific time period
37
What is learning theory?
attachments are learnt through classical and operant conditioning
38
What is classical conditioning?
learning through association of a neutral stimulus consistently being paired with a unconditioned stimulus
39
What is classical conditioning in terms of attachment?
as mothers feed their children and food brings about a feeling of pleasure, infants associate their mothers with a feeling of pleasure and so an attachment forms
40
What is operant conditioning in terms of attachment? (mothers perspective)
the child cries when they are hungry so the mother feeds them to remove the negative stimulus of crying - negative reinforcement
41
What is operant conditioning in terms of attachment? (infants perspective)
an infant feels hunger and is fed which removes the negative feeling of hunger - negative reinforcement
42
What are the strengths of learning theory?
- does explain some aspects of attachment (infants do learn through conditioning but food may not be the main reinforcer instead sensitive responsiveness)
43
What are the weaknesses of learning theory?
- research is based on non-human animals so it is hard to generalise to humans
- contradicting research (Harlow found that infants don’t attach because of food but rather sensitive responsiveness)
- drive reduction is no longer a used theory as some people do things such as bungee jumps that increase discomfort
- there are alternative explanations such as Bowlby
44
What is Bowlby’s evolutionary theory?
- all infants are born with an innate drive to attach
- it has evolved through natural selection as it serves an important survival function in order to be protected
45
What was Bowlby’s critical period for his monotropic theory?
3-6 months
46
What are social releasers in Bowlby’s monotropic theory?
unlock the innate tendency of adults to care for them e.g. crying, smiling and baby face
47
What is meant by the term monotropy?
- infants form a special attachment with their mother/mother-substitute
- this attachment is more significant than an others
48
What is meant by Bowlby’ internal working model?
infants use their monotropic relationship as a template for all future relationships
49
What is meant by Bowlby’s continuity hypothesis?
individuals who are strongly attached to in infancy continue to be socially and emotionally competent
50
What are the strengths of Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory?
- Hazan and Shaver found supporting evidence as their ‘Love Quiz’ found a positive correlation between early attachment and later adult relationships
- there is further supporting evidence for the continuity hypothesis as a researcher found continuity between early attachment and later emotionally/social behaviour
51
What are the weaknesses of Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory?
- Rutter suggested that it should be a sensitive period instead of a critical period as there has been evidence of attachments forming post this time period
- Schaffer and Emerson contradict the idea that you form just one special attachment
- a researcher suggests that those who have an easier temperament will attach quicker and easier suggesting that it is not just an innate want to attach
52
What was Ainsworth’s aim?
to observe key attachment behaviours as a means of assessing the quality of a child’s attachment to their caregiver
53
What was the procedure of the Strange Situation?
- a controlled lab observation
- as series of 7 stages in which multiple behaviours were observed
- 100 white middle class American families
54
What were the behavioural categories observed in the Strange Situation?
- proximity seeking
- exploration and safe base behaviour
- stranger anxiety
- separation anxiety
- reunion behaviour
55
What is Type A attachment?
- insecure-avoidant attachment
- explore freely and do not seek a safe base
- little stranger/separation anxiety
- does not need comfort upon reunion
- 22%
56
What is Type B attachment?
- secure attachment
- explore freely but regularly seeks a safe base
- moderate stranger/separation anxiety
- may need comfort upon reunion
- 66%
57
What is Type C attachment?
- insecure-resistant attachment
- don’t explore freely and excessively seek a safe base
- extreme stranger/separation anxiety
- need comforting upon reunion but resist it
- 12%
58
What were the strengths of the Strange Situation?
- good validity as attachment types categorised in the SS are predictive of later attachment types
- good inter-observer reliability (observers watching the children in the SS categorised them in the same group)
59
What are the weaknesses of the Strange Situation?
- culture bias (different results were found with Japanese mothers and infants as different cultures behave differently)
- it is suggested that the SS may measure temperament rather than attachment so temperament is a confounding variable
- some researchers found a fourth attachment type (disorganised attachment) suggesting the research is incomplete)
60
What is a collectivist culture?
cultures that prioritise the needs of the group
61
What is an individualistic culture?
a culture that prioritises the needs of the individual
62
What is a meta-analysis?
combining secondary data from independent research
63
What was the aim of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenburg’s cultural variations study?
To study cultural differences between attachment types based on Strange Situation studies
64
What was the procedure for Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenburg’s’s cultural variations study?
- meta-analysis of 32 studies of attachment using SS from over 8 countries
- 18 from the USA
- 1990 children
65
What were the findings of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenburg’s/s cultural variations study?
- secure attachment was most common in all countries
- some cultural variations as Japan and Israel didn’t have Type 1 as the second most common whereas all others did
- variations between studies in the same country were 150% greater than between countries
66
What did Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenburg conclude from their cultural variations study?
- strongest attachments are formed with the mother
- there are differences in the patterns of attachment that can be related to differences in cultural attitudes and practices
67
What are the strengths of the cultural variations study?
- a large sample size which mean that there was a high population validity so it could be generalised
68
What are the weaknesses of the cultural variations study?
- the use of the SS as it is flawed (culture bias, confounding variables) so this study is then flawed
- it really studied country not culture meaning comparisons between culture cannot be made
- imposed etic as the SS is designed for US culture which may not be suitable for everyone
69
What is deprivation?
long-term disruption of an attachment bond
70
What is separation?
short-term disruption of an attachment bond
71
What is privation?
never having formed an attachment bond
72
Why did Bowlby think infants needed continual nurture from a mother/mother substitute?
it is essential for normal psychological development
73
What are the effects on development of maternal deprivation?
- abnormal intellectual development (having an abnormal IQ)
- abnormal emotional development (affectionless psychopathy where there is an inability to experience guilt/strong emotion for others)
74
What is the critical period for maternal deprivation?
2.5 years with a risk of up to 5 years
75
What was the aim of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study?
to investigate a potential link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation
76
What was Bowlby’s procedure in his 44 thieves study?
- studied a group of 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing
- interviewed them for signs of affectionless psychopathy
- interviewed their families to find out if they had experienced prolonged early separations from mothers
- tested a control group of non-criminal but emotionally disturbed teens
77
What were the findings from Bowlby’s 44 thieves study?
- 14/44 thieves were classified as affectionless psychopaths
- of that 14, 12 experiences long-term separation from their mother
78
What did Bowlby conclude about his 44 thieves study?
- there is a correlation between maternal deprivation affectionless psychopathy (such as criminal behaviour)
79
What are the strengths of Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory?
- has a real life application (research into infants being separated from their parents in hospitals has led to a change in how children were looked after in hospitals)
80
What are the weaknesses of Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory?
- Bowlby found a correlation in his study not a causation
- Issues with Bowlby’s study (interviewer bias and social desirability bias)
- critical period is too harsh (the Czech twins recovered after maternal deprivation from the age of 18 months to 11 years old)
81
What is an institution?
a place where an individual lives for a prolonged period of time
82
What is an orphan?
a child placed in care because their parents cannot look after them/ have died
83
What is institutionalisation?
when an infant is left in an institution for a prolonged period of time and the effects of that
84
What are the effects of institutionalisation?
- disinhibited attachment = showing over affection and friendliness to strangers
- intellectual disability = low IQ and mental functioning
85
What was the aim of Rutters ERA study?
to study the effects of institutionalisation and whether good care could compensate for the privation children has suffered previously
86
What was Rutter’s procedure in his ERA study?
- 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain and a control group of 52 British children
- natural experiment
- assessed all children at the ages of 4, 6, 11 and 15
87
What were Rutter’s findings of his ERA study?
- mean IQ (if adopted) before 6 months = 102 (normal), between 6-24 months = 86 and after 24 months = 77
- children adopted after 6 months showed signs of disinhibited attachment
88
What did Rutter conclude from his ERA study?
long-term consequences may be less severe if children have the opportunity to form attachments
89
What was the aim of Zeanah et al’s study into the effects of institutionalisation?
to study the impact of institutionalisation
90
What was the procedure of Zeanah et al’s study into institutionalisation?
- 95 12-31 month olds who spent an average of 90% of time in an institution compared to a control group (nuclear family)
- assess the attachment using the strange situation
- asked carers about unusual social behaviours
91
What did Zeanah et al find in their study into institutionalisation?
- 74% of the control group was securely attached compared to 19% of the experimental group
- 65% of the experimental group were disorganised
- 44% of the experimental were disinhibited compared to 20% of the control group
92
What are the strengths of Romanian orphan research into the effects of institutionalisation?
- real life application (improvements in child care in institutions e.g. key workers) showing the research is valuable
- fewer extraneous variables than other orphan studies (the Romanian orphans hadn’t experienced as much neglection/abuse/trauma) so the studies had a higher internal validity
93
What are the weaknesses of Romanian orphans research into the effects of institutionalisation?
- Romanian orphans weren’t typical (poor standards of care, lack of effort to form relationships, low levels of intellectual stimulation) so may lack generalisability
- ethical issues (researchers cannot interfere with adoption process however that can lead to more sociable children being adopted which is a confounding variable)
- long term effects aren’t clear yet (due to lack of research) so it is hard to use incomplete results
94
What is the internal working model?
- a mental representation/template that acts as a model for all future relationships
- infant attachment experiences lead to individual attachment representations which lead to their own parenting behaviour
95
How does a secure attachment affect later relationships?
- good amount of emotion
- functions well
- comfortable and seek support from partner
96
How does an insecure-avoidant attachment affect later relationships?
- extremely detached
- show little emotion
- controlling
- argumentative
97
How does an insecure-resistant attachment affect later relationships?
- clingy
- over emotional
- could be too distant
- fear of rejection
- desire for connection
98
What is the aim of Hazan and Shaver’s Love Quiz?
to investigate the association between attachment and adult relationships
99
What is the procedure of the Love Quiz?
- analysed 620 responses to a love quiz
- the quiz had 3 sections that analysed current relationships, assessed general love experiences and assessed attachment types
100
What were the findings of the Love Quiz?
- 56% defined as securely attached and were most likely to have good/long lasting relationships
- 25% insecure avoidant who tend to reveal jealousy and fear of intimacy
- 19% insecure resistant
101
What was concluded from the Love Quiz?
there is a correlation between attachment and adult relationships
102
What are some problems with the Love Quiz?
- correlation doesn’t mean causation
- there may be some volunteer bias
103
What was the aim of the research into childhood relationships?
to investigate links between attachment and bullying
104
What was the procedure in the research into childhood relationships?
- questionnaire
- 196 7-11 from London
105
What were the findings of research into childhood relationships?
- insecure resistant were more likely to be bullies
- insecure avoidant were more likely to be bullied
- secure attachment were least likely to be bullied/bully
106
What was concluded about the research into childhood relationships?
there is a correlation between attachment and bullying
107
What are the problems with research into childhood relationships?
- social desirability bias
- volunteer bias
108
What are the strengths of research into influence on later relationships?
- there is supporting research that is longitudinal so contains lots of rich data
109
What are the weaknesses of research into the influence on later relationships?
- it finds a correlation not a causation
- research includes lots of self-reporting which may be susceptible to social desirability bias and volunteer bias
- research is overly determinist
