ATTACHMENT Flashcards
(39 cards)
caregiver infant interaction
- An emotional connection between child and principle caregiver.
Features of attachment.
Proximity= people try to stay physically close to those whom they are attached to.
Separation distress= People are in distress when an attachment figure leaves their presence.
Secure base behaviour= Even when we are independent of our attachment figures we tend to make regular contact with them.
RECIPROCITY.
Each person responds to the other and elicits a response from them.
Interactional synchrony.
‘Temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behaviour’.
Actions mirror each other.
MELTZOFF AND MOORE.
A- To investigate reciprocity between infants and caregiver.
P- Controlled observations using 6 babies (12-27 days old).
Babies exposed to 4 stimuli.
3 facial gestures, 1 manual gesture.
Babies response observed.
Observer noted responses + video watched twice. (inter-rater and intra-observer reliability).
Findings- Babies could imitate stimuli presented.
EVANS AND PORTER.
A- To investigate whether reciprocity and interactional synchrony impact in attachment quality.
P- 101 infants and mothers observed (53f + 48m).
American suburb.
Invited to lab on 3 occasions (6,9,12 months old).
Provided with toys and played for 15 mins.
Videoed + assessed r and is.
At 12 months the strange situation was used.
F- Babies who were secure attachment in SS had most r + is.
evaluation of c-i interactions.
+ Lab experiments= controlled.
+ Observations filmed.
+ Practical applications.
- Difficult to interpret behaviour.
- Mothers may display social desirability bias.
- Socially sensitive area of research.
- Some research lacks cross cultural validity.
Schaffer and emerson
A- To investigate early stages of attachment.
P- 60 babies from Glasgow, working class families.
Visited at home every month for first year and at 18 months.
Asked mothers questions about separation and stranger anxiety.
F- 25-32 weeks 50% of babies showed separation anxiety.
Attachment towards caregiver who showed most interactive and sensitive.
By 40 weeks 80% had specific attachment.
STAGE 1 ATTCHMENT.
Asocial stage (first few weeks)=
- Behaviour with human and non human is similar.
- Preference for familiar adults but happier in the presence of any human.
stage 2 attachment.
Indiscriminate (2-7months) =
- More observable social behaviour.
- Preference for people rather than inanimate objects.
- Accept comfort for any adult.
- No separation/ stranger anxiety.
Stage 3 attachment.
Specific (7 months)=
- Some stranger and separation anxiety.
- Specific attachment with primary attachment figure (person who interacts more).
Stage 4 attachment.
Multiple attachment.
- Multiple attachments with who they spend more time.
Secondary attachments.
Evaluation of schaffers research.
+ Good ecological validity.- natural environment.
+ Longitudinal design.- same children observed regularly rather than at different ages.
- Limited sample characteristics- only 60, from Glasgow, working class.
Role of father.- Grossman.
A- To investigate role of father.
P- Longitudinal study. Researched both parents behaviour + relation to quality of attachment during teens.
F- Mothers attachment related to children’s adolescent attachment.
Fathers quality of play related to adolescent attachment.
Role of father. -Field.
A- If fathers can be primary caregiver.
P- Observational study .
4month old babies interacting with carers filmed.
Investigated primary mothers and fathers and secondary fathers.
F- Primary mothers and fathers acted similar. Primary fathers spent more time interacting than secondary fathers.
Evaluation of role of father.
+ Progressive research into an understudied area.
+ Practical application- Custody of children, maternity/ paternity, breaks down stereotypes.
- Inconsistent findings.- Field+ SE= gender doesn’t matter. G= gender matters.
- Socially sensitive area.- ethical implications.
Animal- Lorenz.
A- If goslings could imprint on Lorenz.
P- Placed geese eggs under goose and in an incubator beside him.
When goslings hatched, he imitated a mother goose quacking.
Observed goslings behaviour. Lorenz group followed him, Mother geese group followed her.
F- Goslings imprint on first thing they see.
C- Attachment is innate + programmed genetically. Imprinting can occur without feeding. No attachment within 3 hrs= no attachment.
Harlow.- 1.
A- To see effects of isolation on rhesus monkeys.
P- Isolated babies from birth for 3/6/9/12 months. Placed back with others + observed affects of failure to form attachment on behaviour.
F- Bizarre behaviour such as rocking compulsively, clutching self, self mutilation. Unable to communicate, bullied, aggressive.
Harlow- 2.
A- Attach for food or comfort.
P- 8 Monkeys separated at birth + isolated. Placed in cage w 2 surrogate mothers (wire with food + cloth). Frightened by object. 165 days.
F- Spent more time w cloth. Infant explored more when mother was present.
Harlow- conclusions.
-Deprivation is permanently damaging.
- Length of isolation determines abnormal behaviour.
- Surrogate v normal mother= more aggressive, bullied, timid, inadequate mothers.
- Monkeys prefer comfort.
- Need attachment during critical period.
Evaluation of animal studies.
+ Lacks cross species validity.
+ RS.- S+E interaction.
- Ethical issues.
Theories of attachment- Learning.
- Babies are born as a blank slate (tabula rasa).
- Attachments are learned.
- Attach for food.
- No innate bonds.
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING. - Learning via association.
- Mother is neutral stimulus.
- Baby associates mother with food.
- Mother eventually brings pleasure alone (conditioned stimulus).
OPERANT CONDITIONING. - When infant is hungry, they cry.
- Mother feeds baby to avoid crying (negative reinforcement).
- Food = primary reinforcer.
- Mother = secondary reinforcer.
Evaluation of learning theory.
- Research refuting- Harlow- innate.
+ RS- Pavlov’s dogs.
+ Practical applications.
Bowlby’s monotropic theory.
- Attachment is: an innate set of behaviours that we have evolved, adaptive, aids survival, allows genes to be passed on.
- ‘Social releasers’= example of behaviour, physical or behavioural traits to stimulate/ elicit caregiving behaviour.
- Monotropy= Only one primary attachment figure, usually mother- foundation for emotional development and self-esteem. Other attachments are secondary and less important- safety net for social skills. Primary must be made within critical period (first 30 months of life). Failure to form= maternal deprivation.
- Primary attachment forms basis of our internal working model- mental representation of relationships, creates expectations on future relationships.
- Continuity hypothesis= consistency between early attachment and later relationships.
