Attachment Flashcards
(49 cards)
Give a definition for reciprocity
Both the mother and infant respond to each others signals and each elicit a response from each other. Two way.
I.e mother smiling triggers infant to smile.
Brazelton she said this basic rhythm is important to lay the foundations for later attachment between the two and described reciprocity as a dance as each person responds to each other signals.
Evaluate interactional synchrony
Meltoff and Moore - observation using adult models who demonstrated one of three expressions or hand movements i.e opening mouth, closing mouth or tongue protrusion and found a strong association between adults expression and infants showing that infants as young as 2 to 3 weeks old imitated specific facial and hand gestures like opening their mouth and that there was a strong association between the adults and infants expression (behavioural response is innate).
Isabella - found securely attached mother infant pairs had showed more instances of interactional synchrony in the first year of life showing that strong emotional attachments are associated with high levels of synchrony.
Give disadvantages of Meltoff and Moore study on interactional synchrony.
Infants mouths are in constant motion.
Failure to replicate.
Give a definition of interactional synchrony.
When the mother and infant reflect both actions and emotions of the other in a co - ordinated way (synchronised).
I.e infant moves head in time with the mother.
Outline Schafer and Emersons study.
Conducted a longitudinal study in 60 Glasgow infants on regular intervals for 18 months in their own home. Interactions with careers were observed. The mother was asked to keep a diary of the infants responses to everyday situations such as being left alone in a room.
Attachments develop in the following sequence:
(Stage1 ) Asocial attachment 0 - 8 weeks - show similar response to all objects.
(Stage 2) Indiscriminate 2-7 months - prefer people over inanimate objects. Accept comfort from any adult.
(Stage 3) Specific - 7 - 12 months- Stranger anxiety. Specific attachment with primary attachment figure become distressed when left alone by them.
(Stage 4) Multiple - around 1 - attachment behaviour towards others who are familiar. - Secondary attachment.
Main attachment was the mother in 65% only 3% the father.
By 18 months the infant had formed multiple attachments 31%. - Links to role of the father.
75% of secondary attachments are the father. - Links to role of the father.
Common attachment pattern suggests some biological control. Attachment develops in stages.
Evaluate Schafer and Emersons study on how attachment develops.
Unreliable data - social desirability - mothers may lie (diary entry).
Lacks ecological validity - middle class and in Glasgow. Only 60 participants - cannot generalise.
Lacks temporal validity - 1960s female parents are now more likely to work.
Outline the role of the father.
Until recently - breadwinners.
Playmates.
Give the definition of imprinting.
An innate readiness to develop a strong bond with the mother which happens usually hours from birth/hatching and if it doesn’t happen at that time then it probably never will leading to issues in adulthood. (Imprint to the first moving thing).
Outline Lorenz study on imprinting.
Divided geese eggs in two 2 halves.
One half left to hatch with the mother (control group) and the other half in an incubator where the first thing they saw move being Lorenz. Behaviour was recorded.
He found that the control group followed the mother geese everywhere whereas the second group followed Lorenz.
He concluded the process of imprinting is restricted to a short definitive period of the goslings life called a critical period. If the young gosling is not exposed to a moving object in this time it will not imprint.
Give research to support the role of the father.
Schaffer and Emerson - 3% of the children has an initial attachment with their fathers. In proceeding months 75% were the secondary attachment.
Outline disadvantages of Harlows Rhesus Monkeys.
Ethical issues - protection from harm after 90 days some monkeys killed their offspring in later life.
Generalisability.
What is privation?
Failure to form an attachment.
Outline Harlows animal study.
8 infant monkeys brought up in complete isolation from birth in a controlled environment.
In each cage there was 2 surrogate mothers 1 of wire mesh supplying food and 1 of comfort.
All the monkeys regardless of food attached to the cloth mother.
When afraid monkeys clung to comfort mother.
They would use the cloth mother as a secure base to explore surroundings.
He also found that rhesus monkeys left with the surrogate mother for more than 90 days were more aggressive and didn’t know how to behave, difficulty during mating and inadequate mothers even killing offspring. - Those kept less than 90 days the effects could be reversed.
Rhesus monkeys have an innate need for comfort and contact.
Outline evaluations of Lorenz study on imprinting.
Guitan - yellow rubber gloves to cause imprinting on newly hatched chicks shows that animals are not born with a predisposition to imprint onto specific species but anything that is constantly moving during the critical period not just the mother.
Cannot be generalised to humans - attachment in mammals/humans are very different to that of a bird species. - Imprinting is a one way process/relationship as it can happen with inanimate objects. However humans attachment is a two way process (reciprocity and interactional synchrony).
Evaluate Harlows Rhesus monkeys.
Ethical issues - protection from harm - created short term stress in the rhesus monkeys and lasting emotional harm as they struggled to form relationships/attachments.
- Practical applications - Helped social workers to understand the risk factors of child neglect and it supports zoos to understand the importance of proper attachments figures and care of animals.
- High control - done in a lab.
Give evaluations of Bowlbys evolutionary theory of attachment (monotropic theory).
Schaffer and Emerson - Found children at the age of 1 can have multiple attachments - goes against monotrophy theory.
Lorenz - found that goslings attached to the first moving thing they saw suggesting attachment is innate.
Hazen + Shaver - love quiz found that people who had a secure attachment believed love requires trust and confidence showing a clear relation between attachment with caregiver and future attachments - supports the working memory model.
What is an unconditioned stimulus?
A stimulus that causes an unlearned response.
What is a conditioned response?
A learned behaviour that comes from classical conditioning.
What is cupboard love? (Learning theory of attachment).
Attachments learn through operant and classical conditioning.
UCS (food) - UCR (pleasure).
UCS (food) + NS (mother) - UCR (pleasure).
CS (mother) - CR (pleasure).
What is classical conditioning?
Learning through association
What is the learning theory?
Argues we are born a blank slate and states that attachment is a set of learned behaviours learnt through operant and classical conditioning.
Outline operant conditioning.
Learning by consequences. Positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement.
Evaluate the learning theory. (Cupboard love).
- Harlow - contact/comfort more important than food.
- Lorenz goes against as goslings imprint immediately - they don’t learn it.
- Schaffer + Emerson state attachment is not created by food but by who responds to infant signals.
Evaluate reciprocity.
Tronick - mothers made an unsmiling expression - infants would try to interact with the mother by smiling and became puzzled and increasing distressed when the mother didn’t smile back.
1st stage - interact.
2nd stage - straight face.
3rd stage - interact.
This shows infants try to achieve this reciprocal interaction and become distressed without it.
EV - socially sensitive research.
