ATTACHMENT Flashcards
(16 cards)
alert phase
Alert phases-Babies have periodic ‘alert phases’ in which they signal (e.g. making eye contact) that they are ready for a spell of interaction. Research shows that mothers typically pick up on and respond to their baby’s alertness around two-thirds of the time (Feldman and Eidelman 2007), although this varies according to the skill of the mother and external factors such as stress (Finegood et al. 2016).
From around three months this interaction tends to become increasingly frequent and involves both mother and baby paying close attention to each other’s verbal signals and facial expressions (Feldman 2007).
interactional synchrony research
‘the temporal co-ordination of micro- level social behaviour’ (Feldman 2007).
Synchrony begins -Andrew Meltzoff and Keith Moore (1977) observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in babies as young as two weeks old. An adult displayed one of three facial expressions or one of three distinctive gestures. The baby’s response was filmed and labelled by independent observers. Babies’ expression and gestures were more likely to mirror those of the adults more than chance would predict i.e. there was a significant association.
Importance for attachment -It is believed that interactional synchrony is important for the development of caregiver-infant attachment. Russell Isabella et al. (1989) observed 30 mothers and babies together and assessed the degree of synchrony. The researchers also assessed the quality of mother-baby attachment. They found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attachment (e.g. the emotional intensity of the relationship).
Schaffer Emerson research
Schaffer and Emerson (1964) based their stage theory (above) on an observational study of the formation of early infant adult attachments. The specification does not require that you know the procedural details of the study but they are useful background which may help your understanding.
Procedure -The study involved 60 babies - 31 boys and 29 girls. All were from Glasgow and the majority were from skilled working- class families. Researchers visited babies and mothers in their own homes every month for the first year and again at 18 months.
The researchers asked the mothers questions about the kind of protest their babies showed in seven everyday separations, e.g. adult leaving the room (a measure of separation anxiety). This was designed to measure the babies attachment. The researchers also assessed stranger anxiety - the babies’ anxiety response to unfamiliar people.
Fathers
Perhaps the most basic question about the role of fathers is whether babies actually attach to them and, if so, when. Available evidence suggests that fathers are much less likely to become babies’ first attachment figure compared to mothers.
For example, on the previous spread we looked at stages of attachment based on research by Rudolf Schaffer and Peggy Emerson (1964). They found that the majority of babies first became attached to their mother at around 7 months. In only 3% of cases the father was the first sole object of attachment. In 27% of cases the father was the joint first object of attachment with the mother.
However, it appears that most fathers go on to become important attachment figures. 75% of the babies studied by Schaffer and Emerson formed an attachment with their father by the age of 18 months. This was determined by the fact that the babies protested when their father walked away - a sign of attachment.
Animal critical periods
Geese-few hours
Harlow monkey
Harlow observed that newborns kept alone in a bare cage often died but that they usually survived it given something soft like a cloth to cuddle.
Procedure -Harlow (1958) tested the idea that a soft object serves some of the functions of a mother.In one experiment he reared 16 baby monkeys with two wire model ‘mothers’ (see picture on facing page)
In one condition milk was dispensed by the plain-wire mother whereas in a second condition the milk was dispensed by the cloth-covered mother.
Findings -The baby monkeys cuddled the cloth-covered mother in preference to the plain-wire mother and sought comfort from the cloth one when frightened (e.g. by a noisy mechanical teddy bear regardless of which mother (cloth-covered or plain-wire) dispensed milk. This showed that ‘contact comfort’ was of more importance to the monkeys than food when it came to attachment behaviour.
Bowlby critical period
Bowly proposed that there is a critical period around six months when the infant attachment system is active. In fact Bowlby viewed this as more of a sensitive period. A child is maximally sensitive at six months and this possibly extends up to the age of two. If an attachment is not formed in this time, a child will find it much harder to form one later.
strange situation procedure
The Strange Situation is a controlled observation procedure designed to measure the security of attachment a baby displays towards a caregiver. It takes place in a room with quite controlled conditions (i.e. a laboratory) with a two-way mirror and/or cameras through which psychologists can observe the baby’s behaviour.
The behaviours used to judge attachment included:
*Proximity-seeking - a baby with a good quality attachment will stay fairly close to a caregiver.
* Exploration and secure-base behaviour - good attachment enables a baby to feel confident to explore, using their caregiver as a secure base, i.e. a point of contact that will make them feel sale
* Stranger anxiety - one of the signs of becoming closely attached is a display of anxiety when stranger approaches.
* Separation anxiety - another sign of becoming attached is to protest at separation from the
caregiver.
* Response to reunion - babies who are securely attached greet the caregiver’s retum with pleasure and seek comfort.
The procedure has seven episodes, each of which lasts three minutes.
Beginning: Caregiver and baby enter an unfamiliar playroom.
1. The baby is encouraged to explore.-Tests exploration and secure base
2. A stranger comes in, talks to the caregiver and approaches the baby -Tests stranger anxiety
- The caregiver leaves the baby and stranger together. Tests separation and stranger anxiety.
- The caregiver returns and the stranger leaves.-Tests reunion behaviour and exploration/secure base.
- The caregiver leaves the baby alone.-Tests separation anxiety
- The stranger returns.-Tests stranger anxiety
- The caregiver returns and is reunited with the baby.-tests reunion behaviour
strange situation findings
Ainsworth et al. (1978) found that there were distinct patterns in the way that babies behaved. They identified three main types of attachment:
* Secure attachment (Type B). These babies explore happily but regularly go back to their caregiver (proximity-seeking and secure-base behaviour). They usually show moderate separation distress and moderate stranger anxiety. Securely attached babies require and accept comfort from the caregiver in the reunion stage. About 60-75% of British babies are classified as secure.
* Insecure-avoidant attachment (Type A). These babies explore freely but do not seek proximity or show secure-base behaviour. They show little or no reaction when their caregiver leaves and
little stranger anxiety. They make little effort to make contact when the caregiver returns and may even avoid such contact. About 20-25% of British babies are classified as insecure-avoidant.
* Insecure-resistant attachment (Type C). These babies seek greater proximity than others and so explore less. They show high levels of stranger and separation distress but they resist comfort when reunited with their caregiver. Around 3% of British babies are classified as insecure-resistant.
cultural variations
Marinus van Izendoorn and Pieter Kroonenberg (1988) conducted a study to look at the proportions of secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant attachments across a range of countries to assess cultural variation. They also looked at the differences within the same countries to get an idea of variations within a culture.
Procedure -The researchers located 32 studies of attachment where the Strange Situation had been used to investigate the proportions of babies with different attachment types. These were conducted in eight countries - 15 were in the US. Overall the studies yielded results for 1,990 children. The data for these 32 studies was meta-analysed. This means that the results of the studies were combined and analysed together, weighting each study for its sample size.
Findings -The findings are shown in the graph below left. There was wide variation between the proportions of attachment types in different studies. In all countries secure attachment was the most common classification. However the proportion varied from 75% in Britain to 50% in China.
In individualist cultures rates of insecure-resistant attachment were similar to Ainsworth’s original sample (all under 14%) but this was not true for the collectivist samples from China, Japan and Israel where rates were above 25% (and where rates of insecure-avoidant attachment were reduced).
An interesting finding was that variations between results of studies within the same country were actually 150% greater than those between countries. In the US, for example, one study found only 46% securely attached compared to one sample as high as 90%.
other cultural variations
An Italian study Alessandra Simonelli et al. (2014) conducted a study in Italy to see whether the proportions of babies of different attachment types still matches those found in previous studies. The researchers assessed 76 babies aged 12 months using the Strange Situation.
They found 50% were secure, with 36% insecure-avoidant. This is a lower rate of secure attachment and higher rate of insecure-avoidant attachment than has been found in many studies. The researchers suggest this is because increasing numbers of mothers of very young children work long hours and use professional childcare.
These findings suggest that patterns of attachment types are not static but vary in line with cultural change.
A Korean study Mi Kyoung Jin et al. (2012) conducted a study to compare the proportions of attachment types in Korea to other studies. The Strange Situation was used to assess 87 babies.
The overall proportions of insecure and secure babies were similar to those in most countries, with most babies being secure. However, more of those classified as insecurely attached were resistant and only one baby was avoidant. This distribution is similar to the distribution of attachment types found in Japan (van Izendoorn and Kroonenberg 1988).
Since Japan and Korea have quite similar child-rearing styles this similarity might be explained in terms of child-rearing style.
Bowlby maternal deprivation
critical period-30 months (2.5 years)
Goldfarb-low iq in people who remained in institutions and therefore had a lower standard of care
Bowlby’s (1944) 44 thieves study examined the link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation.
Procedure -The sample in this study consisted of 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing.
All ‘thieves’ were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy: characterised as a lack of affection, lack of guilt about their actions and lack of empathy for their victims. Their families were also interviewed in order to establish whether the ‘thieves’ had prolonged early separations from their mothers. The sample was compared to a control group of 44 non-criminal but emotionally disturbed young people.
Findings -Bowlby (1944) found that 14 of the 44 thieves could be described as affectionless psychopaths and 12 of these had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers in the first two years of their lives. In contrast only five of the remaining 30 ‘thieves’ had experienced separations. Only two participants in the control group of 44 had experienced long separations Bowly concluded that prolonged early separation/deprivation caused affectionless psychopathy.
Romanian orphans
Procedure -Michael Rutter and colleagues (2011) have followed a group of 165 Romanian Profens for many years as part of the English and Romanian adoptee (ERA) study The orphan had been adopted by families in the UK. The aim of the ERA has been to investigate the extent to which good care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions. Physical, cognitive and emotional development has been assessed at ages 4, 6, 11, 15 and 22-25 years. A group o 52 children from the UK adopted around the same time have served as a control group.
Findings -When the children first arrived in the UK, half the adoptees showed signs of delayed intellectual development and the majority were severely undernourished. At age 11 the adopted children showed differential rates of recovery that were related to their age of adoption. The mean IQ of those children adopted before the age of six months was 102, compared with 86 for those adopted between six months and two years and 77 for those adopted after two years. These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al. 2010). ADHD was more common in 15- and 22-25-year-old samples (Kennedy et al. 2016).
In terms of attachment, there appeared to be a difference in outcome related to whether adoption took place before or after six months. Those children adopted after they were six months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment. Symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
in contrast those children adopted before the age of six months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.
Other child study
Procedure -Charles Zeanah et al. (2005) conducted the Bucharest early intervention (BEl) project, assessing attachment in 95 Romanian children aged 12-31 months who had spent most of their lives in institutional care (90% on average). They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution. Their attachment type was measured using the Strange Situation. In addition carers were asked about unusual social behaviour including clingy, attention-seeking behaviour directed inappropriately at all adults (a measure of disinhibited attachment).
Findings -The researchers found that 74% of the control group were classed as securely attached in the Strange Situation. However, only 19% of the institutional group were securely attached. In contrast, the description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children as opposed to less than 20% of the controls.
relationships in childhood
Attachment type is associated with the quality of peer relationships in childhood. Securely attached babies tend to go on to form the best quality childhood friendships whereas insecurely attached babies later have friendship difficulties (Kerns 1994).
win particular, bullying behaviour can be predicted by attachment type. Rowan Myron-Wilson and Peter Smith (998) assessed attachment lype and bullying involvement using Standard questionnaires in 196 children aged 7-11 from London. Secure children were very unicely to be involved in bulying. Insecure-avoidant children were the most likely to be victims and insecure-resistant children were most likely to be bullies.
relationships in adulthood
Internal working models affect two major adult experiences - romantic relationships and parental relationships with your own children.
A classic study about romantic relationships and attachment, by Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver (1987), is described on the left. In another, Gerard McCarthy (1999) studied 40 adult women who had been assessed when they were babies to establish their early attachment type. Those assessed as securely attached babies had the best adult friendships and romantic relationships. Adults classed as insecure-resistant as babies had particular problems maintaining friendships whilst those classed as insecure-avoidant struggled with intimacy in romantic relationships.
Internal working models also affect the child’s ability to parent their own children. People tend to base their parenting style on their internal working model so attachment type tends to be passed on through generations of a family. Recall the study by Heidi Bailey et al. (2007, see page 85). They considered the attachments of 99 mothers to their babies and to their own mothers. Mother-baby attachment was assessed using the Strange Situation and mother’s allachment to their own mother was assessed using an adult attachment interview. The majolly of women had the same attachment classification both to their babies and their own mothers.
