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Attachment Flashcards

1
Q

What is reciprocity in caregiver-infant interactions?

A

Reciprocity is a two-way, mutual process where each party responds to the other’s signals to sustain interaction.

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2
Q

What does interactional synchrony refer to?

A

Interactional synchrony is when adults and babies respond in time to sustain communication, mirroring actions and emotions.

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3
Q

What did studies involving facial and hand gesture imitation in infants reveal?

A

Infants as young as two or three weeks imitated adult facial and hand gestures, indicating early signs of interactional synchrony.

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4
Q

What did Murray and Trevarthen’s study demonstrate about babies’ expectations?

A

Babies expect their mothers to respond to them; when shown a non-responsive video, they tried to get attention, then gave up.

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5
Q

Why is studying caregiver-infant interaction difficult?

A

Infants cannot use language, leading psychologists to rely on inferences, which may not always be accurate.

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6
Q

How did Abravanal and DeYong’s puppet study support interactional synchrony?

A

Infants showed little response to puppet gestures, indicating that interactional synchrony is a specific social response.

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7
Q

What is a criticism of using facial gestures to test imitation in infants?

A

These expressions are common in infants, so they may not be deliberate imitations.

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8
Q

Why is observer bias a problem in caregiver-infant interaction studies?

A

Observations may be influenced by the researcher’s interpretations; using multiple observers helps improve reliability.

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9
Q

What practical issues arise when studying infant-caregiver interaction?

A

Infants may be asleep or feeding, so shorter observation periods are necessary.

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10
Q

What ethical considerations must be taken when studying infants?

A

Researchers must avoid harm, respect confidentiality, and ensure ethical treatment of both infants and caregivers.

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11
Q

What occurs during the pre-attachment stage (0-3 months)?

A

Infants prefer human faces over objects and events, smiling at people.

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12
Q

Describe the indiscriminate attachment stage.

A

From 4-7 months, infants start preferring familiar people but still allow strangers to handle them.

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13
Q

What defines the discriminate attachment stage?

A

At around 7 months, infants form a primary attachment, showing separation protest and stranger anxiety.

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14
Q

What are multiple attachments?

A

After forming a primary attachment, infants develop emotional ties with others, such as fathers and grandparents.

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15
Q

What did Schaffer conclude about the formation of attachment?

A

The quality of the relationship is more important than the amount of time spent together.

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16
Q

What is a limitation of Schaffer’s study regarding data reliability?

A

It relied on mothers’ reports, which may be biased or inaccurate.

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17
Q

Why might the study lack temporal validity?

A

Conducted in the 1960s, social roles and child care have changed significantly since then.

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18
Q

How might stage theories be considered inflexible?

A

They don’t account for individual differences, such as forming multiple attachments first.

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19
Q

Why are fathers less likely to be primary attachment figures?

A

They spend less time with infants and may lack the emotional sensitivity due to biological or cultural reasons.

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20
Q

How does oxytocin influence caregiving behaviour?

A

This hormone, more prevalent in women, promotes caregiving and emotional bonding.

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21
Q

How do fathers contribute differently to child development?

A

Fathers often provide play and stimulation, complementing the mother’s emotional support.

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22
Q

What did Grossman find about early attachments and adolescence?

A

Early attachment to mothers predicts adolescent relationships better than early attachment to fathers.

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23
Q

What did Field’s study reveal about primary caregiver fathers?

A

They engaged more in smiling and imitative behaviours, showing flexibility in caregiving roles.

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24
Q

What does inconsistency in research suggest about the father’s role?

A

The father’s importance may vary, and some studies show no effect from their absence.

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25
What was the aim of Harlow’s 1959 study?
To test if comfort or food was more important in forming attachment.
26
What were Harlow’s key findings?
Monkeys preferred the soft cloth mother over the wire mother, regardless of feeding.
27
How did monkeys respond to fear in Harlow’s study?
They clung to the cloth mother for comfort.
28
What were the long-term effects on Harlow’s monkeys?
They developed social and emotional abnormalities and struggled to mate and parent.
29
What was the critical period in Harlow’s study for recovery?
Monkeys could recover only if exposed to others before three months old.
30
What ethical concerns are raised by Harlow’s study?
Monkeys experienced long-term harm and were subjected to distressing conditions.
31
What did Lorenz study in 1939?
Imprinting in goslings and its critical period.
32
What did Lorenz find about imprinting?
Goslings followed the first moving object they saw after birth, typically during the first two days.
33
What is sexual imprinting according to Lorenz?
Animals later prefer to mate with the type of object they imprinted on.
34
What is a criticism of applying animal study results to humans?
Human attachments are more complex and influenced by social and cultural factors.
35
How does classical conditioning explain attachment?
Infants associate the caregiver (neutral stimulus) with pleasure from food (unconditioned stimulus).
36
How does operant conditioning strengthen attachment?
Babies receive positive reinforcement from being fed, while caregivers get negative reinforcement from reduced crying.
37
What is a strength of learning theory?
It is based on established scientific principles of conditioning.
38
Why is learning theory criticized as environmentally reductionist?
It oversimplifies complex human behaviours by focusing only on environmental factors.
39
What did Schaffer et al. find that contradicts learning theory?
Babies often form attachments with people who play with them rather than feed them.
40
What was the purpose of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation?
To investigate differences in attachment styles between infants and caregivers through controlled observation.
41
What behaviours were observed in the Strange Situation?
Proximity seeking, separation protest, stranger anxiety, and reunion joy.
42
What is insecure-avoidant attachment (Type A)?
Babies who ignore their caregiver, show little distress when they leave, and treat the stranger similarly.
43
What characterises secure attachment (Type B)?
Babies use the caregiver as a safe base, show distress on separation, are comforted on reunion, and wary of strangers.
44
What is insecure-resistant attachment (Type C)?
Babies who are clingy, show intense separation protest, but resist comfort from the caregiver and reject the stranger.
45
What is a major strength of the Strange Situation method?
High replicability due to its standardised procedure and control.
46
What is a criticism regarding the validity of the Strange Situation?
Proximity seeking might reflect insecurity rather than security.
47
Why might the Strange Situation lack ecological validity?
Because it is a laboratory procedure and may not reflect natural behaviours.
48
How is the Strange Situation gender biased?
It typically involves mothers only, ignoring possible secure attachments with fathers.
49
What did Van Ijzendoorn’s meta-analysis investigate?
Cultural variations in attachment styles using data from 32 studies in 8 countries.
50
What was the most common attachment style across all cultures studied?
Secure attachment.
51
Which countries had high rates of insecure-resistant attachment?
Japan and Israel.
52
What country had the lowest rate of secure attachment?
China, with 50%.
53
What was notable about variation within cultures compared to between cultures?
Variation within cultures was 1.5 times greater than between cultures.
54
What does the study suggest about attachment?
Attachment may have universal features but is also shaped by cultural practices.
55
What is a strength of Van Ijzendoorn’s study?
Large sample size, increasing validity and generalisability.
56
What methodological issue affects the study’s validity?
The Strange Situation may be culturally biased as it was developed in the USA.
57
Why did Bowlby believe attachments form?
They are adaptive, increasing survival chances and passing on genes.
58
What is Bowlby’s concept of monotropy?
The idea that infants form one special emotional bond, often with their mother.
59
What is the critical period according to Bowlby?
Attachments must form before two years old, or they may never form properly.
60
What are social releasers?
Innate infant behaviours like smiling and crying that trigger caregiving.
61
What is the internal working model?
A mental representation of the first attachment that guides future relationships.
62
What is the continuity hypothesis?
Secure early attachment leads to social and emotional competence in later life.
63
What evidence contradicts monotropy?
Schaffer et al. found multiple attachments were common by 18 months.
64
How did Kegan challenge Bowlby’s view?
He proposed that infant temperament, not caregiver sensitivity, influences attachment quality.
65
What does Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory propose?
Prolonged separation from the primary caregiver leads to emotional, social, and intellectual difficulties.
66
What is affectionless psychopathy?
A lack of affection, shame, and responsibility, often linked to early separation.
67
What did Bowlby’s 1944 study on thieves reveal?
12 of 14 affectionless psychopaths had experienced frequent early separation from their mothers.
68
What is a practical impact of Bowlby’s theory?
Hospitals now allow parents to stay with their children to prevent emotional harm.
69
What is a criticism of the maternal deprivation theory?
It fails to distinguish between deprivation (loss) and privation (never formed attachment).
70
What did Rutter’s Romanian orphan study conclude about early adoption?
Children adopted before 6 months could recover well; those adopted later showed lasting developmental issues.
71
What is institutional care?
A living arrangement where a child is raised outside the family, such as in a children’s home or hospital.
72
What is disinhibited attachment?
When children are overly friendly and affectionate with strangers, often due to lack of consistent caregivers.
73
What is deprivation dwarfism?
A condition where a child’s physical development is stunted due to lack of emotional care, not poor nutrition.
74
What cognitive issues can arise from institutional care?
Delayed intellectual development, such as low IQ and problems with concentration and language.
75
What emotional problems may institutionalised children experience?
Poor emotional regulation, frequent temper tantrums, and difficulty managing anger.
76
What is quasi-autism in the context of institutional care?
A condition where children struggle to understand social contexts and display obsessional behaviours.
77
How does institutionalisation affect the internal working model?
It impairs the child’s ability to form future close relationships and may affect their parenting skills later.
78
What was the key finding of Rutter et al.'s Romanian orphan study at age four?
Children adopted before six months had largely caught up with their British peers developmentally.
79
What are the long-term effects for children adopted after six months?
Persistent cognitive and social deficits, including disinhibited attachment and lower IQ.
80
What did Le Mare and Audet’s Canadian study reveal about Romanian adoptees?
Physical and psychological differences diminished by age 10, suggesting effects are reversible with sensitive parenting.
81
How has research on institutionalisation influenced adoption practices?
Babies are now adopted much earlier, ideally before six months, to avoid long-term developmental issues.
82
What institutional reform came from studies on emotional care?
The introduction of key workers to provide consistent emotional support for children in institutions.
83
What is a methodological issue with studies on Romanian orphans?
Children were not randomly assigned, so individual differences may affect results.
84
What is the internal working model?
A mental template formed from early attachment that guides expectations in later relationships.
85
How do securely attached infants typically behave in later relationships
They tend to have positive, healthy relationships and are more socially competent.
86
What happens if a child lacks an internal working model?
They may develop attachment disorders and struggle with relationships in adulthood.
87
What is attachment disorder?
A condition where children show difficulty forming relationships, with no preferred caregiver and social interaction issues.
88
When does attachment disorder typically become evident?
From around age five, often due to severe neglect or frequent changes in caregivers.
89
What did Sroufe et al.’s Minnesota Parent-Child Project find?
Securely attached children were more socially competent, popular, empathetic, and less isolated.
90
What method did Sroufe use to assess parent-child relationships?
Questionnaires and observations, including video recordings analysed by two observers.
91
What potential bias may have affected Sroufe’s study?
Mothers knew they were being recorded, which could cause social desirability bias.
92
What did Simpson et al. find that supports Sroufe’s results?
Infants securely attached at one year were later rated as having better peer relationships.
93
Why is the internal working model theory considered deterministic?
It suggests early experiences rigidly shape future relationships, limiting the role of personal choice.
94
What evidence contradicts the idea that early attachment permanently affects later relationships?
Tizard and Hodges found children who had no early attachments could still form strong bonds after adoption.
95
Why is the Strange Situation considered culturally biased?
It was developed in the USA and may not accurately assess attachment in cultures with different child-rearing norms.
96
What cultural insight did Van Ijzendoorn’s study provide?
Subcultural differences like social class can impact attachment styles more than broad cultural categories.
97
How does Bowlby’s theory link to evolutionary psychology?
It proposes attachment is instinctive and evolved to increase survival.
98
Why is the learning theory of attachment considered environmentally deterministic?
It overlooks innate factors and assumes early experiences solely shape behaviour.
99
What is a shared feature of imprinting and human attachment?
Both occur during a critical period and involve bonding with a caregiver figure.
100
What key lesson do Romanian orphan studies offer policymakers?
Early, stable emotional care is crucial for healthy psychological and cognitive development.

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