Attachment Flashcards
(24 cards)
Outline AO1 for Caregiver-Infant Interactions
- Reciprocity
- two way interaction where the CG and infant respond to eachothers signals
- babies have “alert phases” where they are ready for interaction
- Brazelton described reciprocity as a dance - each partner responds to the others moves - Interactional Synchrony
- when CG and I reflect both the emotions and behaviours of the other in a co-ordinated way
Meltzoff & Moore
- observed I as young as 2 weeks old
- adult displays facial expression and childs response filmed and analysed
- found clear association
- interactional synchrony is innate
Isabella et al
- found high lvls of synchrony were associated with better quality attachments
Outline AO3 for Caregiver-Infant Interactions
+ Meltzoff & Moore used controlled observations which increases the validity and reliability + no demand characteristics as babies dont know theyre being observed
+ RWA
helps develop better parenting strategies and promotes early bonding in neonatal care units
- infants perspective
cant read infants mind, subjective interpretations
- socially sensitive research
implies mothers who go back to work are disadvantaging their infants
Outline AO1 for Schaffers Stages of Attachment
- longitudinal study in Infants from working class Glasgow families
Procedure: - 60 babies > 31 M, 29 F from working class families
- studied at monthly intervals for the first year and then again at 18 mnths
- researchers visited homes and interviewed moms about childs reaction in 7 seperations
- attachment measured by seperation and stranger anxiety
Findings: - by 6-8months, I had formed specific attachment to the PCG
- 10 mnths, multiple attachments to other family
- supports that attachment develops in stages
Schaffers Four Stages of Attachment:
- Asocial stage (0-6 weeks)
- baby responds to anything
- smiles at people and things
- treats humans and inanimate objects the same - Indiscriminate attachment (6wk-6mnths)
- more socialable
- prefer people over objects but no signs of stranger/seperation anxiety - Specific attachment
( 7-12mnths)
- develops primary attachment
- shows sep and stranger anxiety
- Cg is secure base - Multiple attachments (12+ mnths)
- forms attachment to other people
- by 1 year, most have several attachments
Outline AO3 for Schaffers Stages of Attachment
+ good external validity
carried out in Ps home using natural observation
+ longitudinal study
better internal validity and less P variables
- limited generalisiability
same social class and city so findings may not apply to other cultures + historical validity
- Asocial stage
are babies asocial or is it just the poor coordination and immobility
Outline AO1 for the Role of Father
- Primary Attachment Fig
Schaffer & Emerson
- found most infants formed their first specific attachment to their mother by 7mnths
- father was PAF in only 3% of cases, joint attachment figure in 27%
- suggests fathers are less likely to be the first AF - Secondary Attachment Fig
- take on role of playmate rather than CG
- fathers more physically active, unpredictable play and more stimulation than nurturing behaviours
Grossman
- longitudinal study on parents behaviours and quality of adolscents attachment
- fathers play linked to attachment quality suggesting fathers have social role development - Fathers as PCG
- they take on the typical behaviours of mothers
Field
- filmed 4 month old babies in face to face interaction with:
- primary caregiver (PCG) mother
- PCG father
- SCG father
Findings
-PCG fathers spent more time like mothers, smiling, imitating and holding baby
Outline the AO3 for the role of the father
+ RWA
encourages flexible family roles, either parent can be PCG so supports shared parenting
- inconsistent findings
some research looks at the role as a PCG and some as a SCG so role definition is conflicted
- lack of clarity around biology and social roles
traditional views suggest women are more prepared for the caregiving e.g. oestrogen production however Fields research shows fathers can provide sensitive care which challenges biological determinism
- cultural differences
role of father may vary between diff cultures which limits generalisiability of the findings
Outline AO1 for Lorenz: Animal Studies of Attachment
Procedure
- divided a group of goose eggs into two:
1. Hatched with mother (Control)
2. Hatched in incubator where Lorenz was the first moving object they saw
- Lorenz marked the geese and released them all together and observed their behaviour
Findings:
- the geese that first saw Lorenz, followed him around after being mixed with the other geese and same for the control group
- imprinting: biological process where birds form an attachment to the first moving object they see
- critical period: imprinting must happen within a specific time period after birth otherwise it wont happen at all
- Sexual Imprinting: Birds imprinted on humans displayed courtship behaviours towards humans in later life
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Outline AO3 for Lorenz: animals studies into attachment
+ RS for imprinting
Guiton found chicks imprinted on gloves and later tried mating with them which supports the idea of innate imprinting
- generalisability issues
birds attachment style cant be compared to that of humans
- imprinting may not be permanent
Guiton founf that chicks were able to later mate with their own species so the effects of imprinting may not be permanent
Outline AO1 for Harlow:
animal studies into attachment
Procedure
- 8 Rhesus monkeys seperated at birth from their mothers
- Given 2 surrogate mothers:
1. made of wire and gave milk
2. made of cloth and no milk
- observed over 165 days in lab
Findings
- monkeys spent most of time with cloth mom
- when frightened, they clung to cloth moms: shows contact comfort is more important than attachment formation
Follow-up
- monkeys reared in isolation showed long term effects:
- more aggressive, less socialable, neglected/killed own babies > as a result of maternal deprivation: none of the monkeys were socially acceptable
- critical period for monkeys: 90 days
Outline AO3 for Harlow: animal studies into attachment
+ practical applications
contributed to social work and childcare and showed the importance of early emotional care
- ethical issues
caused harm to the monkeys as some never recovered socially
- generalisability issues
limited extrapolation to human attachment
Outline AO3 for Explanations of Attachment: Learning Theory
- Harlow contradictory research
his research shows comfort forms the attachment base not food - Schaffer&Emerson contradictory research
babies formed attachment to biological mothers even when others fed them - reductionist
reduces complex emotional bonds to simple stimulus-response processes and ignores emotional and biological factors e.g. role of sensitivity, interactional synchrony
+/- some elements valid
classical conditioning may still form a role forming positive feelings towards CG
Outline AO1 for Explanations of Attachment: Learning Theory
- suggests that attachments are learned behaviours and not innate (Cupboard Love theory)
Classical Conditioning - attachment by association
- infant learns to associate the CG (neutral stimulus) with pleasure of being fed (UCS)
- after repeated pairings, the CG becomes the CS and pleasure the CR
- the baby therefore feels happy with the CG even if food isnt present
Operant Conditioning
- attachment reinforced through rewards (positive reinforcement)
- when baby cries they receive food and comfort which reinforces the crying behaviour for when they baby is hungry (PR)
- CG is negatively reinforced: crying stopping is a reward for the CG
Drive Reduction
- hunger is a primary drive that causes discomfort
- when CG feeds the baby, discomfort reduced
- discomfort reduction reinforces attachment to the CG
Outline AO1 for Bowlbys Monotropic Theory of Attachment
- suggests its an innate biological system that ensures survival by keeping infant to CG
1. Adaptiveness and Innateness - attachment is biologically programmed as it has survival value > infants closer to CG sre more likely to survive
- Monotropy
- infants form one special attachment and this monotropic bond is more important than others and forms basis for later emotional development - Social Releasers
- born with innate behaviours e.g. crying which trigger the CGs response which ensures interaction and bonding occurs which is critical during the critical period - Internal Working Model
- first attachment forms schema for future relationships
- a securely attached child will expect others to be loving and reliable; an insecurely attached child may struggle with later relationships
Outline AO3 for Bowlbys Monotropic Theory of Attachment
+ RS from Lorenz + Harlow
animal studies show attachment is innate and not just ab food
+ RS for IWM
Bailey et al 2007 found 99 mothers and found that the quality of their own early attachments predicted the attachments to their babies
- Monotropy is controversial
Critics argue one primary attachment is overemphasised
Schaffer&Emerson found by 10 months, babies had multiple attachments - Socially sensitive
suggests that the mother must be PCG which applys pressure and potentially reinforces gender roles - biological determinism
downplays role of nurture e.g. interactional synchrony, quality of caregiving
Outline the AO1 for Ainsworth Strange Situation
- developed to assess the quality of attachment between 12-18month olds and their CG
- structured observed in lab settings, 8 episodes, 3 mins each
- involved seperation, reunion and stranger prescence
Key behaviours observed:
1. stranger anxiety
2. separation anxiety
3. reunion behavioiur
4. exploration & secure base
Findings:
- 3 attachment types
1. Secure Attachment - type B
- around 60-75% of British babies
- strong str and sep anxiety
- happy reunion behaviour
- CG as a secure base for exploring
- associated with sensitive, responsive caregiving
- Insecure-avoidant - type A
- around 20-25% of British babies
- low str and sep anxiety
- avoids reunion contact
- CG is not a secure base
- associated with unresponsiveness or distant caregiving - Insecure-resistant - type C
- around 3% of British babies
- high str and sep anxiety
- resists comfort on reunion
- less willing to explore
- associated with inconsistent caregiving
Outline AO3 for Ainsworth Strange Situation
+ good reliability
controlled, standardised procedures and clear behavioural categories and high inter-rater reliability (94%)
+ predictive validity
securely attached infants tend to have better relationships and academic outcomes whereas insecure-resistant types may be more prone to bullying or anxiety disorders
- culture bound
Takahashi found that Japanese infants displayed higher sep anxiety as theyre rarely left alone so the attachment types may be catered more towards the Western world - other attachment types
Main&Soloman propose disorganised attachment which says infants show contradictory behaviours which suggests Ainsowrth SS may be oversimplified - ethical concerns
distress to infants
Outline AO1 for Cultural Variations in Attachment
Van IJzendoorn + Kroonenberg
Procedure
- meta-analysis of 32 studies from 8 countries using the Strange Situation: 2000 infants overall
Findings
- Secure attachment most common in all cultures (around 50% in China to 75% in Britain)
- Insecure-avoidant was more common in Germany (35%) maybe due to cultural valye of independance
- Insecure-resistant more common in Japan (27%) where children are rarely seperated from CG
Variation within cultures 1.5x greater than between countries which shows that subcultures matter too
Outline AO3 for Cultural Variations in Attachment
+ large sample size
increases internal validity
- imposed etic
SS is based on Western culture and values and may not generalise to collectivist cultures - differences within countries
Van IJzendoorn found more variation within countries than between which suggests subcultures influence attachment more than national culture - ethnocentrism
judging other cultures by Western standards can lead to misclassifications and misunderstandings
Outline AO1 for Bowlbys Theory of Maternal Deprivation
argues that continuous care from a mother is essential for healthy psychological development
deprivation: bond is formed, but then broken or lost in early life
critical period: first 2.5 years are crucial and if a child is deprived of emotional care, psychological damage is likely
Effects of Maternal Deprivation:
1. intellectual development
- low IQ, later development
- Goldfarb: children in institutions had lower IQ than those fostered earlier
2. Emotional development:
- leads to affectionless psychopathy
- associations with criminal behaviour
Bowlby 44 Thieves Study
Procedure
- interviewed 44 juvenile thieves and their families and compared to a control group of non-criminal but emotionally disturbed boys
Findings
- 14 thieves were affectionless psychopaths
- 12/14 had experienced prolonged separation from mother figure in early childhood
- In contrast, only 5 of the remianing 30 had experienced separation
- 2 in control group experienced separation
Conclusion:
Maternal dep can lead to affectionless psychopathy and criminality
Outline AO3 for Bowlbys Theory of Maternal DEprivation
- methodological issues in 44 thieves study
retrospective data which relies on memory so can be unreliable
investigator bias as Bowlby himself conducted the interviews and diagnosis - contradictory research
Lewis replicated the study with 500 children and found no link between early separation and criminality suggesting that Bowlby may have overstated the importance of early maternal deprivation - deprivation vs privation
Rutter argues that Bowlby confused deprivation with privation as dep means loss of bond whereas privation means no bond at all
+ RWA
changes in hospital care and policies
- sensitive rather than critical
research states that the damage is reversible if good quality care provided afterwards
Outline AO1 for Romanian Orphan Studies: Effects of Institutionalisation
Instituionalisation refers to effects of living in an institutional setting where little emotional care is provided
Romanian orphan studies were conducted to examine how severe deprivation affects development
Rutter et al 2011
Procedure
- followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted by British families
- adopted at various ages (before 6mnths/6mnths-2yrs/after 2yrs)
- compared with control group of 52 British adoptees
- tested physical, cognitive and emotional development at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15
Findings
- at adoption: all Romanian orphans were malnourished and underdeveloped
By age 11:
- children adopted before 6mnths showed normal cognitive development
- children adopted after 6mnths showed signs of disinhibited attachment (clingy, attention seeking) and lower IQ
Conclusion:
- the longer the deprivation the more severe the effects
- supports idea of a sensiive period for healthy attachment and development
Zeanah et al 2005
Procedure
- assessed 95 children aged 12-31 mnths who had spent most lives in Romanian institutions
- compared to 50 children who were never institutionalised
- measured using SS
Findings:
- only 19% of institutionalised chidren were securly attached
- 65% = disorganised attachment
- many shows signs of disinhibited attachment
Effects of Institutionalisation:
1. Disinhibited Attachment
- equally friendly to strangers and familiar people
- linked to lack of primary attachment in early life
- Delayed Intellectual Development
- lower IQ and cognitive display: particularly if adopted after 6mnths - Physical underdevelopment
“deprivation dwarfism” growth is affected by emotional and physical neglect
Outline AO3 for Romanian Orphan Studies: Effects of Instituionalisation
+ RWA
improved the care systems
e.g. key workers as PCG
+ fewer confounding V
Romanian orphans suffered from pure deprivation
- not generalisable
Roman orphanages were extremely poor in standards and care and may not reflect all institutions - lacks external V - individual differences
not all children affected in the same way as some were more resilient so other factors may influence the outcomes
Outline AO1 for Influence of Early Attachment on Later Relationships
Bowlbys IWM suggests our first attachment forms a template for future relationships
- child with secure attachment expects love and trust leading to positive, stable relationships in later life
- child with an insecure attachment may struggle with trust, intimacy or behave avoidant/resistant
Relationships in Childhood
Youngblade and Belsky:
- securely attached 3-5 year olds were more curious, confident and socially skilled
Myron-Wilson and Smith:
- studied 196 London children aged 7-11
Findings:
- securely attached: less likely to be involved in bullying
- insecure-avoidant: more likely to bully
- insecure-resistant: more like to be bullied
Relationships in Adulthood
Hazan and Shavers Love Quiz
- published a questionnaire in local newspaper
- analysed 620 responses on attachment history and adult romantic experiences
Findings:
- securely attached adults had longer trusting relationships
- insecure-avoidant adult feared intimacy and didnt depend on others
- insecure-resistant adults were clingy and jealous
Conclusion:
evidence supports continuity hypothesis: attachment types carried forward into adult relationships
Parenting style - Bailey et al
- studied 99 mothers and their 1 year old babies
- found that the majority of them had the same attachment type to their own babies as they recalled with their own parents
- supports intergenerational transmission of attachment
Outline AO3 of Influence of Early Attachment on Later Relationships
+ RLA
understanding early attachment can help in interventions to help parents to form secure bonds
- retrospective data
most studies rely on adults recalling early attachments which can be inaccurate or biased - correlation does not imply causation
Hazan and Shavers findings are correlational and cannot prove early attachment causes adult relationship patterns - mixed evidence on continuity
not all studies show strong links between early attachments and late relationships
Zimmerman: early attachment was not a good indicator of later relationships
