Attachment Flashcards
(14 cards)
Caregiver-infant interactions (Reciprocity and Interactional Synchrony)
Caregiver-infant interactions are the behaviours shown between a caregiver (typically a parent) and a child that help attachments to develop and be maintained. There are 2 clear types:
RECIPROCITY - where an infant responds to the actions of another person. With reciprocity the actions of one person (e.g. the primary caregiver) elicit a response from the other (e.g. the infant).
INTERACTIONAL SYNCHRONY - where an infant mirrors the actions of another person, e.g. their facial expressions and body movements - moving their body in tune with the rhythm of their carer.
Caregiver-infant interactions
Meltzoff and Moore (1977)
Aim:
- To examine interactional synchrony in infants.
Procedure:
- Used a controlled observation.
- An adult model displayed one of three facial expressions.
- The child’s expressions were filmed.
Findings:
- There was a clear association between the infant’s behaviour and that of the adult model.
- Later research found the same findings in 3 day-old infants.
Conclusion:
- These findings suggest that interactional synchrony is innate.
Stages of attachment
Schaffer and Emerson (1964)
1) Asocial - 0-6 weeks
2) Indiscriminate attachments - 6 weeks - 6 months
3) Discriminate attachments - 7-12 months
4) Multiple attachments - 1 year +
Aim:
- To examine the formation of early attachments.
Procedure:
- 60 babies from working class families in Glasgow participated.
- Researchers observed the children and interviewed the mothers.
Findings:
- At 25-32 weeks, 50% of the children showed separation anxiety.
- At 40 weeks, 80% of the children had a specific (discriminate) attachment and 30% had multiple attachments.
Conclusion:
- The results provide some support for Schaffer’s stages of attachment and suggest that attachment develops through a series of stages.
Multiple attachments: role of the father
Role of the father wasn’t considered in early attachment theory and research, which tended to focus on mother-infant attachments. More recently, research have focused on the importance of the father in infant development and whether they have a distinct role. However, psychologists disagree over the exact role of the father.
Some researchers claim that men are simply not equipped to form an attachment. Such psychologists point to biological evidence which suggests that the hormone oestrogen underlies caring behaviour in women and the lack of oestrogen in men is why they are unable to form a close attachment.
Other researchers argue that fathers do not take on a caregiver role and in fact provide a different role as a playmate.
Finally, some researchers argue that fathers can demonstrate sensitive responsiveness and respond to the needs of their children and therefore can form a strong emotional tie or bond.
Animal studies (Lorenz, 1935)
Aim:
- To investigate imprinting in baby geese.
Procedure:
- Lorenz divided a clutch of goose eggs into two groups:
1) One group was left with their natural mother.
2) The other group was placed in an incubator.
- Lorenz made sure that when the eggs in the incubator hatched, he was the first moving object they saw. After this, he marked the two groups and returned them to the natural mother.
Findings:
- The geese that had hatched in the incubator continued to follow him, while those who had hatched naturally, continued to follow their mother.
Conclusion:
- Goslings are programmed to imprint (attach) onto the first moving object they see, highlighting the rapid formation of attachment in animals.
Animal studies (Harlow, 1959)
Aim:
- To investigate the nature of attachment in baby monkeys.
Procedure:
- 8 rhesus monkeys were placed in a cage with two surrogate mothers, one made of wire and one wrapped in cloth.
- For half of the monkeys, the food (milk bottle) was attached to the wire mother, whereas for the other half, the food was attached to the cloth mother.
Findings:
- Harlow found that all of the monkeys spent most of their time cuddled to the soft cloth-covered mother.
Conclusion:
- Monkeys develop attachments based on contact comfort and not based on food.
Explanations of attachment: learning theory of attachment
1) Before conditioning, food (milk) is UCS, which produces an UCR (relief).
2) Before conditioning, the mother is a NS, who produces no response.
3) During conditioning, the baby associates the NS and the UCS.
4) After conditioning, the mother becomes a CS who produces a CR (relief from hunger) and the baby forms an attachment.
Explanations of attachment: Bowlby’s theory of attachment
Bowlby’s theory of attachment takes an evolutionary perspective. He argued that children are born with an innate tendency to form attachments with their parents in order to increase survival. Bowlby identifies 5 key criteria for the process of attachment.
Adaptive - Attachments are adaptive - they give our species an ‘adaptive advantage’ to survive.
Social releaser - Babies have social releasers which ‘unlock’ the innate tendency in adults to care for them.
Critical period - babies have to form an attachment during a critical period of time in their infancy.
Monotropy/internal working model - they form one special attachment with their mother, known as monotropy, and this relationship acts as a model for future relationships through an internal working model.
The Strange Situation: Ainsworth (1971)
Ainsworth (1971)
The Strange Situation is a technique involving a controlled observation that is used to test a child’s attachment patterns. In a controlled setting, the behaviour of an infant aged 12-18 months us assessed through a two-way mirror. The child is assessed in terms of behaviour towards the mother, behaviour towards a stranger, separation anxiety and behaviour when reunited with the mother.
Secure (66% of infants) - uses a caregiver as a secure base, showing only moderate stranger and separation anxiety and showing joy on reunion with caregiver.
Insecure-avoidant (22% of infants) - does not use caregiver as secure base, showing little or no stranger or separation anxiety and showing no joy on reunion.
Insecure-resistant (12% of infants) - unable to use caregiver as secure base as seeks greater proximity and explores less. Shows high stranger and separation anxiety. Seeks and simultaneously rejects caregiver.
The Strange Situation: Types of attachment
Secure:
- 66%
- USES mother as a SAFE BASE
- Moderate separation anxiety
- Moderate stranger anxiety
- Joy on reunion
INSECURE-AVOIDANT:
- 22%
- DOES NOT USE mother as a SAFE BASE
- Low separation anxiety
- Low stranger anxiety
- No joy on reunion
INSECURE-RESISTANT:
- Uncertain exploration behaviours
- High separation anxiety
- ‘Hot and cold’ stranger anxiety
- Rejects/resists mother on reunion
Cultural variations
Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)
Aim:
- To investigate cross-cultural differences in attachment.
Procedure:
- Conducted a meta-analysis of 32 studies from 8 countries.
Findings:
- Secure attachment is the most common attachment in all cultures.
- Japan and Israel showed higher levels of insecure-resistant attachment.
- Germany showed higher levels of insecure-avoidant attachment.
Conclusion:
- Attachment behaviours (in particular crying and exploration) mean different things to different cultures.
Maternal deprivation: Bowlby (1944)
Aim:
- To see if early separations (deprivation) were associated with behavioural disorders. In particular, Bowlby defined a particular disorder, affectionless psychopathy, to describe individuals who have no sense of shame or guilt.
Procedure:
- 88 children from 5-16 were examined. 44 of these children were thieves and 14 of these thieves were classified as affectionless psychopaths. Bowlby interviewed the children and their families.
Findings|:
- 86% of the affectionless psychopaths experienced early and prolonged attachment separations. Only 17% of the ‘other thieves’ had experienced such separations. 4% of the control group had experienced frequent early separations.
Conclusion:
- These findings suggest a link between early separations and later social maladjustment. Maternal deprivation appears to lead to affectionless psychopathy and antisocial behaviour.
Romanian orphan studies
Rutter and Sonuga-Barke (2010)
Aim:
- To examine the long-term effects of insitutionalisation.
Procedure:
- 165 children from Romanian orphanage were examined.
- 111 children were adopted before the age of 2.
- 54 were adopted by the age of 4.
- Compared to a control group of 52 British children.
Findings:
- The children who were adopted after 6 months showed significant deficits in terms of social, cognitive and physical development, whereas those adopted earlier caught up with the British children.
Conclusion:
- Institutionalisation can have long-term effects on development, especially if children are not provided with adequate care by 2 years old.
Influence of early attachment
Hazan and Shaver (1987)
Aim:
- To investigate any possible correlation between early childhood attachment experiences and later adult attachment.
Procedure:
- Used a questionnaire called ‘The Love Quiz’ to examine current attachment experiences and earlier adult and childhood attachment history.
- 620 people responded.
Findings:
- There was a positive correlation between attachment type and love experiences.
Conclusion:
- Suggests that our early childhood attachment experiences do affect our late adult relationships.
