Attachment

Question 1

Caregiver-infant reactions key points

Answer 1

1. Reciprocity- turn taking/reciprocal interaction
2. Alert phases- signal readiness
3. Active involvement- babies aren’t passive
4. Interactional synchrony- mirror actions
5. Interactional synchrony begins
6. Importance of attachment

Question 2

Attachment definition

Answer 2

Attachment refers to a close emotional bond between two people, normally an infant and the primary caregiver (usually the mother). Each individual sees the other as essential for their emotional security.

Question 3

Caregiver-infant interactions- Reciprocity

Answer 3

• A two-way process of interaction, turn taking (like a dance).
• Caregiver + baby respond to and elicit responses from each other
• For example: caregiver smiles and the baby giggles or the baby cries and the caregiver comforts baby

Question 4

Caregiver-Infant Interactions- Alert phases

Answer 4

• Babies have alert phases where they signal they are ready for a spell of interaction
• Research: Mothers successfully respond 2/3 of a time
• From 3 months interaction interaction is more frequent + more reciprocal

Question 5

Caregiver-Infant Interactions: Active role

Answer 5

• Traditional view: babies are passive + just recieve care from adult
• Babies + caregivers take active roles
• Both can initiate interactions and take turns doing so

Question 6

Caregiver-Infant Interactions: Interactional Synchrony

Answer 6

• Temporal coordination of micro-level social behaviour Behaviours coordinate in time /move in the same pattern.
• Example: Mimicking facial expressions and voices.

Question 7

Caregiver-Infant Interactions- Synchrony begins

Answer 7

• Meltzoff and Moore: Interactional synchrony can begin at 2 weeks old
• Adult expressed 1 of 3 facial expressions/hand gesturesBabies responses were filmed
• Babies’ responses mirrored adults more than chance would predict

Question 8

Interacaction synchrony: Importance for attachment

Answer 8

• Isabella et al.: Observed 30 mothers + babies and measured levels of synchrony
• Also assessed quality of mother + baby attachment
• High levels of synchrony associated with high levels of mother baby attachment

Question 9

Caregiver-Infant Interactions: Strengths

Answer 9

Filmed interactions in a lab
* Distractions = controlled
* Films analysed later –> key behaviours not missed
* More than 1 observer –> inter-rater-reliability established
* Babies unaware they’re observed (issue for overt observations)
* Good reliability + validity

Practical application in parental skills training
* Research: 10 min parent-child interaction therapy (PCITU) improved interactional synchrony in 20 low income mothers + their pre-school children Counterpoint: Research is socially sensitive
* Argues mothers returning to work too soon risk damaging baby development
* Encourages harmful stereotypes

Question 10

Caregiver-Infant Interactions: Limitations

Answer 10

Hard to interpret baby’s behaviour
* Observations = small hand movemtns + subtle expression changes
* Eg, is baby smiling or passing wind
* Cannot determine baby POV
* Eg, is hand movement a twitch or triggered by caregiver?

Observing a behaviour =/= developmental importance
* Synchrony gives name to observable patterns
* Can be reliably observed but purpose not determinable
* Reciprocity + synchony may not be important for development
* Counterpoint: Other research: early interactions = important
* Good interactional synchrony –> good quality attachment developed
* Probs important in development

Question 11

Schaffer’s stages of attachment

Answer 11

• Asocial stage
• Indiscriminate attachment
• Specific attachment
• Multiple attachments

Question 12

Stage 1 in attachment stages

Answer 12

• Behaviour toward inanimate objects is very similar to behaviour towards humans
• Prefer familiar people + comforted easier
• Forming bonds with certain people

Question 13

Stage 2 of attachment

Answer 13

• Indiscriminate 2-7 months
• Prefer people over inanimate objects
• Recognise + prefer familiar people
• No stranger or separation anxiety
• Indiscriminate as attachment is the same towards all

Question 14

Stage 3 of attachment

Answer 14

• Specific attachment 7 months- 1 year
• Strange anxiety + seperation anxiety when seperated from one particular person
• Formed specific attachment with primary attachment figure
• Mother in 65% of cases
• Person who offers most interaction and responds to baby’s signals with the most skill

Question 15

Stage 4 of attachment

Answer 15

• Multiple attachments
• Secondary attachments with other adults form
• Shaffer + Emmerson’s study: 29% of babies had secondary attachments within a month of forming a primary attachment
• By 1 year majority of infants has multiple secondary attachments

Question 16

Shaffer and Emerson (1964) Stages of Attachment Procedure

Answer 16

• 60 babies from Glasgow, most from working-class families
• Researcher visited baby + mother at home every month for a year
• And once at 18 months
• Seperation anxiety measured by mothers writing in a diary + being asked qurstion about behaviour during everyday seperations
• Stranger anxiety measured by baby’s response to researcher + asking mothers question about anxiety towards strangers

Question 17

Shaffer and Emerson (1964) Stages of Attachment Findings

Answer 17

• Babies developed attachments through a sequence of stages (stages 1-4 of attachment)
• Specific attachment= person who was most interactive + sensitive to babies signals + facial expressions (i.e. reciprocity)
• Specific attachment =/= peson baby spent most time with (sometimes)

Question 18

Schaffer’s stages of attachment strengths

Answer 18

**High external validity **
* Most observations made by parents during ordinary activities
* Alternative= observers present in home –> babies feel anxious or distracted
* So pps behaved normally
* Counterpoint
* Mothers likely = biased in their observations
* Eg may not have noticed signs of anxiety
* Unreliable observer
* Social desireability bias

Real-world Application
* Practical application in daycare
* Asocial + disriminate stages –> daycare is simple as easy to comfort
* Specific attachment –> problematic (especially starting w/ unfamiliar adult)
* Stages used to plan daycare start

Question 19

Limitations of Schaffer’s stages of attachment

Answer 19

Poor evidence for asocial stage
* Young babies= poor co-ordination + faily immobile
* Hard to observe if babies less than 2 months felt anxiety as signs= subtle
* Difficulty reporting to researchers
* Babies may be social but appear asocial from flawed methods

Low generaliseability cross-cultures
* Positive= large-scale study with good design Negative= only 1 sample, from 1960s, working-class, Glasgow. Collectivist cultures form multiple attachments from early age

Question 20

What is meant by the term attachment? (2 marks)

Answer 20

Attachment is a strong, enduring, emotional and reciprocal bond between two people, especially an infant and caregiver.

Question 21

What is meant by the term ‘reciprocity’ in the context of caregiver-infant interaction (2 marks)

Answer 21

Reciprocity – caregiver-infant interaction is a two-way/mutual process; each party responds to the other’s signals to sustain interaction (turn-taking). The behaviour of each party elicits a response from the other.

Question 22

What are the three key views on the role of the father

Answer 22

• Mothers as primary attachment figures
• Fathers as playmates
• Fathers as primary attachment figures

Question 23

Role of father: Mother as primary attachment figure

Answer 23

Women are primary attachment figures due to:
* 9 months of pregnancy
* Oxytocin release during breastfeeding (strengthens bond)
* Schaffer & Emerson (1964) findings:
* Majority of babies attached to mother first
* 27%: Father was joint first attachment
* 3%: Father was sole attachment figure

Question 24

Role of Father: Father as playmates

Answer 24

• Fathers have a distinct role as playmates, aiding cognitive development
  Grossman et al. (2002) Longitudinal Study:
• Quality of father’s play in infancy linked to adolescent attachment
• Early attachment to father was less significant than to mother

Question 25

Role of father: Father as Primary attachment figures

Answer 25

* Fathers can be primary attachment figures if they respond sensitively * Fathers also experience a rise in oxytocin during fatherhood **Field (1978) Study:** * Filmed 4-month-old infants interacting with caregivers * Primary caregiver fathers (like mothers) spent more time: * Smiling * Imitating * Holding infants * Responsiveness is key to attachment, not gender

Question 26

Strengths of role of a father

Answer 26

**Real-world application** * Offer parental advice * Reduces pressure on mothers to be primary caregivers. * Reassures single-mother and lesbian families that child development is not hindered.

Question 27

Weaknesses of roles of the father

Answer 27

**Researchers are interested in different questions** * Some aim to find out fathers ability to take on a maternal-like role * Some find role of father as a distinct role from mother * Hard to draw simple conclusions **Researchers can seem conflicting** * Grossman et al. --> fathers play a key role in play and stimulation + secondary caregivers. * However, research on lesbian and single-mother households shows no negative impact on child development, suggesting a father may not be essential.. * ***Counterpoint***: * These findings may not actually conflict—perhaps in heterosexual families, fathers naturally take on a unique role, but in other family structures, caregivers adapt to fill this role. **Bias may effect research** * Preconceptions surrounding a father's behaviour eg parenting style * Cause observations to be subjective * Eg observe more rough play * ***Counterpoint:*** * Standardised procedures + researcher insight should consider bias + control EVs

Question 28

Lorenz (1952) Animal studies Procedure

Answer 28

* Randomly divided a clutch of goose eggs * 1/2 hatched with mother goose in natural environment * 1/2 hatched in an incubator wjere the first moving object they saw was Lorenz * Goslings mixed together to see who they would follow * Observed birds and their later courtship behaviour

Question 29

Lorenz (1952) Findings and Conclusions

Answer 29

* Incubator group followed Lorenz * Control group followed mother * Identified critical period in which imprinting needs to take place= a few hours after hatching * Chicks did not attach themself to the mother figure if attachment did not occur in time * Sexual imprinting was observed * Birds that imprinted on a human would display courtship behaviours towards humans

Question 30

Strength of Lorenz's research

Answer 30

**Research support** * Research: Exposed chicks to simple shape combinations that moved * When shown a range of moving shapes the chicks dollowed these in preference to other shapes * Suggests young animals are born wuth an innate mechanism to imprint on a moving object **Application to human behaviour** * Concept of imprinting can explain some human behaviour * 'Baby duck syncdrome' in computer users--> become attached to their first operating system * Imprinting is a meaningful process in humans + birds

Question 31

Limitation of Lorenz's animal study

Answer 31

*** Hard to generalise from birds to humans** * The mammilian attachment system is different to birds * Eg, mammailian mothers show more emotional attachment to their young * In mammals attachment is a two way proces

Question 32

Harlow (1958) Animal study procedure

Answer 32

* Harlow reared 16 monkeys with two wire model mothers * Condition 1- milk dispensed by plain-wire 'mother' * Condition 2- milk dispensed by cloth-covered 'mother' * Monkey's frightened by a noisy mechanical teddy bear * Preferences measured * Studied moneky's who had been deprived into adulthood

Question 33

Harlow (1958) Animal study findings and conclusion

Answer 33

* Baby monkeys cuddled the cloth covered mother regardless of which dispensed milk * Comfort = more important than food when it comes to attachment behaviour * Sought comfort from cloth covered mother when frightened * Deprived monkeys were more agressive and less skilled in mating as adults

Question 34

Limitations of Harlow (1958) animal study

Answer 34

**Hard to generalise to humans** * Mammals all share some similiarities in their attachment systems * But monekys are not humans * Human mind + behaviour = complex * Generalising is not appropriate **Ethical isssues** * Cause long term distress to monkeys * Eg neglection caused bad behaviour in later life * Should not have happened * But it had important practical + theoretical applications

Question 35

Strengths of Harlow (1958) animal study

Answer 35

*** Real-world value** * Helped social workers understand risk factors in child abuse and thus intervene to prevent it * Understand importance of attachment figures for baby monkeys in zoos and breeding programmes * research benefitied animals and humans

Question 36

What are the three key points in the learning theory explanation for attachment

Answer 36

* Classical conditioning of attachment * Operant conditioning: learning through consequences * Attachment is a secondary drive

Question 37

Classical conditioning for the learning theory of attachment

Answer 37

**Classical conditioning for the learning theory of attachment:** Food (UCS) -> pleasure (UCR) Caregiver (NS) -> No response Food (UCS) + Caregiver (NS) -> Pleasure (UCR) Caregiver (CS) -> Pleasure (CR)

Question 38

Role of operant conditioning in the learning theory for attachment

Answer 38

* Explains why babies cry for comfort * Crying leads to response from caregiver eg feeding * Crying is reinforced as it produces a pleasurable consequence * Negative reinforcement is given to caregiver as crying stops so they're more likely to comfort baby in future * Positive/negative reinforcements strengthens attachment bond

Question 39

Drive reduction in the learning theory for attachment

Answer 39

* Hunger is a primary drive as it is an innate biological motivator * Motivated to eat to reduce hunger drive * Attachment is a secondary drive learned by association between caregiver and satisfaction of primary drive * As caregivers provide food, the primary drive becomes generalised to them

Question 40

Limitations of learning theory as an explanation for attachment

Answer 40

**Counterevidence from Lorenz** * Lorenz's geese imprinted on the first moving object they saw * Regardless of association with food * Attachment is innate as it occurs during the first few weeks (critical period) * It is a primary drive * Not a result of feeding **Counterevidence from Harlow** * Harlow's monkeys sort comfort and showed preference towards the soft surrogate mother even when the wire surrogate mother was the one providing food * Goes against need for food to form attachment * No classical conditioning * Suggests attachment is also a primary drive, not learnt through association **Counterevidence from human research** * Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found many babies main attachment was not person who fed them * Isabella et al found interactional synchrony (unrelated to feeding) predicted attachment quality * Other factors are more important to attachment than feeding

Question 41

Strengths of learning theory as an explanation for attachment

Answer 41

**Elements of conditioning could still be involved** * Unlikely food is central to attachment but it may play some role * A baby's primary attachment figure may be determined by which caregiver becomes associated with warmth and comfort * Conditioning could be important in choice of attachment figure but not the process of attachment formation * **Counterpoint** * Ignores fact that baby take an active role in interactions that produce attachment * Eg, they initiate reactions * So learning theory could be innapropriate in explaining any aspect of attachment

Question 42

Bowlby's monotropy theory key points

Answer 42

* Adaptive * Social releasers * Critical period * Monotropy * Internal Working model

Question 43

Bowlby's monotropy theory- Adaptive

Answer 43

Adaptive: * Attachment is an innate system that has evolved through natural selections because it gives evolutionary advantage. * Influenced by Lorenz: Infants stay close to caregiver like bird imprinting

Question 44

Bowlby's monotropy theory- Social releasers

Answer 44

* **Social releasers:** * Babies are born with innate social releasers that activate the adult attachment system * Behavioural characteristics eg smiling + crying * Physical characteristics eg big eyes * Help to build bond

Question 45

Bowlby's monotropy theory- Critical period

Answer 45

Critical period: * Attachment system is most active around 6 months * This has been extended to a sensitive period of 2 years * Hard to form an attachment if not formed during this time

Question 46

Bowlby's monotropy theory- Monotropy

Answer 46

Monotropy: * Infants have an innate tendency to form one (mono) special attachment to one primary attachment figure. * Qualitatively different and more important than other attachments. * **The law of continuity:** Care should be constant and predictable to aid strong attachment * **The law of accumulated separation:** The negative effects of separation add up- the safest dose is zero

Question 47

Bowlby's monotropy theory- Internal Working Model (IWM)

Answer 47

* Infants form a mental representation of their relationship with their primary caregiver. * This serves as a model or template for future relationships. * If an infant experiences relationships to be loving and reliable, she will expect future relationships to be so. * The IWM will also impact on the infant’s ability to be a parent themself when older (continuity hypothesis).

Question 48

Limitations of Bowlby's theory

Answer 48

**Validity of monotropy challenged** * Schaffer and Emerson= that in a significant minority of cases multiple attachments were formed at the same time * First attachment seems to have most influence so might be stronger * Not nesseraily different quality * Other attachments may provide same key qualities * Also see multiple attachments in collectivist culture families **Feminist concerns** * Law of continuity + accumulated separation suggest working mothers may negatively affect child's emotional development * Gives excuse to restrict + blame mothers ***Counterpoint:** * Real-world applicarion in key workers in day care who build attachments to particular babies

Question 49

Strengths of Bowlby's theory

Answer 49

**Animal studies:** * Lorenz: Goslings imprinted on first moving object + stuck with them, supports monotropy * Identified critical period of a few hours otherwise imprinting does not occur. Supports critical period * Harlow: Also identified critcal period until attachment was impossible * Monkey's without mothers = more agressive in later life + neglected young * Supports IWM **Support from still face experiment:** * Brazelton’s still face experiment demonstrated that when the primary caregiver put on a ‘still face’ (no reaction), the baby tried harder for a reaction, eventually crying, and some curled up and lay motionless * Cute behaviours are designed to create response within adult