Attachment Flashcards
(91 cards)
1
Q
What does development psychology mean?
A
It is concerned with progressive behavioural change occurring in a lifespan.
2
Q
What does attachment mean?
A
The emotional bond between two people. It is a two way process that is formed over time and leads to certain behaviours.
3
Q
What are the stages of attachment?(4)
A
1) Pre-Attachments (0-3 months)
2) Indiscriminate Attachment (3-7 months)
3) Discriminate Attachments (7 months onwards)
4) Multiple Attachments (7 months onwards)
4
Q
Who was the stages of attachments formed by?
A
Shaffer and Emerson
5
Q
What happens during the Pre-attachment stage?
A
Infants start to become attracted to humans at 6 weeks of age and prefer them to objects and events. They show this preference through smiling.
6
Q
What happens during the indiscriminate attachment stage?
A
They start to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar people and smile more. They allow strangers to hold them.
7
Q
What happens during the discriminate attachments stage?
A
They begin to develop their attachment to their primary caregiver. Show separation protest, stranger anxiety, ruining joy and are easily comforted. Intensely attached children responded quickly and correctly and poorly attached children didn’t interact. Quality of attachment is more important than amount of time spent with the caregiver.
8
Q
What happens during the multiple attachments stage?
A
They form attachments with other major caregivers like grandparents or siblings, who become secondary caregivers. They show separation protest with them too and their fear of strangers weakens.
9
Q
Disadvantages of the stages of attachment. (5)
- unreliable
- class
- culture
- inflexible
- temporal
A
- it is unreliable because it is based on mothers reports of infant behaviour
- the sample is biased as all the participants were from working class
- culture bias- only individualist countries
- it is inflexible because some infants may for multiple attachments first then form single attachment
- temporal validity- conducted in 1960s and now we have stay at home dads and working mothers
10
Q
Why are fathers less likely to be the primary caregiver?
A
- spend less time with children and aren’t psychologically equipped as they lack emotional sensitivity
- oestrogen means that women are caring and are more interpersonal goal oriented
- culturally women are more sensitive
11
Q
What is the role of the father?
A
The father is usually the secondary attachment figure as they spend less time with the child. However they are important because they are more playful, physically active and provide challenging situations for the infant, which comes from their lack of emotional sensitivity.
12
Q
What is the Strange Situation by Ainsworth?
A
- a laboratory observation with a couple of chairs and some toys
- wanted to test the different relationships between the caregiver and the infant
- observed exploration (proximity seeking), separation protest, reunion joy and stranger anxiety
- they were observed in three minute episodes
13
Q
What are the three types of attachment and what was the percentage of each present in the sample of the Strange Situation?
A
Type A- Insecure-Avoidant was 20%
Type B- Secure was 70%
Type C- Insecure-Resistant was 10%
14
Q
What did avoidant infants display?
A
- ignore caregiver and play independently
- no separation protest- only if completely alone but comforted easily by stranger
- no reunion joy
- no stranger anxiety
- caregiver and stranger are equal
15
Q
What did secure infants display?
A
- caregiver is safe base as they explore
- separation protest
- reunion joy (seek immediate contact) and easily comforted
- wary of stranger but allow some comfort
16
Q
What did resistant babies display?
A
- no exploring and are clingy
- fussy and cry more
- extreme separation protest
- no reunion joy
- extreme stranger anxiety
17
Q
Advantage of The Strange Situation. (1)
- replicate
A
- it has been replicated many times and is easy to replicate as it is controlled
18
Q
Disadvantages of The Strange Situation. (5)
- fourth
- validity
- artificial
- mother
- biased
A
- Over 200 Strange Situation videotapes were analysed and a fourth attachment style called insecure-disorganised was also identified
- the validity of some measures can be questioned; for example proximity seeking may measure insecurity not security
- it is artificial as it lacks ecological validity and it has been found that attachments are stronger in a laboratory environment than at home
- the experiment has only ever been carried out with the mother; attachment may be different with the father
- the sample is culturally biased as it was developed in the United States and attachment may be different in other countries
19
Q
Who conducted the cross cultural variations in attachments?
A
Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg
20
Q
How did Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg conduct their analysis?
A
- meta analysis of 32 studies
- all used Strange Situation
- all used babies under 24 months
21
Q
What countries were involved in the cross cultural variations in attachment?
A
The individualist cultures used were USA, UK and Germany and the collectivist cultures were Japan, China, and Israel.
22
Q
Where was secure attachment most common in the cross cultural variations in attachment?
A
In all the countries.
23
Q
Which attachment form was the second most common and where?
A
Insecure-avoidant was the second most common in all countries except Israel and Japan.
24
Q
Where was resistant the second most common in the cross cultural variations of attachment?
A
In Israel and Japan
25
Which country had the least number of secure infants in the cross cultural variations in attachment?
China
26
Which country had the most number of secure infants in the cross cultural variations in attachment?
Great Britain
27
Which country had the most number of insecure-avoidant infants in the cross cultural variations in attachment?
West Germany
28
How much greater were overall variations within cultures than variations between cultures?
1.5 times greater
29
What is an advantage of the cross cultural variations?
| - meta-analysis
- meta analysis uses a large sample so is highly valid
30
Disadvantages of the cross cultural variations in attachment. (5)
- imposed
- Japan
- Germany
- Israel
- fathers
- it was developed in the Unites States but is imposed on other cultures
- it is an unsuitable measure for Japan because in the country the mothers rarely left the children which explains why there is no avoidant, high rates of resistant and 90% of the infants were distressed.
- it is inappropriate for Germany because in the country few mothers worked so they encouraged self reliance and independence which explains why there is mainly secure and the infants were less anxious
- it is unsuitable for Israel because they have Kibbutz where the infants are looked after by Metaplets (nurse) and the infants didn’t interact with strangers which explains the severe distress and that there were more resistant infants.
- attachment styles with fathers may be different and only mothers were studied
31
Before classical conditioning, what is food, pleasure and the person providing food?
Food is the unconditioned stimulus.
Pleasure is the unconditioned response.
The person giving food is the neutral stimulus.
32
After classical conditioning, what does the person providing food and pleasure become?
The person providing the food becomes the conditioned stimulus and the pleasure becomes the conditioned response.
33
In operant condition what are primary motives?
Things we are driven to satisfy like hunger and thirst.
34
In operant conditioning, what are primary reinforcers?
Stimulus that satisfy primary motives like eating and drinking.
35
In operant conditioning, what are secondary reinforcers?
The caregivers and they reduce the hunger drive through eating which is a primary reinforcer.
36
Disadvantages of the Learning Theory of Attachment. (5)
- Harlow
- playing
- Israel
- why
- reductionist
- Harlow’s monkey experiment suggests comfort is more important than food when it comes to attachment
- it may just be that babies attach to people who play with them
- in Israel, Metaplets care for the babies and feed them but the children are still more attached to their mothers
- it explains how attachments form not why
- it is reductionist or too simplistic; infant and caregiver relationships are more varied, sophisticated and complicated than it is made out to be.
37
Who constructed the monotropic theory?
Bowlby
38
An advantage of the learning theory of attachment. (1)
| - scientific
- scientific and plausible and brings association between provision for needs and person providing forming strong attachments
39
What is the critical period for attachment?
Before two years
40
What are social releasers?
They are behaviours that elicit caregiving e.g smiling and crying
41
What is monotropy?
The one emotional special bond an infant makes.
42
What is the internal working model?
Where the infant uses monotropy to form a mental representation of what all intimate and loving relationships should be like.
43
What is the continuity hypothesis?
The idea that the way you are within your monotropy will determine how you will be as an adult.
44
Advantage of Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory. (1)
| - love Quiz
- it was found that attachments in childhood often predicted adult love relationships
45
Disadvantages of Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory. (5)
- multiple
- 4
- unscientific
- feminists
- innate
- it is suggested that multiple attachments are more common in babies than single attachments because it was found that 13% of babies have and attachment to one person by 18 months but 31% have 5 or more attachments
- it was found that children who never formed attachments by 4 years old were still able to form attachments after being adopted
- it is impossible to test as the same format has been used throughout history so it is unscientific.
- Feminists believe that this places a burden of responsibility on the mother
- attachment may not be determined by sensitivity but really it is due to innate characteristics
46
Who constructed the theory of maternal deprivation?
Bowlby
47
What is maternal deprivation?
The idea that the absence of a primary attachment figure causes long term intellectual, social and emotional difficulties and could cause mental health issues.
48
What is the critical period for maternal deprivation?
The child may become emotionally disturbed if the separation occurs before the child is two and a half years old but there is a risk up to five years old. Also if there is no substitute mother figure available.
49
What year did Bowlby conduct his thieves study?
1944
50
How many children were used in Bowlby’s thieves study?
88
51
How many children were thieves in Bowlby’s thieves study?
44 and the other 44 were control group
52
How many thieves in Bowlby’s thieves study were classed as affectionless psychopaths?
14
53
How many of the affectionless psychopaths that were thieves experiences frequent early separations from their mothers in Bolwby’s thieves study?
All 14
54
How many of the 30 thieves that weren’t affectionless psychopaths experiences frequent early separations from their mothers?
5
55
How many of the control group experienced frequent early separations from their mothers in Bowlby’s thieves study?
Almost none
56
Advantages of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation. (3)
- hospital
- staff
- test
- before Bowlby’s study, parents couldn’t visit their children in hospitals or were only allowed infrequent visits, but nowadays visits are actively encouraged.
- children raised in a poor quality orphanage in South America sere examined and it was found that the staff were overworked, under trained and rarely gave affection or attention. Some of the children suffered anaclitic depression.
- children looked after physically in an institution scored poorly on intelligence tests, were then transferred to a different institution and were given emotional care. Their IQ improved by 30 points.
57
Disadvantages on Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation. (2)
- reversible
- privation
- the effects of maternal deprivation are reversible as children who had never formed an attachment were adopted after the age of 4 and they were still able to form an attachment to adoptive parents
- Bowlby didn’t distinguish between deprivation and privation where they never form an attachment which has extreme negative effects
58
What is institutional care?
Where a child’s living arrangements are outside of the family due to inadequate parental care of other circumstances.
59
Who conducted the study on Romanian Children in Romanian institutions?
Ritter and Songua-Barke
60
How many Romanian children were involved in the study on Romanian institutions?
165
61
At what intervals were the Romanian children tested at in the Romanian institutions study?
At ages 4, 6, 11 and 15
62
What number of British children were the Romanian children compared to in the Romanian institutions study?
52 British children adopted after the age of 6 months
63
What were the results at the time of adoption in the Romanian institutions study?
The Romanian children lagged behind on all measures; they were smaller, weighed less and were mentally disturbed.
64
What were the results by age 4 in the Romanian institutions study?
The Romanian children adopted before 6 months caught up with the British children but many of those adopted after 6 months still had significant deficits.
65
Advantages of the Romanian institutions study. (2)
- workers
- adoptions
- this led to changes in the way children are adopted; now babies are adopted before their first week of birth so no attachments have been formed
- enhanced our understanding of negative consequences if institutionalisation and led to the establishment of key workers in institutions to provide emotional care for children
66
Disadvantages of the Romanian institutions study. (3)
- individual
- damage
- Canada
- effects can be reduced by sensitive parenting at older age- study conducted on 36 Romanian children adopted in Canada and they were physically smaller than the control group at age 4 but this disappeared by the age of 10. It was the same for psychological health.
- Romanian orphanages had appalling physical conditions and lack of congestive stimulation so there a multiple risk factors involved
- adoptions and control groups were not randomly allocated so participant variables played affected as extraneous variables, for example adopted children may have been adopted for their personal characteristics, which are less affected by institutional care. This lowers validity.
67
What are the effects of institutionalisation? (6)
- Delayed physical development; physically small and lack of emotional care leads to deprivation dwarfism
- Delayed Intellectual Development; low IQ and concentration problems means they struggled at school and couldn’t learn new behaviours or concepts, and delayed language development.
- Disinhibited Attachment
- Lack of internal working model; difficulty interacting with peers or forming new relationships, impaired adult relationships and poor parenting
- Delayed Emotional Development; difficulty controlling anger
- Quasi Autism; struggle to understand the meaning of social concepts, can have obsessional behaviours, lower frequencies of pretend play and reduced empathy
68
What is disinhibited attachment?
This is where children do not discriminate between people they choose as their attachment figure. They treat near strangers with inappropriate familiarity and are attention seeking.
69
What is reciprocity?
Taking turns in a coordinated manner that flows both ways and is a form of early communication.
70
What is interactional synchrony?
Responding in time to sustain communication almost mirroring each other.
71
Advantages of caregiver-infant interactions. (3)
- dummy
- video
- mouth
- over two or three weeks specific facial and hand gestures were imitated by an adult model. They displayed one of three facial expressions or hand gestures and a dummy was placed in the baby’s mouth. When the dummy was removed the expressions were filmed and there was an association.
- mothers interacted with babies over a video monitor and the tape was played to the baby so the mother didn’t respond. The babies tried to get their mothers attention but failed then gave up
- interactions with an object that looked like a human mouth opening and closing was observed and there was no response. This shows that babies don’t just copy what they see, it is a specific social response.
72
Disadvantages of caregiver-infant interactions. (2)
- inferences
- standard
- babies can not communicate so inferences have been made.
| - it is difficult to reliably test infants behaviour because these types of expressions may be standard for a baby
73
Who conducted the study on attachment among baby rhesus monkeys?
Harlow
74
How many baby rhesus monkeys did Harlow investigate in and for how long?
8 baby rhesus monkeys for 165 days
75
What were the long term effects on the baby rhesus monkeys? (6)
- they developed abnormally
- they froze or fled when approached by other monkeys
- they didn’t have normal mating behaviour
- they did not cradle their own babies
- if they spent time with other monkeys before they were 3 months old they could recover
- if they spent more than 6 months with the wire mother they couldn’t recover
76
Advantage of Harlow’s experiment. (1)
| - play
- it was found that food isn’t necessary for attachment and that babies attach to people who play with them- 39% are not attached to mothers
77
Disadvantages of Harlow’s experiment. (2)
- unethical
- humans
- it was unethical because the monkeys were removed from their mothers which was traumatic, deliberately scared, suffered long term emotional harm and had difficulty caring for themselves and their young
- what applies to animals may not apply to humans as the bond they have are different - psychologically different, have other influences and bond is more complex.
78
What was Lorenz’s profession?
He was an ethologist so he studied animal behaviour in their natural environment.
79
What were the long term effects of Lorenz’s study?
- the process is irreversible and long lasting
- a goose named Martina slept in his bed
- it had an effect in later mate preferences where they choose a mate that is the same kind of object as the one they imprinted on, which is called sexual imprinting
81
Advantage of Lorenz’s study. (1)
| - chicken
- chickens exposed to yellow rubber gloves during feeding in their first few weeks imprinted onto them
81
Disadvantages of Lorenz’s study. (2)
- reversible
- unethical
- imprinting is more reversible as rubber glove imprinting was reversible because the chickens tried to mate with the gloves. Spending time with their own species led to normal sexual behaviour
- it was unethical because they were separated from their mother and did not learn normal behaviour
83
What was the Minnesota Parent-Child Project?
It was conducted in 1975 and continues today. They used observations and questionnaires to assess mother and child behaviours. The mother and child are videotaped playing for periods of 10-15 mins at home.
84
Who conducted the Minnesota parent-child project?
Sroufe et al
84
What were the findings of the Minnesota parent-child project?
The securely attached children had the highest social competence, were less socially isolated, were more popular and were more empathetic. They had a positive internal working model for relationships and were better at forming and maintaining relationships.
85
Advantage of the Minnesota parent-child project. (1)
| - reliable
- it is reliable because it was found that infants that were securely attached when they were 1, had a higher social competence as children and were closer to their friends at 16.
87
Disadvantages of the Minnesota parent-child project. (2)
- deterministic
- adopted
- this suggests that early attachments have a fixed effect on later childhood relationships so it is deterministic
- it was found that children who never formed attachments by 4 were then adopted and could form attachments to new adopted parents
88
What was the Love Quiz?
It was a quiz but in a local newspaper to study the connections between childhood attachment style, internal working model and adult attachment style. It asked questions about relationships with parents, attitudes towards love and current relationship experiences.
89
Who designed the ‘Love Quiz’?
Hazan and Shaver
91
How many responses did the ‘Love Quiz’ receive?
620 responses; 205 from men and 415 women
91
What were the findings from the responses of the ‘Love Quiz’?
- adult relationship style was similar to childhood; 56% were secure, 25% were avoidant and 19% were resistant
- there was a positive correlation between adult attachment styles and love experiences; secure people had happy, friendly and trusting relationships, where the partner was accepted and supported despite their flaws and they were the most enduring lasting 10 years on average. Resistant relationships lasted 5 years and avoidant lasted 6 years.
- if you were secure you had a positive internal working model
91
Disadvantages of the ‘Love Quiz’. (3)
- unreliable
- correlational
- memories
- it is unreliable because 27 samples were reviewed where infants were assessed in infancy and then later reassessed. Correlations were found ranging from 0.5-0.1
- the data is correlational so it cannot determine cause and effect and there may be a third variable affecting both
- it relies on memories so is flawed and not accurate
