Attachment (AS) PAPER 1 Flashcards
What is meant by the term interactional synchrony in caregiver infant interactions?
Infant and Caregiver interact in a way that their actions and emotions mirror the other.
high levels of synchrony are associated with better quality caregiver-infant attachment
What is meant by the term reciprocity in caregiver infant interactions?
Reciprocity is when infant and mother respond to each other’s signals and each elicits a response from the other. Smiling is an example of reciprocity – when a smile occurs in the result of the caregiver pulling a funny face.
conversational
Describe one study that investigated the development of attachments.
Schaffer and Emerson study!
Stage 1: Indiscriminate attachment- From birth to 2 months infants have a similar response to inanimate objects and humans.
Stage 2: Beginning of attachment- 4months, display more observable social behaviour, They can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people however they just want someone to play with so they don’t show stranger anxiety.
Stage 3- Discriminate attachment- 7months, shows separation anxiety from primary attachment caregiver, presents stranger anxiety, primary attachment is not formed by the person who spends the most time with the child, but who provides security and comfort. 65% of children first attachment was mother.
Stage 4- multiple attachments - Within one month of first attachment, 29% had multiple attachments to other parent, grandparent, sibling etc. (secondary attachment) by 1yrs old, majority of infants had multiple secondary attachments
Outline the role of the father in the development of attachment
Father is less likely to be primary caregiver.
They lack emotional sensitivity that women offer.
Females produce oestrogen which underlies caring behaviour.
Cultural expectations of the sex stereotypes.
Fathers are more the playmate.
Describe Lorenz’s research to attachment (1935)
- He took a clutch of gosling eggs and randomly divided them into two groups.
- One group hatched with mother goose in natural environemnt whilst the other group hatched in incubators, where the first moving object they saw was lorenz.
- Lorenz put both groups together and the natural mother and Lorenz was present
- RESULTS:
-immediately the goslings divided themselves up, the incubator goslings started following Lorenz, the others following there natural mother - If an animal is not exposed to a moving object during the critical period they will not imprint. (first few hours of hatching)
Imprinting is long lasting and irreversible. - sexual imprinting - mate with the same kind of object they imprinted.
A03:
(+) SUPPORT FOR IMPRINTING
-Guiton found that chicks who imprinted on yellow washing up gloves tried to mate with them as adults
- counter = as they got older with expereicne they learned to mate witht here own kind, questions long lasting effect
(-) lack of gneralisabikity
- baby geese and baby humans are born at diff stages of development
- different attachement mechanism
Describe Harlow’s research to attachment
- 2 wired monkeys with different heads, one wrapped in soft cloth.
- 8 infant rhesus monkeys studied for 165 days
- for 4 of the monkeys the milk bottle was on the cloth covered mother, for the other 4 it was on the plain wire mother
- measured amount of time with each mother, and infants response to being frightened
FINDINGS
-All 8 monkeys spent the most time with the cloth covered monkey, whether it had the milk bottle or not.
- When frightened all monekys clung to cloth covered mother.
- Cloth covered monkey provided reassurance and comfort.
- An attachment isn’t formed on who provides food, but who provides contact comfort.
LONG LASTING EFFECTS As the monkeys grew up they were socially and sexually abnormal.
AO3:
(+) LAB EXPERIMENT
- control extraneous variables ]- can establish cause and effect
- counter = mother heads were different which can be confonding varibles, cloth one looked nicer
(-) unethical
- monkeys similar to humans , rela distress cause osycholgical harm
- couldnt give informed consent
Explain AND EVALUATE the development of attachments using learning theory
= All behaviour is learned rather than inborn, behaviour is learned either through classical or operant conditioning
Classical conditioning:
First investigated by Pavlov (dog)
Pairing the mother with the food causes pleasure for infant.
BEFORE CONDITIONING - food (UCS) = pleasure (UCR), mother (NS) = no response
DURING CONDITIONING - NS and UCS paired
AFTER CONDITIONING - NS is now CS = pleasure (CR)
Operant conditioning:
-explains why babies cry for comfort
- crying = response from caregiver (food)
- if response is correct, crying is reinforced as it produces a pleasurable consequence
- negative reinforcement = escape from something unpleasant, carregiver recieves negative reinforcement when crying stops.
- drive reduction = hunger is primary drive, attachemnt is secondary drive (association)
A03:
(-) ISNT SUPPORTED BY HARLOWS MONEKYS
- comfort over feeding
- must be true as learning theorist generalise animal and human
(-) ISNT SUPPORTED BY SHAFFER AND EMERSON
- security over feeding
-ucs and primary drive not relvent
-other factors are more important
What does monotropic mean
inate (biological) need to attach to one main attachment figure
Outline AND EVALUATE Bowlbys monotropic theory of attachment as an explanantion of attachement
WHY ATTACHMENTS FORM
- Attachment is innate and gives us a survival advantage
HOW ATTACHEMENTS FORM
- monotropic = emphasis the childs attachement to one caregiver, seen as more important than other attachemnts, emotional bond, typically mother
-Social releasers - innate cute behaviour (cooing, smiling) encourages attention from adults, purpose of this is to make the adult feel love for the baby, attachment is reciprocal.
- critical period (3-6months) attachment is determined by sensitivity
CONSEQUENCES OF ATTACHMENT
- internal working model = serves as a template for what relationships are like
-if first experience is a loving relationship with relaible caregiver = form an expectation that all relationships are loving and relaible (LIKEWISE)
-continuity hypothesis = strongly attached in infancy = socially/emotionally competent
A03:
(-) SHAFFER AND EMERSON SHOW ATTACHMENTS ARE MONOTROPIC
- in multiple attachment stage, 87% of babies formed an attachment to two or more caregivers
(+) real world application
- larger visitng hours in hospitals
- longer parental leave
COUNTER - SHAMES MOTHERS WHO DID WORK
Discuss research by Van ijzendoorn and Tronik et al on cultural variations in attachment
Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988) wanted to see if attachment types (secure/insecure) were similar through different cultures.
Procedure:
They conducted a meta analysis from 32 different studies in 8 different countries
They wanted to see if inter (differences between cultures) cultural and intra (difference in findings within same culture) cultural differences existed.
Findings:
Secure attachment was the greatest within all countires
Japan and Israel (collectivist) insecure - resistant
Germany (individualistic) insecure - avoidant
- cultural similarities support the veiw that attachement is an innate and biological process
Tronik et al
-Efe tribe from zaire
- infants looked after and breastfed by different women, sleeps with own mother tho
- different from western norms, but infant still shows preference to primary attachment figure at 6 months
- supports secure attachment
Outline research into maternal deprivation
BOWLBY ET AL
Critical period, first 2.5 yrs, were crucial otherwise damage would be inevitable. mother substitute could prevent this if emotional care shown
Key study: 44 juvenile theives
Procedure:
-He had 88 children attending his clinic, split into 2 groups, theif group (caught stealing) and control group.
- Parents and children were interveiwed by Bowlby on there early life
Findings:
- 14 children from the theft group were identified as affectionless psychopaths (lack of shame/guilt)
- 12 of those had experienced prolonged separation of more than six months in their first two years of life.
-Out of the 44 children in the control group, only 2 had experienced prolonged separations and none of them were affectionless psychopaths
- early separation = later social maladjustment
Outline one study of romanian orphans
RUTTER AND SONGUA - BARKE
Instituationalisation is when infants are not brought up in a home environment, they are brought up in an orphanage.
Procedure:
(ERA) english and romanion adoptees, longitudinal study.
165 romanian infants, 111 adopted before the age of 2, 54 were adopted by 4yrs.
They were assessed at ages 4,6,11 and 15 on social cognititve and physical development.
There progress was compared to 52 british children adopted before 6 months. - control group
Findings:
- At the time of adoption, the romanians delayed development in compariosn to the British.
- By the age of 4 some caught up with the british if adopted before 6months
-Orphans adopted after 6 months showed disinhibited behaviour.
Long term consequences may be less severe if children had the chance to form attachments.
Explain the role of the internal working model in the development for later relationships.
-Based on there attachment history, an individual will use that as a template to generate expectations for future relationships
- securely attached infants = good quality peer relationships
- insecure attachment types = difficulties in maintaining friendships
Outline one study of the influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships
adult relationships HAZAN AND SHAVER
- testing internal working model
- love quiz
- current and previous attachment qs - to identify childhood attachment
- attitudes towards love
- 620 responses
Findings:
- secure attachment in childhood = long lasting relationships in adulthood
- insecure - resistant = shorter relationships
- insecure - avoidant = dislike to intimacy
One limitation of research into internal working models
THEORETICAL PROBLEMS
- internal working models are unconscious but the methods used to study them are self report techniques (conscious)
- self report techniques cannot be a good method to test them
- relies soley on memory, rheterospective
