attachment content Flashcards
(30 cards)
introduction to attachment
- reciprocity > a mutual exchange where infants and caregiver respond to each other’s signals, fostering connection
- interactional synchrony > mirroring of actions and emotions between caregiver and infant
- FELDMAN & EIDELMAN > found infants alert caregivers for interaction, and caregivers respond around two-third of the time
- MELTZOFF & MOORE > controlled lab study with 2-3-week-old infants who observed adult facial expressions. infants’ responses were video-recorded
— findings > infants imitated adult gestures, suggesting imitation is innate - GROSSMAN > longitudinal study showed fathers’ play quality influenced attachment, suggesting fathers’ role differs from mothers
- FIELD > fathers can become primary caregivers by adopting nurturing behaviours
- key conclusion > early social behaviours like reciprocity and interactional synchrony are essential for attachment formation
strengths of introduction to attachment
HIGH INTERNAL VALIDITY:
- meltzoff & moore > used controlled conditions, reducing confounding variables
CROSS-CULTURAL EVIDENCE:
- similar interactional synchrony has been observed across different cultures, supporting university
PRACTICAL APPLICATION:
- findings have informed parenting programmes and interventions for early caregiver-infant bonding
limitations of introduction to attachment
OBSERVER BIAS:
- infants’ behaviours are subtle, and researchers may misinterpret them (gratier)
ARTIFICIAL SETTING:
- lab studies may lack ecological validity and not reflect real-life interactions
SOCIAL SENSITIVITY:
- emphasis on mothers may pressure women and undermine fathers’ roles (fox)
INCONSISTENT FINDINGS:
- mixed results on the fathers’ role in attachment (grossman vs field)
schaffer’s stages of attachment
- ASOCIAL STAGE (0-6 WEEKS):
- infants respond similarly to humans and objects but show preference to familiar people - INDISCRIMINATE ATTACHMENT (6 WEEKS - 7 MONTHS):
- infants become more social but don’t show preference for specific caregivers - SPECIFIC ATTACHMENT (7-9 MONTHS):
- infants display separation anxiety with one primary caregiver - MULTIPLE ATTACHMENTS (10+ MONTHS):
- attachments extend to multiple caregivers
SCHAFFER & EMERSON:
- longitudinal study of 60 glasgow working class infants over 18 months through observations and interviews
- findings > 50% of infants showed specific attachment by 7 months
- key conclusion > attachment develops in stages, and multiple attachments are common
strengths of schaffer’s stages of attachment
HIGH ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY:
- natural home observations reflect real-life behaviour
LONGITUDINAL STUDY
- tracking the same infants over time eliminates participant variables
PRACTICAL APPLICATION:
- supports childcare practices that encourage the development of multiple attachments
limitations of schaffer’s stages of attachments
LIMITED SAMPLE DIVERSITY:
- only working-class glasgow families were studied, limited generalisability
DIFFICULTIES OBSERVING ASOCIAL STAGE:
- early infant behaviour is hard to interpret
CULTURAL BIAS:
- multiple attachments extend patterns may differ across cultures not studied here
animal studies of attachment
LORENZ:
- field experiment
- geese
- imprinting occurs during a critical period
HARLOW:
- lab experiment
16 rhesus monkeys
monkeys preferred a cloth mother over a wire mother with food
CONCLUSION:
- comfort, not food, form the basis of attachment
strengths of animal studies of attachment
THEORETICAL IMPORTANCE:
- harlow’s study shifted focus to emotional care in attachment formation
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS:
-influences childcare practices and attachment-based therapy
limitations of animal studies of attachment
ETHICAL CONCERNS:
- severe distress caused to monkeys raises questions about the morality of animal research
LIMITED HUMAN APPLICATION:
- animal behaviours may not fully reflect human attachment
bowlby’s monotropic theory
- monotropy > one attachment figure (usually the mother) is more important
- hierachy of attachments > secondary attachment provide safety but are less influential
- caregiver as adaptive > attachment increases survival chances
- critical period > attachment must form before 2.5 years
- internal working model > first attachment serve as blueprint for future relationships
- continuity hypothesis > early attachment predict later social outcomes
- BRAZLETON > ignoring infant social releasers led to distress
- key conclusion > early attachment experiences shape later social and emotional development
strengths of bowlby’s monotropic theory
EVOLUTIONARY BASIS:
- explains why attachments are universal and innate
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE:
- bailey > found continuity between mothers’ and children’s attachment types
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS:
- highlights the importance of sensitive caregiving in early years
limitations of bowlby’s monotropic theory
SOCIAL SENSITIVITY:
- emphasis on mothers as the primary figure may pressure women to stay home
TEMPERAMENT CRITICISM:
- kagan > argued innate temperament, not caregiving, determines attachment
CULTURAL BIAS:
- monotropy may not apply equally across cultures with different childcare practices
learning theory of attachment
- classical conditioning > caregiver becomes associated with comfort (food)
- operant conditioning > crying leads to caregiver attention, reinforcing attachment
- positive reinforcement > infant receives food / comfort, strengthening attachment
- negative reinforcement > caregivers are rewarded when crying stops after comfort
DOLLARD & MILLER:
- proposed that feeding explains attachment through learned associations
- key conclusion > attachment forms through processes based on rewards and association
strengths of the learning theory of attachment
SCIENTIFIC BASIS:
- conditioning is we;;-supported in psychology
EXPLAINS SIMPLE BEHAVIOUR:
- describes how attachments could be learned through reward
PRACTICAL APPLICATION:
- explains why consistent caregiving strengthens bonds
limitations of learning theory of attachment
CONTRADICTORY EVIDENCE:
- harlow and lorenz > showed attachments forme without feeding
REDUCTIONIST:
- oversimplifies attachment by ignoring emotional social factors
IGNORES ROLE OF INTERACTION:
- fails to explain the importance of comfort and social interaction
ainsworth’s strange situation
AINSWORTH
- developed the strange situation, a structured observation designed to assess attachment quality in infants aged 12-18 months
— procedure > the study involved 8 episodes testing infants’ responses to separation anxiety, stranger anxiety, exploration and reunion behaviours
- attachment types:
1. secure (type b) > explores freely, shows moderate distress when caregiver leaves, easily comforted on return
2.insecure-avoidant (type a) > avoids caregiver, little distress when they leave
3. insecure-resistant (type c) > clingy, high distress when caregiver leaves, resists comfort
MAIN & SOLOMON:
- later identified a fourth type > disorganised attachment (type d) > a mix of avoidant and resistant behaviours, often linked to abuse
key conclusion > attachment styles predict later social and emotional outcomes
strengths of ainsworth’s strange situation
PREDICTIVE VALIDITY;
- securely attached children typically show better social and emotional adjustment (kokkinos), supporting the test’s validity
HIGH INTER-RATER RELIABILITY:
- bick > reported 94% agreement in attachment classification, showing consistency
STANDARDISED PROCEDURE:
- the strange situation is highly structures, making replication and comparison across studies easier
limitations of ainsworth’s strange situation
CULTURAL BIAS:
- developed in the USA
- may not apply in collectivist cultures where separation is rare
- e.g. takahashi > found that japanese infants showed extreme distress due to cultural practices
TEMPERAMENT HYPOTHESIS:
- kagan argued that a child’s innate temperament may explain their strange situation behaviour, not attachment type
ETHICAL CONCERNS:
- the procedure deliberately causes distress, raising ethical issues
LIMITED ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY:
- lab setting may not reflect how infants behave in real-world situations
cultural variations in attachment
VAN IJZENDOORN & KROONENBERG:
- conducted a meta-analysis of 32 strange situation studies across 8 countries involving our 2000 infants
- findings > secure attachment was most common globally, but insecure-avoidant was higher in germany and insecure-resistant was higher in japan
SIMONELLA:
- italian study found fewer secure attachments, likely due to increased maternal development
JIN:
- korean infants showed more insecure-resistant attachments, reflecting collectivist child-rearing practices
- key conclusion > attachment behaviours are universal, but cultural child-rearing practices affect attachment styles
strengths of cultural variations in attachment
LARGE SAMPLE SIZE:
- the study covered over 2000 infants, increasing reliability
CROSS-CULTURAL INSIGHT:
- demonstrates the universality of secure attachment and how culture shapes insecure attachment types
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS:
- findings help adapt attachment-based intervention to suit different cultural contexts
limitations of cultural variations in attachment
ETHNOCENTRIC METHODS:
- the strange situation reflects western norms of independence, which may not suit collectivist cultures
UNREPRESENTATIVE SAMPLES:
- studies often focused on middle-class, urban families, neglecting rural and lower socio-economic groups
CULTURAL STEREOTYPING:
- results could reinforce stereotypes about cultural parenting styles without considering broader societal influences
bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation
BOWLBY:
- argued that prolonged separation or deprivation from the mother during the critical period (first 2.5 years) could cause irreversible emotional and intellectual harm
- 44 thieves study > interviews with 44 juvenile thieves found that 14 displayed affectionless psychopathy and most had experiences prolongued separation
- key conclusion > maternal deprivation during the critical period can lead to social, emotional and behavioural issues
strengths of bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation
INFLUENTIAL IN CHILDCARE PRACTICES:
- led to reforms in hospital care, promoting rooming-in policies and parental visits
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE:
- levy > found that maternal separation in rats caused permanent emotional damage
limitations of bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation
POOR METHODOLOGY:
- the 44 thieves study lacked control groups and was based on retrospective data, reducing validity
CONFUSION WITH PRIVATION:
- rutter > argued bowlby failed to distinguish between deprivation (loss of attachment) and privation (failure to form attachment)
CONTRADICTORY EVIDENCE:
- lewis > replicated the study with a larger sample and found no link between separation and criminality
