Attachment Key Terms Flashcards
Ainsworth’s Strange Situation
A controlled observation used to test a child’s attachment patterns. It involves using assessing the behaviour of an infant aged 12-18 months in a controlled setting through a two-way mirror. In terms of assessment, the psychologist focuses on behaviour shown towards the mother and a stranger, looking at separation anxiety and behaviour when reunited with the mother.
Bowlby’s theory of Maternal deprivation
The belief that separation from a mother figure in early childhood has serious consequences for emotional and physical development.
Caregiver-Infant interactions
The behaviours shown between a caregiver (typically a parent) and a child that help attachments to be developed and maintained.
Critical period
Bowlby originally suggested that if a child does not form an attachment before the age of two and a half years (the critical period) then an attachment would never occur. He later revised his theory and proposed a sensitive theory (where an attachment can still form, although it takes longer) of up to five years.
Cultural variations in attachment
The differences in attachment patterns that exist between infants and their caregivers in different cultures. This has been assessed in a range of cultures using the Strange Situation and the proportions in each category were then examined in a meta-analysis.
Explanations of attachment: Bowlby’s Theory
This is an evolutionary explanation that suggests attachment is seen as an innate mechanism that increases the survival chances of the infant and ensures that he/she remains close to the caregiver.
Explanations of attachment: Learning Theory
This is a behaviourist explanation that suggests attachment is developed through classical and/or operant conditioning, sometimes referred to as the cupboard love theory as the infant attaches to the caregiver who provides food.
Harlow
Harlow conducted research into attachment using rhesus monkeys. By removing the infant monkeys from their mothers and providing a wire and/or cloth-covered surrogate mother, he was able to demonstrate the effects of maternal deprivation and the importance of contact comfort.
Insecure-avoidant
An attachment pattern identified by Ainsworth that is categorised by being willing to explore while not seeking proximity to their caregiver. As such, they show low separation anxiety and stranger anxiety and do not make contact when reunited with the mother.
Insecure-resistant
An attachment pattern identified by Ainsworth that is categorised by not being willing to explore and seeking greater proximity to their caregiver compared to the other attachment types. As such, they show both separation and stranger anxiety and seek contact when reunited with the mother, but then they reject her.
Institutionalisation
The effects of growing up in an orphanage or children’s home links to the idea that children who are raised in these institutions suffer from lack of emotional care, meaning they’re unable to form attachments.
Interactional synchrony
Where an infant mirrors the actions of another person, for example, their facial expressions and body movements and moves their body in tune with the rhythm of their carer.
Internal working model
According to Bowlby, an internal working model is a mental representation of our relationship with our primary caregiver that becomes a template for future relationships.
Lorenz
Lorenz conducted research into imprinting which is seen in ducklings and geese. With imprinting, offspring follow the first large moving object they see, and Lorenz found this when he allowed goslings to imprint on him as they followed him around.
Multiple attachments
When attachments are formed to two or more people. Schaffer and Emerson’s research has shown that most babies are able to form multiple attachments once they have formed a specific attachment to their main caregiver.
Reciprocity
Where an infant responds to the actions of another person as the actions of one person (e.g. the mother) elicit the response from another (e.g. the infant).
Romanian orphan studies
Research has been conducted to investigate the effects of institutionalisation on children who spent time in poor quality Romanian orphanages in the 1990s. For example, Rutter et al examined a group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted by British families and compared them to a control group of 52 British children adopted around the same time.
Secure
An attachment pattern identified by Ainsworth that is categorised by being willing to explore whilst also seeking proximity to the caregiver. As such, they show moderate separation anxiety and stranger anxiety.
Stages of attachment
A number of researchers have identified the stages of attachment, for example, Schaffer and Emerson suggested four stages of attachment (asocial stage, indiscriminate, specific and multiple attachment).
The role of the father
In early attachment theories, the role of the father was not considered as research instead focused on mother-infant attachments. More recently research has investigated the role of the father in infant development, for example research has found that fathers have a role in play and stimulation as opposed to emotional care.
Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg
In their meta-analysis looking at cultural variations in attachment, Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg found that while secure attachment was the most common in all cultures, there were cultural variations in attachment. For example, they found that Germany had the highest rate of insecure-avoidant and Japan and Israel had the highest rates of insecure-resistant.
