attachment lessons 1-6 Flashcards
what are the two types of caregiver-infant interactions
reciprocity
interactional synchrony
what is reciprocity
when each person responds to the other and elicits a response from them.
research for reciprocity
brazelton suggested basic rhythm is an important precursor to later communications.
what is interactional synchrony
carrying out same action synchronised. the temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behaviour.
research for interactional synchrony
meltzoff and moore used controlled observation where they selected 4 stimuli ( three faces and a gesture to show child). Dummy put in mouth to prevent response. child expression filmed. independent observers judged wo any knowledge. asked to note down tongue protrusions and head movements. inter observer scores were greater than 0.92. this shows infants imitate behaviour. however piaget argued it’s not intentional but is for reward.
evaluation of reciprocity and interactional synchrony for caregiver infant interaction
ADV: psychologists got mothers to interact with their babies over a video monitor. In the next part of the study the babies were played a tape of their mother so she was not responding to them. The babies tried to attract their mother’s attention but when this failed they gave up responding. This shows that babies want their mothers to reciprocate.
DIS: problems with testing infant behaviour as it is not reliable as baby behaviour is unpredictable and difficult to distinguish. failure to replicate as köepke failed to replicate meltzoff.
experiment for stages of attachment
schaffer and emerson used 60 babies from 5 to 23 weeks. they were visited every 4 weeks for a year and then at 18 months. observations and interviews took place. mum asked to keep diary of behaviour. mother asked to give intensity of separation protest.
which attachment behaviours were measured by schaffer and emerson
separation anxiety
stranger anxiety
stats of who babies form attachment with
65% primary attachment to mother.
30% jointly attached to mother and other figure
3% attached to father
27% jointly attached to mother and father
by 18 months 75% form attachment to father
what are the 4 stages in development of attachment
pre attachment phase. 0-3 months baby behaves similar with humans and objects
indiscriminate phase. 3-7 months. baby recognise adults and accept comfort
discriminate phase. 7-8 months. baby forms primary attachment figure
multiple phase. 9 onwards. baby develops multiple attachments
evaluation of the development of attachments
strengths: good external validity as carried out in family house so babies behaved naturally. no ethical issues as mothers gave consent and experiment carries out over time.
weaknesses: methodological issues as observations prone to bias when mothers observed. biased sample as working class from 1960s
role of the father in attachment
fathers less likely to become primary attachment figures but 75% are jointly attached by 18 months. Father’s role is for play and stimulation which compliments the mothers role
research for fathers as primary attachment figure
field filmed 4 month babies interaction with primary mother, secondary father and primary father. found that primary father imitated behaviour of primary mother such as more time smiling compared to secondary fathers.
evaluation of role of the father
strengths: real world application as it can offer advice to parents such as lesbian parents suggesting it won’t affect child development
weaknesses: what about children born into single parent families which can have an effect on their development
what is imprinting
when a new born baby attaches to the first living thing they see at birth. if it doesn’t happen in critical period it probably never will
experiment into research of imprinting
lorenz spilt goose eggs into two groups. by mother and in incubator where lorenz was first thing they saw. natural eggs followed mother after birth and incubator eggs followed lorenz. results were irreversible
sexual imprinting
lorenz investigated this with geese and found they would display courtship behaviour with him and was irreversible.
evaluation of lorenz research
strength: research support by guiton who used chicks and exposed them to yellow gloves and they became imprinted on them and tried to mate with them
weaknesses: research opposes the irreversible nature like guiton who found the chicks mating with yellow gloves could be reversed by spending time with their own species. also lorenz used birds which can’t be generalised to humans
Harlows research
used rhesus monkeys to see if primary attachment is due to food by putting them in cage with towel mother and removed it to see if they become distressed
procedure of harlows research
4 conditions with 16 monkeys
cage with wire mother milk towel mother no milk
cage with wire mother no milk towel mother milk
cage with wire mother milk
cage with towel mother milk
findings of harlows research
monkeys preferred towel mother when given choice regardless of milk. monkeys with only wire mother had diarrhoea (distress sign). When frightened from noise monkey clung to towel mother
harlows experiment on isolation
raised newborn monkeys in total isolation for 3,6,12 or 24 months. monkeys showed signs of psychological disturbance hugging and rocking themselves. when placed with other monkeys they were fearful had no social interaction and harmed themselves. degree of harm increased with time. to test them as parents he would tie female monkeys and forcibly mate them. they turned out to harm babies and one crushed its head. can be reversed with therapy
evaluation of harlows research
strengths: practical value as it helped social workers understand risk factors of child abuse and neglect. theoretical value as helped psychologists understand human infant attachment.
weaknesses: ethical issues as can’t be done with humans and it created lasting damage to monkeys and some died. also cannot be generalised to human behaviour.
what is the learning theory
proposes all behaviour is learned rather than innate. known as cupboard theory.
