Attatchment Flashcards
What does attachment mean?
Refers to a close emotional bond between two people, normally an infant and the primary caregiver (usually the mother). Each individual sees the other as essential for emotional security.
What is an alert phase?
Infant readiness for interaction. Minimal at first, more frequent from 3 months
Reciprocity
A two way process of interaction, turn taking. E.g, caregiver smiles, the baby smiles or laughs. The baby cries, the caregiver comforts the baby
Still Face Experiment: Brazleton et al (1975)
What is the procedure and what does it show about infants in interactions?
Procedure:
Parent interacts with their child as normal
Then asked to pause and ‘still face’ for 2 minutes
Finding: Lack of response = the infant tries to engage the parent and gets distressed
Reciprocity is important to caregiver-infant relationships. The infant has an active role in initiating interaction (not passive respondent)
Interactional Synchrony
Behaviours coordinate in time/move in the same pattern. E.g, mimicking facial expressions and voices.
‘Temporal coordination of micro-level social behaviour’
Procuedure of Meltzoff and Moore (1977)
Infants as young as two weeks old
Parent opposite asked to display 1 of 3 facial gestures (eg, sticking tounge out)
What did Melzoff and Moore find, and what conclusion can be drawn?
Infants mirrored parents more than chance would predict, and interactional synchrony is important to caregiver-infant relationships.
Separation anxiety
Distress when separated from caregiver
Stranger anxiety
Distress around unfamiliar adults
Asocial/pre-attachment
0-8 weeks
Baby shows no particular attachment to specific caregiver
Indiscriminate attachment
2-7 months
Infant begins to show preference for primary and secondary caregivers
Specific/Discriminate attachment
7-12 months
Infant shows strong attachment to one specific caregiver
Multiple attachments
1 year onward
Growing bonds with other caregivers
Ethology
The study of animal behaviour
Imprinting
Offspring produces a strong bond to the first adult it sees
Monotropic Theory
A theory of attachment proposed by John Bowlby, that suggests attachment is the result of evolutionary behaviours towards a primary caregiver.
Critical Period
A period of time (proposed by John Bowlby) within which if a child does not form an attachment, they will never form an attachment
Learning Theory of Attachment
An explanation of attachment according to the behaviourist approach, attributing attachment to classical/operant conditioning. For example, a child associates their primary caregiver with food, and thus becomes a conditioned stimulus.
Maternal Deprivation
Emotional and intellectual consequences of separation between a child and their primary caregiver. Prolonged separation can cause serious damage to emotional and intellectual development
Affectionless Psychopathy
Inability to show affection or concern for others. Such of individuals act on impulse with little regard for the consequences of their actions
What did Schaffer and Emerson research and what did they find?
Carried out a study on families in Glasgow, developed a 4 stage model of attachment formation, such as indiscriminate and discriminate attachments
Demonstrates stages of attachment, evidence of multiple attachment and contradicts learning theory
What did Harlow research and what did he find?
Found that monkeys provided with two surrogate mothers (one made of wire that provided food, and one covered in cloth) were more attached to the one that gave comfort rather than food
Contradicts learning theory
What did Lorenz research and what did he find?
Demonstrated ‘imprinting’ by being the first thing baby geese saw. Treated him as a caregiver, followed him until adulthood
Supports Bowlby’s innate theory
What did Bowlby research and what did he find?
Tested Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis by studying juvenile thieves (44 thieves). Found a significantly high proportion had been maternally deprived in early life, affectionless psychopathology
Supports Maternal Deprivation
