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AQA Psychology A level > Attachment > Flashcards

Flashcards in Attachment Deck (51)
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1
Q

Reciprocity.

A

How two people interact. Babies have periodic alert phases and signal that they are ready for reaction. Mothers typically pick up on this ⅔ of the time

2
Q

Interactional synchrony.

A

Parent and infant reflecting on actions and emotions of the other in a coordinated way. From around three months this interaction seems to be increasingly frequent.

3
Q

Attachment

A

A two way emotional bond between two individuals in which each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional stability

4
Q

Stages of attachment: stage one.

A

Asocial stage - Baby’s behaviour towards non-human objects and humans is very similar.

5
Q

Stages of attachment: stage two.

A

Indiscriminate attachment - 2-7 months - Babies show more observable social behaviour and a preference for people rather than objects.

6
Q

Stages of attachment: stage three.

A

Specific attachment - around 7 months - Babies start to show anxiety towards strangers and become anxious when separated from one particular adult.

7
Q

Stages of attachment: stage four

A

Multiple attachments - Attachment is extended to other adults with whom they regularly spend time.

8
Q

Schaffer and Emerson.

A

Investigate the formation of early attachments - in particular, the age that they developed. 60 babies, All from Glasgow, majority working-class families. visited every month for the first 18 months, then asked questions about the infants separation anxieties. 25 - 32 weeks - 50% of the babies showed signs of separation anxiety towards a particular adult, (specific attachment). Attachment tended to be to the caregiver who was most interactive and sensitive to infant signals. 40 weeks - 80% of the babies had a specific attachment and 30% displayed multiple attachments. Human attachments develop in three distinct stages.

9
Q

Multiple attachments.

A

Attachments to two or more people. Most babies appear to develop multiple attachments once they have formed one true attachment to a main carer.

10
Q

Schaffer and Emerson PEI’s

A

+It is backed up by Schaffer and Emerson’s own research.
-One methodological criticism of this research is that the characteristics of the sample are very alike - decreases the population validity of the experiment.
+Another strength is that the study was longitudinal, this means that the same children were followed up and observed regularly - longitudinal studies have higher internal validates.
-There is a problem studying the ‘asocial stage’ and although it is ‘asocial’ many important interactions take place during this stage. You cannot observe the behaviour of a baby so young.

11
Q

Role of the father.

A

Grossman carried out a longitudinal study looking at both parents’ behaviour and its relationship to the infants quality of attachments into their teens. Quality of attachment with mother was related to attachments in adolescence suggesting that father attachment was less important. However, the quality of fathers play was related to quality adolescent attachments. This suggests that fathers have a different role.

12
Q

Fathers as PCG’s.

A

There is evidence to suggest that when fathers take on the role of PCG they adopt behaviours more predominant in mothers. Field filmed 4-month-old babies interactions with PCG mothers, SCG fathers and PCG fathers. PCG fathers spent more time holding the babies than SCG fathers. This behaviour seems important to building a relationship with the infant. The key to the attachment relationship is the level of responsiveness.

13
Q

Animal studies.

A

Studies carried out on non-human animal species rather than on human, either for ethical or practical reasons.

14
Q

Lorenz

A

Investigated the mechanisms of imprinting. Lorenz split a large clutch of goose eggs into two batches. One batch hatch naturally, the other batch hatched and Lorenz was the first moving thing they saw. After birth, the incubator hatched goslings followed Lorenz around. Imprinting is a form of attachment, exhibited mainly by nidifugous birds, whereby close contact is kept with the first large moving object encountered.

15
Q

Harlow

A

Test learning theory by comparing attachment behaviour in baby monkeys. Two types of surrogate mother were constructed – a harsh wire mother and a soft towelling mother. 16 baby monkeys were used, 4 in each condition. Monkeys preferred contact with the towelling mother when given a choice of surrogate mother regardless of whether she produced milk. Rhesus monkeys have an innate unlearned need for contact comfort, suggesting that attachment concerns emotional stability more than food.

16
Q

Animal studies: PEI’s

A

-Hard to generalise to humans.
-Questions of Lorenz’ findings - imprinting doesn’t seem to be as permanent as Lorenz thought.
+Harlow’s findings have had a profound effect on psychologists understanding of human-mother infant interaction.
+Practical value - Harlow’s research has had many important applications in practical contexts.

17
Q

Learning theory

A

Name given to a group of explanations which explain behaviour in terms of learning rather than any inborn tendencies or higher order thinking.Behaviourists believe that all behaviour (including attachment) is learned either through classical or operant conditioning. We are all born as ‘blank slates’ and everything we become can be explained as as a result of our experiences.

18
Q

Classical conditioning.

A

Learning through association. Behaviours demonstrated are a reflex action and there is no intervening thought process. Involves learning to associate two stimuli together so that we begin to respond to one in the same way as we already respond to the other. In the case of attachment, food serves as an unconditional stimulus.

19
Q

Operant conditioning

A

Learning occurs when we are rewarded or punished for doing something.Each time you do something with a pleasant consequence (reward) the behaviour is reinforced. It becomes more probable that you will repeat this behaviour in the future. If something has an unpleasant consequence (punishment) then it it less likely you’ll repeat the behaviour.

20
Q

Bowlby’s monotropic theory.

A

Developed an evolutionary theory of attachment. He believed that all humans were born with the innate ability to form attachments, and that helps us to survive.

21
Q

Adaptive

A

They give our species an ‘adaptive advantage’ making us more likely to survive. This is because if an infant has an attachment to a caregiver, they are kept safe, given food and kept warm.

22
Q

Social releasers

A

These social releasers unlock the innate tendency of adults to care for them. These social releasers are both physical and behavioural.

23
Q

Critical period

A

Babies have to form an attachment with their caregiver during a critical period. Between 7 months and 2 1/2 years old. Bowlby said if this didn’t happen, or if the attachment was broken before 3 years of age, the child would be damaged for life- socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically.

24
Q

Monotropy

A

infants have an innate tendency to form an attachment to one key person- usually the mother. Bowlby said the child would be damaged for life if this didn’t happen.

25
Q

Internal working model

A

Through the monotropy attachment, the infant would form an internal working model. This is a special model or template for other attachments. All the child’s future relationships will be based on the relationship with the mother.

26
Q

Support for social releasers

A

Observed mothers and babies during their interactions, reporting the existence of interactional synchrony. Then extended the study from observations to an experiment. Primary attachment figures were instructed to ignore their babies signals (social releasers). The babies initially showed some distress but when ignored for a long time some responded by curling up and lying motionless. The fact that the children responded supports Bowlby’s ideas about the significance of infant social behaviour in eliciting caregiving.

27
Q

Strange situation

A

A controlled observation designed to test infant attachment security. Infants are assessed on their response to playing in an unfamiliar room, being left alone, left with a stranger and being reunited with a caregiver.

28
Q

Secure attachment

A

Generally thought of as the most desireable attachment type, associated with psychologically healthy outcomes. In the strange situation this is shown by moderate stranger anxiety and ease of comfort at reunion.

29
Q

Insecure-avoidant attachment

A

An attachment type characterised by low anxiety but weak attachment. This is shown by low stranger and separation anxiety and little response to reunion.

30
Q

Insecure-resistant attachment

A

An attachment type characterised by strong attachment and high anxiety. This is shown by high levels of stranger and separation anxiety and resistance to be comforted at reunion.

31
Q

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg

A

> Van Ijzendoorn + Kroonenberg meta-analysis - proportions of secure, avoidant + resistant attachments across countries.
32 Strange Situation studies - 8 different countries; 15 in USA. 1,990 children. Results combined + weighed for sample size.
Variation between attachment types in different studies. Secure = most common 75% UK to 50% China
Resistant overall least common - 3% UK to 30% Israel
Avoidant observed most commonly in Germany + least commonly in Japan
Variations within same country = 150% greater than between countries

32
Q

Bowlby: maternal deprivation.

A

The emotional and intellectual consequences of separation between a child and their mother or mother substitute.

33
Q

Effects on development.

A

Intellectual development - One way in which maternal deprivation affects children’s development is their intellectual development. Bowlby believed that if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period they would suffer delayed intellectual development, characterised by abnormally low IQ. (Goldfarb)
Emotional development - A second major way in which being deprived of a mother
figure’s emotional care affects children is in their emotional development. Bowlby identified affectionless psychopathy as the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion for others. This prevents the person developing normal relationships and is associated with criminality. Affectionless psychopaths cannot appreciate the feelings of victims and therefore lack remorse for their actions.

34
Q

44 theives

A

Examine the link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation.
44 criminal teenagers - accused of stealing. Interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy. Their families were also interviewed to establish if the teenagers had prolonged early separations from their mothers. A control group of non-criminal but still emotionally disturbed young people was set up to see how often maternal separation/ deprivation occurred with the children that were not thieves. Bowlby found that 14 of the 44 teenagers could be categorised as affectionless psychopaths. Of this 14, 12 had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers within the critical period of their life. In contrast, only five of the remaining 30 teenagers had experienced separations. Concluded that prolonged early separation/deprivation caused affectionless psychopathy.

35
Q

Romanian orphans

A

Romania’s orphanage problem - under the communist rule of Nicolae Ceausescu - banned abortion and denied access to contraception at a time of severe food and energy shortages.
Many Romanians abandoned their newborn children, leaving thousands to suffer at underfunded, state-run orphanages.
The children were fed, clothed and kept warm, but the vast majority had never experienced any form of sensitive care on an emotional level. A number of the orphans were adopted by Western families

36
Q

Instututionalisation

A

The effects of living in an institutional setting. Institution refers to the place like a hospital or orphanage where children live for a long, continuous period of time. There is often little emotional care provided.

37
Q

Meltzoff and Moore

A

Observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in infants as young as two weeks old. An adult displayed one of three facial expressions or one of three distinctive gestures. The child’s response was filmed and identified by independent observers. An association was found between the expression or gesture the adult had displayed and the reaction of babies.

38
Q

Parent-infant attachment

A

Traditionally we have thought in terms of mother-infant attachment. Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found that the majority of babies did become attached to their mother (or their primary caregiver) first at around 7 months. And within a few weeks or months formed secondary attachments to other family members including fathers. In 75% of cases, the infant became attached to the father within 17 months.

39
Q

Reciprocity and Interactional Synchrony PEIs

A

+Meltzoff and Moore research to support
-Hard to know whether the infants are reacting to facial gestures or if it is just the child exclaiming something.
+Experiment was well-controlled (response was filmed so can be rewatched)
-Observations do not inform us of the purpose of synchrony and reciprocity

40
Q

Bowbly theory of attachment PEIs

A

+Lorenz’s research supported Bowlby’s
-Schaffer an Emmerson’s research contradicts Bowlby’s
+Working memory model - Black and Schutte found that there was a strong correlation between childhood attachment type and attachment type shown in adulthood

41
Q

Strange Situation PEIs

A

+Research to support - Attachment types are very predictive of later development Kokkinos (2007) and Ward et al (2006).
+Good reliability - different observers tended to agree.
-A limited sample of 100 Americans - Cultural differences may affect the way babies react in the strange situation (Takahashi).
-Controversial is whether the main influence on attachment actually is anxiety.
-Only three attachment types are specified.

42
Q

Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation PEIs

A

+Bowlby drew on a number of sources of evidence for maternal deprivation.
-These sources of evidence are flawed as evidence.
-Believed that prolonged separation inevitably caused damage research has shown that damage is not inevitable.
-Not all research has supported Bowlby’s findings (Hilda Lewis) .
+Levy et al research supports Bowlby.

43
Q

Romanian orphan studies - Zenah et al

A

Assessed attachment in 95 children aged 12-31 months who had spent most of their lives in institutionalised care (90% on average). Compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution. Attachment type was assessed using the SS. Carers asked about unusual social behaviour directed mainly at adults. Found that 74% of the control group came out as securely attached in the strange situation. 19% of institutionalised group - securely attached, 65% being classified with disorganised attachment.

44
Q

Romanian orphan studies - IQ test

A

Followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain to test to what extent good care could make up for poor early first experiences in institutions. Physical, cognitive and emotional development has been assessed at 4, 6,11 and 15 years. A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time acted as a control group.
Adopted 6 months, IQ=102.
Adopted 6 months-2 years, IQ=86.
Adopted after 2 years, IQ=77.
Adopted after 6 months= disinhibited attachment, adopted before 6 months = rarely show disinhibited attachment.

45
Q

Romanian orphan studies PEIs

A

+Helped the understanding of the effects of institutionalisation on infants
+It was possible to study children who had been institutionalised without the confounding variables, this increases the internal validity of the study.
-Due to the extreme circumstances of the study, it is hard to generalize to all children who have suffered from maternal deprivation.

46
Q

Childhood relationships

A

Affiliations with other people in childhood, including friends and classmates, and with adults such as teachers.

47
Q

Adult relationships

A

Those relationships the child goes on to have later as an adult. These include friendships working relationships but most critically, relationships with romantic partners and the person’s own children.

48
Q

Internal working model

A

The mental representations we all carry with us of our attachment to our primary caregiver. They are important in affecting our future relationships because they carry our perception of what relationships are like.

49
Q

Relationships in later childhood

A

Attachment type is associated with the quality of peer relationships in childhood. Securely attached infants tend to go on to form the best quality childhood friendships whereas insecurely attached infants later have friendship difficulties. In particular, bullying behaviour can be predicted by attachment type. Rowan Myron-Wilson and Peter Smith (1998) assessed attachment type and bullying involvement using standard questionnaires in 196 children aged between 7-11 from London. Secure children were unlikely to be involved in bullying. Insecure-avoidant children were the most likely to be victims and insecure-resistant children were most likely to be bullies.

50
Q

Gerard McCarthy

A

In a study of attachment and both romantic relationships and friendships, Gerard McCarthy studied 40 adult women who had been assessed when they were infants to establish their early attachment type. Those assessed as securely attached infants had the best adult friendships and romantic relationships. Adults classed as insecure-resistant had particular problems maintaining friendships whilst those classed as insecure-avoidant struggled with intimacy in romantic relationships.

51
Q

Hazan and Shaver’s love quiz

A

> 620 replies to ‘love quiz’ in American local newspaper. >3 sections: current/most important relationship, general love experiences (no. of partners), attachment type (asking to choose 1 of 3 statements)
56% secure, 25% avoidant, 19% resistant
Secure = most likely to have good + longer lasting romantic experiences
Avoidant tended to reveal jealousy + fear intimacy