Relational Influences: Attachment

Question 1

What is socialisation?

Answer 1

Process of acquiring the beliefs, values and behaviours that are thought to be important and appropriate to function effectively as members of society.

Question 2

What are agents of socialisation? (w/examples)

Answer 2

Factors that affect our socialisation
- Factors that have been studied: families, schools, mass media, religious institutions and clubs.

Question 3

What does attachment refer to?

Answer 3

The formation of a strong emotional tie between a primary caregiver and their baby.

Question 4

Why is the formation of a strong emotion tie between parent & infant important?

Answer 4

Important in the development of later socialisation of the infant.

Question 5

What is the sensitive period?

Answer 5

Period of which bonding (attachment) can occur

Question 6

How long is the sensitive period?

Answer 6

About 12 months, but can be 2 years

Question 7

What happens if there is a failure to establish the attachment?

Answer 7

Can lead to harmful effects in later life
- Poor social and emotional development

Question 8

Harry Harlow (1905-1981) & his contribution

Answer 8

Attachment as contact comfort to a terry-towelling surrogate mother in rhesus monkeys.

Question 9

John Bowlby (1907-1990) & his contribution

Answer 9

Attachment as comfort for infants from their mothers.
Failure to form attachment leads to maternal deprivation.
1st theory of attachment to consider both mother and infant.

Question 10

Mary Ainsworth (1913-1999) & her contribution

Answer 10

Measurement of attachment by the ‘Strange Situation’ and classification of types of infant attachment.

Question 11

Micheal Rutte (1933-)

Answer 11

Indicators of attachment shown for fathers, siblings, peers and even inanimate objects as well as mothers.
The quality of the attachment bond is the most important factor, rather than just deprivation in the critical period.

Question 12

What did Harry Harlow do? (Basic explanation)

Answer 12

Conducted some experiments to measure the development of attachment of infant rhesus monkeys to their mothers.
Believed that such emotional bonds were important for subsequent healthy development.

Question 13

What did Harry Harlow conclude from his study?

Answer 13

‘Contact comfort’ (provided by cloth surrogate) was more important in the formation of the mother-infant attachment than feeding.
This was generalised to the human mother-infant bond.

Question 14

What did John Bowlby (1907-1990) do? (Basic explanation)

Answer 14

Studied the predisposition of infants for contact with their mothers.
His theory was that mothers have a biological need to be close to their child.

Question 15

If Bowlby wasn’t a researcher and didn’t conduct experiments how did he get his information?

Answer 15

Drew on various strands of theoretical thinking and clinical experience when developing his theory of attachment as a system that have evolved to increase the infant’s chances of survival.

Question 16

What was Bowlby’s evolutionary perspective?

Answer 16

Children who were always close to their mothers would’ve avoided predators and grown up to have children of their own.

Question 17

What was Bowlby’s theory the first to do?

Answer 17

Consider the pair (mother & infant) - not jsut infat

Question 18

Primary bond

Answer 18

Different from other attachments - between primary caregiver and infant

Question 19

Nature of monotropy

Answer 19

Attachment as a close bond w/just 1 attachment figure (primary bond)

Question 20

Maternal deprivation

Answer 20

Separation/loss of the mother as well as the failure to develop an attachment.

Question 21

How is the internal working model/cognitive framework developed?

Answer 21

Child’s attacment w/their primary caregiver leads it it’s development

Question 22

What is the internal working model / cognitive framework

Answer 22

Compromised of mental representations for understandings the world, the self and others.
Conceptual model - doesn’t exist as an entity.
People’s interaction w/others is guided by memories and expectations from their internal model that influence and help to evaluate their contact with others.

Question 23

According to Bowlby, the primary caregiver acts as a…

Answer 23

prototype for future relationships via. internal working model.

Question 24

3 main features of the internal working model:

Answer 24

1. A model of others such as the mother being experienced as trustworthy
2. A model of the self as being valuable and important to others.
3. A model of the self as having been effective when interacting with others, such as w/th3eir mothers.

Question 25

The Long-term consequences of maternal deprivation might include the following for the child:

Answer 25

Delinquency
Reduced intelligence
Increased aggression
Depression
An inability to show affection or concern for others (affectionless psychopathy)

Question 26

Where did Bowlby get criticised?

Answer 26

Didn’t dispute that young children form multiple attachments along with the attachment to the mother is unique: it is the first to appear and remains the strongest of all.

Question 27

Besides other attachments, what else did Rutter (1972) accuse Bowlby of?

Answer 27

Accuse him of not distinguishing between deprivation & privation.
- The complete lack of an attachment bond rather than its loss.
- Stressed that the quality of the attachment bond is the most important factor, rather than just deprivation in the critical period.

Question 28

Rutter’s 1972 book suggested that Bowlby oversimplified…

Answer 28

the concept of maternal deprivation.
- Bowlby used ‘maternal deprivation’ to refer to separation from an attached figure, loss of an attached figure and failure to develop an attachment o any figure.

Question 29

Rutter argued that…

Answer 29

if a child fails to develop an emotional bond, this is privation vs. deprivation refers to the loss of, or damage to, an attachment.

Question 30

How does Harlow’s research support Rutter’s notion of privation?

Answer 30

Harlow showed that monkeys reared in isolation from their mother suffered emotional and social problems in older age.
The monkeys never formed an attachment (privation) and grew up to be aggressive and had problems interacting with other monkeys.

Question 31

For Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, what was the marker of attachment in an infant?

Answer 31

The behaviour designed to gain and maintain closeness with the parent.

Question 32

What did Ainsworth & Bell (1970) develop and the results?

Answer 32

Developed a way to measure attachment.
Resulted in 3 types of attachment in infants

Question 33

What are the 3 types of attachment in infants?

Answer 33

Type A: Insecure-avoidant
Type B: Secure
Type C: Insecure-ambivalent/resistant

Question 34

Intensity of attachment behaviour can be heightened or reduced by changing…

Answer 34

Environmental conditions

Question 35

Attachment behaviour was considered to be of importance for…

Answer 35

the survival of the infant

Question 36

Sagi & colleagues (1994) study suggests what?

Answer 36

that early child-rearing practices can lead to difference in proportion of each attachment type.

Question 37

What were Sagi & colleagues interested in?

Answer 37

That a high proportion of children raised in traditional Israeli kibbutzim had in past research demonstrated Type C (anxious resistant) attachment to their mothers

Question 38

Kibbutzism

Answer 38

Israeli practice of collective community characterised by mutual aid, social justice and equality.

Question 39

Considered that the predominant type of attachment (C in traditional kibbutzism) was likely due to the infants’

Answer 39

sleeping arrangements

Question 40

During nighttime there are 2 watchwomen in kibbutzim to care for all the children in the kibbutz on a rotational basis, this means that..

Answer 40

there may be a delay in attending to the infants’ needs during the night and there isn’t a stable relationship w/an adult available to them at night.
Considering this - it would likely lead to insecure attachments.