Studied by 24 peopleTags & Description
what is attachment?
a strong emotional bond between two people
developed over time
reciprocal
what were maccoby’s (1980) four characteristics of attachment?
seeking proximity (especially if stressed)
distress on separation
pleasure when reunited
behaviour oriented towards primary caregiver
what are the two key characteristics of caregiver-infant interactions?
reciprocity
interactional synchrony
what is reciprocity?
a description of how two people interact
reciprocated in that both respond to each other’s signals and elicit responses from each other
what research studies support reciprocity?
feldman (2007)
brazelton et al (1975)
what did feldman (2007) find?
babies have ‘alert phases’ and caregivers respond to their signals most of the time
at around 3 months, these interactions become more frequent and involve close attention of visual signals and facial expressions
what did brazelton et al (1975) find?
describes reciprocity as a ‘dance’
both caregiver and infant take an active role - both initiate interactions
sensitivity to infant behaviour lays the foundations of later attachments between infant and caregiver to develop
what is interactional synchrony?
when a caregiver and infant interact in such a way that their actions and emotions mirror each other
believed to be important for the development of caregiver-infant attachment
what research studies support interactional synchrony?
isabella (1989)
meltzoff and moore (1977)
murray and trevarthen (1985)
what did isabella (1989) find?
high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality caregiver-infant attatchment
what did meltzoff and moore (1977) find?
observed beginnings of interactional synchrony in infants
an adult displayed 1 of 3 facial expressions or distinctive gestures - the child’s response was filmed and identified by independent observers
an association was found between the expression or gesture the adult displayed and the actions of the babies
what did murray and trevarthen (1985) find?
observed 2 month old infants interact with their mothers via a video monitor in real time, then showed a recording of the mothers with no response to attempted interactions
infants grew distressed by the lack of response - shows infants are actively and intentionally interacting to elicit a response
supports meltzoff and moore’s findings
what research studies argue against interactional synchrony?
jean piaget (1962)
what did jean piaget (1962) find?
criticised meltzoff and moore’s proposal that imitation was intentional
said it was ‘pseudo-imitational’ - there was no conscious awareness in the infant
suggested it was the result of operant conditioning - behaviour is rewarded by positive responses from the caregiver, so it is repeated
what is the evaluation for caregiver-infant interactions?
reliability of testing infants is limited
individual differences - not all infants will respond the same way
value of research - research has allowed for the development of knowledge about infants
failure to replicate - koepke et al failed to find the same as meltzoff and moore, piaget suggested operant conditioning as an alternative explanation
behaviour is intentional - research has shown infants only behave this way with people, not inanimate objects, suggests behaviour is intentional
what are the stages of attachment?
asocial attachment
indiscriminate attachment
specific attachment (first ‘real’ attachment)
multiple attachment
what is asocial attachment?
0-6 weeks
social and non-social stimuli provoke favourable reactions - similar behaviour towards humans and non-human objects
few produce protest
what is indiscriminate attachment?
6 weeks - 7 months
more observable social behaviour is displayed
infants indiscriminately enjoy human company
they get upset when an individual ceases to interact with them
from 3 months they smile more at familiar faces and are comforted easily by a regular caregiver
what is specific attachment?
7-9 months
infants express protest when separated from one particular individual - separation anxiety
attempt to stay close to one particular individual
show wariness of strangers - stranger anxiety
what is multiple attachment?
10 months onward
infants begin to attach to multiple individuals
by 18 months, the majority of infants have formed multiple attachments - these are called secondary attachments
what is the evaluation of the stages of attachment?
stage theories - can be inflexible in terms of individual development
multiple attachments - conflicting research into whether all attachments are equal or not
cultural variations - differences in child-rearing practices may lead to variations in how attachment develops
what was the glasgow study?
carried out by schaffer and emerson (1964)
aimed to investigate the formation of early attachments - particularly the age at which they developed, their emotional intensity and the person they were directed at
what did the glasgow study involve?
60 babies - 31 male, 29 female, all from glasgow, most from skilled working-class families
babies were visited every month for a year and again at 18 months
researchers asked the mothers the kinds of separation anxiety the infants displayed in everyday separations - e.g. mother leaving a room
they also assessed stranger anxiety
what were the results of the glasgow study?
25-32 weeks (~5-7 months) - 50% of babies showed separation anxiety to one particular adult
by 40 weeks (~9 months) - 80% of babies had a specific attachment and 30% displayed multiple attachments
what did the glasgow study conclude?
babies go through stages of attachment and are not born with attachments
what is the evaluation of the glasgow study?
unreliable data - data was recorded by parents, so may be inaccurate or show social desirability bias
biased sample - sample is biased as all individuals were from the same city, same class, etc.
what factors can the role of the father be affected by?
cultural factors
economic factors
biological factors
social policies
the child themselves
how do cultural factors affect the role of the father?
men were traditionally working and earning money
not directly involved in child-rearing
how do economic factors affect the role of the father?
men traditionally work away from the home for long hours - makes hands-on involvement impossible
how do biological factors affect the role of the father?
men seem to lack emotional sensitivity to infant cues - could be due to the lack of oestrogen
how do social policies affect the role of the father?
men do not receive as much paternity leave as mothers
how does the child affect the role of the father?
age and gender - male infants are more likely to prefer their fathers as attachment figures
temperament - fathers are less likely to be involved if their child has a difficult temperament
how does parent-infant attachment apply to fathers?
schaffer and emerson (1964) - the majority of babies became attached to their mothers first, and then formed secondary attachments to their father a few weeks or months after
in 75% of infants studied, an attachment was formed with the father by 18 months
what did grossman (2002) find?
fathers play a different role in attachment to mothers
the father’s role is more associated with play and stimulation, rather than nurturing
what did field (1978) find?
the key to the attachment relationship is the level of responsiveness, not the gender of the parent
primary caregiver fathers are capable as acting as the nurturing figures within attachments
what is the evaluation of the role of the father?
inconsistent findings - psychologists look at different aspects of the role of the father and come to different conclusions
children without fathers - grossman (2002) said fathers were secondary attachment figures, maccallum and golombok (2004) found that children growing up in single or same-sex parent households do not develop differently
fathers are less biologically sensitive - hardy (1999) found that fathers were less able to detect low levels of infant distress than mothers, could be due to lack of oestrogen
research support - geiger (1996) found that fathers’ play was more exciting than mothers’, supports the role of the father as a playmate
parent relationships - belsky et al (2009) found men with higher levels of marital intimacy had a secure father-infant attachment, strength depends on the parent relationship
what are the two animal studies?
konrad lorenz (1935)
harry harlow (1959)
what did lorenz (1935) do?
investigated imprinting
split up a group of eggs - half saw the mother first when they hatched, and the other half saw lorenz
he marked the 2 groups and put them together with both him and the mother present
what did lorenz (1935) find?
those that had seen the mother first followed her and the ones that saw lorenz first followed him
critical period - when imprinting has to take place, or they will not imprint at all
imprinting - some animals imprint on the first thing they see, it binds a young animal to a caregiver, it is irreversible and long lasting
imprinting has an effect on later mate preferences
what is the evaluation of lorenz (1935)?
research support - guitton (1966) said chicks exposed to yellow rubber gloves later tried to mate with them, so animals are not born with an innate predisposition to imprint on a specific thing, and imprint on anything moving in the critical period
characteristic of imprinting have been questioned - guitton (1966) showed imprinting could be reversed
what did harlow (1959) do?
attempted to demonstrate that attachment is not based on the feeding bond predicted by learning theory
made two wire ‘mothers’ with different heads - one was wrapped in cloth and the other was just wire
4 monkeys were fed by each ‘mother’
measured the amount of time the monkeys spent with each mother, as well as their responses when frightened
what did harlow (1959) find?
all monkeys spent more time with the cloth mother whether they were fed by her or not - when frightened, all monkeys ran to the cloth mother
concluded attachments are formed not to the person that feeds them but with who provides them with contact comfort
the motherless monkeys developed abnormally - socially and sexually abnormal
found a critical period - mother figure had to be introduced within 90 days for an attachment to form, if motherless monkeys spent time with peers before 3 months they recovered, if not, the damage was irreversible
what is the evaluation of harlow (1959)?
confounding variable - the mothers had different heads as well, monkeys could prefer cloth mother because she had a more attractive head, reduces validity
ethical problems - questionable whether ethical implications are justified by understanding of attachment gained, monkeys were caused significant distress, there were severe implications for social and emotional long-term development, experiment could not be carried out with humans, strong findings but methods are criticised
generalising animal studies to human behaviour - humans have free will and decisions are governed by conscious decisions, useful in developing and understanding but not only method of research
what does learning theory believe?
everyone is born ‘tabula rasa’ - blank slate
attachments are no more than a set of learned behaviours
feeding has a central role in the development of attachment - ‘cupboard love’
what two processes are attachments are learnt through?
operant conditioning
classical conditioning
how does classical conditioning affect attachment?
an infant is born with reflex responses
food (UCS) naturally provides a response of pleasure (UCR)
the person providing the food (NS) becomes associated with this and becomes the CS - usually the primary caregiver
the conditioned response is to seek proximity and exhibit affection towards to food giver
how does operant conditioning affect attachment?
learning by consequence/reward - rewards could be food, comfort, warmth etc.
positive reinforcement - when a baby cries, they get food and crying is reinforced
negative reinforcement - when a baby is fed, the unpleasant sensation of hunger stops
what is drive reduction theory?
dollard and miller (1950)
when hungry, the infant feels uncomfortable and experiences a ‘drive state’ - drive to seek nourishment
the drive motivates the baby to lessen the discomfort of being hungry
babies cry in order to receive food
receiving food reduces drive reduction (positive reinforcement) and the child learns food is a reward (primary reinforcer)
the person supplying the food is associated with the reward (classical conditioning) and becomes a secondary reinforcer
from then on the baby seeks to be with this person, as they are seen as a source of reward
what is the evaluation of learning theory?
outdated theory - created in the 1940s and not applicable today, some people seek discomfort, low temporal validity
based on non-human research - pavlov and skinner, cannot generalise to humans as animals are fundamentally different
good explanatory power - theory of how attachments form is strong, but could be a response to parents rather than food forming the attachment
bowlby’s theory many have better explanatory power - explains why attachments form, not just how
harlow (1959) - findings directly contradict learning theory
who developed monotropy?
john bowlby
what explanation does monotropy propose?
evolutionary explanation
attachment was an innate system that gave a survival advantage
why is the theory ‘monotropic’?
it emphasises a child’s attachment to one particular caregiver
the more time the child spent with the primary attachment figure the better
what two principles did bowlby suggest?
law of continuity - the more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better the quality of the attachment
law of accumulated separation - the effects of every separation from the primary attachment figure add up
what are social releasers?
innate ‘cute’ behaviours
purpose is to activate the adult attachment system
what is the critical period in monotropy?
when the infant attachment system is active
if an attachment is not formed in this time, a child will find it harder to form one later on
what is the internal working model?
a child’s mental representation of their relationship with their primary caregiver
template for what relationships should be like
has an effect on the nature of the child’s future relationships
what is the continuity hypothesis?
later relationships are effected by earlier experiences of attachment
what is the evaluation for monotropy?
is attachment adaptive - attachments is formed at 3-6 months, when they begin to crawl, vital that infants form an attachment so their caregivers can protect them
sensitive or critical period - rutter et al, infants can form attachments outside the critical period, suggests sensitive period is more appropriate
multiple attachment vs monotropy - prior and glaser (2003), a hierarchical model of attachment with one central person is more likely than multiple attachment
continuity hypothesis - sroufe et al (2003), followed participants from infancy to teens and found continuity in behaviour, individuals classified as securely attached in infancy had high social competence later in childhood
alternative explanations - belsky and rovine (1987), temperament hypothesis, monotropy is not a complete explanation
what is the strange situation?
study developed by mary ainsworth (1969)
observed key attachment behaviours to assess the quality of a child’s attachment
100 children and their caregivers were observed in a controlled setting
what is the procedure of the strange situation?
mother and child enter room
stranger enters room
mother leaves room, child is alone with stranger
mother returns, stranger leaves room
mother leaves room, child is alone
stranger returns
mother returns, stranger leaves room
what were the children observed on?
willingness to explore
stranger anxiety
separation anxiety
response to reunion
what is operationalisation of factors?
process of strictly defining variables into measurable factors
defines abstract concepts - allows them to be measured empirically and quantitatively
how were the factors in the strange situation operationalised?
willingness to explore - moving away from mother, playing with toys in the room, looking at objects around the room
stranger anxiety - staying close to mother, moving away from stranger, being cautious of anything the stranger gives them
separation anxiety - seeking out mother, crying
response to reunion - seeking proximity to mother, reaching out for contact comfort
what were the three main types of attachment identified?
secure attachment (type B)
insecure-resistant attachment (type C)
insecure-avoidant attachment (type A)
what was secure attachment (type B)?
66% of infants
willingness to explore - high
stranger anxiety - moderate, interested in stranger but stays close to caregiver
separation anxiety - moderate
response to reunion - enthusiastic
what was insecure-resistant attachment (type C)?
12% of infants
willingness to explore - low
stranger anxiety - high, avoids stranger and clings to mother
separation anxiety - high, distressed
response to reunion - seeks and rejects
what was insecure-avoidant attachment (type A)?
22% of infants
willingness to explore - high
stranger anxiety - low
separation anxiety - low, indifferent
response to reunion - avoids contact
what is the evaluation for the strange situation?
fourth type of attachment - main and solomon (1986), proposed insecure-disorganised attachment (type D), infants who lack a coherent strategy for dealing with the stress of separation
high reliability - inter-rater reliability was 94%
real-world application - cooper el al (2005), circle of security project, decreased disorganised caregivers (60%-15%), increased securely attached infants (32%-40%)
validity - main and weston (1981), relationship is being measured not attachment type, monotropy says attachment is largely related to one primary caregiver
maternal reflexive functioning - ainsworth suggested a link between attachment and maternal sensitivity, raval et al (2001) found low correlations, slade et al (2005) maternal reflexive thinking is more important
what is a cultural variation?
the differences in norms and values that exist between people in different groups
what is an ‘etic’?
a worldview which is normally culturally specific
what is an ‘imposed etic’?
when researchers make the assumption that findings can be generalised to all people
what is an individualist culture?
people value the rights and interests of the individual
tend to live in small families
concern for independence and self-assertiveness
typical of many western cultures
what is a collectivist culture?
people value the needs of the group
tend to live in big families or communities where everyone works together for the good of the group
concern for interdependence
e.g. china, india, israel
what did van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg (1988) do?
looked at proportions of different attachments between and within countries
looked at 32 strange situation studies from 8 countries
data was combined, weighted for sample size and meta analysed
what did van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg (1988) find?
secure attachment was most common
insecure-resistant attachment was least common
variation within the same county was 150% greater than between countries
what were the findings in individual countries?
japan - 27% insecure-resistant
israel - 27% insecure-resistant
germany - 35% insecure-avoidant
what is the evaluation of cultural variations?
imposed etic - issues of validity as the strange situation is based on western ideals and uses an imposed etic
meta analysis - high population validity due to large sample size, results are generalisable, ethically sound due to use of secondary data
secondary data - cannot control variables, have to trust original researcher’s methodology, not truly representative due to an differing amounts of studies between countries
countries not cultures - increased variation within countries could be due to sub-cultures
indigenous theories - explanations of attachment rooted in individual cultures, posada and jacobs (2001), evidence supports that attachment is universal
similarities may not be innately determined - bowlby suggested attachment is universal as it is innate, cultural similarities may be explained by mass media
what is maternal deprivation?
theory by john bowlby
the emotional and intellectual consequences of separation between a child and their mother or mother substitute
continuous care from a mother is essential for normal psychological development - prolonged separation causes serious damage to intellectual and emotional development
what is the difference between separation and deprivation?
separation is when the child is not in the presence of their primary caregiver figure
deprivation is when the child loses the element of their mother’s care
what is the critical period in the theory of maternal deprivation?
first 30 months
if a child is separated from their mother in the critical period, psychological damage is inevitable
what are the effects of maternal deprivation on intellectual development?
if a child is deprived of maternal care during the critical period they can suffer delayed intellectual development - characterised by abnormally low IQ
adoption study - goldfarb (1947)
what did goldfarb (1947) find?
followed 30 orphans to the age of 12 - half were fostered or adopted and half remained in the orphanage
at age 12, their IQ was tested with a stanford-binet test - the fostered group had an average IQ of 96, and the group that remained in the orphanage had an average IQ of 68
what are the effects of maternal deprivation on emotional development?
children who are deprived of maternal care during the critical period could become affectionless psychopaths
what is affectionless psychopathy?
describes individuals who cannot exhibit caring behaviors, concern, or affection for other people
they don’t have empathy for others
they show little remorse, guilt, shame or contrition
what did the 44 thieves study do?
used 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing
they were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy
their families were also interviewed to establish if the child had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers before the age of 2
control group - non-criminal but emotionally disturbed young people
what did the 44 thieves study find?
14 of the 44 thieves were affectionless psychopaths - 12 had prolonged separations from their mothers before the age of 2
only 5 of the remaining thieves had prolonged separations
control group - only 2 had prolonged separations, none were affectionless psychopaths
what is the evaluation for the theory of maternal deprivation?
deprivation vs privation - privation is when attachment is not formed in the first place, bowlby did not distinguish between the two
correlational methodology - 44 thieves study uses correlational methodology, cannot distinguish if deprivation causes affectionless psychopathy, adoption study uses a limited sample (WWII orphans, causes confounding variables)
self-report and retrospective data - lacks accuracy meaning validity is low, social desirability bias and researcher bias
sensitive vs critical period - koluchová (1976), twins from czechoslovakia recovered fully from deprivation, despite being out of the critical period
counterevidence - lewis (1954) repeated the 44 thieves study with 500 participants, found no link between maternal deprivation and later development
what is institutionalisation?
term for the effects of living in an institutional setting
‘institution’ refers to a place where children live for long continuous periods of time - in these places there is often very little emotional care provided
what is an orphan study?
concern children placed in care because their parents cannot take care of them for any reason
what is the context of the romanian orphan studies?
in the 1990s the romanian president required women to have five children
many parents could not afford to keep their children - children ended up in huge orphanages in very poor conditions
some of these children were later adopted by british parents
what did rutter’s english and romanian adoptee (ERA) study do?
aimed to investigate the extent to which poor early experiences in institutions affect an individual’s long-term development and if good care can make up for it
followed a group of 165 romanian orphans adopted to britain
assessed physical, cognitive and emotional development at ages 4, 6, 11, and 15
a group of 52 british children adopted at around the same time served as a control group
what did rutter’s ERA study find?
when the children first arrived in the UK, half showed signs of delayed intellectual development, and most were severely malnourished
at age 11 the adopted children showed differing rates of recovery that were related to their age at adoption - those adopted before 6 months had a mean IQ of 102, those adopted between 6 months and 2 years had a mean IQ of 86, and those adopted after 2 years had a mean IQ of 77
beckett et al (2010) - these differences remained at age 16
those adopted after the age of 6 months showed signs of disinhibited attachment
what did rutter’s ERA study conclude?
poor early experiences in an institution do appear to have an effect on long-term development
if a child receives good care early on, by six months, then these effects can be limited or removed
what did rutter’s ERA study find about delayed intellectual development?
most children showed signs of delayed intellectual development when they arrived in britain
those adopted before 6 months caught up with the control group by age 4
damage to intellectual development as a result of institutionalisation can be recovered, provided adoption takes place before the age of 6 months - the age at which attachments form according to schaffer
what is disinhibited attachment?
typically an effect of spending time in an institution
individuals are equally friendly and affectionate towards people they know well and individuals they have just met
rutter explained it as an adaption to living with multiple caregivers during the sensitive period - this can prevent children from forming secure attachments
what did the bucharest early intervention study do?
zeanah et al (2005)
aimed to investigate the effects of institutional care on children’s attachment type
assessed attachment in 95 children aged 12-31 months who had spent most of their lives in an institution
they were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution
attachment type was assessed using the strange situation and caregivers were asked about unusual social behaviour
what did the bucharest early intervention study find?
control group - 74% were securely attached, less than 20% had disinhibited attachment
institutional group - 19% were securely attached, 65% had disorganised attachment, 44% had disinhibited attachment
what did the bucharest early intervention study conclude?
concluded that living in an institution increases a child’s likelihood of developing insecure-disorganised attachment type and also having disinhibited attachment type
what is the evaluation for institutionalisation?
longitudinal studies - show short-term and long-term effects of institutions on an individual's development
romanian orphanages lack generalisability - level of care was unusually poor, does not apply to other cases well
real life application - research has enabled changes to be made to support healthy development and attachment, e.g. key workers for each child
individual differences - some children recover better than others, may be due to differences in temperament
extraneous variables - romanian orphans lacked extraneous variables that were presented in other orphan studies, e.g. trauma and loss, improves overall validity
how does the internal working model affect later attachments?
the type of relationships a child has with their primary attachment figure will affect the nature of their future relationships
a child with a positive first attachment will seek out positive and functional relationships
a child with a negative first attachment may struggle to form attachments or behave inappropriately when they have them
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