Attachment

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  • Created on: 27-01-18 23:18

Caregiver infant interactions

Reciprocity - A description of how two people interact. Mother-infant interaction is reciprocal in that both infant and mother respond to each others signals and each elicits a response from the other. 

Babies have 'periodic alert phrases' and signals which the mother usually picks up on the majority of the time (Fieldman and Eidelman 2007).

Interactional synchrony - Mother and infant reflect both actions and emotions of the other and do this in a co-ordinated (synchronised) way.

Meltzoff and Moore (1977) observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in infants. An adult displayed of of three facial expressions or gestures. the childs response was filmed and identified by independant observers. An association was found between the expressio/gesture the adult had displayed and the actions of the infants.

Isabella et al (1989) observed 30 mothers and infants together and assessed the degree of synchrony. the researchers also assessed the quality of mother-infant attachment. They found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality of mother-infant attachment. 

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Attachment figures

Parent-infant attachment - Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found majority of babies became attached to their mother first (around 7 months) and secondary attachments were formed a few week later. in 75% of infants studied an attachment was formed with their father by 18 months (infants protested when their father walked away).

The role of the father - Grossman (2002) carried out a longitudial study looking at both parents' behaviour and their relationship to the quality of the childrens attachments into their teens. Fathers have a different role in attachment one that is more to do with play and stimulation rather than nurturing - this is supported as quality of infant attachment with mothers was related to childrens attachments in adolesence.

Fathers as a primary care giver - when fathers do become the main caregiver they adopt behaviours more typical of a mother. Tiffany Field (1978) filmed four month old babies in face-to-face interaction with primary caregiever mothers, secondary caregiver fathers and primary caregiver fathers. primary caregiver fathers spent more time smiling and holding infants  (behaviour appears to be important with building attachments with the infant). the key to the attachment relationship is the level of responsiveness not the gender of the parent.

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Schaffer's stages of attachment

Schaffer and Emerson (1964) aimed to investigate the formation of attachments and in particular the age at which they devloped, their emotional intensity and whom they were aimed at.

Method

60 babies - 31 male - 29 female - all from Glasgow - all from working class families. The babies and their mother were visited at home every month for the first year and then again at 18 months. Researchers asked mothers how their baby reacted to everyday separations, this was done to measure the infants attachments and to assess stranger anxiety.

Findings -

between 25 and 32 weeks of age around 50% of babies showed sepparation anxiety towards a particular adult (specific attachment). By the age of 40 weeks 80% of babies had specific attachment and almost 30% displayed multiple attachments.

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Stages of attachment

Stage 1: Asocial stage (first few weeks) - the baby is recognising and forming bonds with its carers. However, the babies behaviour is similar with objects and humans. Babies show preference to particular adults ( those individuals find it easier to calm them).

Stage 2: Indiscriminate attachment -  From 2 - 7 months babies display more observable social behaviour, showing a prefernce for humans, and recognising familiar adults. At this stage they do not usualyy experience stranger or separation anxiety. their attachment is not different to any one person so is said to be indiscriminate.

Stage 3:Specific attachments - From around 7 months the majority of babies start to show stranger  and sepparation anxiety. The baby is thought to have formed a specific attchment (their mother 65%) and is the primary attachment figure. this person is not often the person who spends more time with the child but offers the most interaction and responds with the most skill.

Stage 4: multiple attachments - Shortly after a specific attachment has been formed a secondary attachment is formed with other adults with who they spend time with. 29% of children had formed a secondary attachment within a month of forming a primary one. 

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Lorenz's research - Animal studies

Imprinting - Lorenz first observed imprinting when he was a child and he was given a newly hatched duckling which followed him around.

Procedure - Lorenz set up a classic experiment dividing a group of goose eggs. half hatched with the mother in their natural environment (Group 1) whereas the other half hatched in an incubator - first moving thing they saw were Lorenz (Group 2).

Findings - Group 2 followed Lorenz everywhere whereas the control group (Group 1) followed their mother, when the two groups were put together they still followed who they hatched with. This is called imprinting - where bird species attach to and follow the first moving thing they see. Lorenz from a 'critical period' in which imprinting needs to take place - depending on the species it could be as brief as a few hours after hatching or birth.

Sexual imprinting - Lorenz also investigated the relationship between imprrinting and adult mate preferences. He observed that birds that imprinted on a human would often show courtship behaviour towards humans - undergoing sexual impriting.

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Harlow's research - Animal studies

Harlow worked with rhesus monkeys which are more similar to humans than Lorenz's birds. Harlows observed that newborns kept alone in a bare cage usually died but usually survived if given something soft to cuddle.

procedure - Harlow (1958) tested the idea that a soft object serves some of the functions of a mother. he reared 16 baby monkeys with two wire model 'mothers'. from one condition milk was dispensed by a wire mother and a second condition where milk was dispensed from a clother mother.

Findings - baby monkeys preferred the soft one, and sought comfort from it when frightened showing that contact comfort is more important than food when it came to attachment behaviour.

Maternally deprived monkeys as adults - early maternal deprivation had a permanant affect with both not being able to develop normal social behaviour, being more aggressive and bred less often than typical monkeys. As mothers some neglected their young where others attcked their children even killing them in some cases.

The critical period for normal development - Like Lorenz, Harlow concluded that there was a critical period for this period - a mother figure had to me introduced within 90 days for an attachment to form.

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Harlow's research - Animal studies

Harlow worked with rhesus monkeys which are more similar to humans than Lorenz's birds. Harlows observed that newborns kept alone in a bare cage usually died but usually survived if given something soft to cuddle.

procedure - Harlow (1958) tested the idea that a soft object serves some of the functions of a mother. he reared 16 baby monkeys with two wire model 'mothers'. from one condition milk was dispensed by a wire mother and a second condition where milk was dispensed from a clother mother.

Findings - baby monkeys preferred the soft one, and sought comfort from it when frightened showing that contact comfort is more important than food when it came to attachment behaviour.

Maternally deprived monkeys as adults - early maternal deprivation had a permanant affect with both not being able to develop normal social behaviour, being more aggressive and bred less often than typical monkeys. As mothers some neglected their young where others attcked their children even killing them in some cases.

The critical period for normal development - Like Lorenz, Harlow concluded that there was a critical period for this period - a mother figure had to me introduced within 90 days for an attachment to form.

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Learning theory and attachment

Learning theorists John Dollard and Neal Miller (1950) proposed that caregiver-infant attachment can be explained by learning theory - proposing that children learn to love whoever feeds them.

Classical conditioning - Involves learning to associate two stimuli together so that we respond to one the same as we respond to another. food serves as an unconditioned stimulus in attachment -  pleasure - it is an unconditioned response. A caregiver starts as a neutral stimulus, when the same person provides food over time they are associated with food - so the baby expects food. The neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus so creates a conditioned response of pleasure 

Operant conditioning - Involves learning to repeat behaviour, or not, depending on the concequences. the behaviour has been reinforced if a behaviour produces a pleasant concequence and is repeated. Crying leads to a response from the caregiver - it is reinforced as long as the caregiver provides a pleasant response. The baby then directs crying for comfort towards the caregiver who responds with comfort. This is a two way process, mutual reinforcement strengthens attachment.

Attachment as a secondary drive - Sears et al (1967) suggested that, as caregivers provide food, the primary drive of hunger becomes generalised to them. Attachment is a secondary drive learned by an association between the caregiver and the satisfication of the primary drive.

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Bowlby's Monotropic Theory

Monotropy - Bowlby's theory (1958, 1969) is described as monotropic because he placed emphasisi on a childs attachment to a particular caregiver - different and more important to others. Bowlby called this person the mother but didnt have to be the biological mother. The law of continuinity stated that the more constant and predictable a child's care, the better quality of their attachment. The law of accumulated separation stated that the effects of every separation from the mother add up.

Social releasers and the critical period - Bowlby suggested that babies are born with 'social releasers' (smiling etc.) because their purpose is to activate the adult attachment system. The interplay betweeninfant and adult attachment systems gradually builds their relationship. Bowlby proposed that there is a critical period around 2 years when the infant attachment system is active - viewing it as more of a sensitive period. If an attachment is not formed in this time, a child will find it much harder to form one later.

Internal working model - 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. If a childs first experience is of a loving relationship they will tend to form an expectation that all relationships are as loving and they will bring these qualities to future relationships.

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Ainsworth's strange situation / key words.

Strange situation - A controlled observation designed to test 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.

Secure attachment - Generally the most desirable attachment type, associated with psychologically healthy outcomes. In the strange situation this is shown by moderate stranger and separation anxiety and ease of comfortat reunion.

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

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

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The strange situation

The strange situation was developed by Mary Ainsworth (1969), to observe key attachment behaviours as a means of assessing the quality of a childs attachment to a caregiver.

Procedure - It is a controlled observation designed to measure the security of attachment a child displays towards a caregiver. Takes place in a room with controlled conditions and a two way mirror.

behaviours used to judge -

- Proximity seeking , good attachment (child stays close to caregiver)

- Exploration and secure base behaviour, good attachment enables a child to feel confident to explore, using their caregiver as a secure base.

- Stranger anxiety, a sign of becoming closely attached .

- Separation anxiety, a sign of becoming closely attached is to protest a separation.

- Response to reunion

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Procedure episodes

The procedure has seven episodes, each of which last 3 minutes.

Beginning: child and caregiver enter an unfamiliar playroom.

1. The child is encouraged to explore. - Tests exploration and secure base.

2. A stranger comes in and tries to interact. - Tests stranger anxiety.

3. The caregiver leaves the child and stranger. -  Tests separation and stranger anxiety.

4. The caregiver returns and the stranger leaves. - Tests reunion behaviour and exploration/ secure base.

5. The caregiver leaves the child alone. - Tests separation anxiety.

6. The stranger returns. - Tests stranger anxiety.

7. The caregiver returns. - tests reunion behaviour.

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Ainsworth strange situation findings

Findings.

Ainsworth et al. (1978) found that there were distinct patterns in the way that infants behaved. she identified three main types of attachment.

  • Secure attachment - These children explored happily but regulary go back to the caregiver. show moderate separation and stranger anxiety. Accept comfort at the reunion stage. around 60% to 75% of british toddlers are classified as secure.
  • Insecure-avoidant attachment - These children explore but don't show secure base behaviour. they show little or no reaction when the caregiver leaves or when they return. around 20%-25% of toddlers are classified as insecure-avoidant.
  • Insecure-resistant attachment - These children seek greater proximity, showing huge stranger and separation anxiety but resist comfort when reunited with caregiver. Around 3% of British toddlers are clasified as insecure-resistant.
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Studies of Cultural variations

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