Attachment key studies

They studied interactional synchrony and found that infants as young as two to three weeks old imitated specific facial and hand gestures. They used an adult model who displayed one of three facial expressions or hand movements and the child's expressions were filmed. Independent observers, who had no knowledge of what the infant had just seen, watched the videos and noted instances of infant behaviour using behavioural categories. Meltzoff and Morre found an association between the infant behaviour and the adult model's behaviour.

In a later study, Meltzoff and Moore demonstrated this synchrony with infants only three days old. This rules out the possibility that this imitation is learned so this must be innate.

Procedure

They studied 60 infants from mainly working-class Glasweigan homes from their early weeks to the age of one. They interviewed the infants' mothers about their child's response to separation in seven everyday situations and about the intensity of any protest. They assessed stranger anxiety through the infant's response to the interviewer. 

Procedure

They divided a clutch of gosling eggs into two groups: one group were left with their mother and the other group were placed in an incubator. When the incubator eggs hatched, the first moving thing they saw was Lorenz and they followed him around. To test imprinting, Lorenz marked the two groups and put them together with their natural mother and Lorenz present. 

Findings

The goslings divided themselves up, following either their mother or Lorenz and Lorenz’s goslings showed no recognition of their mother. Lorenz claimed that imprinting is restricted to a definite period of time in a young animal’s life (the critical period).

Long-lasting effects: imprinting is irreversible and long-lasting. Early imprinting affected later mate preferences. 

Procedure

8 infant rhesus monkeys were studied. Two wire mothers were created with two different ‘heads’ (one was covered in soft cloth). For four of the monkeys, the milk bottle was on the cloth-covered mother and for the other four, it was on the plain wire mother. The monkeys were observed with the mothers and Harlow measure the time spent with the mothers and their response when frightened.

Findings

All 8 monkeys spent most of their time with the cloth-covered mother even if that mother didn’t have the feeding bottle. When frightened, all clung to the cloth-covered mother. Infants do not develop attachment with the person who feeds them but to the person who offers contact comfort. 

Long-lasting effects: they experienced abnormal development. They were socially abnormal and were sexually abnormal. They did not recover from their damaged babyhood. 

Before conditioning, food (UCS) produces the innate unconditioned response of pleasure (UCR). The mother (NS) triggers no response. 

In an infant’s early life things become associated with food because they are present when the infant is being fed e.g. the mother. So, the mother (NS) is regularly and consistently paired with food (UCS).  

The infant learns an association between their mother (NS) and pleasure (UCR) so now their mother is the conditioned stimulus and pleasure becomes the conditioned response. 

A hungry infant has a drive to reduce their discomfort so when the infant is fed, this drive is reduced and this produces a feeling of pleasure.  

This is primary reinforcement as the behaviour that led to being fed is more likely to be repeated in the future because it was rewarding. Food becomes the primary reinforcer as it reinforces the behaviour that avoided discomfort. 

Through classical conditioning the person who supplies the food is associated with avoiding discomfort and becomes a second reinforcer. 

Attachment occurs because the child seeks the person who can supply the reward.

Children observe their parents’ affectionate behaviour and imitate this. Parents also reward appropriate attachment behaviours e.g. giving kisses, hugs.

Why attachment forms

It is an important survival function as an infant who is not attached is less well protected.  

Attachments need to form in two directions – parents must be attached to their children to ensure that they are cared for and survive; parents who look after their children are more likely to produce generations.  

How attachment forms

Critical period – babies have an innate drive to become attached. This is from 3 to 6 months. Infants who can’t attach during this time have difficulty forming attachments later. 

Sensitivity determines who an infant attach to. Bowlby’s ideas were influenced by Ainsworth who suggested that most strongly attached infants were the ones with mothers who were more responsive, cooperative and accessible.  

Social releasers – social behaviours or features, e.g. smiling or having a baby face, which elicit caregiving and leads to attachment. Important in the critical period in ensuring that attachments develop from parent to infant.  

Monotropy – one special emotional bond (primary attachment relationship). Infants also form secondary attachments that provide a ‘safety net’ and are important in healthy psychological and social development.

The consequences of attachment

Monotropy is important because this one special relationship causes a person to form a mental representation of this relationship called an internal working model.  

In the long-term, this model acts as a template for all future relationships and gives a person expectations about what loving relationships are like. 

The continuity hypothesis proposes that strongly attached individuals continue to be socially and emotionally competent whereas infants who are not strongly attached have more social and emotional difficulties in childhood and adulthood. 

Procedure

Consists of 8 episodes which enable researchers to observe the infant’s response to: separation from their caregiver; reunion with their caregiver; response to a stranger; the novel environment which encourages exploration and tests the secure base concept. Data was typically collected by a group of observers using a video recorder and behavioural categories.

Findings

Ainsworth et al combined the data from several studies to make a total of 106 middle-class infants observed in the Strange Situation. They noted similarities and differences in the ways the infants behaved. In terms of differences, Ainsworth et al found three main patterns of behaviour in the infants observed which added up to three different attachment types: secure attachment (66%); insecure-avoidant (22%); insecure-resistant (12%).

Procedure

Conducted a meta-analysis of 32 studies of attachment behaviour which used the Strange Situation – overall examined 2000 Strange Situations in eight countries. They were interested to see whether there were inter-cultural differences and intra-cultural differences (differences within a culture).

Findings

Variation between cultures was small – secure attachment was the most common in each country and insecure-avoidant was the second most common except Israel and Japan (collectivist cultures). Variance within culture was 1.5 greater than variance between cultures. Shows that the global pattern for attachment is similar to that of the US and supports the idea that secure attachment is the best for healthy social/emotional development and that attachment is innate. 

The value of maternal care

Before, it was assumed that a good standard of food and physical care was the most important in caring for children.  

Instead, Bowlby believed that it wasn’t enough to make sure a child was well-fed and kept warm – they needed a ‘warm, intimate and continuous relationship’ with their mother or mother-substitute to ensure continuing mental health.

Critical period

Bowlby believed that if a child was denied such maternal care because of separations may become emotionally disturbed.  

But, there are several ‘ifs’: separation would only have this effect if this happens in the critical period in development, before two and a half years old and if there is no substitute mother.  

This damage can be avoided if suitable substitute care is provided by a mother-substitute. 

Long-term consequences – Emotional maladjustment or even mental health problems, like depression. 

Procedure

Bowlby analysed the case histories of 88 of his patients who were considered emotionally maladjusted – half had been caught stealing (the 44 thieves) and the other half were a control group. Bowlby suggested that some of the thieves were affectionless psychopaths because they lacked affection and a sense of responsibility so they could be thieves as stealing from others wasn’t a problem for them. 

Findings

86% of the affectionless thieves had experienced frequent early separations from their mothers compared with 17% of the other thieves. 39% of all the thieves had experienced frequent separations but none of the control participants had. This shows that early separations are linked to affectionless psychopathy – lack of continuous care may cause emotional maladjustment.  

Procedure

Involved 165 Romanian children who spent their early lives in Romanian orphanages; from this group, 111 were adopted before the age of two and 54 by the age of four. They were assessed at regular intervals to test their physical, cognitive and social development. Their progress was compared to a control group of 52 British children who were adopted before the age of six months. 

Findings

At the time of adoption: Romanian orphans had lower levels of physical, cognitive and social development than British orphans. Were smaller, weighed less and classified as mentally retarded. Age of four: some children (almost all Romanian children adopted before six months) had caught up. A substantial minority who were in an institution beyond six months have significant deficits – they showed disinhibited attachments and had problems with peer relationships.If children have the opportunity to form attachments, the long-term consequences can be less severe. If children do not form attachments, the consequences can be severe. 

• Physical underdevelopment – institutionalised children are usually physically smaller. 
• Intellectual underfunctioning - cognitive development is also affected.
• Disinhibited attachment – a form of insecure attachment in which children do not discriminate between people they choose as attachment figures so they can be overfamiliar with strangers. 
• Poor parenting 

Procedure

Placed a ‘Love Quiz’ in the Rocky Mountain News which asked questions about current attachment experiences; attachment history and attitudes towards love (an assessment of the internal working model). They analysed people’s responses.

Findings

They found that the prevalence of attachment styles was similar to that found in infancy: 56% were securely attached, 25% were insecure-avoidant and 19% were insecure-resistant. They found a positive correlation between attachment type and love experiences e.g. securely attached adults described their love experiences as happy, friendly and trusting and their relationships were more enduring than those of avoidant and resistant adults. They found a relationship between the internal working model and attachment type - securely attached individuals tended to have a positive internal working model.

• Childhood friendships - Individuals classed as securely attached in infancy were highest rated for social competence later in childhood, were less isolated and more popular. The internal working model explains this as securely attached infants have higher expectations that others are friendly and trusting.

• Poor parenting - the lack of an internal working model means that people don’t have a reference point to form relationships with their own children.

• Romantic relationships

• Mental health - When infants don’t form attachments, they lack an internal working model which may result in an attachment disorder.