Attachment Researchers

Evolutionary theory

Attachment behaviour evolved due to natural selection

Adaptive - Warmth, shelter and food from caregiver

Social releasers - Physical characteristics (cooing/crying) which provoke an innate tendency for CG to care for infants

Critical period - 0-2.5 years is when attachment must be formed for a healthy development 

Monotropic relationship - Emotional bond with one person

Internal working model - Mental schema, how a relationship should be, based on the monotropic relationship

Evolutionary theory/Institutionalisation

Aim: To investigate the critical period

Method: 165 orphaned Romanian children, 111 adopted by 2 yrs, 54 by 5 yrs, tested at regular intervals (4, 6, 11, 15) and compared to 52 British orphans adopted by 6 months

Findings: All lagged behind British counterparts both physically, socially and mentally, however most had caught up by 4 yrs though all struggled to form attachments

Conclusions: As no attachment was formed by 2.5 yrs, they were abnormally developed

Caregiver interactions - Interactional Synchrony

Aim: Investigate interactional synchrony

Method: Displayed 3 facial expressions and 1 hand gesture, they then recorded the interaction between the infant and CG

Findings: Infant copied CG's actions, similar findings also found in 3 day old infants

Conclusions: Imitating is intentional, behaviour is innate, suggests baby wants to communicate and interact

Caregiver interactions

Still face experiment

Method: I and CG interacted via a video monitor then mother held a 'still face'

Findings: Acute distress from the infant

Conclusions: Wanted a response from CG as they were interacting

Maternal deprivation

Monotropy - Special emotional bond with a particular caregiver

If bond is broken within CP and not replaced, it can cause emotional malajustment, mental health disorders or abnormal development

Irreversible and permanent

Maternal deprivation

44 theives study

Aim: To find long term effects of maternal deprivation

Method: 44 caught stealing, 44 control

Findings: 12/14 affectionless theives had suffered frequent separations from their mother compared to 5/30 of non-affectionless

Conclusions: MD can lead to emotional malajustment or a mental disorder also leading to it being harder to make attachments

Childhood attachments

Aim: To test Bowlby's internal working model by finding out past and present attachment types

Method: Natural experiment, IV - past attachment, DV - present attachment, 205 men, 415 women, 'Love quiz' which questioned attitudes towards love

Findings: Similar attachments to infancy - 56% secure, 25% avoidant, 19% resistant

Conclusion: Positive correlation between attachment type and love experience

Childhood attachments

Findings: Children with a secure relationship with their mother had healthy relationships in the future

Animal studies

Method: Two wire monkeys, each with a different head, one cloth, one plain, two groups A - fed by wire, B fed by cloth

Findings: Both groups spent more time on the cloth mother in both groups, however all developed abnormally, if they spent time with real mothers before 3 months, they recoveres - CRITICAL PERIOD 

Conclusions: Looked for contact comfort as well as food

Animal studies

Method: Study on geese, A - saw Lorenz first upon hatching, B - saw mother first

Findings: A began following him everywhere

Conclusions: They had imprinted on him, it was irreversible and long lasting

Stages of attachment

Method: 60 working class families from Glasgow, children between 5-23 weeks until 1 yr old, vistited every 4 weeks, mothers self reported the child's response to separation and intensity of protest

Findings: 4 stages of attachment

Indiscriminate attachment - (0-2 months) Similar response to all stimuli, prefer animate objects near the end

Beginnings of attachment - (4 months) Recognise familiar faces, prefer animate objects, comforted by all

Discriminate attachmnet - (7 months) Primary attachment figure, joy at reunion, start to display stranger anxiety

Multiple attachments - (1 year) Wider circle of multiple attachments

Cultural Variations

Aim: To investigate inter and intra cultural differences in attachment types

Method: Meta analysis of findings from 32 studies, 2000 strange situation classifications (8 countries)

Findings:

Secure attachment most common - highest in GB, lowest in China

Insecure avoidant - highest in W. Germany, lowest in Japan and Israel

Conclusions: Variation was 1.5x greater within than between cultures

Cultural Variations

Method: Studied African Tribe, the Efe, where babies were breastfed by many and slept with their mother at night

Findings: Babies still showed a preference to their primary attachment figure

Conclusions: Secure attachment types dominant across all cultures regardless of difference in upbringings

Strange Situation

Aim: To test and measure the nature of attachment

Method: 8 stages, each 3 mins long, behaviour was recorded every 15 seconds, testing for - Stranger anxiety, separation anxiety, reunion behaviour and willingness to explore

Findings:

66% secure

22% insecure avoidant

12% insecure resistant

Strange situation

Circle of security project

Aim: To teach caregivers to understand signals of distress and anxiety in infants

Consequences: Decrease in disordered caregivers and more secure infants

Strange situation

Method: Analysed over 200 tapes relating to the strange situation

Findings: Proposed a 4th attachment type, insecure disorganised

Learning theory

Operant conditioning

Findings:

Learn through consequences/drive

Negative/Positive reinforcement

Learning theory

Social learning theory

Findings: Learn behaviour through observing others and copying them