Studies of Attachment

Aim: to investigate the age of attachment formation and who attachments are formed with.                                           Method: Naturalistic observations with a survey. Mothers of 60 Glasgow babies reported monthly in their homes on separation anxiety. (largely working-class). Until they reached 1 year and then again at 18 months.                              Findings: Most babies showed attachment to a primary caregiver by 32 weeks and developed multiple attachments soon after this. They maintained one primary object of attachment (often mothers but frequently fathers). Main attachment figure not always the one who fed or bathed infant; infants closely bonded to caregivers who responded quickly and offered most interaction.

Evaluation: Good external validity as in ppt natural environment, longitudindal design means same ppt observed at each age so eliminates individual differences as a confound but also risk of high drop out rate, limited sample characteristics as all families from same area and over 50 years ago so may lack generalisability.

Stages:                                                                                                                                                                                  Asocial stage - little observable social behaviour (0-6 weeks). Social behaviour hard to observe at this stage but doesn't mean that the baby is 'asocial'                                                                                                                                  Indiscriminate attachment - more observable attachment behaviour, accept cuddles from any adult (6 weeks - 6 months).  Specific attachments - stranger anxiety and separation anxiety in regard to one particular adult (7-12 months).              Multiple attachments - attachment behaviour directed towards more than one adult (secondary attachments) (1 year+).

Evaluation:                                                                                                                                                                       Conflicting evidence - van IJzendoorn et al research in different contexts have found multiple attachments may appear first Measuring multiple attachments - just because a child protests when an adult leaves, doesn't necessarily mean attachment Schaffer and Emerson used limited measures of attachment.

Adaptive - carers needed to keep babies safe so innate attachment is adaptive

Social releasers - innate behaviours called social releasers make people want to care for them e.g crying gives adult innate drive to respond

Critical period - for attachment first 2 years of life. If doesn't then it may never and have serious long term effects (PIES damage)

Monotropy - one special attachment figure acting as a safe base

Internal working model - acts as model for all future relationships (template)

Evaluation:

Critical period supported by Lorenz study but extrapolation as geese have different DNA and critical period and Rutter suggests it's a sensitive period and they always have the ability to attach. Internal working model supported by Harlow study and Sroufe but temperament hypothesis suggests attachment style due to personality as this remains consistent. Attachment is innate supported by its universal concept even though it differs across cultures (Ainsworth strange situation). Monotropy attachment hieracrhy supported by overall research and role of the father Grossman and Grossman

Caregiver-infant interaction is interactional synchrony as infant and mother respond to each other's signals and each elicits a response from the other. From birth, the caregiver-infant relationship tends to be both intense and mutually pleasurable. Babies indicate that they are ready for interaction and signal this as alert phases. Feldman and Eidelman (2007) found mothers respond to these signals and respond to them around 2/3 of the time.

Feldman (2007) found the frequency of this interaction increases from around 3 months and is signalled by more verbal and facial signals. At this stage, there is a developing interactional synchrony of actions coming when the infant and caregiver respond to one another.

Interactional synchrony challenges the traditional role of infants as passive recipients of care. Brazelton et al (1975) characterises this as a dance where the infant and caregiver respond to each other's behaviours.

Classical conditioning : caregiver (neutral stimulus) with food (unconditioned stimulus) = unconditioned response, then the caregiver becomes the conditioned stimulus to give a condtioned response as the baby associates the food with the caregiver.

Operant conditioning: crying bethaviour reinforced positively for infant as they become a source of reward (security, food) and negatively for caregiver. Attachment as a secondary drive through association with hunger or staying warm.

Social learning theory: infants will imitate behaviour of primary caregiver such as affection

Evaluation:

Lorenz and Harlow (animal studies) showed that feeding is not the key to attachment

Schaffer and Emerson (glasgow babies): most primary attachment figures were the mother even when others did most feeding

Ignores other factors (genetics or evolution) and cannot account for the importance of sensitivity and interactional synchrony and reductionist reducing the complex nature of attachment down to food

Cupboard love theory suggests we live to eat but we eat to live? Also suggests we have no free will 

Aim: to discover whether rhesus monkeys attach for food or comfort

Procedure: 16 rhesus monkeys separated from mother at birth and given cloth or wire 'mother' with feeding bottle attached.

Findings: monkeys clung to cloth surrogate rather than wire one (attachment level measured by amount of contact time), regardless of which dispensed milk. Maternally deprived monkeys grew up socially dysfunctional having a permanent effect. Unskilled at mating and when became mothers they neglected young and sometimes attacked/killed them. The critical period was 90 days and after this time an attachment would be impossible to form.

Evaluation: theoretical value (demonstrated that attachment depends more on contact comfort than feeding), practical value (Howe: informs understanding of risk factors for child abuse), ethical issues (suffering of monkeys and neglecting or killing their young in future), extrapolation (can Harlow's findings be applied to humans?)

Aim: to use the 'Strange Situation' (a controlled observation) and to investigate individual differences in attachment style

Procedure: 7 stage controlled observation of child (12-18 months) for 20 minutes (each around 3 minutes); caregivers and strangers enter and leave room. Assessed proximity seeking, exploration and secure base, stranger and separation anxiety, and response to reunion.

1. parent and infant introduced 2. Parent and infant alone 3. stranger enters, parent leaves 4. first separation: stranger tries to comfort/distract 5. first reunion: parent enters to comfort, stranger leaves 6. second separation: parent leaves, infant alone 7. continuation: stranger enters 8. second reunion: parent enters, picks up infant, stranger leaves

Aim: (ethologists) to study the phenomenon of imprinting which was when an animal was seen to follow its parents

Procedure: Divided a clutch of goose eggs in two; half hatched in natural environment with mother goose and half saw Lorenz when they hatched in an incubator

Findings: Newly hatched chicks attached to the first moving object they saw (imprinting). Sexual imprinting meant adult birds tried to mate with whatever species or object they imprinted on. Lorenz identified there was a critical period in which imprinting could occur; varies between species and sometimes only a few hours.

Evaluation: Generalisability (birds and mammals have different attachment systems so Lorenz's results may not apply to humans), more research (led to Harlow's monkeys research and Bowlby's evolutionary theory), some observations questioned (Guiton et al - birds imprinting on rubber gloves did later prefer their own species), ethical issues (geese found it difficult to form relationships in their later life)

Aim: to investigate whether there was a link between infant attachment style and their future behaviour in romantic relationships

Procedure: 620 ppt completed love quiz which was printed in American local newspaper. 3 sections: 1. respondents current and most important relationship 2. repsondents experiences of love in general 3. attachment type assessed by questions about feelings

Findings: 56% ppt identified as securely attached, 25% insecure-avoidant, 19% insecure-resistant. Those with secure relationships more likely to experience better, long-lasting relationships. Patterns of attachment behaviour learnt in childhood transferred to adulthood (supports Internal Working Model)

Evaluation: lacks population valditiy as unrepresentative sampling method so isn't generalisable (more females so gender biased and in one newspaper in one area so only certain class and culture) , problems with questionnaires (rely too much on honest and accurate answers but people may lie and have bad memories)

Aim: to explore the link between juvenile delinquency and maternal deprivation (separation and disruption to attachment)

Procedure: 44 adolescents interviewed who had stolen, another 44 children selected as 'controls' (had emotional problems but had not yet committed any crimes). Interviewed parents from both groups to find if children had separation during the critical period and for how long. Looked for signs of affectionless psychopathy

Findings: More than 80% of juvenile thieves experienced early separation and in control group less than 20% had such a separation. Several of young thieves showed affectionless psychopathy and none in the control group. Reason for anti-social behaviour and emotional problems in first group due to maternal deprivation

Evaluation: Bias (Bowlby carried out assessments and interviews knowing what he hoped to find), Hilda Lewis 1954 (partially replicated study and found maternal deprivation didn't predict criminality suggesting other factors may effect outcome of early maternal deprivation)

Aim: to investigate the long term effects of institutional privation for children in an orphanage

165 Romanian orphans who experienced privation for different periods of time adopted in Britain. They were placed at the orphanage between 1-2 weeks old and conditions were poor.  3 research groups: 58 adopted before 6 months; 59 adopted 6-24 months; and 52 UK infants adopted around same time. At 6, many children had evidence of disinhibited attachment (attention seeking behaviour) and some of those adopted later show low IQ and disinhibited attachment (both of these persisted when followed up). Findings suggest disinhibited attachments are more likely in children who have experienced longer periods in institutions. Rutter explained this as an adaptive response to living in an environment with up to 50 caregivers in the critical period. 

Evaluation:

Supported by further research on orphans (Le Mare and Audet 2006, Zeanah et al 2005), real life application (key worker to allow normal attachments), fewer extraneous variables than other orphan studies so increased internal validity (previous studies children had suffered neglect/abuse/trauma)

Unusual situational variables mean studies may lack generalisability (conditions were so bad), ethical issues

Aim: to investigate cross-cultural variations in attachment

Meta analysis of 32 studies of attachment in 8 countries (individualistic and collectivist cultures).  Secure attachment found to be most common but cultural variations in parenting style affected attachment type. Found more variation within than between countries. US regular close contact encouraged but 'clingy' behaviour not, Germany indpendence valued but proximity seeking not, Israel communal care so babies used to different caregivers, Japan mother and child rarely separated so separation anxiety very high and 'avoidant' behaviour discouraged also appear to be insecurely attached when they are secure. 

Evaluation:

Large sample size increases internal validity as reduced impact of anomalous results

Over half the studies carried out in the US, only 5 collectivist cultures and doesn't take into account african cultures etc, samples unrepresentative of culture? (comparing countries not cultures), method of assesment biased to US and English theories (behaviour in another country may have a different criteria for the attachment styles - attachment within cultural context)

The formation of a strong, reciprocal emotional bond between an infant and a primary caregiver.

Behaviours that indicate attachment (Maccoby 1980): proximity seeking, separation distress and pleasure when reunited, general orientation towards specific individual and use them as a secure base. 

Caregiver and infant reflect (mirror) the actions and emotions and do this in a coordinated way; when two people carry out the same action simultaneously e.g. synchronised swimming. (Meltzoff and Moore 1977) behavioural reciprocity an innate association between infant behaviour and the adult model.  

Hypothesis:  too much time spent apart from the mother of mother substitute would have significant long-term effects. Bowlby distinguised between separation and deprivation; separations are relatively brief and don't have long-term development effects but if extended or increased in frequency, it could lead to deprivation. 

Impacts of deprivation most important during critical period (significant emotional deprivation in first 30 months, psychological effects inevitable). Maternal deprivation results in failure of intellectual development and emotional development which may result in lower IQ, affectionless psychopathy (therfore crimes), and failure to form normal relationships. 

Standardised procedure, repeated many times, support for validity predicts later social behaviour,  measurement of attachment based on more than one behaviour, early identification of attachment problems could mean earlier intervention and prevention of later problems,

Lacks validity because it is 'a strange situation' for child, cultural variations in child raising techniques and study originally based on American sample, ethical issues - distressing for the child and parent, Main and Soloman (1986) found attachment type d (insecure-disorganised), Kagan (1987) study is too parent centric and doesn't take into account temperament hypotheis suggesting innate differences in babies visible from birth (activity, emotionality, sociability) this is also supported by Fox (1991)

Secure (70%): enthusiastic greeting, generally content, uses mother as safe base (E), distressed when mother leaves (SEA), avoidant of stranger when alone but friendly with mother present (STA), positive and happy and easily comforted (R)

Avoidant(15%): avoids reunion, generally reduced responses, explore environment but not actively interact or engage in mother play and not use her as safe base (E), no signs of distress (SEA), okay with them and plays normally when present (STA), little interest in mother and if infant upset mother and stranger can comfort equally well (R)

Resistant(15%): resists reunion, generally more distressed, cries more and explores less than others (E), intense distress (SEA), avoids stranger and shows fear of them (STA), approaches mother but resists contact (R)

E = exploration

SEA = separation anxiety

STA = stranger anxiety

R = reunion behaviour

Bowlby's theory (internal working model) is vital for infants to know how to behave in future relationships. 

Infant attachment associated with peer relationships in later childhood: secure attachment form better quality friendships (Kerns); insecure resistant attachment more likely to be bullies (Myron-Smith); insecure-avoidant attachment more likely to be the victim of bullying (Myron-Smith). 

Quinton et al - institutionalised women had more difficulty as parents and had children more likely to have spent time in care. 

Continuity hypotheis: attachments will have an impact on subsequent relationships