Attachment

New Specification for Psychology 2016

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What is attachment?
An emotional bond between two people
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What is a caregiver?
Any person who provides care for a child
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What is interactional synchrony?
When two people interact they tend to mirror what the other is doing in terms of facial and body movements
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What is reciprocity?
Responding to the action of another with a similar action
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What did Jaffe et al find out about reciprocity?
That infants coordinated their actions with caregivers in a sort of conversation
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What did Brazelton find out about reciprocity?
Suggested reciprocity was important for future communications and lays the foundations for furture attachments
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What did Meltzoff and Moore find out about interactional synchrony?
When infants where shown 3 actions there was an association between the infants and adults behaviour
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What did researchers suggest about the real or pseudo imitation?
That infants behaviour was done due to encouragement as when the caregiver smiles the infant will repeat this behaviour
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Why are there problems with testing infants behaviour? (AO3)
This is because their mouths are in fairly constant motion making it difficult to distinguish between general and imitation
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Why are they questions into whether the behaviour is intentional? (AO3)
When shown moving inaminitate objects the infants showed no response. This suggests they require social stimuli
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Why might there be individual differences? (AO3)
Synchronisation was better when the infants were more strongly attached to caregivers
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What study came up with the stages for the development of attachments?
Schaffer and Emerson
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What was the procedure and findings in the Schaffer and Emerson study?
60 infants from Glassgow, mother rated their separation anxiety on a scale and found 65% of infant were attached to their mother and 25% to their father suggesting it is quality over quantity
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What are the stages for the development of attachments?
Indiscriminate Attachments, Beginings of Attachments, Discriminate Attachments and Multiple Attachments
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What is the age for the indiscriminate stage of attachments stage?
0-2 months
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What happens in the indiscriminate stage of attachments stage?
Infant responds to animate and inamite object but prefers social stimuli. Reciprocity and Interactional synchrony play a part
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What is the age for the beginings of attachments stage?
2-4 months
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What happens in the beginings of attachments stage?
Infants can recognise familar and unfamilar faces and show general socialiblity
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What is the age for the discriminate attachments stage?
4-7 months
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What happens in the discriminate attachments stage?
Forms one attachment with the primary care giver and show separation and stranger anxiety
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What is the age for multiple attachments?
7 months +
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What happens in the multiple attachment stage?
The infant forms multiple attachments with people in consistent contact with them
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What is the role of the father?
Less likely to be primary care givers as they spend less time with the infant, are not psychologically equppied to deal with intense relationships or possible down to social factors
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What is the role of secondary attachments?
Found that fathers are more playful, physically active and provide challeging situation due to their lack of sensitivity which increase problem solving
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Why was the Schaffer and Emerson study bias? (AO3)
It was taken from a working class background in the 1960s suggesting that if results were taken today the findings would be different
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Why are there question into the equalness of secondary attachments? (AO3)
Primary attachments serve as one special bond but an infant need secondary attachments for other reason. This suggests the primary attachment plays a bigger role
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Why are the stages of development inflexible? (AO3)
It says primary attachment form first but in African tribes multiple attachments form first. This suggests that is becomes that standard families are judged against
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Define imprinting
An innate readiness to develop a stong bond with the mother which takes place during a specific time in development usually within the first few hours
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What are the two animal studies?
Harlow's Monkeys and Lorenzo
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What is the procedure in Lorenzo?
He spilt gosling eggs into two groups, one saw its mother, one saw Lorenzo and to test imprinting he placed both groups together
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What are the finding in Lorenzo?
The goslings divided themselves and followed either Lorenzo or their mother suggesting imprintin was similar to attachments that bind an infant to a caregiver
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What are the long-lasting effect of Lorenzo study?
He noted the imprinting was irreversible and long lasting and imprinting later had effects on mate preferences
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Why does research support the idea of imprinting? (AO3)
Chick exposed to yellow gloves imprinted on them. This suggests that imprinting takes place on anything that moves in the critical period
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Why is there dispute over the characteristics of imprinting? (AO3)
Because when chicken spent time with their species they engaged in normal sexual behaviour suggesting imprinting is reversible
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What was the procedure in Harlow's study?
Created wire mother one was wrapped in cloth and the other had food.
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What were the finding in Harlow?
All 8 monkeys spent most of the time on the cloth mother and clung or kept one foot on the mother when exploring. All 8 monkey only went to the wire mother to be feed
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What are the long lasting effects of Harlow study?
The monkey became socially abnormal, were sexually abnormal but monkey who spent time with other monkey before 3 months recovered
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How did the two wire mother differ? (AO3)
Both of the mothers heads were different suggesting they may have choosen the more attractive mother. This suggests the study lacks internal validity
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Why is it hard to generalise animal behaviour to humans? (AO3)
As humans are able to have conscience throughts suggesting they can be used as pointer but are not certain
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Why are there ethical problem with Harlow? (AO3)
The monkeys had later problems interacting with peers. This suggests the importance of monitoring studies and good science
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What is the learning theory?
An explanation of behaviour in terms of learning rather than having inborn tendencies
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What is classical conditioning?
Learning through association
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What is operant conditioning?
Learning through reinforcement
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What happens in classical conditioning?
Food produces and innate response, when being fed association occurs so the mother takes on the properties of the food and beomes the pleasure even without the food being present
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What happens in operant conditioning?
Based on the drive reduction theory so when an animal is uncomfortable this creates the drive to reduce the discomfort
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What happens in the social learning theory?
Proposes that children observe their parents affectionate behaviour and imitate this
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Why is the fact that the learning theory is based on animal studies a limitation? (AO3)
Non-behaviourist suggest innate predispositions and mental activity could not be explained by conditioning suggesting the learning theory is oversimplified
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Why is the fact it shows food too be the main reason for attachment make it a limitation? (AO3)
Harlow shows that contact and comfort was more important than food when forming attachments. This show a limitation
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Why does the learning theory not provide a complete explanation of attachment? (AO3)
Attention and responsiveness of the caregiver may be the importance of attachments. This suggests that the learning theory has some explanatory power
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What are the main points of Bowlby's theory of attachment?
Innate drive, monotrophy, critical period, social releasers, internal working model and the continuity hypothesis
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Why does Bowlby believe attachments form?
It has evolved as a important survival function to better protect infants
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What is the length of the critical period?
3-6 months
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How do attachments form?
Have an innate drive to form in the critical period, infants who don't attach have problem later in life
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What did Bowlby propose attachments are down to?
Down to the sensitivity, responsiveness, cooperation and accessibilty of the mothers
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What increases the chances of attachments?
Social releasers like have a baby face
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What did Bowlby believe the purpose of secondary attachments was?
For an emotional safety net
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What are the consequences of attachment?
One special bond forms a mental representation (internal working model) and is a template for all future relationships as it generates expectations
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What does the continuity hypothesis propose?
That individuals that are more attached are more socially and emotionally competent
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Who did the strange situation?
Ainsworth
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What are the 8 episodes?
Parent & infant plays, parent sits infant plays, stranger enter & talks to parent, parent leaves stranger offers comfort, parent returns offers comfort, parent leaves infact alone, stranger enter & offers comfort, parent returns and offers comfort
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What are the 4 behaviour categories measured?
Use of parent as a safe base, stranger anxiety, separation anxiety and reunion behaviour
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What were the findings for secure attachments?
66% were secure and had cooperative interactions with caregivers, show some distress when left with a stranger, if anxious seek bodily contact from caregiver and use the caregive as a safe base to be independant
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What were the findings for insecure avoidant attachments?
22% were avoidant so avoided social interactions and intimacy, show little response to separation or proximity on reunion and are happy to explore without their caregiver
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What were the findings for insecure resistants attachments?
12% were resistant so both seek and resist intimacy and social interactions, extreme distress for separation and strangers also have conflicting desire for and against contact
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What is the research for the fourth attachment type? (AO3)
Identified as insecure disorganised who lacked patterns of social behaviour. This suggests there could be other possible attachment types
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Why does the study have low internal validity? (AO3)
How does one measure the quality of a relationship as children behave differently with each parent. This suggest they are measuring the relationship rather than personal characteristics
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Why does Ainsworth's study have many real world applications? (AO3)
Intervention programs allow parents to better understand infant distress signals showing an increase in secure attachmenrs from 32% to 40% supporting the research
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What is the key study for cultural variations?
Van IJenzendoorn and Kroonenburg
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What was the procedure in Van IJenzendoorn and Kroonenburg?
Conducted a meta anaylsis from 32 strange situations
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What were the findings in Van IJenzendoorn and Kroonenburg
Secure attachment was the most common in every country supporting the idea it is best for healthy and emotional development, insecure avoidant was the second most common
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What were the cultural differences in German?
Infants were more insecurely attached as the culture involves personal distance so were less likely to show proximity seeking
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What were the cultural differences in Japan?
Found more insecurely attached as infants rarely experience separation from their mother so when left alone extreme distress
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What is the cultural similarities in African tribes?
Found infants still slept with their mother showing a primary attachment even though they were cared by other members of the tribe
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Why may attachment types not be down to universal similarities? (AO3)
Reseaqrchers suggest it may be down to the influence of the mass media spreading ideas about parenting. This suggests are global culture formed the similarities
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What is the limitation with only comparing countries not individual cultures? (AO3)
They found more variation within the cultures than between the cultures suggest caution should be taken when representing a particular culture
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What is the issue with the strange situation as a tool? (AO3)
It was developed in a Western Culture that assumed willingness to explore is a sign of secure attachments (imposed etic). This suggest the study lacks ecological validity
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What did Bowlby propose about maternal deprivation?
Prolonged emotional deprivation would have long term consequences for emotional development
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What is the value of maternal deprivation?
Originally assumed a good standard of food and physical care was important but Bowlby believed they needed to make sure the child has an imtimate and continuous relationship
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What did Bowlby propose about the critical period for maternal deprivation?
Believed a young child who has frequent and prolonged separation may become emotionally distrubed and potential heath problems can be avoided if an emotional substitue is provided
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What is the Key study for maternal deprivation?
44 Juvenille Thieves
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What is the procedure for the 44 juvenille thieves?
44 thieves, 44 control group, Bowlby suggested some were affectionaless thieves that lacked normal affection, shame or responsibility
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What are the findings for the 44 juvenille thieves?
Individuals who were affectionaless had early separation, 86% had frequent separation suggesting lack of continuous care cause emotional maladjustment or mental disorders
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Why might maternal deprivation be due to psychological separation as well as physical? (AO3)
Mother who were servely depressed found that 55% of children were insecurely attached. This shows psychological separation can also lead to deprivation
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Why does experiencing early maternal deprivation not always leads to negative outcomes? (AO3)
Researchers found it increases that 25% of women who had early separation from their mother later developed depression or an anxiety disorder suggestinng mental health problems were greater if they suffered separation before 6
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Why does Bowlby's theory have real world applications? (AO3)
Hospitals filmed an infant for 8 days showing she was frequently distressed and begged to go home. This led to a major change in care in hospitals
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What is the study into institutionalisation?
Rutter et al
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What is the procedure in Rutter?
165 Romanian Orphans, 111 were adopted before 2 and 54 before 4, compared against a control group in England
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What are the findings for Rutter?
Before adoption orphans lagged behind in physical, cognitive and social development, by the age of 4 the orphan had caught up, those adopted after 6 months showed disinhibited attachments
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What did Rutter suggest about his findings?
That long term consequences may be less serve than once thought if children have the opportunity to form an attachment
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What is the other study into institutionalisation?
Romanian orphans adopted to Canada
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What were the results into the orphans in Canada?
They were physically smaller than the control group at 4 1/2 but after 10 1/2 years they had caught up
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What are the effects of institutionalisation?
Physical underdevelopment, disinhibited attachments and poor parenting
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What is the study that supports poor parenting?
Quinton et al
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What happen in Quinton et al?
Studied 50 women who were in a institution and found that they experienced extreme parental difficulties and their children spent the most time in care
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Why migth individuals who don't form an attachment in the criticial period be able to recover? (AO3)
Some children may have received some form of attachment in a institution showing there are individual differences in the way children cope
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Why has research helped to improve lives? (AO3)
Children placed into adoption points out the importance of early adoption before the sensisitve period has past. Therefore mist babies are adopted within the first week of life so they can securely attached
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Why is there an importance on longitudinal studies? (AO3)
They can show major effects of institutionalisation and how thet can disappear over time. This shows that longitudinal studies provide vast amounts of information
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What is the key study into the influences of early attachments?
Hazen and Shaver
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What is an internal working model?
A template for future relationships
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What was the procedure in Hazen and Shaver?
Used a Love Quiz to ask about current attachment experiences and childhood attachment types by analysising 620 responses
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What were the findings in Hazen and Shaver?
56% were securely attached, 25% were insecure avoidant and 19% were resistant showing a positive correlation between attachment types and love experiences
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How are childhood relationships influenced by the internal working model?
Securely attached individuals had a higher social competence due to them having higher expectations that others are friendly and trusting
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How is poor parenting influenced by the internal working model?
The lack of internal working model means they lack a reference point to subsequently form relationships with their own children
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How are romantic relationships influenced by the internal working model?
Individuals more securely attached had longer relationships
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How is mental health influenced by the internal working model?
Lack of attachment would result in a lack of an internal working model
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What is the problem with linking together the internal working model and later relationships? (AO3)
We cannot claim there is a cause and effect between attachment types and love styles. This suggests that early attachment types cannot always influence later love styles
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What is the problem with using retroactive classification? (AO3)
Recall of memories in the past are most likely to be flawed.This supports the view that attachment types cannot predict later relationships
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Why do researchers suggest that very early experiences have effect on later life? (AO3)
Researchers found that happy adult relationships despite infants not having been securely attached. This suggests it doesn't determine the future of their relationships
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Card 2

Front

What is a caregiver?

Back

Any person who provides care for a child

Card 3

Front

What is interactional synchrony?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What is reciprocity?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What did Jaffe et al find out about reciprocity?

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Preview of the front of card 5
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