Attachment Psychology (Unit 1)

?
what is an attachment?
a two way emotional tie to a specific person, you see the other person as essential for your emotional security
1 of 61
what is interactional synchrony?
when primary caregiver and infants reflect the actions and emotions of each other in a co-ordinated way
2 of 61
what is the supporting research for interactional synchrony? advs?
Meltzoff and Moore: infants aged 2/3 weeks tended to mimic adult's specific facial expressions and movements providing that interactional synchrony is an innate ability to aid the form of attachment. Advs: no dem. characteristics, high int. validity
3 of 61
what did the study of isabella investigate what were the results? disadvs?
Isabella: 30 mums and infants studied in their quality of attachment and degree of interactional synchrony, found higher synchrony = better attachment. disadvs: socially sensitive, mums stay at home
4 of 61
what is reciprocity?
a 2 way interaction as the infant and mum respond to each other's signals and elicit a response from them, which facilitates an attachment
5 of 61
what is the supporting evidence for reciprocity?
Feldman & Eidelman: 2/3 of mums pick up & respond to infant alertness, shows reciprocity. Also from 3 months old the interactions increase in freq. & both pay attention to verbal signals & expressions. adv: no dem. characteristics, high int. valid.
6 of 61
what did brazelton investigate and what were the results?
investigated reciprocity in mums and babies, found that both mum and child initiated reactions & took turns in doing so, "dance" as respond to each others moves
7 of 61
advs and disadvs of caregiver infant studies?
advs: no dem characteristics as uses babies, and high control as uses recordings and behaviour analyse in detail. disadvs:
8 of 61
what are the 3 types of attachment behaviours?
secure base behaviour, separation distress and proximity
9 of 61
who established stages of attachment?
Schaffer
10 of 61
what are the stages of attachment?
asocial stage, indiscriminate attachment, specific attachment, multiple attachment
11 of 61
what are the features of asocial stage?
recognises and begins to form attachment w/carers, but behaviour towards human & non human objects quite similar. baby shows preference for familiar adults and is happier in presence of others
12 of 61
what are the features of indiscriminate attachment?
2-7 months babies show observable social behaviour. Show preference for people than objects & recognise & prefer familiar adults but no stranger anxiety & accept comfort from anyone. behaviour is indiscriminate is not different to any one person
13 of 61
what are the features of specific attachment?
from 7 months, babies begin to show stranger and separation anxiety from the primary attachment figure (not person spend most time with but who offers most interaction and responds to baby's signals)
14 of 61
what are the features of multiple attachment?
shortly after specific attachment, babies will extend their attachment behaviour ti multiple attachments with adults they spend regular time with. these are called secondary attachments.
15 of 61
what is the supporting research for the stages of attachment?
Schaffer & Emerson: 60 babies working class, observations, interviews, test sep. anx. (alone) & stran. anx. (researcher approach). 25-32 wks 50% sep. anx. & attach to ppl interactive & sensitive to signals, 40 wks 80% specific 30% multiple
16 of 61
what does the study of Schaffer v Emerson suggest?
suggests theres a pattern of attachment common to all infants which is biologically controlled. also attachments more easily made to this who are more interactive & sensitive to baby's signals.
17 of 61
advs of Schaffer and Emerson?
1) no demand characteristics, 2) high ecological validity (carried out in infants home), 3) internal validity (longitudinal design - same children used so no pps variables)
18 of 61
disadvs of Schaffer v Emerson?
1) lacks validity (mums want social desirability so may not report negative experiences), 2) lack of generalisability (all same city and class)
19 of 61
what is the traditional role of the father? how has this changed?
traditionally father has minor role in parenting and main attachment is to Mother due to innate sensitive responses, but more women working now and have men bigger role in parenting
20 of 61
which research suggests that Fathers are more of a playmate? explain.
Grossman: long. study parent's behav & qual of children's attach up to teens. qual of father’s play related to qual of adolescent attach, suggests dad attach more to do w/play than nurture. Mum attach purely to do w/attach made as baby not play qual.
21 of 61
which research suggests that children commonly form a secondary attachment with their Father? explain.
Schaffer and Emerson: majority of babies who became attached to their Mother first (first 7 months) then formed secondary attachment with Father. By 18 months 75% had attachment w/Father as protested when walked away.
22 of 61
which research suggested responsiveness more important in attachment for Fathers than behaviour? explain.
Field: filmed 4 month old babies' face to face reaction w/ primary care-giver mums, secondary care giver dads & primary care giver dads. Found primary caregivers spent more time smiling imitating & holding babies which important to form attachment
23 of 61
what was the aims of lorenz's study?
investigate the mechanisms of imprinting where youngsters follow & form an attachment to 1st large moving object they meet
24 of 61
explain the process of Lorenz's study?
split geese eggs into 2 batches, 1 hatched naturally and other in incubator and first object they saw was Lorenz. Marked goslings & recorded behav. Placed under upturned box, removed & behav. recorded again.
25 of 61
what were the results of Lorenz's study?
incubator followed lorenz & natural followed mother after birth & same thing when released from box. Bonds irreversible. Found imprinting occur in first few hrs after birth (crit. period) if imprinting didnt occur in period then no attach to mum fig.
26 of 61
opposing research to Lorenz?
Guitan et al = chickens imprinted on yellow washing up glove & tried to mate with it as adults but when unsuccessful mated w/other chickens. Suggest imprinting impact on mating behaviour isn't permanent.
27 of 61
disadvs of Lorenz study?
lack generalisability and researcher bias
28 of 61
advs of Lorenz' study?
influenced other theories such as bowlby's theory of attachment - specific period in which attachments are formed
29 of 61
what was the aim of Harlow's study?
to test learning theory of attachment by comparing attachment behaviour in baby monkeys given a wire surrogate mother prodding milk compared to a soft towel surrogate mother producing no milk
30 of 61
procedure of harlows study?
4 cone: wire mum milk & towel mum no milk, wire mum no milk & towel mum milk, towel mum milk, wire mum milk. Measure time w/each mum and feeding time. Monkeys scared using loud noise to see preference of mum stress. Larger cage to test deg of explor.
31 of 61
results of Harlows study?
preferred towelling mum if choice even if no milk, when frightened chose towel for comfort. Thise w/just wire had diarrhoea (stress), towel monkeys explored more. Concluded monkeys have innate need for comfort, attach. based on emotion not food.
32 of 61
disadvs of Harlows study?
lack generalisability, unethical.
33 of 61
advs of harlows study?
real life application i.e care of captive monkeys and high in internal validity
34 of 61
Who introduced the learning theory of attachment? what was the basic principle of it?
Dollard and Miller - suggests all behaviours have been learned through experience, Dollard and Miller said that children learn to love whoever feeds them (cupboard love)
35 of 61
what are the two types of conditioning involved in learning theory of attachment?
classical and operant conditioning
36 of 61
what is operant conditioning? give an example of this in terms of dollard and millers theory.
learning to repeat an action depending on consequences. e.g baby cries & is fed (neg. reinforcement ) or mum feeds & this acts as a reward for them to stop crying (pos. reinforcement). As mum is source of reinforcement attachment formed.
37 of 61
what is classical conditioning? give an example in terms of Dollard and Miller.
learning to associate two stimuli, producing a conditioned response: before conditioning milk (UCS) produces pleasure (UCS) during conditioning the mum (NS) becomes associated with the milk, and after conditioning the mum alone produces pleasure (CR)
38 of 61
adv of learning theory?
although conditioning of food and carer seems unlikely, it is possible that association between caregiver and provision of comfort/social interaction may be a part of building attachment.
39 of 61
disadvs of learning theory?
1) opp. research (Schaffer & Emerson) 39% mums weren't the baby's main attachment = feeding not explanation 2) harlow - attached to soft surrogate not wire w/milk. 3) limited theory - ignore other factors such us reciprocity & int.synch.
40 of 61
What is bowlby's theory of attachment?
developed from Lorenz's and Harlow's studies and proposed an evolutionary explanation that attachment was an innate system that gives a survival advantage
41 of 61
How does Bowlby's theory explain imprinting?
suggests imprinting evolved because it ensures young animals stay close to their care givers and this protects them from hazards.
42 of 61
what is the internal working model that bowl by suggested?
bowlby suggested that children form a mental representation of their relationship with their primary caregiver and this serves as a model for what relationships are like. e.g loving care giver = loving future relationship
43 of 61
what is the theory of monotropy by bowlby?
children have one main attachment to a primary caregiver and this bond was more important than others. Bowlby believed that the more time spent with the primary caregiver the better
44 of 61
what are the two principles involved in monotropy? explain.
1) social releasers - innate 'cute' behaviours = adult attention & activate attachment system, as have innate predisposition to attach = bond made 2) sens. period- 2yr critical period as attachment system more active, but change to sensitive period
45 of 61
advs of bowlby's theory?
1) real life app. - hospital hours extended as suggested importance of attachment 2) Brazelton et al -when parents ignored babies' crying (social releasers) babies showed distress - shows interactional synchrony & shows social releasers importance
46 of 61
disadvs of bowlby's theory?
1) opposing research - Schaffer & Emerson prove monotropy wrong as they found children able to form multiple attachment 2) socially sensitive e.g pressures mums into working less
47 of 61
who was the strange situation established by?
Ainsworth
48 of 61
how was the strange situation set up?
controlled observation procedure in a highly controlled room with a 2 way mirror through which psychologists can assess infant's behaviour
49 of 61
what were the behaviours used to assess attachment?
proximity, secure base behaviour, separation anxiety, stranger anxiety and response to reunion
50 of 61
what are the types of attachment assessed in the strange situation?
secure attachment, insecure avoidant attachment and insecure resistance attachment
51 of 61
what is secure attachment? how common is it (percentage)?
most common (60-75%) explore happily, regularly return to caregiver, moderate separation and stranger anxiety, accept comfort from caregiver in reunion stage
52 of 61
what is insecure avoidant attachment? how common is it (percentage)?
20-25% - explore freely but don't return to care, show little reaction to caregiver leaving and no effort to make contact in reunion, don't require comfort at reunion stage, low stranger anxiety
53 of 61
what is insecure resistant attachment? how common is it (percentage)?
3% - seek greater proximity and explore less, huge separation and stranger anxiety but resist comfort when united
54 of 61
how long does the strange situation process last?
around 3 minutes
55 of 61
what are the stages of ** and what does each one test?
1) mum & baby (sbb & prox.) 2) stranger enters & approach (sa), 3) mum leaves stranger interacts (sep. & stranger anx), 4) mum return stranger leave (reunion, sbb, prox.), 5) mum leaves baby alone (sep.anx), 6) stranger enters (sa) 7) mum return (rr)
56 of 61
advs of strange situation?
high internal validity, high reliability as standardised procedure, high validity as proved to be strongly predictive of later development e.g those assessed secure usually go on to have better outcomes in school, romance and friendships
57 of 61
disadvs of strange situation?
unethical as distress, lacks eco. valid. as artificial setting & mums may respond differently, ethnocentric as not representative all cultures e.g in Taskashi found test doesn't work in Japan as mothers rarely separated from babies = high sep. anx.
58 of 61
which studies investigated cultural variations in attachment?
Van Ijendoorn and Kroonenberg, Jin et al, Simonella et al.
59 of 61
what was the study of Van Ijendoorn and Kroonenberg about?
investigated different attachment types in range of countries & looks at differences in same countries to get idea of variation in a culture, conducted 32 studies across 8 countries
60 of 61
what were the results of Van Ijendoorn and Kroonenberg?
secure attachment most common in all countries (but varied from 75% in UK to 30% in China), insecure resistant least common (ranged from 3% in Britain to 30% in Israel), Insecure avoidant least common in Japan and most in Germany
61 of 61

Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

what is interactional synchrony?

Back

when primary caregiver and infants reflect the actions and emotions of each other in a co-ordinated way

Card 3

Front

what is the supporting research for interactional synchrony? advs?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

what did the study of isabella investigate what were the results? disadvs?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

what is reciprocity?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
View more cards

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Psychology resources:

See all Psychology resources »See all Attachment resources »