Attachment

What is an attachment?

A close emotion bond between two individuals in which they both see each other for their own emotion security

1 of 96

What is reciprocity?

When a signal elicits a response from another person. Recipricated

2 of 96

This interaction has been described as.........

A dance. Each partner responds to each others moves, Brazleton et al (1975)

3 of 96

Why is it hard to observe infants?

Changes in expression or hand movements could be random. Cannot say for sure if their is special interaction between mother and child

4 of 96

Why do these observations have good validity?

Babies dont care/know they are being observed. No change of behavior in result

5 of 96

Define international synchrony

'the temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behavior'

6 of 96

Meltzoff and Moore (1977) observed IS from 2 weeks old, what were the findings?

There was a link between the facial expression and gesture given by mum and action of baby

7 of 96

Isabella et al observed 30 mothers, assessed degree of synchrony, what did they find

High level of synchrony is associated with better quality of attachment

8 of 96

Weakness of both R and IS?

Observations don't tell us the purpose. Is evidence of it being helpful in attachment, language and moral development

9 of 96

What secondary attachments form most commonly Shaffer and Emerson (1964)

75% of infants form a secondary attachment with the father at 18 months

10 of 96

Grossman's (2002) longitudinal study on role of the father into teen attachement

Mothers: infant attachment related to teen attachment. Fathers: quality of play as infant related to teen attachment

11 of 96

whats concluded

Fathers have a different role in attachment, play and stimulation

12 of 96

Evidence of fathers as primary caregiver

Tiffany field filmed Primary and secondary caregiver fathers. PCF spend more time smiling imitating and holding infants. Key is responsivness not gender.

13 of 96

Why are there inconsistent finding on the role of the father?

Some psychologists are concerned about SCF but some are interested in PCF. Researchers cannot answer simple question

14 of 96

Why may the secondary attachment figure may not be important?

MacCallum and Golombok (2004) found that children growing in same sex families do not have abnormal development. Suggests secondary attachment inst that important.

15 of 96

Why dont fathers become primary attachment figures?

On theory is gender roles, mother should be more nurturing. It could be that females produce more oestrogen which create higher levels of nurturing

16 of 96

Shaffer and Emerson study of attachment aim?

To investigate the formation of early attachments, in particular what age they developed an intensity

17 of 96

Participants

31 male and 29 female babies from glasgow all from working class backgrounds

18 of 96

method

Babies and mothers visited every month for a year and again at 18 months. Asked about separation and stranger anxiety

19 of 96

What percentage of babies shown specific attachment?

between 25 an 32 weeks 50% of babies shown separation anxiety towards a particular adult (specific attachment)

20 of 96

Specific and multiple attachment %

80%specific 30% multiple

21 of 96

Why is there good external validity?

carried out in own homes, natural behavior

22 of 96

Strength?

Same participants all the time. Reduces confounding variables

23 of 96

Weakness?

only carried out in Glasgow over 50 years ago, may lack generalisability

24 of 96

What are the 4 stages of attachment

Asocial, indiscriminate, specific and multiple attachment.

25 of 96

What is the time period of indiscriminate attachment?

2-7 months

26 of 96

When is the specific attachment formed?

around 7 months

27 of 96

After 7 months babies form.......

multiple/secondary attachments

28 of 96

Which stage is hard to study?

Asocial stage. Babies have poor co-ordination and are immobile. No observable behaviour

29 of 96

What is the conflicting evidence on multiple attachments?

Researchers do not agree on when a baby can form multiple attachments

30 of 96

What was the problem with measuring multiple attachments?

Separation distress does not mean attachment figure, can also mean playmate. Cannot distinguish between playmate and secondary attachment

31 of 96

What was the procedure of Lorenz's study of Imprinting?

Hatch a dozen goose eggs. Half with Lorenz, half with goose

32 of 96

what did he find?

geese attached to first moving object

33 of 96

What is sexual imprinting?

Adult animals try to mate with the species they imprint on

34 of 96

Why does Lorenz's study lack generisability?

Birds and mammals attach differently, cannot apply to humans

35 of 96

Some observation were questioned, why?

Guiton et al. Birds imprinted on rubber gloves later prefered their own species

36 of 96

What was the procedure for Harlows animal study?

16 baby monkeys given a cloth or wire mother with a feeding bottle attached

37 of 96

what did he find?

the monkeys clung to the cloth surrogate mother most of the time regardless of which one had the feeding bottle

38 of 96

What were the consequenses for the monkeys?

Only the wire surrogate reared monkeys were dysfunctional

39 of 96

what did harlow conclude?

there was a critical period of 90 days, beyond this the effects of maternal deprivation are irreversible

40 of 96

What is an ethical issue of the study?

The suffering of the monkeys would be human like

41 of 96

What is the practical value of the research?

Helped social working with preventing and understanding the risks in child abuse

42 of 96

What is classical conditioning in the learning theory?

The caregiver (uncondition stimulus) is associated with food (neutral stimulus). Caregiver becomes condition stimulus.

43 of 96

What is operant conditioning?

Crying behaviour positive reinforcement for baby, negetive reinforcement for caregiver

44 of 96

What does it mean by attachment is a secondary drive?

Hunger is prioritised,inate biological response, primary drive, attachment pushed to the back.

45 of 96

Which two animal study's contradict this theory?

Lorenz's geese and Harlows monkeys

46 of 96

Which human study contradicts this theory?

Shaffer and Emerson's, they found reciprocity and interaction is key to attachment

47 of 96

Learning theory ignores other factors associated with forming attachments

If attchment was developed for purely feeding there would be no need for all these complex interactions

48 of 96

What is bowlby's theory of monotropy?

The attachment between the primary caregiver and the child is more important than any other attachment

49 of 96

What are social releasers?

innate cute behaviours which attracts the attention of adults,trigger response in caregivers

50 of 96

Describe the Internal Working Model

First relationship with primary caregiver , mental representation formed. Acts as template for future relationships

51 of 96

Why is there mixed evidence for monotropy?

Some babies can form multiple attachments without a primary attachment. Primary attachments may not be more special than other types

52 of 96

Support for social releasers?

Brazleton et al found that when social releasers where ignored by carers they became distressed

53 of 96

What was the maximum critical/sensetive period?

2 years

54 of 96

Support for internal working model?

Bailey et al found that quality of attachment is passed down through generations in family most commonly

55 of 96

Why may the theory be socialy sensetive?

It may put pressure on mothers to lead a certain lifestyle and to act a certain way

56 of 96

What other than attachment may impact development?

Temperment, genetically influenct personality

57 of 96

What is the strange situation?

a 7 stage controlled observation to asses attachment type. Proximity seeking, exploration and secure base, stranger and separtion anxiety,response to reunion

58 of 96

Findings of the strage situation?

infants showed consistent patterns of attachment behaviour. Secure (B), insecure avoident(A) and insecure resistent(C)

59 of 96

Support for validity?

Attachment type can predict later social behaviour e.g. bullying or succesfulness

60 of 96

Why does it have good reliability?

different observers agree more than 90% of the time on child attachment types

61 of 96

Why is it culture bound?

Children and Carers may respond differently to the strange situation. e.g. japanses mothers scooping up children, hard to observe

62 of 96

What is the aim of Van Ijzendoorn's study?

To look at the proportions of secure, insecure avoident and insecure resistant people across different countries

63 of 96

What was the procedure?

Located 32 studies of attachment using strange situation across 8 countries, for 1,990 children. results meta analysed

64 of 96

What were his findings?

In all countries secure was most common. Insecure resistant was least common. Insecure avoident most common in germany least in japan. Although great variation inside US

65 of 96

What did simonella et al do?

Italian study to see if propoortions are same from different studies. assesing 76 1 year olds. 50% secure 36% insecure avoident, which is lower. Cultural differences have large change, mothers working longer hours

66 of 96

What did jin et al do?

Compare proportions of korea to rest of world using strange situation on 87 children. Similar to most countries although one child being avoident. Similar to japan, similar child rearing styles.

67 of 96

What can we conclude about all studies?

Secure is the most common attatchment type but can be influenced by cultural variations

68 of 96

Why is having a large sample a strength?

It increases internal validity by reducing the impact of anomalous results

69 of 96

Samples tend to be ----------------- of culture, why?

The studies looked at countries. Each country may contain different cultures so comparisons have little meaning, different caregivving styles need to be specified

70 of 96

Why is the strange situation bias?

It was created by an american (ainsworth) based on a british theory therefore may not be applied to other cultures. e.g. lack of separtion anxiety/independence rather than avoidence (imposed etic)

71 of 96

Why may the strange situation lack validity?

Its suggested that attachtment type is more related to temperament than relationship with primary caregiver, just measuring anxiety

72 of 96

State bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation?

Continuous presence of a mother or mother substitute is essential for emotional and intellectual development

73 of 96

What is the difference between separtion and deprivation?

In deprivation there is no mother substitute

74 of 96

What is the time period for the critical period?

30 months, after that damage is inevitable

75 of 96

Define affectionless pycopathy

The inability to experince guilt or empathy

76 of 96

What was the aim of bowlby's 44 theives study?

To find a link between affenctionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation

77 of 96

what was the procedure?

44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing, interviewed for signs of affenctionless psychopathy. Families interviewd for prolonged separations. A control group of non criminal emotionaly disturbed teenagers was put together

78 of 96

what were the findings?

14 out of 44 affectionless psychopaths. 12 of those had prolonged separtions before 2 years. only 5 of remaining 30 had experienced separtion

79 of 96

why could the evidence be poor?

War children, could have experienced other traumas leeding to affectionless psycopathy. Also observer bias as bowlby carried out assesments

80 of 96

Counter evidence for bowlby's findings?

hilda lewis did the same procedure but with 500 young people. She found early prolonged separation did not predict criminality. Problem for bowlby's theory

81 of 96

why may the critical period be more of a sensetive period?

2 twin boys from Czechoslovakia were locked in the cupboard from 18 months to 7 years. Looked after by 2 loving adults and both fully recovered

82 of 96

Difference between deprivation and privation?

Privation is the inability to form a primary attachment in the first place

83 of 96

What was Rutters study aim?

To see to what extent good care can make up for poor institutionalisation effects

84 of 96

The procedure he used?

studies a group of 165 romanian children adopted in britain. Their physical, cognitive an emotional development was assesed at 4,6,11,15 . 52 british adopties as control

85 of 96

What were his findings?

mean IQ of 102 adopted before 6 months, 76 after 2 years and 86 in the middle. Differences remained at age 16. Disinhibited attachment occured after 6 months

86 of 96

Describe the Bucharest early intervention project

95 children aged 12-31 months who spent most of their lives in institutinal care assed using strange situation. comapred to control group of 50. Careers asked about disinhibted attachment

87 of 96

what were the findings?

19% of institutional group were secure 74% of control secure. 65% disorganised attachment

88 of 96

symptoms of disinhibited attachment? Rutter has explaine it as?

equally friendly to everyone, attention seeking, clinginess, antisocial behaviour.......Adaptation to living with multiple caregivers

89 of 96

How can mental retardation be recovered?

If adoption takes place before 6 months

90 of 96

What are some real life applications of the findings?

findings have gone on to improve institutions by increasing the number of caregivers so each child has a keyworker, to form normal attachments

91 of 96

Why are there fewer extrenuous variables than other orphan studies?

In Rutters study there was no past trauma such as neglect or abuse so this has increased internal validity

92 of 96

Why were the romanian orphanges not typical?

the standards of living were so poor that finding may be not be generalisable

93 of 96

What did Peter smith find about relationships in later childhood?

Insecure-avoident most likely to be victims of bullying. Insecure-resistant most likely to be bullies

94 of 96

Why is evidence of continuity mixed for IWM?

Zimmerman conducted assesed infant and adolescent attachment typed to parents. Little relationship found. Problem for IWM

95 of 96

Why do most studies have validity issues?

They all rely on self report techniques, relies on honesty and accurate recollections

96 of 96

Get Revising

Attachment

Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Back

Card 3

Front

Back

Card 4

Front

Back

Card 5

Front

Back

Comments

Similar Psychology resources: