Attachment

dumbed down

Attachment

The development of deep and lasting emotional bonds: Seek closeness and feel more secure when close to the attachment figure.

Reciprocity

A mutual turn-taking form of interaction. Caregiver and infant contribute by responding to signals and cues.

Interactional synchrony

Simultaneous interaction between infant and caregiver act rhythmically

Imitation

infant directly copies the caregivers expression.S

Sensitive responsiveness

adult caregiver correctly interpreting the meaning of the infants communication and is motivated to respond

A03 of caregiver-infant interactions

• meltzoff and moore: experimenter displayed facial gestures (sticking out tongue, opening mouth in shock) 12-21 day old infants, FOUND infants could observe and imitate

• The use of video recordings studies provides high inter-rater reliability. Slowing down videos to see ‘micro sequences’ of behaviour provides high internal validity.

• Inferences are used to make assumptions about infants internal mental state (as they cannot communicate) these assumptions/guesses may not be accurate (unscientific)

• Condon and Sander: videotaped adult and neonate interactions, focused on neonates response to adult speech FOUND interactional synchrony/coordination

• Social sensitivity, investigating norms around caregiver-infant interactions could lead to some women feeling criticised.

Stage 1 of attachment

Asocial: 0-6 weeks: Innate behaviours (cry/smiling) anyone can comfort, doesn’t prefer any caregiver

Stage 2 of attachment

Indiscriminate attachment: 6 weeks - 7 months: they smile more at people they see frequently

Stage 3 of attachment

Specific attachment: 7-9 months: strong attachment to primary caregiver, separation anxiety and stranger anxiety develop.

Stage 4 of attachment

Multiple attachment: 9-10+ months: forms attachment to other caregivers (e.g. grandparents) stranger anxiety starts to decrease

A03 of stages of attachment

• Schaffer and Emerson: Longitudinal observation 60 working class Glaswegian babies FOUND separation anxiety 25-32 weeks, stranger anxiety one month later. Suggests development happens according to the stages.

• Infants observed in their own homes (ecologically valid) and strangers visiting/mother leaving the room (mundane realism)

• the sample may not be generalisable (working class Glaswegian) and may lack temporal validity (1960’s)

Role of the father

Schaffer found at 18 months 75% of infants showed separation anxiety, suggesting attachment to father.

• Active play: Fathers provide stimulation / encourage risk taking behaviours.

• Primary caregiver: men can change their interactions style to be like mothers

A03 of Role of the father

• Field: found fathers spend more time on game playing, and less on holding. and primary caregiver fathers showed more sensitive responsiveness

• Verissimo: strong attachment to the father was the best predictor of ability to make friends in school, suggesting important role in socialisation.

• socially sensitive. Theories that mothers cannot be replaced by fathers have implications for single parents

• Economic implications: research could lead to equal paternity and maternity leave, reducing economic activity.

Lorenz Goslings study

Lorenz: tested imprinting, geese forming a strong bond with and following their mother shortly after hatching.

Procedure: Goose eggs randomly divided, half hatcher with Lorenz, half with mother, varied till seen moving object.

Found: when all goslings were released from a box half he hatched ran to him showing imprinting. Critical period of 32 hours. If did not see a large moving object in that time would not imprint.

Suggests: imprinting is a strong evolutionary/ Biological feature of attachment in geese.

A03 Of Lorenz Goslings study

• generalisation of animal behaviour to human is problematic. Humans and animals have very different biology and culture.

• Lorenz’s findings on the critical period influenced Bowlby, who argued humans have a 6-30 month critical period

• Practical applications to early childcare. E.g. immediate maternal contact after birth.

Harlow’s rhesus monkey study

Harlow: tested '“cupboard love” theory, that baby’s love mothers as they feed them.

Procedure: Separated infant Rhesus monkeys from bio mothers, Placed with two surrogate mothers, one provided food (wire) and one provided comfort (cloth). Recorded time spent with each.

Results: Spent most time with the cloth mother and ran to it when frightened.

Suggests: There is a biological need for comfort.

A03 Of Harlows Monkey study

• Ethics: Harlow caused harm to primate infants and this damaged psychology’s wider reputation.

• Harlows findings on contact comfort influenced Bowlbys ideas on the importance of monotropic relationships between mothers and infants

• Practical applications to early childcare. E.g. immediate maternal contact after birth.

Explanations of attachment: Learning theory

• Dolland and millers theory of “cupboard love”

• Based on learning theory infants become attached to caregivers because they learn they provide food

• Classical conditioning: Learning through association, food (unconditioned stimulus) = pleasure (unconditioned response). Mother becomes associate with pleasure of being fed (neutral → conditioned stem)

• Operant conditioning: Learning through reward and punishment, positive reinforcement: when a crying baby is fed, crying is more likely to be repeated. Negative reinforcement of parents = baby stopping crying when fed.

• Attachment = secondary drive; ultimately leads to satisfying a primary drive (hunger)

AO3 of Learning theory

• Face validity, makes intuitive sense that babies cry more when they learn crying gets them attention/food

• Behaviourist principles that explain attachment are backed up by controlled studies (Pavlov and Skinner)

• Harlows research rejects cupboard love theory, as infant monkeys did not become attached to the wire mother that provides food

• Environmentally reductionist: Most parents say their infants attachment to them is more complex than stimulus-responses associations.

Explanations of attachment: Bowlby’s monotropic theory

• Evolutionary explanation: Babies have an innate drive to form a strong attachment to their mother (monotropy) and stay in close proximity, this is a survival advantage.

• Social releasers (crying, smiling, vocalisations) attract caregivers attention as mothers are bio programmed to have an instinctual response.

• Infants should use mother as a safe based and show stranger anxiety to unfamiliar adults.

• Monotropic attachment must form in 1st 30 months or negative social, intellectual and emotional consequences.

• Internal working model formed from attachment

A03 of Bowlbys monotropic theory

• Practical applications, imitate contact with mother and baby in hospital / inspired Ainsworth

• Infancy is a sensitive not critical period. Damage not permanent with care

• IWM = highly deterministic, counter to ideas about control over relationships

• Lacks temporal validity based on outdated views of the role of the mother.

Ainsworth’s Strange Situation

Behaviours that indicate attachment: safe proximity to mother, exploration/safe base behaviour, stranger anxiety, separation anxiety, reunion response, sensitive responsiveness. Used behaviour to categorise into 3 types:

• Insecure avoidant (Type A) Explore freely, not using mother as a safe base, low stranger and separation anxiety, mothers show a low sensitive responsiveness.

• Secure (Type B) uses mother as a safe base, moderate stranger and separation anxiety, mothers show sensitive responsiveness

• Insecure resistance (Type C) Infants are clingy and high stranger and separation anxiety. Mixed emotions on mother’s return, craving and rejecting attentions. Mothers = inconsistent sensitive responsiveness

The study:

• Procedure: Structured observation, 8 stages mother leaving/returning and exposure to stranger. Attachment behaviours recorded.

• Findings: Evidence for types of attachment, 66% secure, 34% insecure (22% type A, 12% type C) matched sensitive responsiveness of mother.

• Suggests: Secure attachments are due to a sensitively responsive mother.

A03 of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation

• SS was highly controlled with standardised procedures and behavioural categories, this standardisation has allowed replication.

• Predictive validity: children classified as securely attached have better social, emotional and academic outcomes. Adults with secure friendships/relationships were secure infants.

• Low ecological validity, observation isn’t in a familiar location like a family home. Mother knows her behaviour is being monitored so may show sensitive responsiveness due to demand characteristics.

• Kagans Temperament hypothesis, this suggests infants have an inherited high or low reactive temperament, high reactivity = stressed babies = stressed mothers/low reactivity infants, show little distress

• The SS may be an exampled of a culture bound test, so not valid when applied to other cultures.

Cultural variations in attachment

Van Ijzendoorn

• Procedure: Meta-analysis of 2000 infants in 32 studies across 8 countries (using strange situation procedure.

• Findings: General secure attachment was the most common type in all countries. Insecure resistant was the least. Avoidant was most common in individualistic western countries, resistant in collectivist cultures.

• Findings - individualistic: German had the most Type A (35%), Japan had the most Type C (27%)

• Suggests: Globally preferred attachment style, but with cultural variations.

AO3 for Cultural variations in attachment

• Temporal validity, Simonelli found more avoidant Italian infants due to modern family lifestyle

• Many countries only had one study so is not representative of entire society.

• Using the SS to assess non western cultures may be an example of Ethnocentrism.

• Supports Bowlby’s theory that there is a biological instinctive drive to parent

• As a meta analysis, any one poorly conducted study only has a small effect on results.

Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation

• Consequences of deprivation of monotropic attachment during the critical period 30 months are negative and irreversible

• Social development: petty crimes

• Emotional development: affection less psychopathy: no caring behaviour/empathy/guilt

• Intellectual development: Low IQ: Low cognitive ability compared to peers.

A03 of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation

• 44 thieves study, found 14 child thieves had affection less psychopathy/ 12 maternal dep

• Led to policy changes around child welfare e..g. maternity lead / hospital visiting time for mothers

• Bowlbys 44 thieves study is correlational, third factor could be poverty or criminal family

• Alpha gender bias: May exaggerate the importance of the mother as primary caregiver.

Romanian orphan studies

• Institutionalisation: Care homes can’t provide the same level of physical and emotional care as families.

• Privation: total lack of care / no attention

• Rutter Longitudinal study 165 orphans lacked care. Adopted to UK.

• Adopted under 6 months, 6 months-2 years, 2 years+

• Assessed 4,6,11,15 years old.

• Findings: age 6: disinhibited attachment (too friendly) 2 years+

• Age 11: 6 months delayed pay/emo/int development, 2 yr+ IQ 77 (average)

A03 of Romanian orphan study

• policy changes: adoption and care in orphanages

• Hodges and Tizard: if adopted into caring families children cope better than if returned into abusive families

• Goldfarb: early fostering led to significantly higher IQ/ social skills

• Suggests sensitive not critical period

Influence of early attachment

• Internal working model: Infants develop schema based on relationships with primary caregiver. This acts as a template for future relationships.

• Continuity hypothesis, future relationships will follow pattern based on IWM

• Bowlby mat deprivation results in poor social emotional and intellectual dev, affecting relationships

AO3 on influence of early attachment

• correlational, its not possible to establish a cause and effect between childhood and adult relationship styles.

• Kagan temperament hypothesis, high reactivity babies grow into anxious adults.