Attachment - IN - Paper 1

What is attachment?

a close two-way emotional bond between 2 individuals in which they feel secure in each others presence

What is reciprocity?

when each person responds to each other to elicit a response from the other (facial expressions).

periods of alertness

Times when infants are more receptive to interaction (making eye contact or verbal signals), mothers usually pick up on and respond to the infants 2/3 of the time (Feldman and Eildman 2007).

What did Brazleton et al say about reciprocity?

- both the mother + baby can initiate interactions

- can be described as a 'dance'

What is interactional synchrony?

The temporal coordination of micro level behaviour of the mother + baby

What did Meltzoff and Moore say about interactional synchrony?

- Meltzoff and Moore observed interactional synchrony in children as young as 2 weeks old.

- An adult displayed one of 3 facial expressions or gestures. the child's response was filmed and identified by independent observers .

- There was a link between adults' gestures and babies actions.

Evaluation of Reciprocity and Interactional Synchrony

+ Meltzoff and Moore study was filmed; observations can be analysed later, and there is no ambiguity in the baby's responses, as researchers will not miss any behaviours.

+ controlled observations study can be repeated to test its reliability

- subjective, as babies expression may have no meaning

- observations don't tell us why there is reciprocity and i synchrony

- Lab experiment

Schaffer and Emerson's Study

investigated the aims of early attachment in infants and caregivers in Glasgow, Scotland

60 babies from Glasgow working class families . they were visited to their homes every month for for the first year and again at 18 months. Mothers asked if babies show any protest and tested separation and stranger anxiety e.g. being left alone or with a stranger

Schaffer & Emerson identified four distinct stages of attachment in the development of infants

Asocial stage

Indiscriminate attachment

Specific attachment

Multiple attachments

What are the stages proposed by Schaffer?

Asocial, Indiscriminate, Specific attachment + Multiple attachment

Features of the asocial stage

- 0-6 weeks

- babies respond to objects/humans in a similar way

- seem to be content in the presence of humans

- bonds form from reciprocity and interactional synchrony

Features of the indiscriminate stage

- 6 weeks - 7 months

- babies accept comfort from any adult

- can discriminate between familiar/unfamiliar adults

- no separation anxiety and unlikely stranger anxiety

Features of the specific attachment stage

- 7 - 9 months

- separation + stranger anxiety develops

- demonstrate preference for primary caregiver

Features of the multiple attachment stage

- 10 months

- attachment is observed towards other individuals

- stranger anxiety decreases

Schaffer and Emerson Evaluation

+good external validity as carried out in the homes

+ Longitudinal design: Same children studied over time → good internal validity (no participant differences).

+ good real world application daycare/childcare

- can't be generalised (working-class population from Glasgow, Scotland (an individualistic culture)

- Mothers making observations so report findings differently, mothers may have under-reported. This means that the data may be unreliable.

What did early studies say about the role of the father?

Bowlby - one caregiver, usually the mother

- father = more of a playmate

- mother = perceived as nurturing -> respond to needs

Who studied the role of the father?

Grossman

What did Grossman find?

- examined mother's/father's quality of play at ages 6,10 + 16

- if the father engaged in active play with child when young, adolescent relationship with both parents is strengthened

How does Feild criticise the role of the father theories?

- if the father was the main primary caregiver before attachments, they took more of a maternity role

- it's less about gender, more about the individual father's contributions

- there's flexibility

Role of the father - Evaluation

L - doesn't explain why children without fathers or with two fathers develop the same -> limited insight into their role

L- Doesn't account for cultural differences and how individualistic culture the role differs from collectivist

S - can be explained through biological processes/gender stereotyping

S- There is good real-world application to the research on the role of the father. help parents or prospective parents make decisions

Helps parents look into, paternity/maternity leave custody of children in the case of divorce

Who were the 2 animal theorists?

Lorenz and Harlow

Lorenz - Aim/Method

Aim - to examine imprinting in non-human animals

Group1: geese naturally hatched by the mother

Group2: geese in an incubater + Lorenz being the first moving object they see

Lorenz - Results/Conclusion

Group1: the geese naturally followed their mother goose

Group2: the geese followed Lorenz, no attachment to their mother

- imprinting is a form of attachment

What was the critical period of imprinting proposed by Lorenz?

4 - 25 hours after hatching

What were the long-lasting effects of Lorenz's study?

Sexual imprinting

- when they matured, they displayed mating behaviour towards humans not other geese

Lorenz Evaluation

+real-world applications:

Helped understanding of attachment formation and animal rearing

- research may not generalise to other animals let alone humans

+ supporting studies: Guiton (1966): Leghorn chicks imprinted on yellow rubber gloves.

Shows that young animals are not biologically predisposed to imprint on their own species, but on any moving object seen during the critical period.

Supports Lorenz's findings about imprinting and the existence of a critical period.

- Other research has found that imprinting is changeable and not permanent

One study found that chickens that had originally imprinted onto a rubber glove and tried to mate with rubber gloves, were able to have this reversed after spending more time with their own species

Harlow - Aim/Method

Aim - to examine how much contact comfort and food influences attachment

- 16 baby monkeys were shown one harsh 'wire mother' + one soft 'towelling mother'

- in each condition they alternated which one dispensed milk

Harlow - Results/Conclusion

- when given a choice, the baby monkeys always picked the soft mother, whether it dispensed milk or not

- When frightened, they clung to the cloth mother for comfort.

- when only given the wire mother, they would become very stressed

- they have an innate drive to seek comfort/security rather than food

Harlow- Long term Effects

Monkeys raised with only a wire mother became aggressive, antisocial, and poor parents (sometimes abusive).

Those with some early social contact (before 3 months) could recover; isolation beyond 6 months caused irreversible damage.➡️ Indicates a critical period for normal emotional and social development.

Harlow- Evaluation

- The findings of Harlow's research cannot be generalised to humans

-The experiments carried out by Harlow on monkeys raised many ethical issues.

Harlow's research caused severe and lasting damage to animals, aggressive, antisocial, and poor parents.

+ Informed childcare and animal welfare practices (e.g., importance of emotional care in orphanages and zoos).

Highlighted risks of early emotional deprivation.

+ Controlled research: Lab setting allowed control over variables (e.g., cloth vs wire mothers) → high internal validity.

What are the 2 explanations of attachment?

Learning Theory and Bowlby's Theory

Learning theory suggests

- children are born as 'blank slates'

- experience is key to learning

- observable behaviours can be measured and used to understand people

- children attach to a caregiver because the caregiver is the provider of food

What are the 2 types of conditioning used in the learning theory?

Classical + operant

How is classical conditioning used in the learning theory?

CC - learning by association

- Unconditioned stimulus → food

- Unconditioned response → pleasure from food

- Neutral stimulus → caregiver

- Conditioned stimulus → baby associates caregiver with food

- Conditioned response → pleasure from caregiver

How is operant conditioning used in the learning theory?

- if a behaviour results in a reward (pleasure, smiling), it'll be repeated

- if a behaviour results in a negative consequence (crying, discomfort), it'll be avoided

- an attachment bond is formed between the carer + child

Learning theory - Evaluation

L - counter-evidence from other animal research (Lorenz/Harlow)

L - ignores other factors associated with forming attachments (reciprocity/interactional synchrony)

S - evidence for we do learn by association eg pavlov's dog

S - Real life application to caregivers and forming a primary attachment

What does Bowlby suggest about attachment?

- this theory is evolutionary -> you are born with attachment tendencies between caregiver and infant

What are the 2 environments of the evolutionary adaptation?

1) Survival

2) Reporoduction

What is monotropy?

- a special, intense attachment infants form with their mother

- if no mother, infant can bond with another mother-substitute

- one attachment

What are the 2 laws in support of Bowlby's theory?

- The law of continuity

- The law of accumulated separation

What is the law of continuity?

- the more constant and predictable a child's care, the better the quality of their attachment

What is the law of accumulated separation?

- the less separation from the mother, the better -> problematic for the infant

What is the internal working model in terms of attachment?

- a special mental schema for relationships developed in childhood

-all future adult relationships will be based on this

What is the continuity hypothese?

individuals who are strongly attached in infancy continue to be socially/emotionally competent

What is the difference between the critical period and the sensitive period?

critical period - if the factor of development doesn't happen now, it'll never happen

sensitive period - if the factor of development doesn't happen now, it can still happen again

When is the critical period in babies for attachment?

Birth - 2.5 years old

When in the sensitive period in babies for attachment?

Birth - 5 years old

What are social releasers?

they unlock the innate tendency of adults to care for the babies

What are some physical social releasers?

- typical baby facial features

- typical baby body proportions

What are some behavioural social releasers?

- crying

- cooing

Bowlby monotropic theory evaluation

L - Research suggests that babies form multiple attachments rather than one attachment (Shaffer and emerson)

L - Biological reductionism, Bowlby explained attachment mainly through biology and evolution, Attachment is innate and evolved to increase survival.

S - Supporting evidence - Lorenz (1952) & Harlow:

Lorenz's imprinting and Harlow's monkey studies support the idea of a biological basis for attachment and a critical period.

Shows attachment is innate and adaptive for survival.

S- Supporting evidence Meltzoff and Moore for social releasers:

Infants as young as 2-3 weeks imitate adult facial expressions and gestures, born with innate social behaviours.

These imitation behaviours act as social releasers, triggering caregiving responses and providing evidence for Bowlby's claim that attachment is biologically pre-programmed.

How participants took part in the 'strange situation'

106 middle-class infants were observed

What was the layout of the room used in 'The Strange Situation'

- 9x9 feet room

- 16 boxes dotted around to test proximity

- toys for the baby

What were the behaviours to watch out for in 'The Strange Situation'?

- proximity seeking

- secure-base behaviour

- stranger anxiety

- separation anxiety

- reunion behaviour

How many stages were there in 'The Strange Situation'

8

What were the stages of 'The Strange Situation'?

1) caregiver takes baby into playroom

2) left to explore

2) stranger enters + approaches infant

3) caregiver leaves without warning + stranger interacts with infant

4) caregiver returns + stranger leaves

5) caregiver leaves so infant is alone

6) strange enters + interacts with infant

7) caregiver returns and greets the infant

What are the 3 types of attachment found in 'The Strange Situation'?

- secure attachment

- insecure avoidant

- insecure resistant

Features of secure attachment

- explores happily but go back to caregiver

- moderate separation/stranger anxiety

- require/accept comfort from caregiver during reunion

Features of insecure avoidant attachment

- explores freely + doesn't need to go back to caregiver while doing so

- little to no separation/stranger anxiety

- doesn't require comfort from caregiver during reunion

Features of insecure resistant attachment

- doesn't explore much and stays near mum

- high separation/stranger anxiety

- resist comfort from caregiver during reunion

'The Strange Situation' - Evaluation

L - lack of external validity -> conducted in a controlled/artificial setting

L - The research was only carried out on middle-class infants in Western Europe and the USA.

S - Controlled observation, study showed signs o good inter-rater reliability with 94% agreement of attachment types

S - The procedure has been replicated worldwide (e.g. Van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg, 1988), supporting the universality of attachment types Adds to the reliability and generalisability of Ainsworth's findings.

What is culture?

the norms, values, beliefs, rules or customs of a society

What are cultural variations in attachment?

the differences in child-rearing practices/attachment types between different cultural groups

What did Van Ijzendoorn do?

- a meta-analysis of over 2000 children classified in different strange situations + the findings of 32 cross-cultural studies of attachment

- across 8 different countries

What did Van Ijzendoorn find?

- in all countries secure attachment was most common

-Insecure-resistant overall least common (highest being in Israel)

-Insecure-avoidant observed most commonly in Germany and least commonly in Japan.

Van Ijzendoorn - Evaluation

S - use of 'The Strange Situation' increases reliability -> they use controlled procedures + can be compared

S - Robust amount of data across culture to compare, 32 studies were assessed, across 8 different countries, looking at nearly 2000 infants

A large sample increases the reliability of the findings

L - Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg compared countries and not cultures. Within each country are many different cultural variations. Liek tokyo had a very western style of child rearing compared to more rural areas

L - applying 'The Strange Situation' is ethnocentric -> was developed using observations of MC American infants (based off american model)

What were 2 specific studies used in Van Ijzendoorn's meta-analysis?

Grossman and Takahashi

What did Grossman (1991) find about German children's attachment?

- most German children were insecurely avoidant

- German culture emphasises interpersonal space between children + parents

Grossman (German study) - Evaluation

S - provided useful cross-cultural perspectives in interpreting 'The Strange Situation' -> shows that there are similarities as well as differences

What did Takahashi find about Japanese children's attachment?

- studied 60 MC Japanese families

- had similar rates of secure attachment children to the US sample (68%) + high rates of insecure-resistant attachment (32%)

- separation anxiety was shown to be very high

Takahashi - Evaluation

L - can be seen as unethical -> Japanese infants are rarely separated from their caregiver + caused stress they wouldn't usually feel

CP - researcher did stop the infants being alone prematurely to stop further harm

What is maternal deprivation?

The consequences, in terms of both emotional and intellectual development, caused by the separation between a child and their mother or mother substitute.

What is the difference between seperation and deprivation?

Seperation - when the child is not in the presence of the primary caregiver

- doesnt have a significant impact

Deprivation - when is stripped of either their primary caregiver entirely of elements of their emotional care

-leads to developmental issues

What are the consequences of deprivation?

Emotional - may not experience guilt/strong emotion + are affectionless psychopaths

Intellectual - often have low cognitive functions + low IQ

Bowlby's 44 thieves theory - Aim

To examine the links between maternal deprivation and affectionless psychopathy

Bowlby's 44 thieves theory - Procedure

- 44 participants, teenage criminals accused of stealing

- all interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy

- families were also interviewed to look for prolonged separation

- control group of 44 non-criminal teenagers

Bowlby's 44 thieves theory - Results

- 14 of the thieves were affectionless psychopaths

-> 12 of the 14 had been affected by prolonged separation from their mothers

- 40% of the thieves group had experienced early separation from their caregivers

What did bowlby propose about the critical period for emotional and psychological development?

first two years of a child's life are a critical period in emotional and psychological development

Bowlby's 44 thieves theory - Evaluation

S - Good real world application, Bowlby's study changed how people thought about rearing and caring for children. The research conducted by Bowlby had a positive impact on how children were treated

S - Supported by Harlow rhesus monkeys deprived of maternal contact became socially and emotionally disturbed, supporting Bowlby's view of the mother's role in emotional development.

L - Bowlby may have confused deprivation with privation, Rutter explains that it's an oversimplified concept -> these behaviours are caused by privation. As many of these children didn't have attachment

L - Bowlby conducted the interviews with the children and the families himself, this could lead to bias in the findings as he may expect certain children to be affectionless psychopaths

What is privation?

Failure to form any type of attachment in the first place

What is institutionalisation?

- the effect of institutional care

- how time in an orphanage can affect the child's development

What are examples of institutions

-Education System

-Prisons

-Carehomes/foster care

Rutter et al - Aim

Can good care after adoption make up for experiences in institutions?

Rutter et al - Procedure

- 165 romanian ophans adopted by families in the UK

- tested physical, cognitive + emotional development at ages 4, 6, 11, 15 + 22-25

- Control group was agroup of adopted children that were already in the UK

Rutter et al - Results

- were signs of delayed intellectual development + most were severely malnourished

- at 11, they showed some signs of recovery

- ADHD was more common in 15 and 22-25 year olds

- IQ was highest to those who were adopted before the age of 6m

What is disinhibited attachment?

- attention seeking, clinginess, social behaviours displayed indiscriminately

- when adopted after 6m

Rutter et al - Conclusions

- in some cases, the effects of institutionalism may not be permanent

- evidence suggests that children critical period for emotional and intellectual development — roughly within the first 6-24 months of life.

Rutter et al - Evaluation

S - good real-world application of the Romanian orphan studies There is a greater understanding now of how institutionalisation can affect the physical, social, emotional and cognitive development of children.

S - Natural Experiment, the Romanian orphan situation was an unplanned, real-world event. This provides high ecological validity, as it studies the genuine effects of extreme deprivation.

L - `The data was not followed into adulthood, there is a lack of data from the Romanian orphans in their adult lives, this raises questions about the long-term impacts of institutionalisation

L - Romanian orphanages in the 1980s were extremely deprived — with severe neglect, malnutrition, and lack of stimulation. These conditions were far worse than most institutional care elsewhere, so findings may not generalise to all cases of deprivation.

What did Kerns say about peer relationships in childhood?

- securely attached infants = best quality friendships

- insecurely attached infants = friendship difficulties

What did Myron-Wilson and Smith find about bullying?

- securely attached children = unlikely to be affected by bullying

- insecure-avoidant children = most likely to be bullied

- insecure-resistant children = most likely to be bullies

What did McCarthy say about friendship and romantic relationships?

- securely attached = best friendships + romantic relationships

- insecure-resistant = problems maintaining friendships

- insecure-avoidant = struggle with intimacy in romantic relationships

Hazan & Shaver (1987) - The Love Quiz aim and procedure

Aim: To investigate how early attachment experiences influence adult relationships (the internal working model).

Method: A "Love Quiz" published in a newspaper (Rocky Mountain News).

Assessed childhood attachment, adult attachment type, and attitudes toward love.

Sample: 620 respondents (205 men, 415 women).

Hazan & Shaver (1987) - The Love Quiz findings and conclusions

Findings:

Attachment types: 56% secure, 25% avoidant, 19% resistant.

Positive correlation between childhood and adult attachment:

Secure → happy, trusting, long-lasting relationships.

Insecure → shorter, less stable relationships.

Conclusion: Supports Bowlby's internal working model — early attachments form a template influencing later romantic relationships.

What did Bailey et al say about parenting?

- assessed 99 mothers/infants using strange situations + adult attachment interviews

- majority of mothers had the same attachment type with their infant as with their mother

What is the internal working model?

- formed through a child's early experiences with their primary caregiver

- influences how the child interacts and builds relationships with others as they grow

Influence of Early Attachment on Childhood & Adulthood Relationships evaluation

S - Supporting Research Evidence

Hazan & Shaver (1987) found a positive correlation between early attachment type and adult romantic relationships, supporting Bowlby's internal working model.

Counterpoint - Hazan & Shaver rely on self-report questionnaires about early attachment, which may be inaccurate or biased by memory.

S- Real-Life Application understanding how early attachment affects later relationships can help in counselling and interventions.

L - Suggesting that early attachment fixes later relationship patterns is overly deterministic.

Many people with insecure attachments go on to have healthy adult relationships, showing the theory underestimates change and resilience.

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