Attachment

chapter 3

what is attachment?

A close, two-way emotional bond between two individuals in which each individual sees the other as essential for their emotional security.  

how can you recognise attachment?

• Proximity seeking (being physically close- e.g. eye contact, physical contact)  

• Separation distress  

• Secure-base behaviour (using the caregiver as a reference point to explore from and return back to, either physically, or through eye contact. 

• Joy at reunion.  

What was Harlows aim?

To demonstrate that the infants attachment to their mother is not based on the feeding bond, as predicted by the learning theory. 

what was Harlows procedure?

• 1959

• he created two monkey 'mothers', one made from wire and one covered with a soft cloth.

• There were eight monkeys that were studied for 165 days.

• Four of the monkeys had food attached to the monkey with the cloth, and the other four had the food attached to the wire monkey.

• Measurements were made for the time spent with each 'mother'.

• He also made observations of the monkeys reactions when frightened.  

What were Harlows findings?

• all eight monkeys spent most of their time with the cloth monkey, whether it had the feeding bottle or not.

• When frightened, all of the monkeys clung to the cloth mother for reassurance. 

what was Harlows conclusion? 

• Suggests that infants don’t develop an attachment because the mother is the one giving them food, but instead to the person who offers them physical contact.

• This also suggests that the infant values physical contact as it provides them comfort, over the biological need for food (shown by the little time that the monkeys spent on the wire monkey, whilst getting food).

• It also suggests that not having an attachment to a figure that comforts them, causes long term damage, shown by the aggressive and less social behaviour exhibited by the monkeys.

Describe Lorenz’s aim

to test the effect and process of imprinting on geese.  

 

what was Lorenz's procedure?

• He divided a group of gosling eggs and let half be hatched by their mother, and took the other half to be hatched in an incubator by him.

• This meant that the first thing the incubator eggs saw, was Lorenz, whereas the other eggs saw their mother first.

• This meant that half the eggs were imprinted on their mother and half the eggs were imprinted on Lorenz.  

what was lorenz’s findings? 

• The eggs that were hatched in the incubator, showed no attachment to their mother, and instead only followed Lorenz around.

• When the two groups of goslings were mixed up together, they would still continue to follow the one who they were imprinted on.

• Debate about the critical period for the process of imprinting (between a few hours and 2 days).  

 

What was Lorenz’s conclusion?

• Babies look for someone who is their caregiver, like the geese.

• They both form an attachment to their caregiver, as they feel secure with them. 

what is sexual imprinting?

animals who have imprinted on someone/something will choose a future mate similar to that person or thing

What was a strength of Harlows study?

• real world applications- further understanding of depression 

• better treatment for infant animals in captivity 

give three weaknesses of Harlows study

• lacks generalisability- monkeys→ humans- different genes and brain complexities

• ethical issues

• lacks ecological validity

What behaviours were Ainsworth interested in?

• Separation anxiety 

• Reunion behaviour  

• Stranger anxiety  

• Willingness to explore  

what are the 8 stages of the Strange Situation procedure? 

1. Parent and infant play 

2. Parent sits while infant plays  (secure- base behaviour)

3. Stranger enters and talks to parent  (stranger anxiety) 

4. Parent leaves, infant plays, stranger provides comfort if needed (separation anxiety) 

5. Parent returns, greets infant, offers comfort if needed, stranger leaves (reunion behaviour) 

6. Parent leaves, infant alone  (separation anxiety) 

7. Stranger enters and offers comfort (stranger anxiety) 

8. Parent returns, greets infant, offers comfort (reunion behaviour) 

Describe secure attachment

• 66% of children  

• Not likely to cry when caregiver leaves, shows some distress when left with stranger. Seek bodily contact with caregiver and are easily soothed. May be reluctant to leave caregivers side prematurely.

• Seek and are comfortable with social interaction and intimacy and use the caregiver as a secure base

• therefore able to function independently  

describe insecure-avoidant attachment

• 22% of children  

• Tend to avoid social interaction and intimacy with others, show little response to separation and don’t seek proximity with caregiver on reunion.

• Shows little tendency to cling or resist being put down when held by caregiver.

• Happy to explore without caregiver.

• High levels of anxiousness 

Describe insecure-resistant attachment 

• 12% of children.  

• Seeks and resists intimacy and social interaction.

• Respond to separation from their caregiver with immediate and intense distress- similarly towards strangers.

• conflicting desires on reunion, want for contact but may also resist being picked up

what was Ainsworths aim? 

to assess the quality of attachment by placing an infant in a situation of mild stress. 

What was Ainsworths procedure?

• 100 middle-class American infants and their mothers

• observers recorded: separation anxiety, infants willingness to explore, stranger anxiety and reunion behaviour

give one strength of lorenz’s study 

supported by other research- e.g. Guiton (1966) 

chicks imprinted on yellow gloves

Give 2 limitations of Lorenz’s study

1. lacks generalisability in humans

2. Guiton showed that he could reverse the process of imprinting which Lorenz said was irreversible

What were the conclusions from Ainsworth’s study?

• most American children are securely attached

• Significant individual differences between infants

• Distinct association between mother’s behaviour and infant attachment

What are the criticisms of Ainsworth’s study?

• culturally biased- cannot generalise the findings

• Main and Soloman (1986)- claimed there is a fourth attachment type called “disorganised”→ mix of resistant + avoidant behaviour

• shows findings were unreliable

What did Van jzendoorn and Kroonberg do? 

• 1988

• conducted a study to look at the proportions of SA, IA and IR attachment across a range of countries to assess cultural variations

describe attachment in Germany

• German culture requires distance between parents and the child, this is shown by a smaller percentage of secure attachment.

• 57% securely attached

Describe attachment in Japan

• Whereas in Japan the mothers and children spend a lot more time closer together

• 68% securely attached

what is imprinting? 

• an innate readiness to develop a strong bond with someone, with takes place during a critical time period in early development

• if it doesnt happen in this critical period it will not happen at all 

What are the positive evaluative points of Ainsworth’s study?

• Good predictive validity→ measures something meaningful for babies development

• Good reliability→ the same situation was carried out many times with the same attachment categories being found

What was Van Ljzendoorn and Kroonberg’s procedure?

• 32 studies in 8 countries

• 15 of the studies were in the USA

describe the Italian attachment study

• Simonelli et al (2014) 

• conducted a study to see if attachment proportions are still the same as they were in previous study

• 50% securely attached

• 36% insecure avoidant 

• could be due to more mothers working 

• shows attachment types are not static 

describe the Korean attachment study

• Mi Kyoung Jin et al (2012)

• most babies= secure

• more classified as insecure were resistant→ only 1 = avoidant

• distribution similar to in Japan→ similar child rearing styles