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

what is a drive?

something that motivates behaviour

what is drive reduction theory

when an animal is uncomfortable this creates a drive to reduce the discomfort

what is the drive reduction theory flow chart in terms of attachment? 

1. When an infant is fed, drive reduces and produces a feeling of pleasure- negative reinforcement  

2. Food becomes the primary reinforcer as it supplies the reward and reduces discomfort 

3. Through classical conditioning, the person providing the food becomes the secondary reinforcer and the source of the reward 

4. Attachment occurs as the infant seeks the person who can provide the reward  

give one negative evaluative point of the learning theory of attachment

• the learning theory is reductionist

• reduces the complex emotional bond between an infant and caregiver

• fails to acknowledge other factors in attachment- e.g. hormones

• 17 studies have found that hormones (oxytocin) play a key role in attachment

• therefore it is overly simplistic

what is maternal deprivation

the loss of emotional care that is normally provided by a primary caregiver

what is intellectual development

how a person’s thinking, learning, problem-solving and understanding grow over time

what is emotional development

how a person learns to understand, express and control their emotions and how they form relationships with others

what is Affectionless psychopathy

• a person cannot feel guilt, empathy or deep emotions for others 

• often behaves in a cold, impulsive or antisocial way

what prompted Bowlby to hypothesise about the effects of separation from an attachment figure

• Bowlby was influenced by wartime evacuations as children were separated from their families

• he was also inspired by delinquent children as he noticed that many of them had experienced early separations

what did Bowlby believe was essential for good mental health

• a warm, continuous relationship with a parental figure

what did Bowlby believe would be the consequences if a child did not have a caring relationship with a parental figure

• intellectual delay→ e.g. low IQ

• emotional problems→ affectionless psychopathy

• difficulty forming normal relationships in later life

outline the 4 key points of the MDH

• there is a critical period (2-2.5 years)

• maternal deprivation increases the risk of long-term emotional and developmental problems

• a continuous and warm mother relationship is essential for healthy psychological development

• prolonged separation or lack of parental care leads to deprivation

describe the procedure of Bowlby’s 44 juvenile thieves

• analysed case histories of 88 patients in the Child Guidance Clinic in London

• all children attending the clinic were emotionally impaired

• 44 of the children had been caught stealing and the other half were a control group

• Bowlby suggested that some of the ‘thieves’ were affectionless psychopaths

what were Bowlby’s findings for the 44 juvenile thieves

• those who were diagnosed as affectionless thieves had experienced early separations from their mother

• 86% of the affectionless thieves experienced frequent separations

• almost none of the control participants experienced early separations

• 39% of all thieves experienced early separations (e.g. continual or repeated stays in foster homes or hospitals, scarcely visited by their families)

• suggests early separations are linked to affectionless psychopathy→ lack of continuous care may well cause emotional maladjustment or even mental illness

why can we not determine a causational link between delinquency and maternal deprivation shown by Bowlby’s 44 thieves study

• deprivation and delinquency could be linked to a 3rd factor

• e.g. poverty, contact with criminal relatives or a family history of mental health problems

what policies for child welfare did Bowlby’s work influence

• visiting time for mothers in hospitals

• ratio of carers and infants at nursery school→ nursery’s are now more expensive

• length of maternal leave- reinforces traditional gender roles in homes + increases gender pay gap

what is institutionalisation

• when children are cared for by the state

• e.g. children’s homes or hospitals

• cannot offer the same levels of emotional care as in family homes

• historically these places provided little emotional care

what is privation

• total lack of care

• no ability to form an attachment bond

what is deprivation

• not receiving suitable emotional care from a primary attachment figure

describe privation in the Romanian revolution

• 170,000 abandoned children living in privation in orphanages

• lacked physical and emotional care from staff→ many children were malnourished and abused

• discovered in 1990- led to the fall of the Romanian government

• many children were adopted into loving western families 

what was Rutter’s procedure for the Romanian orphan studies

• natural study

• children were grouped into those adopted while under six months, between 6 months and 2 years, and those older than 2 years

• control group of British adoptees who had not experienced privation

• each group were assessed at the ages of 4, 6, 11 and 15

What were Rutter’s main findings in the Romanian orphan study

• at age 6→ children adopted at 6 months showed disinhibited attachment (overly friendly behaviour to strange adults- more common in those adopted after 2 years old)

• at age 11→ over half children who showed disinhibited attachment still showed this behaviour

• children adopted after 6 months also showed significant delayed physical, emotional and intellectual development

• children adopted after 24 months had an average IQ of 77 compared to 102 for those adopted under 6 months

• in a small number of cases quasi-autism tendencies were identified with children having problems understanding the meaning of social contexts

give one positive evaluative point for Rutter’s Romanian orphan study

• practical applications

• policies have been changed around adoption and care in orphanages and other institutional settings→ higher level of care to infants

give a limitation surrounding bias for Rutter’s Romanian orphan study

• children were selected by Western parents

• more sociable children may have been selected for adoption at an earlier age

give a positive evaluative point for Romanian orphan studies (critical period)

• challenges pre-existing theories of the critical period

• Bowlby argues that if children miss this window the harm is permanent

• Rutter showed recovery from the damages caused can be addressed with later care

• suggests a sensitive period rather than a critical period

what is disinhibited attachment

• type of attachment

• children show; attention seeking, clinginess and overfamiliarity towards adults and children (whether known to the child or not)

give a context for the Romanian orphanage

• Ceaucescu- president of Romania from 1966-1989

• wanted to grow the population of Romania

• Encouraged big families

• Women had to have 5 children

• banned abortion and contraception

• economically→ time of energy and food shortages

what were the consequences of the Romanian child policies

• many people couldn’t afford to look after their children

• >100,000 abandoned children in state run orphanages

• orphanages- 600 in the country, underfunded (too few staff and poor conditions)

describe conditions in the orphanages

• rigid intensive routines

• very high child: carer ratios

• distressed children were not responded to

• little intervention for aggressive behaviour

describe the collapse of the communist regime

• 1989

• led to the discovery of these orphanages

• many children were adopted into western families

• orphanages were never meant to be discovered

what were the different Romanian studies

• ERA- English and Romanian adoptees study

• BEIP- Buchersest early intervention project

what is Quasi autism

• not clinically autistic- has some characteristics

• obsessive tendencies

• difficulty reading social situations

describe cognitive impairment in terms of the Romanian adoptees study

• average IQ is 100

• adopted before 6 months- IQ=102 (at age 11)

• adopted 6 months→ 2 years- IQ= 86

• adopted after 2 years→ IQ= 77 (delayed intellectual ability)

describe the La Mare and Audet (2006) study

• longitudinal study - 36 Romanian adoptees adopted by families n Canada

• measured physical growth and health

what was found in the La Mare and Audet (2006) study

• adoptees were physically smaller than a match control group at 4,5 years old→ difference disappeared by 10,5 years

• same true for physical health

what was the conclusion of the La Mare and Audet (2006) study

• suggested that recovery from the effects of institutionalisation on physical development is possible

describe the Zeanah et al. (2005) study

• compared to 136 Romanian children who had spent 90% of their lives in institution to a control group

• age 12-31 months

• assessed in the strange situation

• institutionalised children showed signs of Disinhibited attachment

what is privation

Privation is the failure to form an attachment in the first place, meaning the child never develops a bond with a primary caregiver