Attachment

what is attachment?

a strong emotional bond between two people

developed over time

reciprocal

what were maccoby’s (1980) four characteristics of attachment?

1. seeking proximity (especially if stressed)
2. distress on separation
3. pleasure when reunited
4. behaviour oriented towards primary caregiver

what are the two key characteristics of caregiver-infant interactions?

reciprocity

interactional synchrony

what is reciprocity?

a description of how two people interact

reciprocated in that both respond to each other’s signals and elicit responses from each other

what research studies support reciprocity?

feldman (2007)

brazelton et al (1975)

what did feldman (2007) find?

babies have ‘alert phases’ and caregivers respond to their signals most of the time

at around 3 months, these interactions become more frequent and involve close attention of visual signals and facial expressions

what did brazelton et al (1975) find?

describes reciprocity as a ‘dance’

both caregiver and infant take an active role - both initiate interactions

sensitivity to infant behaviour lays the foundations of later attachments between infant and caregiver to develop

what is interactional synchrony?

when a caregiver and infant interact in such a way that their actions and emotions mirror each other

believed to be important for the development of caregiver-infant attachment

what research studies support interactional synchrony?

isabella (1989)

meltzoff and moore (1977)

murray and trevarthen (1985)

what did isabella (1989) find?

high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality caregiver-infant attatchment

what did meltzoff and moore (1977) find?

observed beginnings of interactional synchrony in infants

an adult displayed 1 of 3 facial expressions or distinctive gestures - the child’s response was filmed and identified by independent observers

an association was found between the expression or gesture the adult displayed and the actions of the babies

what did murray and trevarthen (1985) find?

observed 2 month old infants interact with their mothers via a video monitor in real time, then showed a recording of the mothers with no response to attempted interactions

infants grew distressed by the lack of response - shows infants are actively and intentionally interacting to elicit a response

supports meltzoff and moore’s findings

what research studies argue against interactional synchrony?

jean piaget (1962)

what did jean piaget (1962) find?

criticised meltzoff and moore’s proposal that imitation was intentional

said it was ‘pseudo-imitational’ - there was no conscious awareness in the infant

suggested it was the result of operant conditioning - behaviour is rewarded by positive responses from the caregiver, so it is repeated

what is the evaluation for caregiver-infant interactions?

reliability of testing infants is limited

individual differences - not all infants will respond the same way

value of research - research has allowed for the development of knowledge about infants

failure to replicate - koepke et al failed to find the same as meltzoff and moore, piaget suggested operant conditioning as an alternative explanation

behaviour is intentional - research has shown infants only behave this way with people, not inanimate objects, suggests behaviour is intentional

what are the stages of attachment?

1) asocial attachment

2) indiscriminate attachment

3) specific attachment (first ‘real’ attachment)

4) multiple attachment

what is asocial attachment?

0-6 weeks

social and non-social stimuli provoke favourable reactions - similar behaviour towards humans and non-human objects

few produce protest

what is indiscriminate attachment?

6 weeks - 7 months

more observable social behaviour is displayed

infants indiscriminately enjoy human company

they get upset when an individual ceases to interact with them

from 3 months they smile more at familiar faces and are comforted easily by a regular caregiver

what is specific attachment?

7-9 months

infants express protest when separated from one particular individual - separation anxiety

attempt to stay close to one particular individual

show wariness of strangers - stranger anxiety

what is multiple attachment?

10 months onward

infants begin to attach to multiple individuals

by 18 months, the majority of infants have formed multiple attachments - these are called secondary attachments

what is the evaluation of the stages of attachment?

stage theories - can be inflexible in terms of individual development

multiple attachments - conflicting research into whether all attachments are equal or not

cultural variations - differences in child-rearing practices may lead to variations in how attachment develops

what was the glasgow study?

carried out by schaffer and emerson (1964)

aimed to investigate the formation of early attachments - particularly the age at which they developed, their emotional intensity and the person they were directed at

what did the glasgow study involve?

60 babies - 31 male, 29 female, all from glasgow, most from skilled working-class families

babies were visited every month for a year and again at 18 months

researchers asked the mothers the kinds of separation anxiety the infants displayed in everyday separations - e.g. mother leaving a room

they also assessed stranger anxiety

what were the results of the glasgow study?

25-32 weeks (\~5-7 months) - 50% of babies showed separation anxiety to one particular adult

by 40 weeks (\~9 months) - 80% of babies had a specific attachment and 30% displayed multiple attachments

what did the glasgow study conclude?

babies go through stages of attachment and are not born with attachments

what is the evaluation of the glasgow study?

unreliable data - data was recorded by parents, so may be inaccurate or show social desirability bias

biased sample - sample is biased as all individuals were from the same city, same class, etc.

what factors can the role of the father be affected by?

cultural factors

economic factors

biological factors

social policies

the child themselves

how do cultural factors affect the role of the father?

men were traditionally working and earning money

not directly involved in child-rearing

how do economic factors affect the role of the father?

men traditionally work away from the home for long hours - makes hands-on involvement impossible

how do biological factors affect the role of the father?

men seem to lack emotional sensitivity to infant cues - could be due to the lack of oestrogen

how do social policies affect the role of the father?

men do not receive as much paternity leave as mothers

how does the child affect the role of the father?

age and gender - male infants are more likely to prefer their fathers as attachment figures

temperament - fathers are less likely to be involved if their child has a difficult temperament

how does parent-infant attachment apply to fathers?

schaffer and emerson (1964) - the majority of babies became attached to their mothers first, and then formed secondary attachments to their father a few weeks or months after

in 75% of infants studied, an attachment was formed with the father by 18 months

what did grossman (2002) find?

fathers play a different role in attachment to mothers

the father’s role is more associated with play and stimulation, rather than nurturing

what did field (1978) find?

the key to the attachment relationship is the level of responsiveness, not the gender of the parent

primary caregiver fathers are capable as acting as the nurturing figures within attachments

what is the evaluation of the role of the father?

inconsistent findings - psychologists look at different aspects of the role of the father and come to different conclusions

children without fathers - grossman (2002) said fathers were secondary attachment figures, maccallum and golombok (2004) found that children growing up in single or same-sex parent households do not develop differently

fathers are less biologically sensitive - hardy (1999) found that fathers were less able to detect low levels of infant distress than mothers, could be due to lack of oestrogen

research support - geiger (1996) found that fathers’ play was more exciting than mothers’, supports the role of the father as a playmate

parent relationships - belsky et al (2009) found men with higher levels of marital intimacy had a secure father-infant attachment, strength depends on the parent relationship

what are the two animal studies?

konrad lorenz (1935)

harry harlow (1959)

what did lorenz (1935) do?

investigated imprinting

split up a group of eggs - half saw the mother first when they hatched, and the other half saw lorenz

he marked the 2 groups and put them together with both him and the mother present

what did lorenz (1935) find?

those that had seen the mother first followed her and the ones that saw lorenz first followed him

critical period - when imprinting has to take place, or they will not imprint at all

imprinting - some animals imprint on the first thing they see, it binds a young animal to a caregiver, it is irreversible and long lasting

imprinting has an effect on later mate preferences

what is the evaluation of lorenz (1935)?

research support - guitton (1966) said chicks exposed to yellow rubber gloves later tried to mate with them, so animals are not born with an innate predisposition to imprint on a specific thing, and imprint on anything moving in the critical period

characteristic of imprinting have been questioned - guitton (1966) showed imprinting could be reversed

what did harlow (1959) do?

attempted to demonstrate that attachment is not based on the feeding bond predicted by learning theory

made two wire ‘mothers’ with different heads - one was wrapped in cloth and the other was just wire

4 monkeys were fed by each ‘mother’

measured the amount of time the monkeys spent with each mother, as well as their responses when frightened

what did harlow (1959) find?

all monkeys spent more time with the cloth mother whether they were fed by her or not - when frightened, all monkeys ran to the cloth mother

concluded attachments are formed not to the person that feeds them but with who provides them with contact comfort

the motherless monkeys developed abnormally - socially and sexually abnormal

found a critical period - mother figure had to be introduced within 90 days for an attachment to form, if motherless monkeys spent time with peers before 3 months they recovered, if not, the damage was irreversible

what is the evaluation of harlow (1959)?

confounding variable - the mothers had different heads as well, monkeys could prefer cloth mother because she had a more attractive head, reduces validity

ethical problems - questionable whether ethical implications are justified by understanding of attachment gained, monkeys were caused significant distress, there were severe implications for social and emotional long-term development, experiment could not be carried out with humans, strong findings but methods are criticised

generalising animal studies to human behaviour - humans have free will and decisions are governed by conscious decisions, useful in developing and understanding but not only method of research

what does learning theory believe?

everyone is born ‘tabula rasa’ - blank slate

attachments are no more than a set of learned behaviours

feeding has a central role in the development of attachment - ‘cupboard love’

what two processes are attachments are learnt through?

operant conditioning

classical conditioning

how does classical conditioning affect attachment?

an infant is born with reflex responses

food (UCS) naturally provides a response of pleasure (UCR)

the person providing the food (NS) becomes associated with this and becomes the CS - usually the primary caregiver

the conditioned response is to seek proximity and exhibit affection towards to food giver

how does operant conditioning affect attachment?

learning by consequence/reward - rewards could be food, comfort, warmth etc.

positive reinforcement - when a baby cries, they get food and crying is reinforced

negative reinforcement - when a baby is fed, the unpleasant sensation of hunger stops

what is drive reduction theory?

dollard and miller (1950)

1) when hungry, the infant feels uncomfortable and experiences a ‘drive state’ - drive to seek nourishment

2) the drive motivates the baby to lessen the discomfort of being hungry

3) babies cry in order to receive food

4) receiving food reduces drive reduction (positive reinforcement) and the child learns food is a reward (primary reinforcer)

5) the person supplying the food is associated with the reward (classical conditioning) and becomes a secondary reinforcer

6) from then on the baby seeks to be with this person, as they are seen as a source of reward

what is the evaluation of learning theory?

outdated theory - created in the 1940s and not applicable today, some people seek discomfort, low temporal validity

based on non-human research - pavlov and skinner, cannot generalise to humans as animals are fundamentally different

good explanatory power - theory of how attachments form is strong, but could be a response to parents rather than food forming the attachment

bowlby’s theory many have better explanatory power - explains why attachments form, not just how

harlow (1959) - findings directly contradict learning theory

who developed monotropy?

john bowlby

what explanation does monotropy propose?

evolutionary explanation

attachment was an innate system that gave a survival advantage

why is the theory ‘monotropic’?

it emphasises a child’s attachment to one particular caregiver

the more time the child spent with the primary attachment figure the better

what two principles did bowlby suggest?

law of continuity - the more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better the quality of the attachment

law of accumulated separation - the effects of every separation from the primary attachment figure add up

what are social releasers?

innate ‘cute’ behaviours

purpose is to activate the adult attachment system

what is the critical period in monotropy?

when the infant attachment system is active

if an attachment is not formed in this time, a child will find it harder to form one later on

what is the internal working model?

a child’s mental representation of their relationship with their primary caregiver

template for what relationships should be like

has an effect on the nature of the child’s future relationships

what is the continuity hypothesis?

later relationships are effected by earlier experiences of attachment

what is the evaluation for monotropy?

is attachment adaptive - attachments is formed at 3-6 months, when they begin to crawl, vital that infants form an attachment so their caregivers can protect them

sensitive or critical period - rutter et al, infants can form attachments outside the critical period, suggests sensitive period is more appropriate

multiple attachment vs monotropy - prior and glaser (2003), a hierarchical model of attachment with one central person is more likely than multiple attachment

continuity hypothesis - sroufe et al (2003), followed participants from infancy to teens and found continuity in behaviour, individuals classified as securely attached in infancy had high social competence later in childhood

alternative explanations - belsky and rovine (1987), temperament hypothesis, monotropy is not a complete explanation

what is the strange situation?

study developed by mary ainsworth (1969)

observed key attachment behaviours to assess the quality of a child’s attachment

100 children and their caregivers were observed in a controlled setting

what is the procedure of the strange situation?

mother and child enter room

stranger enters room

mother leaves room, child is alone with stranger

mother returns, stranger leaves room

mother leaves room, child is alone

stranger returns

mother returns, stranger leaves room

what were the children observed on?

willingness to explore

stranger anxiety

separation anxiety

response to reunion

what is operationalisation of factors?

process of strictly defining variables into measurable factors

defines abstract concepts - allows them to be measured empirically and quantitatively

how were the factors in the strange situation operationalised?

willingness to explore - moving away from mother, playing with toys in the room, looking at objects around the room

stranger anxiety - staying close to mother, moving away from stranger, being cautious of anything the stranger gives them

separation anxiety - seeking out mother, crying

response to reunion - seeking proximity to mother, reaching out for contact comfort

what were the three main types of attachment identified?

secure attachment (type B)

insecure-resistant attachment (type C)

insecure-avoidant attachment (type A)

what was secure attachment (type B)?

66% of infants

willingness to explore - high

stranger anxiety - moderate, interested in stranger but stays close to caregiver

separation anxiety - moderate

response to reunion - enthusiastic

what was insecure-resistant attachment (type C)?

12% of infants

willingness to explore - low

stranger anxiety - high, avoids stranger and clings to mother

separation anxiety - high, distressed

response to reunion - seeks and rejects

what was insecure-avoidant attachment (type A)?

22% of infants

willingness to explore - high

stranger anxiety - low

separation anxiety - low, indifferent

response to reunion - avoids contact

what is the evaluation for the strange situation?

fourth type of attachment - main and solomon (1986), proposed insecure-disorganised attachment (type D), infants who lack a coherent strategy for dealing with the stress of separation

high reliability - inter-rater reliability was 94%

real-world application - cooper el al (2005), circle of security project, decreased disorganised caregivers (60%-15%), increased securely attached infants (32%-40%)

validity - main and weston (1981), relationship is being measured not attachment type, monotropy says attachment is largely related to one primary caregiver

maternal reflexive functioning - ainsworth suggested a link between attachment and maternal sensitivity, raval et al (2001) found low correlations, slade et al (2005) maternal reflexive thinking is more important

what is a cultural variation?

the differences in norms and values that exist between people in different groups

what is an ‘etic’?

a worldview which is normally culturally specific

what is an ‘imposed etic’?

when researchers make the assumption that findings can be generalised to all people

what is an individualist culture?

people value the rights and interests of the individual

tend to live in small families

concern for independence and self-assertiveness

typical of many western cultures

what is a collectivist culture?

people value the needs of the group

tend to live in big families or communities where everyone works together for the good of the group

concern for interdependence

e.g. china, india, israel

what did van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg (1988) do?

looked at proportions of different attachments between and within countries

looked at 32 strange situation studies from 8 countries

data was combined, weighted for sample size and meta analysed

what did van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg (1988) find?

secure attachment was most common

insecure-resistant attachment was least common

variation within the same county was 150% greater than between countries

what were the findings in individual countries?

japan - 27% insecure-resistant

israel - 27% insecure-resistant

germany - 35% insecure-avoidant

what is the evaluation of cultural variations?

imposed etic - issues of validity as the strange situation is based on western ideals and uses an imposed etic

meta analysis - high population validity due to large sample size, results are generalisable, ethically sound due to use of secondary data

secondary data - cannot control variables, have to trust original researcher’s methodology, not truly representative due to an differing amounts of studies between countries

countries not cultures - increased variation within countries could be due to sub-cultures

indigenous theories - explanations of attachment rooted in individual cultures, posada and jacobs (2001), evidence supports that attachment is universal

similarities may not be innately determined - bowlby suggested attachment is universal as it is innate, cultural similarities may be explained by mass media

what is maternal deprivation?

theory by john bowlby

the emotional and intellectual consequences of separation between a child and their mother or mother substitute

continuous care from a mother is essential for normal psychological development - prolonged separation causes serious damage to intellectual and emotional development

what is the difference between separation and deprivation?

separation is when the child is not in the presence of their primary caregiver figure

deprivation is when the child loses the element of their mother’s care

what is the critical period in the theory of maternal deprivation?

first 30 months

if a child is separated from their mother in the critical period, psychological damage is inevitable

what are the effects of maternal deprivation on intellectual development?

if a child is deprived of maternal care during the critical period they can suffer delayed intellectual development - characterised by abnormally low IQ

adoption study - goldfarb (1947)

what did goldfarb (1947) find?

followed 30 orphans to the age of 12 - half were fostered or adopted and half remained in the orphanage

at age 12, their IQ was tested with a stanford-binet test - the fostered group had an average IQ of 96, and the group that remained in the orphanage had an average IQ of 68

what are the effects of maternal deprivation on emotional development?

children who are deprived of maternal care during the critical period could become affectionless psychopaths

what is affectionless psychopathy?

describes individuals who cannot exhibit caring behaviors, concern, or affection for other people

they don’t have empathy for others

they show little remorse, guilt, shame or contrition

what did the 44 thieves study do?

used 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing

they were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy

their families were also interviewed to establish if the child had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers before the age of 2

control group - non-criminal but emotionally disturbed young people

what did the 44 thieves study find?

14 of the 44 thieves were affectionless psychopaths - 12 had prolonged separations from their mothers before the age of 2

only 5 of the remaining thieves had prolonged separations

control group - only 2 had prolonged separations, none were affectionless psychopaths

what is the evaluation for the theory of maternal deprivation?

deprivation vs privation - privation is when attachment is not formed in the first place, bowlby did not distinguish between the two

correlational methodology - 44 thieves study uses correlational methodology, cannot distinguish if deprivation causes affectionless psychopathy, adoption study uses a limited sample (WWII orphans, causes confounding variables)

self-report and retrospective data - lacks accuracy meaning validity is low, social desirability bias and researcher bias

sensitive vs critical period - koluchová (1976), twins from czechoslovakia recovered fully from deprivation, despite being out of the critical period

counterevidence - lewis (1954) repeated the 44 thieves study with 500 participants, found no link between maternal deprivation and later development

what is institutionalisation?

term for the effects of living in an institutional setting

‘institution’ refers to a place where children live for long continuous periods of time - in these places there is often very little emotional care provided

what is an orphan study?

concern children placed in care because their parents cannot take care of them for any reason

what is the context of the romanian orphan studies?

in the 1990s the romanian president required women to have five children

many parents could not afford to keep their children - children ended up in huge orphanages in very poor conditions

some of these children were later adopted by british parents

what did rutter’s english and romanian adoptee (ERA) study do?

aimed to investigate the extent to which poor early experiences in institutions affect an individual’s long-term development and if good care can make up for it

followed a group of 165 romanian orphans adopted to britain

assessed physical, cognitive and emotional development at ages 4, 6, 11, and 15

a group of 52 british children adopted at around the same time served as a control group

what did rutter’s ERA study find?

when the children first arrived in the UK, half showed signs of delayed intellectual development, and most were severely malnourished

at age 11 the adopted children showed differing rates of recovery that were related to their age at adoption - those adopted before 6 months had a mean IQ of 102, those adopted between 6 months and 2 years had a mean IQ of 86, and those adopted after 2 years had a mean IQ of 77

beckett et al (2010) - these differences remained at age 16

those adopted after the age of 6 months showed signs of disinhibited attachment

what did rutter’s ERA study conclude?

poor early experiences in an institution do appear to have an effect on long-term development

if a child receives good care early on, by six months, then these effects can be limited or removed

what did rutter’s ERA study find about delayed intellectual development?

most children showed signs of delayed intellectual development when they arrived in britain

those adopted before 6 months caught up with the control group by age 4

damage to intellectual development as a result of institutionalisation can be recovered, provided adoption takes place before the age of 6 months - the age at which attachments form according to schaffer

what is disinhibited attachment?

typically an effect of spending time in an institution

individuals are equally friendly and affectionate towards people they know well and individuals they have just met

rutter explained it as an adaption to living with multiple caregivers during the sensitive period - this can prevent children from forming secure attachments

what did the bucharest early intervention study do?

zeanah et al (2005)

aimed to investigate the effects of institutional care on children’s attachment type

assessed attachment in 95 children aged 12-31 months who had spent most of their lives in an institution

they were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution

attachment type was assessed using the strange situation and caregivers were asked about unusual social behaviour

what did the bucharest early intervention study find?

control group - 74% were securely attached, less than 20% had disinhibited attachment

institutional group - 19% were securely attached, 65% had disorganised attachment, 44% had disinhibited attachment

what did the bucharest early intervention study conclude?

concluded that living in an institution increases a child’s likelihood of developing insecure-disorganised attachment type and also having disinhibited attachment type

what is the evaluation for institutionalisation?

longitudinal studies - show short-term and long-term effects of institutions on an individual's development

romanian orphanages lack generalisability - level of care was unusually poor, does not apply to other cases well

real life application - research has enabled changes to be made to support healthy development and attachment, e.g. key workers for each child

individual differences - some children recover better than others, may be due to differences in temperament

extraneous variables - romanian orphans lacked extraneous variables that were presented in other orphan studies, e.g. trauma and loss, improves overall validity

how does the internal working model affect later attachments?

the type of relationships a child has with their primary attachment figure will affect the nature of their future relationships

a child with a positive first attachment will seek out positive and functional relationships

a child with a negative first attachment may struggle to form attachments or behave inappropriately when they have them