Attachment

What is Attachment

A strong emotional bond between 2 people, especially an infant and a caregiver. It is a 2 way process that endures over time

What is Reciprocity

a two way mutual process of caregiver-Infant interactions.The infant and caregiver respond to each others actions, as if they’re taking turns in a conversation

What is Interactional Synchrony

When a caregiver and infant mirror both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a coordinated way

What is the Meltzoff and Moore study

An adult displayed one of 3 facial expressions or hand movements to the infant 2-3 weeks

The child’s response was filmed and identified by independent observers

They found a strong association between the adults behaviour and expression of the infants

What is the Isabella et al. (1989)

Observed 30 mothers and infants together and assessed the degree of synchrony.The researcher also assessed the quality

Isabella et al. (1989) findings

High levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-infant attachment

Strengths of Caregiver infant interactions

-Tronick er al- the still face experiment

-Controlled observations capture fine detail

-Potential Value to society

-Practical applications- Parent child interaction therapy

Limitations of Caregiver Infant interactions

-Inferences: Babies can’t communicate their thoughts emotions and motivations

-Practical Issues

-Issues of intentionality: unsure if interaction is deliberate

-Ecological Validity: Unnatural setting babies may not behave how they usually would

-Babies can’t give consent

-Cause and effect: unethical to manipulate the amount of caregiver infant interactions long term

What is Separation Anxiety

The distress shown by an infant when separated from his/her caregiver.This is not necessarily the child’s biological mother

What is Stranger anxiety

The distress shown by an infant when approached or picked up by someone who is unfamiliar

What are Schaffer and Emersons stages

Asocial: Birth-2 months

Indiscriminate Attatchment: 2-7 months

Specific Attachment:7-12 months

Multiple Attachments: 1 year +

Asocial stage Description

Produce similar responses to all objects (animate or inanimate). Reciprocity and Interactional Synchrony play a role in establishing infants relationships

Indiscriminate Attachment Description

Show a preference to people rather than objects.Still no strong preference to who looks after them. No stranger or separation anxiety

Specific Attachment Description

Start to display stranger anxiety and separation anxiety form the primary attachment figure

Multiple Attachments Description

Starts to form multiple attachments with other adults around them-secondary attachments

Schaffer and Emersons Stages of Attachments Strengths

Good External Validity

Good Internal Validity

Practical Applications

Schaffer and Emersons stages of Attachments Limitations

-Unreliable Data

-Biased Sample

-Cultural Variations

Schaffer and Emersons Procedure

-60 babies from Glasgow

-Babies and mothers were visited every month for the 1st year and again at 18 months

-Mothers were asked questions about the types of protest shown by their infants:

Separation anxiety and stranger anxiety

Schaffer and Emersons Findings

Between 25 and 32 weeks of age 50% of babies showed signs of separation anxiety towards a particular adult indicating a specific attachment

In most cases attachment was formed with their mother

Attachment tended to be to the caregiver who gave the most reciprocity

By 40 weeks 80% of the babies had a specific attachment and 30% showed multiple attachments

The Role of the Father arguments

-Males are not equipped to form attachments, both psychologically and socially

-Fathers are not primary caregivers, but are important as secondary attachment figures

-Fathers can be primary caregivers, they can demonstrate sensitive responsiveness

Biological factors to why Males aren’t equipped to form attachments

-Higher levels of testosterone + females have higher levels of oestrogen

-females produce a higher level of oxytocin

Societal/Cultural norms to why males are not equipped to form attachments

-Stereotypes: Sensitivity is feminine

-Economic factors:breadwinner role

Schaffer and Emerson Fathers for secondary attachment figures

-Majority babies become attached to there mother at 7 months

-75% babies formed attachments by 18 months

Geiger Fathers for secondary attachment figures

-56 parents:Interactions with father more exciting compared to affectionate mothers

-Play vs Emotional support - both crucial to child’s wellbeing

Sensitive responsiveness for Fathers can be primary caregivers

Sensitive responsiveness:Ability to understand infants signals and respond to them appropriately

Field for Fathers can be primary caregivers procedure

Filmed 4 month old babies face to face interactions with:

-Primary caregiver mother

-Primary caregiver father

-Secondary caregiver father

Field for fathers can be primary caregivers results

Primary caregivers spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants than a secondary caregiver

Males are not equipped to form attachments Limitations

-Societal and Economic implications of the role of the father debate

-Frodi et al. (1978)-showed videos of infants crying to participants and found no differences in the biological stress response of males and females

-Gettler et al.(2011)-When men become fathers their testosterone drops

-McConnachie et al.(2020)-Adopted children in gay father families are just as securely attached as children in heterosexual families

Fathers can be Primary Caregivers Strengths

-Societal and Economic implications

-Lesbian couples did not experience any emotional difference

-Gordon et al. oxytocin levels in mothers and fathers was the same

-Gettler et al. men’s testosterone levels drop when they become fathers

What is imprinting

An innate readiness to develop a strong bond with the first moving object they see after birth

Lorenz procedure

Randomly divided 12 greylag goose eggs into 2 groups. One group hatched with the mother goose and the other hatched in an incubator with the first moving object they saw was Lorenz

Lorenz findings

Group 1 followed mother goose and Group 2 followed Lorenz. When put together all the groups quickly reformed and went to their respective mother

Results of Imprinting

Irreversible and long lasting

Imprinting had an effect on later mate preferences

Lorenz animal Studies strengths

-Supproting research-Guiton et al found chicken imprinted on yellow washing gloves

Lorenz animal studies Limitations

-Ethical issues with animal research- animals can’t give consent-distress to mother when taking eggs etc

-Generalisably to humans-human attachments are more complex and characterised by emotional connections

-Guiton et al. found reverse imprinting

Harlow animal studies procedure

16 rhesus monkeys were taken at birth and reared in cages with a cloth mother an a wire mother (who dispensed milk). He recorded the time spent on each mother

Harlow findings

Baby monkeys spent more time on cloth mother. The baby ran to cloth mother when scared

Harlow conclusions

Rhesus monkeys have an innate need for contact comfort

What happens to maternally deprived monkeys as adults

-More aggressive

-Less socialable

-Bred less often

-Neglected and attacked their own children

What is the Critical Period for Normal Development

90 days for infant monkeys

if not they will never form an attachment and the damage will be irreversible

Harlow Animal Studies Strengths

Real world applications-improved quality of care provided to children in care system

Harlows Animal Studies Limitations

-Unethical-Monkeys frightened and taken away from mother causing psychological harm

-Confounding variables- Mothers had different faces-wasn’t controlled

Attachment through association=

= attachment through classical conditioning

What is the association before conditioning (food)

Food (UCS) —»response—» Happy Baby (UCR)

What is the association before conditioning (mother)

Mother(NS)—»response—» neutral baby (no response)

What is the association during conditioning

Mother and Food ( paired associated together)—» response—» happy baby (UCR)

What is the association after conditioning

Mother (CS)—» response—» Happy Baby (CR)

Learning Theory of Attachment

This approach is sometimes called the ‘cupboard love’ theory because it emphasises the importance of the caregiver as the provider of food

What did Dollard and Miller propose

that children learn to love whoever feeds them

Attachment through operant conditioning positive reinforcement

Crying prompts a response from the caregiver for example feeling or comforting. When the caregiver provides the correct response the infant is rewarded and crying is reinforced. So the infant is more likely to cry again in the future

Attachment through operant conditioning negative reinforcement

The baby stops crying when the adult satisfies its needs- the unpleasant sound of crying is taken away. So the caregiver is more likely to meet the infants needs again in the future

Learning Theory of Attachment Strengths

Leavening theory of attachment founded in credible scientific principles: operant and classical conditioning is observable and measureable

Learning Theory of Attachment Limitations

-Other explanations may be more successful: Bowlbys monotropic theory emphasises the role of evolution

-Environmentally reductionist: Breaking down attachment behaviour to the basic process of stimulus and response learning

What are the Stages in Bowlbys monotropic theory

A-adaptive

S-social releasers

C-critical period

M-monotropy

I-Internal Working Model

What is adaptive

Infants have an innate tendency to form attachments with a caregiver. Attachment is adaptive- it increases chances of survival (infants need protection)

What are Social Releasers

Behaviour/signal from infant that ‘unlock’ instinctive caregiving response from an adult. Bowlby suggested babies are born with these set of innate behaviours to encourage attention from adults. Social releasers initiate reciprocity. Attachment + caregiving are innate responses

What is a critical period

Critical period for humans is birth-2.5 years. If an attachment is not formed in this time the baby will be socially, emotionally and intellectually damaged for life. Bowlby later proposed a ‘sensitive period’ infants ares most sensitive between birth- 2.5 years but attachment is still possible just a lot more difficult

What is Monotropy

The mono means one and indicates that one particular attachment is different from all others and of special significance to the child’s emotional development

What is the Internal Working Model

The mental perception we all carry with us of our attachment to our primary caregiver.They are important affecting our future relationships because they carry our representations of what relationships are like

Bowlbys Monotropic theory Strengths

-Supprting evidence: Lorenz + Harlow

-Support for social releasers Brazelton et al (1975) instructed primary caregivers to ignore their babies. Babies became very distressed showing social releasers play an important role in attachment development

Bowlbys monotropic theory limitations

-Contradicting Evidence: Schaffer and Emerson, Learning Theory of Attachment, Feild

What is the Strange Situation

A controlled observation designed to test attachment security. Infants are assessed on their response to playing in an unfamiliar room, being left alone with a stranger and being reunited with a caregiver

Ainsworths strange situation Aim

To assess quality of child’s attachment to their caregiver

Ainsworths Strange Situation Procedure

A controlled observation carried out in a lab setting.Ainsworth observed infant behaviour through a one way mirror.

The procedure has seven episodes, each of which last 3 minutes

The original study used 100 middle class american infants aged 12-18 months and their mother

What were the 5 behaviours used to judge attachment

Proximity seeking

Exploration and Secure Base

Separation Anxiety

Stranger Anxiety

Response to Reunion

What were the 7 episodes in Ainsworths Strange Situation

1) child and caregiver enter an unfamiliar playroom testing exploration and secure base

2)A stranger comes in and tries to interact with the child. Tests stranger anxiety

3)The caregiver leaves the child and stranger together. Tests separation and stranger anxiety

4) The caregiver returns and the stranger leaves. Tests reunion behaviour and exploration + secure base

5) The caregiver leaves the child alone. Tests separation anxiety

6)The stranger returns. Tests stranger anxiety

7) The caregiver returns and is reunited with the child. Test reunion behaviour

What were Ainsworths Findings

-There were distinct patterns in the way that infants behaved. Attachment can be secure or insecure

Describe the Secure Attachment Type

-moderate stranger + separation anxiety

-easily comforted at reunion

-explore but regularly return for proximity return

Describe the Insecure Avoidant attachment type

-low stranger and separation anxiety

-Indifferent at reunion

-low proximity seeking

Describe the Insecure Resistant attachment type

-high stranger and separation anxiety

-seeks and rejects contact with caregiver at reunion behaviour

-high proximity seeking clingy

Strange situation strengths

-Good inter rater reliability: different observers watching the same children agree on what attachment type to classify them, due to operationalised behaviour categories.

-Highly replicable because it takes place in a controlled laboratory setting with standardised procedures

- The strange situation classification has been hugely influential and has become the accepted methodology worldwide for measuring attachment- this is called a PARADIGM

Strange situation limitations

-Lacks ecological validity:

• Infants were placed in a strange, artificial environment which may not reflect how infants behave in natural settings

• There may be issues with social desirability- the mothers may have changed their behaviour in order to look better

-Unethical: Deliberately stresses infants to assess their reactions. In the original study 20%of infants cried desperately it could be argued that they were psychologically harmful situations

What is cultural variations

cultural variations are the differences in norms and values that exist between people in different groups.

In attachment research we are concerned with the differences in the proportion of children of different attachment types

What are individualist cultures

They prioritise the individual, independence, and autonomy over the group (western cultures—» Uk, Usa, Europe)

What are collectivist cultures

They prioritise the group, family and community over the individual (Eastern cultures—» Japan/ China)

What was Ijzendoorn and Kroonbergs aim

To investigate attachment types between and within cultures

What was Ijzendoorn and Kroonbergs procedure

-A meta analysis was carried out on the results of 32 studies to measure attachment behaviour

-Research from 8 different countries was used include western and non western cultures

-The 32 studies yielded results for 1999 children

What was the most common attachment type

Secure

The highest % was in UK and the lowest in china

What was the least common attachment type overall

Insecure resistant

Where was the highest % of insecure avoidant

Germany

Where were the highest % of insecure resistant

Japan, China and Isreal

What did they find with Individualistic countries

Since they prioritise independence they had higher levels of insecure avoidant in Germany

What did they find with collectivist countries

They are often more culturally close and it is the norm for infants to stay close to their mother which is why there were high levels of insecure resistant

What was the difference within the same culture

Differences in attachment type were 150% greater within the same culture than between different cultures

For example in Usa one study found 46% securely attached and another 90%

Cultural Variations in attachment strengths

-Standardised Procedures in the strange situation: All 32 studied in meta analysis used same method, controlled, clear behaviour categories and accurate comparison

-Large samples: Combinrd many studies (meta analysis) ends up with overall sample which increases internal validity and reduces anomalous results

Cultural Variations in Attachment Limitations

-Research is Ethnocentric (looking at behaviour through own cultural perspective- own culture behaviour=normal) —» strange situation designed in USA using USA sample in line with values (independence )

-Methodological issues: Lacks ecological validity, social desirability, lacks mundane realism, unethical, assess quality to mother only

-Underrepresentative: some of the studies only have one or two countries

What is Maternal Deprivation

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

What did Bowlby propose about Maternal Deprivation

Bowlby argues that continuous care from a mother essential for normal psychological, emotional and intellectual development

What is Separation

The child not being in the prescence of the mother