General knowledge

attachment definition

an emotional bond between two people that endures over time. Leads to certain behaviours such as clinging and proximity-seeking. Serves the function of protecting an infant. Each sees the other important for security.

what are good quality early social interactions associated with

the successful development of attachments between babies and caregivers

what can help with the successful development of attachments between babies and caregivers

good quality early social interactions

define reciprocity

a description of how two people interact. caregiver-infant interaction is reciprocal as both the caregiver and baby respond to each other’s signals, and each elicits a response from the other

what things is attachment characterised by

proximity seeking, separation distress, secure-base behaviour

what is it called when in an interaction each person responds to the other and elicits a response from them

reciprocity

what is proximity seeking in attachments

people try to stay physically close to their attachment figure

what is it called when people try to stay physically close to their attachment figure

proximity seeking

what is separation distress in attachment

people show signs of anxiety when an attachment figure leaves their presence

what is it called when people show signs of anxiety when an attachment figure leaves their presence

separation distress

what is secure-base behaviour in attachment

even when we are independent of our attachment figures we tend to make regular contact with them. Babies display secure-base behaviour when they regularly return to their attachment figure while playing

what is it called when even when independent of attachment figures, we tend to make regular contact with

secure-base behaviour

what is an alert phase

a periodic phase in which babies signal they are ready for a spell of interaction

what is it called when babies have a periodic phase in which they signal they are ready for a spell of interaction

an alert phase

who picks up on a baby’s alert phase and roughly how often

a mother- around two thirds of the time but it varies depending on the skill of the mother and external factors such as stress

what is it called that babies as well as caregivers take an active role in interactions

active involvement

what is active involvement

babies taking an active role in interactions, as well as caregivers, both can initiate interactions and take turns in doing so (traditional views portray children in a passive role)

what can active involvement be compared to loosely

a dance- Brazelton et al.- each partner responds to the others move

interactional synchrony definition

caregiver and baby reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a co-ordinated way

what is it called when the caregiver and baby reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a co-ordinated way

interactional synchrony

who observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony

Meltzoff and Moore

what did Meltzoff and Moore observe

the beginnings of interactional synchrony

Meltzoff and Moore procedure

observed interactional synchrony in babies as young as two weeks old, an adult displayed one of three facial expressions or one of three distinctive gestures, baby’s response was filmed and labelled by independent observers

Meltzoff and Moore findings

baby’s expression and gestures were more likely to mirror those of the adult more than chance would predict- significant association

what is interactional synchrony important for

development of caregiver-infant attachments

who investigated the importance of interactional synchrony for forming attachments

Isabella et al.

what did Isabella et al. investigate

the importance of interactional synchrony for forming attachments

Isabella et al. procedure

observed 30 mothers and babies together, assessed degree of synchrony, assessed quality of mother-baby attachment

Isabella et al. findings

high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attachments

how long does attachment take to develop in humans

a few months

what happens to alert phases in babies at around 3 months

interaction between mother and baby becomes increasingly frequent, involves both paying close attention to each other’s verbal signals and facial expressions

what are Schaffer’s stages of attachment

asocial stage, indiscriminate attachment, specific attachment, multiple attachments

who came up with the stages of attachment

Schaffer

what is the asocial stage of attachment

behaviour between humans and inanimate objects are fairly similar, prefer to be with humans, often a preference for familiar people and more easily comforted by them, bonds are being formed with certain people to form basis of later attachments

when is the asocial stage of attachment

in the baby’s first few weeks

what is the indiscriminate stage of attachment

clear preference for being with humans rather than inanimate objects, recognise and prefer company of familiar people, accept comfort from basically anyone, don’t show separation anxiety or stranger anxiety

when is the indiscriminate stage of attachment

from 2 to 7 months

what is the specific attachment stage

attachment to on specific person- primary attachment figure, separation anxiety when they leave, stranger anxiety,

who is a primary attachment figure

person who offers most interaction and responds to the baby’s signals with the most skill- mother 65% of the time

what is the name of the person who a baby forms a specific attachment with in the specific attachment stage

primary attachment figure

when is the specific stage of attachment

around 7 months

what is the multiple attachments stage

attachment behaviours such as separation anxiety and stranger anxiety are extended to multiple attachments with other people- secondary attachments

when is the multiple attachments stage

shortly after specific attachments stage, Schaffer and Emerson observed that 29% of children form secondary attachments within a month of forming a primary/specific attachment, by one year old most babies have developed multiple attachments

Schaffer and Emerson procedure

60 babies- 31 boys, 29 girls, all from Glasgow and most from working-class families, researchers visited babies and mothers in their homes every month for the first year, also at 18 months, researchers asked mothers about protest babies displayed in 7 everyday separations e.g. adult leaving room, designed to measure babies’ attachments and stranger anxiety

Schaffer and Emerson findings

identified four stages in the development of infant attachment behaviour

who investigated types of attachment

Mary Ainsworth

how were types of attachment investigated

strange situation study by Mary Ainsworth

what is the procedure of the strange situation

a controlled observation procedure, in a room with controlled conditions and a two-way mirror and cameras, seven episodes each lasting 3 minutes

1. caregiver encourages baby to explore new environment

2. stranger enters, talks to caregiver and approaches baby

3. caregiver leaves the baby and stranger together

4. caregiver returns and stranger leaves

5. caregiver leaves baby alone

6. stranger returns

7. caregiver returns and is reunited with baby

what is each episode in the Strange Situation testing

1. encouraging to explore: exploration and secure base

2. stranger enters: stranger anxiety

3. caregiver leaves, stranger stays: separation anxiety and stranger anxiety

4. caregiver returns, stranger leaves: reunion behaviour

5. caregiver leaves baby alone: separation anxiety

6. stranger returns: stranger anxiety

7. caregiver returns: reunion behaviour

what were the findings in the Strange situation

three types of attachment: secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-resistant

what are the types of attachment

secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-resistant

what is the secure type of attachment

Type B: babies explore happily but regularly go back to caregiver (proximity seeking and secure-base behaviour), moderate separation anxiety and stranger anxiety, require and accept comfort from caregiver in reunion

what percentage of babies have secure attachment

60-75% of British babies

what is insecure-avoidant attachment

Type A: explore freely, do not seek proximity or show secure-base behaviour, show little to no separation anxiety or stranger anxiety, make little effort to make contact when caregiver returns, may avoid contact

what percentage of babies have insecure-avoidant attachment

20-25% of British babies

what is insecure-resistant attachment

Type C: seek greater proximity, explore less, high levels of separation anxiety and stranger anxiety, resist comfort when caregiver returns

what percentage of babies have insecure-resistant attachment

3% of British babies

what type of care is insecure-avoidant attachment linked with

unresponsive primary carer

what type of care is secure attachment linked with

sensitive and responsive carer

what type of care is insecure-resistant attachment linked with

inconsistent primary care

what are the explanations of attachment

Learning theory, Bowlby’s theory

who came up with the Learning theory of attachment

Dollard and Miller

what is the general theory of the Learning theory explanation of attachment

children form an attachment with whoever feeds them

what two things does the Learning theory say forms the attachment

classical conditioning and operant conditioning

how is classical conditioning used in the Learning theory to explain attachments

babies are born with the innate drive for food, this is an unconditioned stimulus that produces the unconditioned response of pleasure, the food is associated with the neutral stimulus of the mother when she feeds them, who then becomes the conditioned stimulus with the conditioned response of pleasure now when the baby sees the mother

how is operant conditioning used in the Learning theory to explain attachments

behaviour being reinforced or punished leads to attachments, when the baby cries it gets positive reinforcement as the mother will comfort/feed it, this causes it to repeat the behaviour, the mother gets negative reinforcement as the crying stops, the baby smiling is rewarding and so a positive reinforcer, so the carer will repeat their actions to get the baby to smile again, these form an attachment between the two

what is drive reduction theory in Learning theory

hunger is a primary drive- innate, biological motivator to reduce hunger drive, attachment is a secondary drive- association between caregiver and satisfaction of primary drive

what is Bowlby’s theory of attachment called

monotropic theory

what does monotropic mean

a child’s attachment to one particular caregiver- primary attachment figure

what is Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment

rejected learning theory, proposed evolutionary explanation, attachment evolved as a mechanism to keep young animals safe, social releasers are used to encourage attention from adults, internal working model affects future attachments

what are Bowlby’s two theories on strength of attachment between primary attachment figure

law of continuity, law of accumulated separation

what is Bowlby’s law of continuity

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

what is Bowlby’s law of accumulated separation

the effects of every separation from the mother add up and the safest dose is therefore a zero dose

what are social releasers

a set of innate ‘cute’ behaviours babies are born with to encourage attention from adults e.g. smiling, cooing

how does Bowlby describe when a baby needs to form an attachment by

a sensitive period rather than a critical period as he had earlier stated

what is Bowlby’s sensitive period

a child is maximally sensitive for 6 months, possibly extends to the age of 2

what happens if an attachment is not formed within Bowlby’s sensitive period

the child will find it much harder to form one later

what is Bowlby’s internal working model

a child forms a mental representation of their relationship with their primary attachment figure

what are types of Bowlby’s internal working model

a child who’s first experience is a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver will form an expectation that are relationships are loving and reliable, a child who’s first relationship involves poor treatment will form further poor relationships where they expect/give poor treatment

what are the effects of a poor internal working model from Bowlby’s theory of attachment

expect/treat people poorly, affect ability to parent own children- parenting normally based on own experiences of being parented

who completed animal studies of attachment

Lorenz, Harlow

what did Lorenz study, on what, and why?

imprinting on geese, his neighbour gave him a newly hatched ducking when he was a child that followed him around

what was Lorenz’s procedure

conducted an experiment where he randomly divided up a large clutch of goose eggs, half were hatched with the mother goose in natural environment, other half hatched in an incubator with the first moving thing they saw being Lorenz

Lorenz findings

incubator group of goslings followed Lorenz everywhere, control group followed mother, even when mixed control group followed mother and experimental group Lorenz, this is called imprinting

what is imprinting according to Lorenz

bird species that are mobile from birth attach and follow the first moving object they see

what did Lorenz determine about the time scale of imprinting

there is a critical period

what was Lorenz’s critical period for imprinting

depends on species, a few hours from hatching

what happens if imprinting doesn’t occur within the critical period

chicks don’t attach themselves to a mother figure

what is the other type of imprinting Lorenz investigated

sexual imprinting

what is sexual imprinting

if an animal imprints on a different animal e.g. human it then shows courtship behaviour towards animals of that same species

what did Lorenz do to study sexual imprinting

a peacock had been reared in the reptile house of a zoo where the first moving objects the peacock saw were giant tortoises, as an adult the peacock would only direct courtship towards giant tortoises

what did Harlow study and on what

importance of contact comfort on baby monkeys

Harlow procedure

reared 16 baby monkeys with two wire surrogate ‘mothers’, in one condition the milk was dispensed by the plain-wire mother, in the other condition the milk was dispensed by the cloth-covered mother

Harlow findings

baby monkeys cuddled cloth-covered mother over plain-wire mother, sought comfort from cloth one when frightened e.g. by noisy mechanical teddy bear, regardless of which gave milk, showed contact-comfort was more important to the monkeys than food when it came to attachment behaviour

what did Harlow find after following maternally deprived monkeys

monkeys reared with only plain-wire mother were most dysfunctional and often died, even those reared with cloth-wire mother didn’t develop normal social behaviour, more aggressive, less sociable, bred less, unskilled at mating, neglected/attacked own children, some killed them

what was Harlow’s critical period for attachment formation

mother figure has to be introduced to a young monkey within 90 days for an attachment to form

what does Harlow claim happen if an attachment isn’t formed within the critical period

attachment was impossible, damage done by early deprivation became irreversible

what type of things and relationship does early attachment have an influence on

internal working mode, relationships in childhood, relationships in adulthood, adult parental relationships

what effect does a loving first relationship have on a baby’s internal working model

assume relationships should be loving and reliable, seek out functional relationships and behave functionally in them

who found evidence for the link between early attachments and internal working model

Hazen and Shaver