Psychology- Attachment

Reciprocity

Reciprocity

A description of how two people interact. Mother-infant interaction is reciprocal in that both infant and mother respond to each other's signals and each elicits a response from the other.

interactional synchrony

Mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a co-ordinated way.

Role of the father- Grossman

Longitudinal study: fathers attachment was less important to the quality of children's attachments in their teens. However, the quality of the father's play was related the quality of attachments.

Role of Father- Field

Primary caregiver Fathers, like mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants than the secondary caregiver fathers. So fathers can be the more nurturing attachment figure.

Criticism of research into caregiver-infant interactions

What is being observed in infants is merely hand movements or changes in expression. It is extremely difficult to be certain, based on these observations, what is taking place from the infants perspective.

Strength of research into caregiver-infant interactions- true to life (external validity).

Controlled observations of infants capture fine details and babies don't care they are being observed so their behaviour will not change.

Criticism of research into caregiver interactions

Observational research allows us to observe reciprocity and international synchrony but doesn't tell us the purpose of these.

Criticism of research into the role of the father- Reliability

Some psychologists are interested in understanding the role fathers have as secondary attachment figures and have found fathers tend to behave differently from mothers whereas others are more concerned with the father as a primary attachment figure and have tended to find that fathers can take on a maternal role.

Criticism of research into the role of the father- Reliability

Some research has found that fathers as secondary attachment figures had an important role in their children's development, however other studies have found that children growing up in single/same sex families do not developed any differently from those in two parent heterosexual families.

Criticism of research into the role of the father

The fact that fathers tend not to be come the primary attachment figure could simply the result of traditional gender role where women are expected to be more caring and nurturing than men.

Schaffer and Emerson's study- Method

60 babies from Glasgow. Babies and mothers were visited at their homes every month for the first year and again at 18 months and mothers were asked questions about the kind of protest their babies showed to measure separation and stranger anxiety.

Schaffer and Emerson's study- Findings

Between 25 & 32 weeks- about 50% of the babies showed signs of separation anxiety, usually towards the mother (specific attachment). By the age of 40 weeks, 80% of the babies had a specific attachment and almost 30% displayed multiple attachments.

Stage 1: Asocial stage (first few weeks)

The baby's behaviour towards human objects and humans is quite similar. Babies show some preference for familiar adults in that those individuals find it easier to calm them. Babies are happier in the presence of other humans.

Stage 2: Indiscriminate attachment (2-7 months)

They show preference for people rather than inanimate objects and recognise and prefer familiar adults. At this stage babies usually accept cuddles and comfort from any adult and they do not usually show separation anxiety or stranger anxiety.

Stage 3: Specific Attachment

At around 7 months, the majority of babies display anxiety towards strangers and become anxious when separated from one particular adult. This person is not necessarily the person the child spends most of the time with but the one who offers the most interaction.

Stage 4: Multiple Attachments

In this stage babies appear to from attachment with other adults, by the age of one the majority of infants develop multiple attachments.

Strength of Schaffer and Emerson's study- True to life (external validity)

Research was carried out in the children's homes and the babies behaviour was unlikely to be affected by the presence of the researchers and so are likely to have behaved naturally.

Criticism of Schaffer and Emerson's study- Generalisability

All families were from the same city and the same social class and findings do not necessarily generalise well to other social and historical contexts.

Criticism of the stages of attachment

Problems with studying the asocial stage- babies that are young have poor co-ordination and are generally pretty much immobile and so it is very difficult to make any judgments about them based on observations of their behaviour.

Criticism of the stages of attachment- generalisability

Some research indicates that most if not of all babies form attachments to a single main carer before they become capable of developing multiple attachments. Others cultures such as collectivist believe babies form multiple attachments from the outset.

Criticism of the stages of attachment

Just because a baby gets distressed when an individual leaves the room does not necessarily mean that the individual is a 'true' attachment figure and so this is a problem in how multiple attachments are assessed.

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, left with a stranger and being reunited with a caregiver.

Secure attachment

Generally thought of as the most desirable attachment type, associated with psychologically healthy outcomes. In the Strange Situation this is shown by moderate stranger and separation anxiety and ease of comfort at reunion.

insecure-avoidant attachment

An attachment type characterised by low anxiety but weak attachment. In the Strange Situation this is shown by low stranger and separation anxiety and little response to reunion - an avoidance of the caregiver

Insecure resistant attachment

An attachment type characterised by strong attachment and high anxiety. In the strange situation this is shown by high levels of stranger and separation anxiety and by resistance to be comforted at reunion.

Strange situation- Proximity seeking

Wishing to remain in close contact with a caregiver/attachment figure.

Strange situation- exploration and secure base behaviour

The child's confidence to explore and use the caregiver as a secure base.

Strange situation- Stranger Anxiety

Distress shown by an infant when approached by an unfamiliar person.

Strange Situation- Separation Anxiety

Distress shown by an infant when separated from an attachment figure.

Strange Situation- Response to Reunion

Reaction to the return of the caregiver after separation for a short period of time.

Findings of Ainsworth's strange situation- Secure Attachment

About 60-75% of British toddlers are this attachment type. They explore happily, show moderate separation anxiety and moderate stranger anxiety. Require and accept comfort on reunion.

Findings of Ainsworth's strange situation- Insecure-Avoidant attachment

About 20-25% of toddlers are classified as this attachment type. They explore freely and show little or no reaction when their caregiver leaves. Little stranger anxiety and don't require comfort on reunion.

Findings of Ainsworth's strange situation- Insecure- Resistant Attachment

Around 3% of British toddlers are this attachment type. These children seek greater proximity than others and so explore less. They show huge stranger and separation anxiety and resist comfort on reunion.

Strength of the strange situation- True to life (External validity)

Attachment type is strongly predictive of later development i.e. babies who are securely attached go on to have better outcomes in any areas, ranging from success at school to romantic relationships. Good predictive validity (a form of external validity).

Strength of the strange Situation- Reliability

This method has very good inter rater reliability- researchers have found agreement on the attachment type of 94% of babies using this research method.

Criticism of the strange situation- bias/generalisability

This method is a culture bound test. Researchers suggested that this test does not really work in Japan as Japanese mothers are rarely separated from their babies and so show very high levels of separation anxiety.

Criticism of Ainsworth's strange situation

Researchers have suggested another attachment type that many children display- disorganised attachment. These children display an off mix of resistant and avoidant behaviours.

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg: Procedure

Meta-analysis of 32 studies of the strange situation. 2000 infants. Studies in 8 different countries: USA (15 studies), UK, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Israel, China and Japan.

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg: Findings

Secure most common in all cultures. Insecure resistant- least common however varied- 3% on Britain to 30% in Israel. Insecure avoidant observed most commonly in Germany and least common in Japan.

An Italian Study (Simonella et al): Findings

50% of babies assessed using the strange situation were classified as secure, with 36% being insecure avoidant. This is a lower rate of secure attachment than found in many studies. This could be due to mothers working long hours and using childcare.

A Korean study (Jin et al): Findings

Overall proportions of insecure and secure babies were similar to those in most countries, with most infants being secure (as assessed by strange situation). More of those classified as insecurely attached were resistant and only one was avoidant. Child rearing style may explain similar rates in Japan and Korea.

Strength of cultural variations research- Internal validity

Studies use large sample sizes and this controls the impact of anomalous results caused by bad methodology or very unusual participants.

Criticism of cultural variations research- Bias

The methodology used to assess these variations was designed by an American researcher based on a British theory and so it is questionable whether Anglo-American theories and assessments can be applied to other cultures. Imposed etic- trying to apply a theory or technique designed for one culture.

Criticism of cultural variations research- Alternative explanation

Cross cultural variations proposed an alternative possibility for small cross cultural differences in that they reflect the effects of the mass media in which a large number of books and TV programmes 'that advocate similar notions of parenting are disseminated across countries'.

Criticism of cultural variations research

Van IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg's research claimed to study cultural variation whereas the comparison were between countries and not cultures as within one country there are many different cultures each with different child rearing practices. Comparisons between countries may have little meaning; the cultural characteristics of the sample may need to be specified.

Lorenz- Imprinting

An innate readiness to acquire certain behaviours during a critical or sensitive period or development.

Lorenz- Procedure

Half eggs were hatched with the mother goose in their natural environment (control group) and the other half were hatched in an incubator where the first moving object they saw was Lorenz (experimental group).

Lorenz- Findings

The experimental group followed the researcher everywhere whereas the control group hatched in the presence of their mother, followed their mother. If imprinting does not occur within the first few hours after hatching then the chicks did not attach themselves to a mother figure.

Harlow- Procedure

Two wire surrogate mother monkeys- one that dispensed milk and one that was covered in a cloth. 16 baby monkeys were reared with these.

Harlow- Findings

Baby monkeys remained with the cloth mother, only moving to the wire mother to satisfy its hunger. Showing that contact comfort was of more importance than to the monkeys than food when it came to attachment. Critical period of 90 days.

Criticism of Lorenz's research- generalisability

Mammalian attachment systems are quite different from that in birds e.g. mammalian mothers show more emotional attachment to young than do birds, and mammals may be able to form attachments at any time, albeit less easily than in infancy.

Criticism of Lorenz's research

Conclusions from this study have been questioned as researchers found that chickens who imprinted on yellow washing up gloves would try and mate with them as adults but that with experience they eventually learned to prefer mating with other chickens- suggesting imprinting doesn't have a permanent effect on mating behaviour.

Strength of Harlow's research- A practical application

This research has helped social workers understand the risk factors in child neglect and abuse and so intervene to prevent it.

Criticism of Harlow's research- Ethical Issues

The monkeys suffered greatly and so raises the controversial debate as to whether it can be justified to cause harm to animals in order to gain an understanding of humans.

Learning theory

A set of theories from the behaviourist approach to psychology, that emphasise the role of learning in the acquisition of behaviour. Explanations for learning of behaviour include classical and operant conditioning.

Classical conditioning in attachment

Food (UCS)= feeling of pleasure (UCR).
Caregiver (NS) + Food (UCS)= feeling of pleasure (UCR).
Caregiver (CS)= Feeling of pleasure (CR)

Operant conditioning in attachment- positive reinforcement

A baby cries for comfort and so is fed by the caregiver therefore the crying is reinforced.

Operant conditioning in attachment- negative reinforcement

As the baby is reinforced for crying, the stopping of crying removes the unpleasant feeling for the caregiver.

Criticism of learning theory of attachment- Research evidence

Animal studies such as Harlow show that infant animals form attachment with a soft surrogate mother (contact comfort) rather than the one that provided food.

Criticism of learning theory of attachment- Research evidence

Schaffer and Emerson found that many babies developed a primary attachment to their biological mother even though other carers did most of the feeding.

Criticism of learning theory of attachment- Oversimplified

This theory ignores other factors associated with forming attachments such as reciprocity and good levels of interactional synchrony. In addition, studies have shown that the best quality attachments are with sensitive carers that pick up infant signals and respond appropriately.

Criticism of learning theory- Alternative explanation

Social earning theory suggests that attachments are formed when parents teach children to love them by modelling attachment behaviour e.g. by hugging them and other family members and instructing and rewarding them with approval when they display attachment attachment behaviour of their own.

Bowlby's theory: Monotropy

A term sometimes used to describe Bowlby's theory. The mono means 'one' and indicates that one particular attachment is different from all others and of central importance to the child's development.

Bowlby's theory: Social releasers

A social behaviour or characteristic that elicits a caregiver reaction.

Bowlby's theory: Critical period

This refers to the time within which an attachment must form if it is to form at all. Lorenz and Harlow noted that attachment in birds and monkeys all had this. Bowlby suggested the same in humans.

Bowlby's theory: Internal working model

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

Criticism of Bowlbys theory: Research evidence

Bowlby believed babies formed one attachment to their primary caregiver however Schaffer and Emerson found that most babies did attach to one person first however a minority were able to form multiple attachments at the same time.

Strength of Bowlby's theory: Research evidence

Researchers found that when primary attachment figures ignored their babies signals- the babies initially showed some distress but, when the attachment figures continued to ignore the baby, some responded by curling up and lying motionless supporting the importance of infant social behaviour in eliciting caregiving.

Strength of Bowlby's theory: Research evidence

Researchers assessed the attachment of participants to their own mothers and the attachment to their babies. Mothers who reported poor attachments to their own parents in the interviews were much more likely to have children classified as poor according to the observations.

Criticism of Bowlby's theory of attachment: Alternative explanation

Temperament researchers suggest that some babies are more anxious than others and some more sociable than others, as a result of their genetic make up. These temperamental differences explain later social behaviour rather than attachment experiences.

Maternal deprivation

The emotional and intellectual consequences of separation between a child and his/her mother or mother substitute. Bowlby proposed that continuous care from a mother is essential for normal psychological development, and that prolonged separation from this adult causes serious damage to emotional and intellectual development.

Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation: Intellectual development

Children being deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period would have abnormally low IQ.

Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation: Emotional development

Being deprived of a mother figure's emotional care is suggested to lead to affectionless psychopathy- an inability to experience guilt or strong emotion for others.

Bowlby's 44 thieves study: Findings

14/44 criminal teenagers could be described as affectionless psychopaths. Of this 14, 12 has prolonged separation from their mothers in the first 2 years of their lives.

Criticism of Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation: Bias

Bowlby himself carried out the assessments for affectionless psychopathy and the family interviews, knowing what he expected to find.

Criticism of Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation: Research evidence/Reliability

Researchers partially replicated the 44 thieves study but with 500 young people and found that a history of early prolonged separation from the mother did not predict criminality.

Criticism of Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation

Research has shown that prolonged separation does not cause inevitable damage: Czech twins were isolated from 10 months- 7 years old but after were looked after by two loving adults and appeared to recover fully.

Strength of Bowlby's maternal deprivation: Research evidence

A study showed that separating baby rats from their mother for as little as a day had permanent effect on their social development through not other aspects of development, showing the long term effect of maternal deprivation.

Institutionalisation

A term for the effects of living in an institutional setting. The term 'institution' refers to a place like a hospital or an orphanage where children live for long, continuous periods of time. In such places there is often very little emotional care provided. In attachment research we are interested in the effects of institutional care on children's attachment and subsequent development

Orphan studies

These concern children placed in care because their parents cannot look after them. An orphan is a child whose parents have either died or have abandoned them permanently.

Rutters ERA Study: Findings

The mean IQ of those adopted before the age of six months was 102, compared with 86 for those adopted between 6 months and 2 years and 77 for those adopted after two years. Those children adopted after 6 months showed signs of disinhibited attachment- attention seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults.

The Bucharest Early Intervention project: Findings

74% of the control group (children who'd never lived an institution) came out as securely attached in Strange Situation. Only 19% of institutional group were securely attached with 65% classed as disorganised attachment.

Strength of Romanian orphan studies: A practical application

Results from these studies have led to improvements in the way children are cared for institutions. Children now have a care worker in institutions which increases their opportunity to develop normal attachments.

Strength of Romanian orphan studies: Internal validity

In these studies it has been possible to control confounding participant variables such as experiences of neglect, abuse or bereavement.

Criticism of Romanian orphan studies: Generalisability

These orphanages had particularly poor standards of care, especially when it came to forming any relationship with the children and extremely low levels of intellectual stimulation and these bad conditions cannot be applied to understanding the impact of better quality institutional care.

Criticism of Romanian Orphan studies

It is unclear whether children in these studies (2005 & 2011) suffered any long term effects. They may display lag in intellectual development or display attachment difficulties but may still 'catch up' as adults.

Influence of early attachment on later relationships: Internal working model

A child whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver will go on to have functional relationships and behave functionally in them i.e without being too uninvolved or too emotionally close (type A behaviour) or being controlling and argumentative (type C behaviour).

Relationships in later childhood

Researchers found that securely attached children go on to form the best quality childhood friendships whereas insecurely attached infants later have friendships. Researchers have also found that secure children are unlikely to be involved in bullying, insecure avoidant are most likely to be victims of bullying and insecure resistant children- the bullies.

Relationships in adulthood with romantic partners

Researchers found that securely attached infants had the best adult friendships and romantic relationships. Adults classed as insecure resistant as infants had particular problems maintaining friendships whilst those classes as insecure avoidant struggled with intimacy in romantic relationships.

Relationships in adulthood with romantic partners: Hazan & Shaver

56% of respondents were identified as securely attached and were the most likely to have good and longer lasting relationships. 25% were insecure avoidant and had a tendency to reveal jealousy and fear of intimacy. 19% were insecure resistant.

Relationships in adulthood as a parent

Researchers found that when assessed by the strange situation the majority of women had the same attachment classification both to their babies and their own mothers.

Criticism of research into the influence of early attachment in later relationships: Research evidence

Some studies appear to support continuity of relationships and so provide evidence to support internal working models however not all studies support this. Researchers found very little relationship between quality of infant and adolescent attachment.

Criticism of research into the influence of early attachment on later relationships

Assessment of infant- parent attachment relies on self report techniques to assess the quality of those relationships. This relies on participants being honest and having a realistic view of their own relationship- lacks validity.

Criticism of early attachment on later relationships: Correlation/causation

The theory suggests an association between attachment type and the quality of later relationships however there are alternative explanations for this continuity such as parenting style or the child's temperament.

Criticism of early attachment on later relationships

Some attachment researchers have suggested that Bowlby exaggerates the significant influence of the quality of infant attachments and its influence on later relationships. People are not doomed to always have bad relationships just because they had attachment problems.