Attachment

What is attachment?

What is attachment?

• A two way emotional relationship in which people depend on each other for their sense of security

• A strong and reciporcal relationship between two people e.g. a caregiver and an infant

• A long enduring, emotionally meaningful tie to a particular individual

Seeking Proximity

Wanting to be near each other

Distress if Separated

Both the infant and the caregiver feel distressed when separated

Secure Base Behaviour

Even when wer are independent from our attachment figures we tend to make regular contact with them e.g. babies returning while playing

Why is forming an attachment important?

• One of the key interactions between caregivers and infants is their non-verbal communication, i.e. communicating without words and sometimes without sound

• Such interactions may form the basis of attachment

• It is the manner in which each responds to the other that determines the formation of attachment - the more sensitive each is to the other’s signals, the deeper the relationship

Meltzoff & Moore (1997) Observational Research

• Controlled observation with 4 stimuli (3 different faces, 1 hand gesture)

• To record observations observer watched video of the infant behaviour in real time, slow motion and frame by frame

• Video then judged by independent observer who had no knowledge of what the infant had just seen

• Observers were asked to note infant movements by using behavioural categories: mouth opening, tongue protrusion, lip protrusion

Reciprocity

• Interaction is reciprocal when each person responds to the other and elicits a response from them

• Babies have ‘alert phases’ and signal that they are ready for interaction - mothers respond 2/3 of the time (Feldman & Eidelman)

• From three months interaction is frequent and involves close attention to each others facial expressions and verbal signals

The active role of the infant

• Reciprocity happens when the baby is active

• Mother and baby take turns in initiating interactions

• Brazelton (1975) describes this as a ‘dance’ as they respond to each other’s moves like a couples dance

Interactional synchrony = mirroring

• Two people are said to be synchronised when they carry out the same act at the same time

• Takes place when the mother and babies actions and emotions mirror each other

• Isabella et al (1989) observed 30 mothers and infants, found that high levels of synchony associated with better quality attachment

Evaluation of Caregiver-Infant Interactions

• Well controlled procedures filmed at multiple angles - babies don’t care they are being observed so will behave in the same way, good validity

• It is hard to know what is happening when observing infants - is the infant’s imitation conscious and deliberate?

• Social Sensitivity - observations don’t tell us the purpose of synchrony and reciprocity or whether they are important in development

• Feldman (2012) synchrony research doesn’t tell us the actual purpose - they may be helpful for building relationships, empathy and moral development

Asocial Stage (birth-2 months)

Very young infants are asocial in that many kinds of stimuli, both social and non-social, produce a favourable reaction such as a smile - very few protest

Indiscriminate Attachment (2-7 months)

Infants indiscriminately enjoy human company, they get upset when an individual ceases to interact with them. From three months they smile at more familiar faces and are comforted easily by a regular caregiver - no stranger anxiety

Specific Attachment (7 months+)

Expresses protest when seperated from one particular individual - they attempt to stay close to the person, and show wariness of strangers (stranger anxiety)

Multiple Attachments (by 1 year and up to 2 years)

Children begin to attach to others - by 18 motnhs the majority of infants have formed multiple attachments

Schaffer and Emerson - The Glasgow Study: Procedure

• Participants = 60 infants from working-class homes in Glasgow

• Beginning of study infant ages ranged from 5-23 weeks and they were studied for 1 year

• Mothers were visited every four weeks - they reported their infant’s response to separation in seven everyday situations e.g. being left alone in a room

• Mother asked to describe the intensity of any protest (full-blooded cry to whimper) and rate them on a 4-point scale and asked to say to whom the protest was directed

• Stranger anxiety was measured by assessing the infant’s reponse to the interviewer

Schaffer and Emerson - The Glasgow Study: Findings

• Four distinct stages were found in the development of attachment behaviour

• By 32 weeks, 60% infants had formed a specific attachment

• By 32 weeks, 57% infants had formed an attachment to the mother

• By 36 weeks, 73% infants were showing fear of strangers

• Fathers were the first object of attachment for 3% of infants

• Sensitive responsiveness - attachements formed with those who responded accurately to the baby’s signals, not the person they spent more time with

Evaluation of Research into the Development of Attachment

• Hard to generalise - 1960s working class Glasgow, same city and same social class

• Van Ijzendoorn found that collectivist cultures - multiple attachments from very early age more the norm

• Suggests that development is inflexible

Role of the Father

• Schaffer and Emerson found that the majority of babies become attached to the mother first (in only 3% of cases the father was the first sole object of attachment and in 27% of cases the father was the joint first object with the mother)

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

Quality of Play

Play interactions with the father were more exciting and focussed on fun and playing - mothers were more affectionate/caring/nurturing e.g. bath time

Level of Responsiveness

• 3 groups, primary caregiver mother (1) and father (2), secondary caregiver father (3)

• Father engaged in significantly more game playing and less holding of their infants

• Primary caregiver fathers and mothers engaged in significantly more smiling/imitative facial expressions than secondary caregiver fathers

• Key to attachment is level of responsiveness, not gender

Distinctive role of the father

• Longitudinal study by Grossman et al, babies studied up to adolescence

• Quality of attachment to mother related to attachment in adolescence therefore father attachment less important

Evaluation of The Role of the Father

• Real world application of offering advice to parents about fathers as caregivers and relieving the pressure associated with childcare

• Research is socially sensitive - suggesting children might be disadvantaged by certain child rearing practices

Imprinting

An innate readiness to develop a strong bond with the mother which takes place during a specific time in development, probably the first few hours after birth/hatching, if it doesn’t happen at this time it probably will not happen

Lorenz (1935) Procedure

• Randomly divided a large clutch of goose eggs

• Control group: ½ hatched with the mother

• Experimental group: ½ hatched in an incubator where the first thing they saw was Lorenz

Lorenz (1935) Long-lasting Effects

• Peacock reared in a reptile house at the zoo, first moving object it saw was giant tortoises

• As an adult directed courtship behaviour towards giant tortoises - sexual imprinting

• Unsuccessful mating later in life - unethical

Harlow (1959) Findings

• Monkeys cuddled the cloth mother more and sought comfort when frightened

• Became most attached to the cloth mother, but never formed a real attachment

Harlow (1959) Long-lasting Effects

• The critical period for normal development was found by Harlow to be 90 days

• Followed the monkeys who had been deprived of a ‘real’ mother into adulthood to see if this early maternal deprivation had a permanent effect - the researcher found severe consequences; the monkeys reared with plain-wire mothers weee the most dysfunctional

• These deprived monkeys were more aggressive and less sociable than other monkeys and they bred less often than is typical, being unskilled at mating

Evaluation of Animal Studies of Attachment

• You can’t generalise from findings on birds to humans

• Guiton et al found that chickens imprinted on yellow washing up gloves would try to mate with them as adults, but eventually learned to prefer mating with other chickens

• Sluckin (1966) conducted a replication where one duckling was kept in isolation well behind Lorenz’s critical period; concluded that the critical period was actually a sensitive period, a period best for imprinting, but beyond attachments can still be formed

• Study created lasting emotional harm as the monkeys later found it difficult to form relationships with their peers

• Regolin + Vallortigara (1995) exposed chicks to shape combinations that moved; followed original shape in a range - supports that animals imprint on a moving object in the critical period

• The experiment can be justified in terms of the significant effect it has had on our understanding of the processes of attachment and research derived from this study has been used to offer better care for human and (primate) infants

The Learning Theory of Attachment

• This approach is only interested in studying behaviour that can be observed and measured

• Behaviourists tried to maintain more control in their studies so relied more on lab experiments to conduct their research; they believed that all species learn in a similar way, so in behaviourist research animals were often substituted for humans

• Dollard + Miller (1950) proposed that caregiver-infant interactions could be explained via learning theory, sometimes called ‘cupboard love’ - children learn to love those who feed them

Classical Conditioning

• Classical conditioning is a procedure where an animal or person learns to associate a reflex response with a new stimulus

• Classical conditioning = learning through association

• The baby associates the mother with food and it becomes a conditioned response for the baby and so they are happy when they see the mother

Operant Conditioning

• Infant experiences hunger - the discomfort drives it to make noise (behaviour) to attract attention

• Comfort provided by food (reward) - primary reinforcer

• Mother = source of food (reward), infant motivated to be with mother and an attachment forms - secondary reinforcer

Reinforcement

Something in the environment that makes a behaviour more likely to happen again; both positive and negative reinforcement make a behaviour more likely to recur

Positive Reinforcement

When a behaviour produces a satisfying or pleasant consequence, which increases the chance of the behaviour being repeated

Negative Reinforcement

When a behaviour leads to the removal of something unpleasant

Evaluation of Learning Theory of Attachment

• Lorenz showed that geese imprinted regardless of whether there was food

• Harlow’s monkeys displayed attachment behaviour towards the ‘soft’ mother in preference to the wire one with the food

• Schaffer + Emerson found that the main attachment was to the mother regardless of whether she was the one to do the feeding

• Isabella found that high levels of interactional synchrony predicted the quality of attachment, therefore not related to food

Issue/Debate of Learning Theory of Attachment

Nature/Nurture: Some conditioning may be involved as it is unlikely that association with food is a central role to attachment but the baby may feel warm and comfortable with the presence of a particular adult so this determines who they chose as a main attachment figure - therefore could be conditioning taking place

Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory of Attachment

• Bowlby assumed that a similar process to imprinting in animals (based on the work conducted by Lorenz) operates in humans

• Attachment behaviour evolved to ensure survival - an infant who is not well attached is less likely to be cared for

• It is important that attachments are reciprocal

Adaptive Behaviour

• Attachments are adaptive - this means they give our species an ‘adaptive advantage’, making us more likely to survive

• This is because if an infant has an attachment to a caregiver, they are kept safe, given food, and kept warm

Social Releasers

• Babies have social releasers, which ‘unlock’ the innate tendency of adults to care for them

• These social releasers are both: physical - the typical ‘baby face’ features and body proportions, behavioural - e.g. cooing

Critical Period

• Babies have to form the attachment with their caregiver during a critical period

• This is between birth and 21/2 years old (best time is up to 6 months)

• Bowlby said that if this didn’t happen, the child would be damaged for life - socially, physically, emotionally and intellectually

Monotropy

• Bowlby believed that infants form one very special attachment with their mother

• This special, intense attatchment is called monotropy

• If the mother isn’t available, the infant could bond with another ever-present, adult, mother-substitute

The Consequences of Attachment: Internal Working Model

• Though the monotropic attachment, the infant would from an Internal Working Model

• This is a special mental schema for relationships - all the child’s future adult relationships will be based on this

Evaluation of Bowlby’s Theory of Attachment

• Burman (1994) - Bowlby’s theory would imply that working mothers may damage their baby’s development

• Some psychologists believe that genetic differences in anxiety and socialability affect social behaviour in babies and adults - this could impact their parenting ability

• Brazelton et al (1975) observed babies triggering interactions with adults using social releasers, when the primary attachment figure ignored the babies they became increasingly distressed

• Bailey et al (2007) assessed attachment relationships in 99 mothers and their 1 year old babies - measured mother’s attachment to their own primary attachment figures, found that mothers with poor attachment to own primary caregivers were more likely to have poorly attached babies

Proximity seeking

Close or fairly close to caregiver

Exploration and secure base behaviour

Children who feel confident to explore

Stranger anxiety

Anxiety upon stranger entering

Separation anxiety

Protest when caregiver leaves

Response to reunion

Pleasure or greeting upon return

Episode 1 of Strange Situation

The baby is encouraged to explore - tests exploration and secure base

Episode 2 of Strange Situation

A stranger comes in, talks to the caregiver and approaches the baby - tests stranger anxiety

Episode 3 of Strange Situation

The caregiver leaves the baby and stranger together - tests separtion and stranger anxiety

Episode 4 of Strange Situation

The caregiver returns and the stranger leaves - tests reunion behaviour and exploration/secure base

Episode 5 of Strange Situation

The caregiver leaves baby alone - tests separation anxiety

Episode 6 of Strange Situation

The stranger returns - tests stranger anxiety

Episode 7 of Strange Situation

The caregiver returns and is reunited with the baby - tests reunion behaviour

Insecure-Avoidant Attachment (Type A)

• Child explores but does not check in with mother - not a safe base

• Show low signs of separation and stranger anxiety

• Shows no joy upon reunion - indifferent

• 22% of infants

Secure Attachment (Type B)

• Mother is a safe base from which to go and explore but the child will check in regularly

• Shows moderate signs of separation and stranger anxiety

• Shows joy upon reunion

• 66% of infants

Insecure-Resistant Attachment (Type C)

• Little willingness to explore - clingy

• Shows high signs of separation and stranger anxiety

• Shows little joy upon reunion and rejects comfort from mother - ambivilent, ‘seek and reject’

• 12% of infants

Strengths of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation

• Good predictive validity - attachment type predicts later development, e.g. secure babies typically have greater success at school and more lasting romantic relationships while insecure-resistant babies is associated with bullying and adult mental health problems

• Inter-rater reliability - different observers watching the same children generally agree on attachment type: Bick et al found 94% agreement in one team because the behavioural categories are easy to observe

Weaknesses of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation

• Test is culture bound and therefore the test may be have the same meaning in countries outside Western Europe and the US - cultural differences in children’s experiences mean they respond differently

• Temprament may be a confounding variable - Kagan suggests that temprament (the child’s genetically influenced personality) is a more important influence on behaviour in Strange Situation

Culture

The norms and values that exist within any group of people

Cultural Variations

• The differences in norms and values that exist between people in different groups

• The ways in which different groups vary in terms of their social practices, and the effects these practices have on development and behaviour

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988) - Procedure

• They conducted a meta-analysis of the findings from 32 studies of attachment behaviour

• Altogether the studies examined over 2000 Strange Situation classifications in eight different countries

• They were interested in whether inter-cultural differences exist (differences between different countries/cultures) and also whether there are intra-cultural differences (findings from studies conducted within the same culture)

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988) - Findings

• Found that the differences were small in variations between cultures

• Type B - most common for all countries

• Type A - 2nd most common except for Israel and Japan

• Type C - 2nd most common in Israel and Japan

• US and UK were most similar

• West Germany - Type A higher than most

• They found that the variation within cultures was 1.5 times greater than the variation between cultures

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988) - Conclusion

• Global patterns across cuultures appears to be similar to that found in the US

• Secure attachment is the ‘norm’

• These findings support the view that attachment is an innate process (Bowlby)

Individualistic

• Typically in the West, e.g. US and UK

• They prioritise the individual, independence and autonomy over the group

Collectivist

• Typically in the East, e.g. China and Japan

• They prioritise the group, family and community over the individual

Evaluation of Cultural Variations in Attachment

• Indigenous research come from same cultural background as the participants - aids communication, helps prevent misunderstandings = validity of the studies

• Confounding variables studies from different countries may not be match for sample characteristics e.g. children from same social class and same age

• Environmental variables - smaller rooms so child explores more

• Using Strange Situation in a different cultural context may be meaningless e.g. in US lack of affection at reunion = insecure attachment but in Germany would be a sign of independence - imposed etic

Privation

Not having the opportunity to form a bond in the first instance

Maternal Deprivation

A bond or attachment has been formed with the main caregiver but it has been disrupted for some reason

Deprivation

In the context of child development, deprivation refers to the loss of emotional care that is normally provided by a primary caregiver

Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation

Proposed that prolonged emotional deprivation would have long-term consequences in terms of emotional development

The value of maternal care

• Bowlby argues that continuous care from a mother is essential for normal psychological development - prolonged separation from this adult causes serious damage to development

• Bowlby believed it wasn’t enough to ensure a child was well fed and kept safe and warm, they needed a ‘warm, intimate ahd continuous relationship’ with a mother to ensure continuing normal mental health

Critical Period

• Bowlby believed that a young child who is denied such care may become emotionally disturbed, but only if this happens before the age of 21/2 and if there is no substitute person available

• Bowlby also felt there was a continuing risk up to 5 years

• Deprivation however has the potential to cause long term harm, but not necessarily separation

Long-term Consequences: Affectionless Psychopathy

Inability to experience guilt or strong emotion towards others

Long-term Consequences: Anaclitic Depression

Involving appetite loss, sleeplessness, and impaired social and intellectual development

Long-term Consequences: Deprivation Dwarfism

Physically underdeveloped due to emotional deprivation

Effects on Interllectual Development

Abnormally low IQ

Effects on Emotional Development

Affectionless psychopathy develops, and this prevents a person from developing fulfilling relationships

44 Juvenile Thieves Study (1944) - Aim

Bowlby aimed to test his maternal deprivation hypothesis, in particular the effects of early separations and affectionless psychopathy

44 Juvenile Thieves Study (1944) - Procedure

• Bowlby interviewed the children and their families, who attended a clinic where he worked

• He compared the backgrounds of 44 juvenile thieves with the background of 44 other non-delinquent children

44 Juvenile Thieves Study (1944) - Findings

• 86% of the thieves were diagonsed by Bowlby as having affectionless psychopathy, the main symptom of which is lack of moral conscience

• Most of these had experienced separation for at least one week before the age of 5

• Only 4% of the control group had experienced early separations

44 Juvenile Thieves Study (1944) - Conclusion

• Separation in early life led to long term ill effects, particularly adversely affecting emotional development

• Bowlby concluded that there was a link between maternal deprivation and affectionless psychopathy

Evaluation of Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation

• Bowlby suggests that recovery is not possible but Koluchova (1976) found that twins in the study recovered so may not be a critical period but a sensitive one

• Gender bias - only male subjects were used

• Support from research - Levy et al (2003) found seperating baby rates for one day had permanent effect on social development

• Bowlby assessed both deprivation and psychopathy knowing what he hoped to find - open to bias

Institutionalisation

• The effects of institiutional care

• We are concerned with how time spent in an institution such as an orphanage can affect the development of children

• The possible effects include social, mental and physical underdevelopment - some of the effects may be irreversible

Rutter English and Romanian Adoptee Study (2010) - Procedure

• 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain to test to what extent good care could make up for poor experiences in institutions

• Physical, cognitive and emotional development assessed at 4, 6, 11 and 15 years old

• Control grouo - 52 British children adopted around the same time

Rutter English and Romanian Adoptee Study (2010) - Findings

• When first arrived in the Uk, half of adoptees showed signs of mental retardation and most were severely malnourished

• At 11 years olf, the adopted children showed different rates of recovery that were related to thei rage of adoption

• Mean IQ for those adopted before 6 months = 102, adopted between 6m and 2yo = 86, adopted after 2yo = 77; Beckett et al (2010) found that these differences remained after two years

• If adoption took place after 6 months - showed disinhibited attachment

• Those adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment

Evaluation of Rutter English and Romanian Adoptee Study

• Longitudinal study - lots of detailed information over a long period of time

• The older children may be due to a lack of stimulation in the orphange

• Natural experiment - IV when they were adopted - may have been other variables

• All Romanian - may not be the same for other children

• The adopted group may have been more socially skilled making them easier to place in adoptive families

Type D - Disorganised Attachment

Extreme fear of rejection, difficulty connecting to others, difficulty trusting others, extremely clingy, aggressive behaviour towards caregivers

Zeneah et al Bucharest Early Intervention Project (2005) - Procedure

• 95 children aged 12-31 months

• Average had spent 90% of life in institutional care

• Control group - 50 children who had never lived in an institution

• Attachment type measured with Strange Situation - Type D

• Plus, carers were asked about unusual social behaviour including clingy, attention-seeking directed inappropriately at adults

Zeneah et al Bucharest Early Intervention Project (2005) - Findings

• 74% of the control group were securely attached in Strange Situation

• But 19% of the institutionalised group were securely attached

• 65% were classified with disorganised attachment

• Disinhibited attachment - 44% of institutionalised children as opposed to 20% of controls

Disinhibited Attachment

• Equally friendly and affectionate to people they know well or who are strangers - this is unusual behaviour - 2yo usually show stranger anxiety

• Attachment disorder due to multiple caregivers

• Rutter argues this is a result of adapting to living with multiple caregivers during the sensitive period

Intellectual Disability

• Most showed signs of retardation when they arrived in Britain

• However, most of those adopted by 6 months old caught up with the control group by the age of 4

• Suggesting that damage can be recovered if adopted before the age of 6 months

• Intellectual underfunctioning - cognitive development affected by emotional deprivation

Effects of Institutionalisation

• Become poor parents themselves

• Physical underdevelopment - usually physically small; research shows this is down to lack of emotional care rather than undernourishment

Evaluation of Effects of Institutionalisation

• Studying Romanian orphans has important practical applications: led to improvements in orphanages and care homes, use of key workers

• Lack of adult data - in the ERA study children were looked at in their mid to late 20s, what about lifetime prevalance of mental health? Success in forming and maintaining adult relationships?

• Romanian orphan studies have fewer confounding variables than other research: other orphan studies have trauma and multiple factors that are difficult to isolate, Romanian orphan studies have high internal validity

• Results show late-adopted children have poor developmental outcomes

• However, there may be issues with generalisability in Romanian studies: unusual situation means you cannot generalise to others (lack external validity)

The Role of the Internal Working Model

• The idea that we form templates for future relationships based on our relationship with our primary attachment figure

• Quality is crucial; loving start = loving relationships

• Not too uninvolved or too emotionally close (type A behaviour)

• Not too controlling and argumentative (type C)

• Bad experiences of first attachments lead to inappropriate behaviour towards friends and partners

Relationships in Adulthood - McCarthy (1999)

• 40 adult women assessed as infants to establish attachment type

• Securely attached = best adult friendships and romantic relationships

• Insecure-resistant = problems maintaining friendships

• Insecure-avoidant = intimacy struggles

Hazan and Shaver (1987) - Procedure

• 620 replies to ‘love quiz’

• Section 1: respondents’ current or most important relationship

• Section 2: assessed general love experiences e.g. number of partners

• Section 3: assessed attachment type asking respondents to choose which of three statements best described their feelings

Hazan and Shaver (1987) - Findings

• Secure attachment: most likely to have good and longer lasting relationships, and believed that love endures

• Insecure-avoidant: most likely to fear closeness in relationships and believe that love doesn’t last

• Insecure-resistant: most likely to be needy for love - they fall in love very easily

• 56% respondents securely attached - reported good and longer lasting romance

• 25% insecure avoidant - revealed jealously and fear of intimacy

• 19% insecure resistant

Hazen and Shaver (1987) - Conclusion

Patterns of attachment are reflected in romantic relationships