attachment

reciprocity definition

a description of how two people interact. Caregiver infant interaction is reciprocal in that both caregiver and baby respond to each other's signals and each elicits response from the other

interaction synchrony definition

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

what happens during reciprocity

- from birth babies and their mothers (or other caregivers) spend a lot of time in intense and highly pleasurable interaction- reciprocity can be called 'turn taking' which is essential for conversation

what do psychologist believe is essential for the infants functioning social development

- reciprocity- interactional synchrony

what occurs during reciprocity

- alert phases- active involvement

what happens during alert phases with infants

- they signal that they're ready for interaction- research shows a mother typically responds to the baby 2/3 times, but this depends on the skill of the mother and the external factors- from three months this interaction tends to become increasingly frequent and involves both mother and baby paying close attention to each other's verbal signals and facial expressions

what happens during active involvement

- traditional views of childhood have portrayed babies in a passive role, receiving care from an adult- it seems that babies as well as caregivers actually take quite an active role, both caregiver and baby can initiate interactions and they appear to take turns doing so- Brazelton described this interaction as a 'dance' as it is just like a couples dance where each responds to the other

what happens in interactional synchrony

- two people are said to be synchronised when they carry out the same action simultaneously- interactional synchrony is the temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behaviour- it takes place when caregiver and infant interact in such a way that their actions and emotions mirror the other

when does interactional synchrony begin

- research has shown it in babies as young as 2 weeks old- babies reactions were filmed and observed and it was assumed that the babies were likely mirroring the caregiver

what is the importance of attachment

- it's believed that interactional synchrony is important for the development of care-giver infant attachment- Isabella et al observed 30 mothers and babies and assessed the degree of synchrony and the quality of mother-baby attachment- they found high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attachment

strengths and weaknesses of caregiver-infant interactions

strength = - filmed observationslimitation = - difficulty observing babies- developmental importance

how is filmed observations a strength of caregiver-infant interactions

- interactions are normally filmed in a lab - meaning activity that may distract the baby is controlled- this also means interactions can be recorded and analysed later making it unlikely that researchers will miss seeing key behaviours- also having filmed interactions means more that one observer can record data and establish inter-rater reliability of observations- there also arent demand characteristics from infant as they dont know theyre being studied- this means it has good reliability and validity

how is difficulty observing babies a limitation of caregiver-infant interactions

- hard to interpret baby's behaviour as young babies lack co-ordination and much of their bodies are almost immobile- the movements observed are small hand movements or subtle changes in expression but this is difficult to observed as we dont know what the baby is feeling- meaning we cant be certain that the behaviors seen in caregiver-infant interactions have a special meaning

how is developmental importance a limitation of caregiver-infant interactions

- observing behaviour doesnt tell us developmental importance-Feldman points out that ideas like synchrony just give names to patterns of observable behaviour which may not be entirely useful in understanding child development- meaning we cannot be certain from observational research alone that reciprocity and synchrony are important for child development

what are the practical applications in caregiver-infant interactions in parenting skills training

- Crotwell et al found a 10 minute parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) improved interactional synchrony in 20 low income mothers and their pre-school children- on the other hand research into caregiver-infant interaction is socially sensitive as it can be used to argue that when a mother returns to work soon after having a baby this may risk damaging babies development

what are the 4 stages in attachment according to Schaffer

- stage 1 = Asocial stage- stage 2 = Indiscriminate stage- stage 3 = Specific attachment- stage 4 = Multiple attachments

what happens in the Asocial stage of attachment and when is it from

- babies first few weeks of life- observable behaviour towards humans and inanimate objects is similar- but they show signs that babies favour humans- they show preference for company of familiar people and are more easily comforted by them- the baby forms bonds with certain people and these from thE basis of later attachment

what happens in the indiscriminate stage of attachment and when is it from

- from 2-7 months- show clear preference for humans over inanimate objects- recognise and prefer company of familiar people but will normally accept comfort from anyone- dont show separation anxiety or stranger anxiety

what happens in the specific attachments stage of attachment and when is it from

- from around 7 months- show signs of attachment towards one person (primary attachment figure)- will show stranger anxiety and separation anxiety

what happens in the multiple attachments stage of attachment and when is it from

- happens shortly after last stage (about 7 months +1)- attachment to those they regularly spend time with (secondary attachment)- by one year majority of babies

what was the procedure of Scahffer and Emerson's research on stages of attachment

- 60 babies (31 boys, 29 girls) all from Glasgow and most from working class families- the families were visited in their homes every month for a year and again at 18 months- mothers were asked about the kind of protest their babies showed in 7 everyday separations- this measured babies attachment and how babies reacted to strangers

findings of the Schaffer and Emerson's research on stages of attachment

- identified 4 distinct stages in development of infant attachment behaviour

strengths and weaknesses of stages of attachment

strength = - good external validity- real world applicationlimitation = - poor evidence for asocial stage

how is good external validity a strength of stages of attachment

- most of the observations were made by parents during ordinary activities and reported to the researchers- the alternative would have been the researchers recording the observations which may have distracted the babies or made them anxious- meaning its highly likely the participants behaved naturally while being observed

how is poor evidence for asocial stage a limitation of stages of attachment

- the validity of measures used to access attachment in the asocial stage- young babies have poor co-ordination and are fairly immobile, if babies less than 2 months old felt anxiety in everyday situations they may have displayed this in subtle ways- making it difficult for mothers to observe and report attachment and anxiety in this age group to researchers- meaning babies may be social but due to flawed methods they appear asocial

how is real world application a strength of stages of attachment

- application in daycare- asocial and indiscriminate stages are likely to have straightforward daycare- Schaffer and Emerson said that in some attachment stages the first day of daycare may be problamatic- meaning daycare can be planned using the stages of attachment

extra evaluation of the stages of attachment

- good generalisability as its a large scale study

definition of stages of attachment

many developmental theories identify a sequence of qualitatively different behaviours linked to specific ages. In the case of stages of attachment qualitatively different infant behaviours are linked to specific ages, and all babies go through them in the same order

multiple attachments definition

attachments to 2 or more people. Most babies appear to develop multiple attachments once they have formed one strong attachment to on of their carers

father defintion

in attachment research the father is anyone who takes on the role of the main male caregiver. This can but not necessarily be the biological father

what were the percentages of attachment according to Schaffer and Emerson

- majority by 7 months attached to mothers- in 3% of cases infant attached to father first- in 27% of cases the father was joint first attachment figure to mother- 75% of infants formed attachment with father by 18 months

what is the role of the father shown in a longitudinal study

- Grossmann studied babies attachment until in their teens- they looked at both parents behaviour and to its quality of their babies later attachments to other people- quality of attachment with mothers but not fathers was related to attachments in adolescence, suggesting attachment to fathers is less important than to mothers- he also found quality of fathers play related to quality of adolescent attachments, suggesting fathers have a different role from mothers

what happened in the study on fathers as primary attachment figures

- Field filmed 4 month old babies in face-to-face interaction with primary caregiver mothers and secondary caregiver fathers- primary fathers, like primary mothers spend more time smiling imitating and holding babies than secondary fathers- so it seems fathers have the potential to be the more emotion-focused primary attachment figure- so they can provide the responsiveness required for a close emotional attachment but perhaps only express this when given the role of primary caregiver

strengths and weakness of the role of the father

strength = - real world applicationlimitation = - confusion over research questions- conflicting evidence- bias in research

how is real world application a strength of the role of the father

- can be used to offer advice to parents when agonising over decisions- mothers may be pressured to stay at home and fathers may be pressured to work, which may not be the best decision economically- this research reassures parents reducing parental anxiety

how is confusion over research questions a limitation for the role of the father

- there is lack of clarity over what is being asked as its more complicated that a simple role- some researchers want to understand the role of fathers as secondary attachment figures and some are concerned with their role as primary- this makes it difficult to offer a simple answer as some researchers say they perform a different role, and some say they take the maternal role

how is conflicting evidence a limitation for the role of the father

- findings vary according to the methodology used by researchers- longitudinal studies have said fathers have important roles in childs development, however if fathers have a distinct role we should expect that children growing up with a single mother or lesbian parents would turn out different to those with two heterosexual parents- this means the question is unanswered

how is bias a limitation for the role of the father

- preconceptions about how fathers behave can be created by stereotypical accounts and images of parenting roles and behaviour- the stereotypes may cause unintentional observer bias

How did Lorenz study imprinting?

- he had a clutch of goose eggs- half of the eggs were hatched with the goose mother in their natural environment- half were hatched in an incubator and the first moving object they saw was Lorenz

What were the findings of Lorez study on imprinting

- the incubator group followed Lorenz whereas the control group followed the goose mother- he identified a critical period of a few hours from hatching that imprinting needed to occur in

what did Lorenz find out about sexual imprinting

- he investigated the relationship between imprinting and mate preferences- he observed that birds that imprinted on humans displayed courtship to humans- in a case study Lorenz described a peacock that had been reared in a reptile house at a zoo, where they imprinted on tortoises- as an adult this bird would only direct courtship behaviour towards giant tortoises as it had undergone sexual imprinting

what was important about Harlow's research on attachment

- he observed that newborns kept alone in a bare cage often died but that they usually survived if given something soft like a cloth to cuddle

what was Harlows procedure on animal studies of attachment

- he tested the idea that soft object serves some of the functions of a mother- in an experiment he reared 16 baby monkeys with two wire 'mothers'- in one condition milk was dispensed by the plain wire mother whereas in the other condition the milk was dispensed by the cloth wired mother

findings of Harlows study on animal studies of attachment

- the baby monkeys cuddled the cloth covered mother in preference to the wire mother and sought comfort from the cloth mother regardless of who dispensed the milk- showing that 'contact comfort' was more important to the mokeys than food when it came to attachment behaviour

what did Harlow find happened to the maternally deprived monkeys as adults

- they found that early maternal deprivation had permanent effect- the plain wire monkeys were most dysfunctional- the cloth wired monkeys also didnt develop normal social behaviour as they were more aggressive and less social than other monkeys that were reared by their mothers- the monkeys were also unskilled at mating, and when being mothers they neglected and attacked their young

what did Harlow say was the critical time period for normal development in monkeys

- a mother figure had to be introduced within 90 days for attachment to form- after this attachment is impossible and the damage done by early deprivation becomes irreversible

strengths and weaknesses for Lorenz research

strength - research support by Lorenzlimitation - generalisability to humans

how is research support a strength for Lorenz research

- theres a study supporting Lorenz's idea of imprinting- chicks were exposed to moving objects (e.g. triangles) and they followed the first one they saw- supporting the view that young animals are born with an innate mechanism to imprint on a moving object present in the critical window of development

how is generalisability to humans a limitation for Lorenz research

- the mammalian attachment system is different and more complex than in birds- mammal attachment is a two way process, mothers and young become attached to each other- meaning its not appropriate to generalise to humans

strengths and weaknesses of Harlow's research

strength - real world value as Harlow's research is importantweakness - generalisability to humans

how is real world value a strength of Harlow's research

- it has helped social workers and clinical psychologists understand that a lack of bonding experience may be a risk factor in child development, allowing them to intervene to prevent poor outcomes- meaning Harlow's research isnt just theoretical but practical

how is generalisability to humans a limitation of Harlow's research

- research monkeys are more similar to humans that Lorenz's birds, and all mammals share some common attachment behaviours- however the human brain is still more complex than that of monkeys- therefore it may not be appropriate to generalise the theory to humans

learning theory definition

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

what is classical conditioning

a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events

what are the stages in classical conditioning

Stage 1: introducing the unconditional stimulus to elicit the unconditioned responseStage 2: introducing the neutral stimulus to have the subject associate with the unconditioned responseStage 3: conditioning trials. neutral stimulus is presented along with the unconditioned stimulus that produces the unconditioned response.Stage 4: result of the conditioned stimulus and response

What is operant conditioning?

a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher

how is operant conditioning a two way process

at the same time the baby is reinforced (for crying) the caregiver receives negative reinforcement because the (crying) stops - escaping from something unpleasant is reinforcing

what is meant by attachment as a secondary drive

- as well as conditioning, learning theory drives on the concept of drive reduction- e.g. hunger can be considered a primary drive as its innate- Sears suggested that as caregivers provide food, the primary drive for hunger becomes generalised to them, meaning attachment is secondary

strengths and limitations of the learning theory and attachment

strength = - some conditioning may be involved in some aspects of attachmentlimitation = - counter evidence from animal studies is a lack of support- counter evidence from studies of humans

how is some conditioning being involved in some aspects of attachment a strength for learning theory of attachment

- its unlikely that association with food plays a central role in attachment, but conditioning may still play a role.- for example, a baby may associate feeling warm and comfortable with the presence of a particular adult which may influence their choice for attachment figure- meaning learning theory may be useful in understanding the development of attachments

how is counter evidence for animal justice a limitation for learning theory of attachment

- Lorenz geese imprinted on the first moving object they saw regardless of whether this object was associated with food- if we consider Harlow's research there is no support for the importance of food, when given a choice the monkeys displayed attachment to the soft mother in preference of the one who provided milk- showing that factors other than association with food are important in the formation of attachments

how is counter evidence from studies on humans a limitation for learning theory and attachment

- Schaffer and Emerson found that babies tended to form their main attachment to mother regardless of whether she was the one who usually fed them- in another study Isabella et al found that high levels of interactional synchrony predicted the quality of attachment - not related to feeding- this shows that food isnt the main factor in the formation of human attachments

monotropic definition

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.

critical period definition

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 had critical periods. Bowlby extended the idea to human, proposing that human babies have a sensitive period after which it will be much more difficult to form an attachment

internal working model definition

our mental representations of the world e.g. the representation we have of our relationship to our primary attachment figure. This model affects of future relationships because it carries our perception of what relationships are like

what is Bowlby's monotropic theory

He placed great emphasis on a child's attachment to one caregiver, and he believed that the child's attachment to this caregiver is different and more important than others. He believed the more time a baby spent with the mother figure the better.

what were the two principles to clarify the monotropy theory

- law of continuity - the more constant and predictable a child's care the better the quality of attachment- law of accumulated separation - the effects of every separation from the mother add up

what are social releasers according to Bowlby

- 'cute' behaviours a baby displays that encourage the attention of adults

what is the critical period for baby attachment according to Bowlby

6 months- but he saw this as more of a 'sensitive period' as the baby is maximally sensitive at 6 months, extending the age to 2

what is the internal working model according to Bowlby

- an infant forms a mental representation of their relationship with their primary attachment figure- an infant whos first relationship is of a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver will tend to form an expectation that all releationships are as loving and reliable, and bring these qualities to future relationships- those who first experience poor treatment will form other poor relationships in which they expect others/ or treat others the same way

meta analysis on Bowlby's monotropic theory

- Bailey et al looked at how consistent attachment quality was in three generations of families- Ijzendoorn carried out a meta analysis of the results of 18 similar studies covering a total of 854 parents- the results supported the idea that well attached parents tend to have children with good attachment quality is transmitted from one generation to the next

strengths and weaknesses of Bowlby's monotropic theory of attachment

strength = - support for social releasers in Bowlby's theory- support for internal working modellimitation = - validity of monotropy challenged

how is validity of monotropy challeneged a limitation for Bowlby's monotropic theory

- it lacks validity- Schaffer and Emerson found that though most babies attach to one person at first, a minority formed multiple attachments at the same time- although the first attachment appears to have a particularly strong influence on later behaviour, this may simply mean its stronger, and not different in quality- meaning Bowlby may be incorrect that there is a unique quality and importance to the childs primary attachment

how is support for social releasers a strength for bowlby's monotropic theory

- there is evidence that cute baby behaviours are designed to elicit interaction from caregivers- Brazelton observed babies trigger interactions with adults using social releasers, he then instructed the babies primary attachment figures to ignore their babies social releasers- babies became increasingly distressed and some curled up and lay motionless- this illustrates the role of social releasers in emotional development and suggests that they are important in the process of attachment development

how is support for internal working model a strength for Bowlby's monotropic theory

- the internal working model predicts that patterns of attachment will be passed from one generation to the next- Bailey assessed attachment relationships in 99 mothers and their 1 year old babies- they measures the mother's attachment to their own primary attachment figures, and also the attachment quality of the babies- they found mothers with poor attachment to their primary attachment figure were more likely to have poorly attached babies- this supports Bowlby's ideas that mothers ability to form attachments to their babies is influenced by their internl working models

strange situation definition

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 definition

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 definition

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 definition

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.

where did the procedure of the strange situation take place

- controlled procedure designed to measure the security of attachment a baby displays towards caregiver- it happened in a lab with a two way mirror so behaviour can be observedwhat

what behaviours were used to judge attachment in the strange situation

- proximity seeking = a baby with a good quality attachment will stay fairly close to a caregiver- exploration and secure base behaviour = good attachment enables a baby to feel confident to explore, using their caregiver as a secure base- stranger anxiety = one of the signs of becoming closely attached is a display of anxiety when a stranger approaches- response to reunion = babies who are securely attached greet the caregiver's return with pleasure and seek comfort

what was the procedure of the strange situation

1) baby is encourage to explore - tests exploration and secure base2) a stranger comes in, talks to the caregiver and approaches the baby - tests stranger anxiety3) the caregiver leaves the baby and stranger together - tests separation and stranger anxiety4) caregiver returns and stranger leaves - tests reunion behaviour and secure base5) caregiver leaves baby alone - separation anxiety6) stranger returns - tests stranger anxiety7) the caregiver returns and is reunited with the baby - tests reunion behaviour

what are the 3 types of attachment Ainsworth found in the strange situation

secure attachmentinsecure-avoidant attachmentinsecure-resistant attachment

characteristics of secure attached infants (type B)

- explore happily but regularly go back to their caregiver (proximity seeking)- show moderate separation distress and moderate separation anxiety- they require and accept comfort from the caregiver on reunion

what percentage of British babies are classified as securely attached

60-75%

what are the characteristics of insecure-avoidant infants (type A)

- explore freely but dont seek proximity of show secure-base behaviour- they show little or no reaction when their caregiver leaves and little stranger anxiety- they make little effort to make contact when the caregiver returns and may even avoid such contact

what percentage of British babies have insecure-avoidant attachment

20-25%

what are the characteristics of insecure-resistant attachment (type C)

- seek grater proximity than others and explore less- high levels of stranger and separation anxiety but resist comfort when united with caregiver

what percentage of infant in Britain have insecure-resistant attachment

around 3%

strengths and weaknesses of Ainsworth Strange Situation

strength = - good predictive validity- good reliability due to good inter-rater reliability in the strange situationlimitation = - the tests may be culture based

how is good predictive validity a strength of Ainsworth's strange situation

- a large body of research has shown that babies and toddlers assessed as type B (secure) tend to have better outcomes than others, both in later childhood and adulthood- in childhood this includes better achievements and less involvement in bullying- securely attached babies also tend to go on to have better mental health in adulthood whereas those who are insecure-resistant tend to have worse outcomes- suggesting that the strange situation measures something real and meaningful in a baby's development

how is good reliability a strength for the strange situation

- Bick et al tested inter rater reliability for the strange situation for a team of trained observers and found agreement on attachment types in 94% of the cases- this may be due to the controlled conditions and the covert operation- meaning that we can be confident that attachment type as assessed by the strange situation doesnt depend on subjective judgements

how is the test possibly being culture-bound a limitation for the strange situation

- the strange situation was developed in Britain and the US so it may only be valid in certain cultures- this may be because babies have different experiences in different cultures and these experiences may affects their responses to the strange situation- for example a study in Japan showed the infants to show high levels of separation anxiety so many were classified insecure-resistant- this has been proposed to not be due to high rates of attachment insecurity but to the mothers separation to infants being rare in Japan- meaning it is difficult to know what the strange situation is measuring when used outside europe and US

cultural variations definition

'Culture' refers to the norms and values that exist within any group of people. Cultural variations then 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 did Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg do?

- conducted a study to look at the proportions of secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant attachments across a range of countries to access cultural variation- they also looked at the difference within the same countries to get an idea of variations within a culture

procedure of Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg's study

- they located 32 studies of attachment where the strange situation had been used to investigate the proportions of babies with different attachment types- these were conducted in 8 countries - 15 were in the US- the studies yielded results for 1,990 children- the data of these 32 studies was meta-analysed meaning that the results of the studies were combined and analysed together, weighing each study for its sample size

findings of the Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg's study on attachment

- there was a wide variation between the proportions of attachment types in different studies- in all counties secure attachment was the most common, however proportion varied from 75% in Britain to 50% in China- in individualist cultures rates of insecure-resistant attachment were similar to Ainsworth's original sample (under 14%) but this was not true for the collectivist samples from China, Japan and Israel where rates were above 25%- variations between results of studies within the same country were actually 150% greater than those between countries, - in the US study found only 46% securely attached compared to one sample as high as 90%

what happened in the Italian study on cultural variations in attachment

- a study was conducted in Italy to see whether the proportions of babies of different attachment types still matches those found in previous studies- they assessed 76 babies aged 12 months using the strange situation- they found that 50% were secure with 36% avoidant- the lower rate of secure and higher rate of avoidant attachment had been found in many studies- suggesting that increasing number in mothers working and sending children to daycare has caused attachment types to vary in the line of cultural change

what happened in the Korean study on cultural variations in attachment

- a study was conducted to compare the proportions of attachment types in Korea to other studies- the proportions of insecure and secure babies were similar to most countries as most babies were secure- however more of those classified as insecurely attached were resistant and only one baby was avoidant- this distribution is similar to the distribution of attachment types found in Japan- since Japan and Korea have quite similar child-rearing styles this similarity might be explained in child-rearing style

what are the conclusions of studies on cultural variations in attachment

- secure attachment seems to be the norm in a wide range of cultures- this supports Bowlby's theory that attachment is innate and universal- it also shows that cultural practices have an influence on attachment type