A-level psychology [attachment]

reciprocity definition

when the infant responds to the action of their care giver with a similar action, almost as if they are taking it in turns.

interactional synchrony definition

when two people interact they tend to mirror what the other is doing in terms of facial expressions and body language. this can also include imitating emotions and behaviours.

research into reciprocity (brazelton 1979)

they suggested that reciprocity is an important precursor to later communication.

the regularity of an infants signals allows a caregiver to anticipate the infants behaviour and respond appropriately.

this sensitivity later becomes the foundations or infant and caregiver attachment.

research into interactional synchrony (Meltzoff and Moore 1977)

they conducted the first (systematic) study of interactional synchrony.

an adult modelled 1 of 3 facial expressions and the babies responses were filmed.

they found that there was an association between infant and adult behaviour.

why did they film the babies reactions to the facial expressions?

this was done in order to improve reliability as everyone can rewatch the same video and can rewatch it as many times as needed.

are infant intentionally imitating the adults or is it by chance?

the infant hasn’t consciously translated what they are seeing, they are simply imitating repeating rewarded behaviour (operant conditioning) → Paiget called this ‘pseudo imitation’

Murray and trevarthen’ discovered that if the babies were watching the mother on a baby monitor and didn’t directly get a response from the mother they would try to keep going until they got the reaction.

this shows that the infant is an intentional partner in the interaction and that the behaviour they are displaying is innate.

can we reliably test infant behaviour?

it is difficult to distinguish between vernal activity and specifically imitated behaviour.

you can improve validity by recording/filming gestures and asking an unbiased observer to judge the infants behaviours.

other studies have failed to replicate the findings of Meltzoff and Moore.

Koep failed to replicate M&Ms findings.

M+M claimed that it was due to a lack of string control and extraneous variables that were impacting the data.

Marian et al found that infants couldn’t distinguish live and recorded events and interactions.

this suggests that the infants arrest responding to the adults.

what is the value of this research? what importance does this have?

Meltzoff proposes that the infants make connections between that they see and imitation.

they can then associate their own acts (seen and felt).

they then project their own experienced to create a theory of mind. therefore this research explains how children understand how other people think and feel and are able to conduct relationships.

Schaffer and Emersons study of attachment

they studied the behaviours of 60 babies From middle class families in Glasgow. the researchers visited the babies and their mothers in their homes over month for the first year and then again at 18 months old. they asked the mothers questions about the babies reactions to separation from their caregiver and reactions to strangers. the data allowed them to identify 4 distinct stages in the development of attachment in infants.

issues with Schaffer and Emersons study of attachment 

cultural bias = only in glasgow

lack of reliability = mothers may lie or not tell the whole truth

Asocial stage

0-8 weeks

babies respond in a similar way to people and objects but prefer to look at human like stimuli

indiscriminate attachment

2-7 months

babies show no preference for an individual and are happy to be comforted by anyone.

specific attachments

7-12

babies show a strong preference for a single individual and will begin to show a fear of strangers

multiple attachments

1 year +

babies will show attachment towards several people (extended family) and can have up to 5 attachment figures.

the sample of this study can be considered bias in many ways and was conduced int the 1960s. in what ways can this affect the generalisation of the results?

reduced generalisability as all participants were from working class. the study was done in the 1960s meaning that there was high historical validity but low concurrent validity. this is because parental care has changed.

therefore if a similar study was completed today findings would be different.

can this stage model be applied to collectivist cultures in the same way?

in collectivist cultures multiple attachments may be more common. research shows that children raised in family based environments have closer attachments to their mothers.

this suggests that they stage model of attachment applies specifically to individualist cultures.

assumption 1 of the role of the father

fathers spend less time with their infants in comparison to mothers.r

research into the assumption that fathers spend less time with their mothers

Lamb (1997) reported a weak correlation between the two co-variables of father accessibility and the infant to father attachment.

assumption 2 of the role of the father

most men are just not psychologically equipped to form an intense attachment because they lack the emotional sensitivity that women offer. this could be due to biological and social factors.

research into the assumption that men aren’t psychologically equipped to form an intense attachment

Herrmann and Frodi et al found evidence that men are less sensitive to infant cues than others. however; Frodi showed videos of infants crying and found no difference in response.

however, men can form secure attachments with children and be primary caregivers but biological and social factors discourage it.

does attachment to fathers hold some specific value in a child development.

research process by Klaus Grossmann et al (2002)

he carried out a longitudinal study where babies’ attachments were studied until they were in their teens. they looked at both parents behaviours and its relationship to the quality of their babies later attachments to other people

Klaus Grossmans research findings and conclusion (2002)

findings: quality of baby’s attachment with mothers but not fathers was related to attachments in adolescence but quality of fathers play with babies was related to the quality of adolescent attachments.

conclusion: sex differences in the quality of infant/ adolescent attachments with their caregivers and Childs development.

evaluation 1 - role of the father

fathers have the important role of secondary attachment figures. research has shown that fathers are more playful, physically active sonf better at providing challenging situations for their children.

evaluation 2 - role of the father

fathers may appear to have a lack of sensitivity towards the needs of infants on a biological level but this may be seen as a positive as it demands more communication on children

imprinting

an inmate readiness to develop strong bond with the woman which takes place during a specific time in development (usually the first few hours after birth) if not then then not at all.

Konrad Lorenz research process

he took some gosling eggs and divided them into two groups, one with their natural mother and the other in an incubator. when the incubator eggs hatch the first thing they saw was Lorenz and they began following him around.

Konrad Lorenz findings

the goslings quickly divided themselves up, one following the mother and the others following Lorenz.

His brood showed no recognition of their biological mother. he noted that the process of imprinting is defined to the critical period.

long lasting effects of imprinting (Lorenz)

Lorenz believed that later in love animals with choose to mate with the same kind of object upon which they were imprinted. this is called sexual imprinting.

did Guitons research support Lorenz’s research?

Leghorn chicks were exposed to yellow rubber gloves while being fed for the first few weeks became imprinted on the gloves supporting the concept of imprinting.

there is some dispute over the characteristics of imprinting, what are they?

Guiton demonstrated how he could reverse sexual imprinting in chickens that had initially tried to mate with rubber gloves. after spending time with their own species, they were able to engage in normal sexual behaviour with other chickens.

Harry Harlow research procedure

he created two wire mothers, each with a different head. one wire mother was wrapped in a soft cloth. 8 infant monkeys were studied for 165 days. for 4 of the monkeys the milk was on the wire mother and the other 4 the milk was on the cloth mother. the amount of time spent with each mother was recorded and if the infant was scared their reactions were recorded too.

Harry Harlow research findings

all eight monkeys spent most of their time with the cloth covered mother. those that were fed by the wire mother only spent a short period of time here and returned to the cloth mother. when scared, all monkeys clung to the cloth mother for comfort and constantly kept a foot on her for reassurance.

Harry Harlow research conclusion

this suggests that infant don’t develop attachments to the person feeding the, but the person proving comfort to them.

Harry Harlow long lasting effects

some monkeys showed good socialisation skills long term but others showed signs go human depression and social withdrawal.

the two mothers differed in more ways than just being cloth or not. why is this an issue?

low internal validity as the wire monkeys had a different head and the cloth ones had a more attractive head. this means that the head might be an extraneous variable turning into a confounding one due to a lack of control

what is the issue with using animal studies to understand human behaviour

issues with extrapolation.

humans differ to animals as out behaviour is mainly driven by conscious decisions and a more complex brain network.

observations of animal attachment are often found to be mirrored in humans. Harlows research is supported by Schaffer and Emerson.

Harlows study could not be done with humans but it was also unethical for the monkeys.

monkeys were kept in isolation, this therefore causes long lasting psychological harm and making it difficult to form relationships with other monkeys. this makes them depressed and socially abnormal.

learning theory

learning theory proposes that all behaviour is learned through life.

classical conditioning in terms of attachment

the inmate stimulus is food which therefore produces the innate response of pleasure and the feelings of hunger and relieved.

the process of classical conditioning and attachment.

food = unconditioned stimulus → baby feels pleasure (unconditioned response)

mother = neutral stimulus + food → baby feels pleasure

mother = conditioned stimulus → baby feels pleasure = conditioned response

drive theory

when a baby experiences discomfort and they become driven to reduce it, the baby seeks food to reduce feelings of hungert

the process of operant conditioning in terms of attachment

when animals and babies feel discomfort, this creates a drive to reduce that discomfort.

the parents actions of feeding and cuddling the infant are positive reinforcement for the baby who will quickly learn that crying brings food and cuddles meaning that they repeat the behaviours to receive a reward and reduce discomfort.

for the parent, the cuddling and feeding switches off the infants cries of hunger which acts as the negative reinforcement so they repeat the behaviour next time the baby cries.

learning theory is based on animal studies, why is this an issue?

both pavlov and skinner assume that their results can be generalised to humans but this is not the case as human behaviour is more complex due to dynamic social lives and complex brain structure,

therefore behaviourist explanations may lack validity as they are oversimplified and machine reductionism.t

the learning theory suggests that attachment is based on food but evidence has suggested otherwise.

harlow refutes this idea and shows that sensitivity / security are more important than food.

learning theory can explain some aspects of attachment

infants do learn through conditioning but attention and responsiveness from caregivers are important rewards.

therefore, leaning theory may not provide a complete explanation

drive thirty is no longer used by psychologist for several reasons, why?

it can only explain a limited number of behaviours

people conduct behaviour to increase discomfort (like bungee jumping) but there is no explanation of how secondary reinforcers work.

therefore, in itself it doesn’t reduce the discomfort but it does reinforce as we are motivated to do things.

Bowlbys evolutionary/ monotropic theory

he rejected learning theory as an explanation for attachment. he instead looked at the work as Lorenz and Harlow for ideas and proposed an evoltionsty explanation that attachment was an inmate system that gives a survival advantage

monotropy

the baby forms a monotropic (single) attachment with the primary caregiver which is of special significance in terms of development. this is more important than any other relationship. he also states that more time spent with them the better.

social releasers

babies posses instincts/ innate behaviours such as crying. they hear to encourage attachments and are called social releasers meaning that they courage caregiving behaviours / social interactions with the primary caregiver

critical period

an attachment should form with the primary caregiver within the first 6 (usually 3) months but can form between birth and 2 and a half years. if no attachment id formed this can have dire consequences on the babies development. they will not be able to create attachments.

internal working model

babies form a mental model of expectations in a relationship. the caregiver is trustworthy / not trustworthy

continuity hypothesis

the transference of this template to future adult relationships. emotionally secure infants will develop confident / secure relationships in adulthood.

is forming an attachment critical for survival?

Bowlbys suggestion that attachments develop when the infant is older than three months is late as it is supposed to be a mechanism to protect the infants.

infants begin crawling at about 6 months and attachment is vital for their survival and this is when they begin to form attachments (in humans).

therefore, this supports bowlbys view that attachment is adaptive for survival purposes.

should the critical period be called the sensitive period instead?

if children fail to form attachments during the critical period they never will (according to Bowlby). There is likely to be a psychological impact but what about children that have been separated form their parents/caregivers after birth (for a number of reasons). some infants go on to form attachments beyond the critical period. therefore, perhaps a sensitive period is more appropriate of up to 5 years.

there is support for the continuity hypothesis

the Minnesota parent child study (2005) followed participants from infancy to late adolescence and found continuity between early attachment and later emotional and social behaviour. individuals who are classified as securely attached in infancy were highest rated for social competence later on in their childhood, were less isolates more popular and more empathetic.

therefore, this supports the continuity hypothesis as there is a link between early and later attachments.

Mary Ainsworth procedure

160 middle class American infants of 9-18 months and their mothers. they observed infanta with their mothers through a one way mirror during a set of 8 stages, particularly separation and stranger anxiety which shows an attachment has formed.

8 stages in Mary ainsworths ‘strange situation’

1. child and carer are placed in an empty room
2. child is free to explore freely (encouraged if necessary)
3. stranger enters, greets carer and attempts to play with child
4. carer leavers and child is alone with the stranger
5. the carer re-enters and the stranger leaves
6. carer leaves and the child is alone
7. stranger re-enters
8. stranger leaves and the carer re-enters

aims of the strange situation study

to see how infants behave under conditions of mild stress and novelty

issues with the ‘strange situation’ study

cultural bias - only Americans

slightly unethical - putting children under stress

they were aware that they were being observed

secure attachment

children are keen to explore, high stranger anxiety, easy to calm, enthusiastic on return to caregiver.

caregiver is sensitive to the needs of the infant

insecure avoidant attachment

infant is willing to explore, low stranger anxiety, unconcerned by separation snd avoiding contact with caregiver.

the caregiver is indifferent to needs of the infant

insecure resistant attachment

infants are unwilling to explore, high stranger anxiety, upset by separation snd seek and reject contact on return of the caregiver.

caregiver is avoidant to needs of the infant

research has found that Ainsworth overlooked a fourth attachment type.

Main and Soloman (1986) analysed over 200 ‘strange situation’ video tapes and proposed the idea of a fourth attachment style. insecure disorganised attachment style, this is characterised by consistent patterns of social behaviour, this suggests that some individuals do not a consistent type of attachment. they might move between strong attachment and then sudden avoidance of their caregiver.

this suggests that Ainsworth original conclusions were oversimplified and do not account for all attachment styles.

Ainsworths study was an observational study. what are the benefits of observational studies?

Ainsworths study was highly reliable as they used inter observer reliability meaning http someone was observing the observer and recorded their behaviour. there was a .94 agreement between the observers.

does the strange situation actually measure the attachment type or just the quality of the particular relationship?

main and Weston found that children tend to behave differently depending on which parent that are with, this reduces validity because what we are actually mastering is one relationship rather than a personal characteristic loved in the individual. However, according to Bowlbys view of montropy the attachment type is largely related to the one relationship.

in support of this idea, main (1999) assessed children (aged 9) using an attachment interview and found that attachment type seemed to be primarily influenced by the mother.

this supports Bowlbys concept of monotony which suggests that the strange situation is high with internal validity.

if attachment is a biological and inmate process then…

secure attachment would be the optimum goal for all humans regardless of cultural variation

if attachment types are different around the world then…

it would provide evidence that attachment is not determined by nature but through nurture.

Therefore, attachment would be learned and the influence of different childrearing methods and practices would be the main influence

individualistic cultures

value independence and the importance of the individual

collectivist cultures

emphasise the importance of the group and a collective

Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg meta analysis procedure

they examined the findings of 32 studies of attachment behaviour. the studies examined over 2000 strange situation replicas in 8 different countries. they were interested to see whether there were inter-cultural or intra-cutlural differences.

Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg findings

differences were small, secure attachment was the most common in every classification in every country.

insecure avoidant attachment was the next most common in every country except Isreal and Japan (classed as collectivist at the time)

Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg conclusion

global patterns around the world seem to be similar to those found in the US. secure attachment is ‘norm’ and most common in all countries. this supports the idea that secure attachment is ‘best’ for healthy social and emotional development.

cultural similarities (Tropic et al 1992)

studied an African tribe who live in an extended family group.

infants were looked after and breast fed by different women but usually slept with their own mother at night.

despite such different parenting practices, the infants still showed one primary attachment

cultural differences (Grossman and Grossman)

higher levels of insecure attachment amount German infants than other cultures.

German culture involves keeping some impersonal difference between parents and children.

therefore infants don’t engage in proximity seeking behaviours. they therefore seem insecurely attached.

cultural differences (Takahashi)

used the strange situation to study 60 middle class Japanese infants and their mothers and found similar rates of secure attachment to those found in Ainworths studies.

Japanese infants showed no signs of insecure avoidant attachment and high rates of insecure resistant attachment.

Japanese infants were particularly stressed when left alone.

was Ijendoorn and Kroonenberg actually comparing cultures?

no, they were in fact comparing countries and not cultures.

they compared Japan with the US within each country there are many different sub cultures with different childcare practices.

Tokyo = urban = similar distribution of attachment styles to western studies

whereas in rural areas there was over representation of insecure resistant attachment/

therefore, there is more variation within cultures than between cultures meaning that the term cultural variation should be used with caution.

the research method may not be valid across different cultures.

observational designs are related to cultural assumptions of the designer.

the strange situation (is American) assumes that willingness to explore is a sign of secure attachment however this isn’t always the case.

in traditional Japan, dependence would be the sign of secure attachment.

Japanese children appear insecurely attached by western standards but by Japanese standards they are securely attached.

therefore, the strange situation may lack validity in different cultures as standards for attachment are different in different cultures.

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation

Bowlby believed that infants needed more than feeding and being kept safe and warm. he thought they needed a warm, intimate and continuous relationship with the mother to ensure continuing normal mental health. he believed that if a child was separated from their mother and deprived of her emotional care for an extended duration of time during the critical period then psychological damage was highly likely.

deprivation during the critical period can lead to under development of the internal working model and can have ling term consequences on a Childs relationships and psychological development.

bowlbys 44 thieves research procedure

his sample consisted of 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing. all thieves were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy: characterised as a lack of affection, lack of guilt about actions, and a lack of empathy for their victims. the sample was compared to a control group of 44 emotionally disturbed young people who weren’t criminals.

bowlbys 44 thieves findings

those diagnosed as affectionless thieves experienced early separation from their mothers.

86% of thieves experienced frequent separations compared to 17% of the other thieves

none of the control group experienced early separations whereas 39% of all thieves experienced early separation. → this consisted of continual or repeated stays in foster homes / hospitals where the children were rarely visited by families.

Bowlbys 44 thieves conclusions

his findings suggest early separations are linked to affection less psychopaths.

a lack of continual care may cause emotional maladjustment or even mental disorder.

is it always just physical separation that is the cause or can deprivation be caused by emotional seperation?

deprivation might be due to emotional distress.

a depressed mother might be physically present but can’t provide emotional care.

research found that 55% of children of depressed mothers were insecurely attached compared to 29% in the non depressed group.

this shows that emotional separation can also lead to deprivation. however, this is socially sensitive research and might be blaming things on the mother.

deprivation may not always lead to negative outcomes but does create a vulnerability. research has supported this but how does this in turn support Bowlbys theory?

Antonia Bifulco studied women who ad experienced separation from their mothers (maternal death or separation of 1 year +)

25% later experienced depression / anxiety compared with 15% who had no experience with separation.

mental health problems were much greater in those women whose loss occurred before the age of 6.

this supports bowl byes motion of a critical period, suggesting that early childhood deprivation can lead to later vulnerability for depression and anxiety.

are all children who experience maternal deprivation likely to become under developed adults?

not all children are affected by emotional disruption in the same way.

various studies concluded:

securely attached children = cope reasonably well

insecurely attached = especially distressed

there was a study on 60 children under 4 in hospital for TB, children were only visited one a week. 63% maladjusted than normal children but there was no intellectual disruption.

Bowlby conducts that those who coped better = securely attached and more resilient. this highlights that individual differences are an important factor in examining effects of disruption

how has bowlbys research impacted the real world? can his research be considered socially sensitive?

his research had as huge impact on post war thinking about childrearing (all how they are looked after in hospitals)

James Robertson showed a 2 year old girl during an 8 day period at a hospital begging to go home.

this brought about social change in the way that children were cared for in hospital.

rutter et al research procedure (institutionalisation)

Rutter and his colleagues have followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans for many years as part of the English and Romanian adoptee study.

the orphans spent their early years in Romanian institutions and faced the effects of institutionalisation.

the orphans were then adopted by families in the uk and were tested at ages 4,6,11 and 5 to asses cognitive, social, emotional and psychical development. teachers and parents were interviewed and the children progress was compared to a group of 52 British children adopted before 6 months (the critical period)

Rutter et al research findings (institutionalisation)

at the time of adoption the Russian orphans lagged behind their British counterparts all all measures of development.

they were smaller, weighed less and were mentally challenged.

by age 4 some of them had caught up

follow ups confirmed significant deficits had remained in those adopted younger than 6 months.

those adopted after 6 months showed disorganised attachment behaviours and issues with peer relationships.

le mare and Audet study

performed a longitudinal study of 36 romanian orphans adopted in Canada. they measured physical health and growth.

they found that orphans were physically smaller at age 4 but this had disappeared by the time they were 10 and a half. this shows that health / growth can improve.

zeanah et al study

they compared 136 Romanian children who had spent 90% of their lives in an institution and compared them to Romanian children who hadn’t been in an institution. they were assessed. in a replica of the strange situation.

they found that the institutionalised children showed more signs of disinhibited attachment.

the four main effects of institutionalisation?

disinhibited attachment

poor parenting

physical underdevelopment

intellectual inderfunctioning

disinhibited attachment as an effect of institutionalisation

children don’t discriminate between who they choose as attachment figures.

they may seen inappropriately close to strangers and be attention seeking.

physical under development as an effect of institutionalisation

children are physically smaller.

this may be a result of poor nutrition

intellectual underfunctioning as an effect of institutionalisation

cognitive development is effected by emotional development

poor parenting as an effect of emotional development

when women raised in an institute were in their 20s they showed extreme difficulty acting as parents (tended to have children of their own spending time in care)

how can research into care be used to improve children care systems?

they can be applied to improving lives of children in care. by being able to bring in a cuddly/comfort toy and allowing parents to stay for overnight visits.

early adoption of babies to ensure secure attachment

therefore; babies are now adopted within the first week of birth (research shows that adoptive families can be just as securely attached as normal families)

why is using longitudinal studies a strength?

they follow the lives of children over many years.

we can therefore draw reliable conclusions about long term effects of institutionalisation

however, they take a lot of time, planning and waiting for results

could the effects of institutionalisation disappear over time if children have good quality emotional care?

yes, one finding shows that at age 11 a lower number of children have disinhibited attachment.

therefore, children may need more time to learn how to cope with relationships.

Le Mare and Audet found that physical development had also improved by age 11. Rutter offers support for the idea of a sensitive period

Hazan and Shaver love quiz procedure

they put a ‘love quiz’ in an American newspaper. the quiz asked closed answer questions about current attachment experiences and about attachment history. this identified current and childhood attachment types. it also asked about their attitudes towards love to asses their IWM.

they analysed 620 responses (205 from men and 415 from women)

Hazan and Shaver love quiz findings

attachment styles in adulthood and adult relationships were similar to those found in infancy.

56% secure, 25% insecure and 19% insecure avoidant.

there was a positive correlation between attachment and love experiences.

securely attached adults = happy, friendly, trusting, able to accept partners despite their faults.

secure relationships are often longer (10+ years) compared to 5-6 years for insecure attachments.

securely attached individuals have a positive IWM.

this suggests that your early attachment type influences your romantic relationships in adulthood