Flashcards
Attachment
Cards in this deck (37)
- 1Sensitive responsivenessThe caregiver responds appropriately to signals from the infant
- 2Meltzoff and Moore (1977)Found that infants between 2 and 3 weeks of age appeared to imitate the facial expressions and hand movements of the experimenter
- 3Interactional synchronyInfacts react in time with the caregiver's speech, resulting in a 'conversation dance'
- 4ReciprocityTurn-taking
Interaction flows back and forth between the caregiver and infant - 5MothereseThe slow, high-pitched way of speaking to infants
There is no evidence that this strengthens attachment - 6Schaffer and Emerson's (1964) stages of attachmentPre-attachment (asocial) phase
Indiscriminate (diffuse) attachment phase
Discriminate (single) attachment phase
Multiple attachment phase - 7Pre-attachment (asocial) phaseDuring the first 0 to 3 months of life, the baby learns to differentiate people from objects but have no preference to who cares for them
- 8Indiscriminate (diffuse) attachment phaseBetween 6 weeks and 7 months the infant starts to clearly distinguish and recognise different people, smiling more at people they know rather than at strangers, yet there are still no strong preferences for who cares for them
- 9Discriminate (single) attachment phaseFrom seven to eleven months the infant forms a strong attachment with an individual shown by being content when that person is around, distressed when they leave and happy when they return
The infant may be scared of strangers and avoid them - 10Multiple attachment phaseFrom about nine months the infant can form attachments to several people, though some attachments may be stronger than others and have different functions (e.g. play or comfort)
There doesn't seem to be a limit to the number of attachments - 11Schaffer and Emerson (1964)60 babies were observed in their homes in Glasgow every four weeks from birth to about 18 months; the families were also interviewed
At 8 months old about 50 of the infants had more than one attachment
About 20 of the infants either had no attachment to their mother or a stronger attachment with someone else even though the mother was the primary caregiver
After 18 months, approximately 32% of the babies had at least five attachments
About half the babies' primary attachment was their mother, a third preferred their father and the rest had the strongest attachment with grandparents or siblings - 12Evaluation of Schaffer and Emerson's (1964) studyLots of evidence
Limited sample
Collected qualitative data - 13Geiger (1996)A mother's relationship is primarily nurturing and caring but a father's relationship is more focused around play
- 14Ross et al. (1975)Showed that the number of nappies a father changed was positively correlated to the strength of their attachment
- 15Lorenz (1935)Found that geese automatically attach to the first moving thing they see during a critical period of 13 to 16 hours after hatching by splitting a clutch of greylag goose eggs into a group to be incubated and a group to stay with the mother
- 16Harlow (1959)Rhesus monkeys were raised in isolation with two 'surrogate' mothers, one made of wire mesh holding a feeding bottle and the other made of cloth without a feeding bottle
The infant monkeys formed more of an attachment with the mother providing comfort: they spent most of the time clinging to the cloth mother and would only use the wire mother for food
The monkeys grew up with affected development, showing signs of social and emotional disturbance; the females were bad mothers who were often violent towards their offspring - 17Evaluation of Harlow's (1959) studyStrict control of variables
Ungeneralisable results
Lack of ecological validity
Ethics
Unreproducible - 18Harlow and Zimmerman (1959)Monkeys would cling to the cloth mother before exploring a fearful stimulus
If the monkey only had a wire mother they would freeze or run wildly around the cage
This suggested that a strong attachment with a primary caregiver is important in the development of an infant - 19Harlow and Sumoi (1970)When the monkeys were placed with a cloth mother with food and a cloth mother without food, they preferred the one with food, suggesting food may still be a significant factor in developing attachments
- 20Evaluation of Lorenz's (1935) studyInfluenced other research
Ungeneralisable - used precocial species (have their eyes open and can walk straight from birth) - 21Classical conditioning for attachmentThe baby's natural desire for food is fulfilled whenever their mother is around to feed them so an association is formed between the mother and food
- 22Operant conditioning for attachment - Dollard and Miller (1950)Babies are negatively reinforced to associate their mother with food because the mother can remove the discomfort they feel when they're hungry
- 23Evaluation of learning theory for attachmentLots of scientific support (e.g. Baby Albert)
Reductionist
Heavily based off animal research
Contrasts other theories of attachment, such as Schaffer and Emerson (1964) - 24Bowlby's (1951) monotropic theoryWe have evolved a biological need to form one main attachment (monotropy), usually to our mother, through natural selection to ensure the survival of the child to maturity
- 25Bowlby's (1951) internal working modelForming an infant attachment gives us a template for all future relationships
It is a working model because it can change and develop over time, depending on how the person's relationships change - 26Continuity hypothesisThe primary caregiver provides the foundations for the child's future relationships
- 27Bowlby's (1951) critical period of attachmentThe first three years of life where an attachment must be formed to avoid damaging a child's social and emotional development
- 28Bowlby's (1953) maternal deprivation hypothesisIf the relationship between the primary caregiver and infant is broken during the critical period, there are long-term consequences
- 29Evaluation of Bowlby's (1951, 1953) workNot supported by Schaffer and Emerson (1964) among other theories
Mixed evidence of a critical period
Economic implications - more mothers stayed at home after - 30Secure attachmentThere's a strong bond between the child and the caregiver
Upon separation, the infant becomes distressed (separation anxiety) but when reunited, the child is easily comforted by the caregiver
Doesn't tend to get stranger anxiety - 31Insecure-avoidant attachmentUpon separation, the child doesn't become particularly distressed and they can usually be comforted by a stranger
Usually found in children who generally avoid social interaction and intimacy with others - 32Insecure-resistant attachmentThe child is often uneasy around the caregiver but becomes upset when they're separated (separation anxiety)
Comfort can't be given by strangers (stranger anxiety) but is usually also resisted from the caregiver
Usually shown by children who both accept and reject social interaction and intimacy - 33Ainsworth et al.'s (1978) strange situationThe reactions of several 12-18 month infants were observed as they were exposed to eight different scenarios (e.g. alone, baby & stranger, baby & mother)
15% of the infants were insecure-avoidant (type A), about 70% were securely attached (type B) and about 15% were insecure-resistant (type C) - 34Evaluation of Ainsworth et al.'s (1978) strange situationGood control of variables
Poor ecological validity
Potential social desirability bias and demand characteristics
Assumes mother as primary caregiver - 35Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)A meta-analysis of 32 studies of the strange situation from different countries (including Japan, Britain, Sweden, etc.) found that the percentages of children classified as secure or insecure were similar across the countries but the difference was more prominent within the countries, such as differences in the distribution of insecure attachments
Western cultures had more insecure-avoidant children (highest was Germany) whereas in non-Western cultures had more insecure-resistant children (highest was Japan) - 36Evaluation of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg's (1988) studyAssumes all cultures follow the same types of attachments
Can hide individual results that show an unusual trend
A lot of the studies were from America or Britain - 37—
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- A level Psychology Flashcards on Attachment, created by Emma KEMP on 17/03/2020.
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- Emma KEMP
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