Attachment

Attachment

1. attachment: strong emotional bond formed between intent and their primary caregiver

   • caregiver infant interactions
     • sensitive responsiveness:the caregiver responds to signals given from the infant
     • imitation: the infant mimics the actions of caregiver
     • interactional synchrony: the infant reacts in time to the speech
     • reciprocity: back and forth interaction
     • motherese: the caregiver adopts a slow sing-like talking
   • melzoff and Moore: showed a baby reaction in real time response to caregiver
     • not many studies could recreate the findings
     • individual differences: there are variables between infants (interactional synchrony)
     • formed on the basis of social development
   • SCHAFFER AND EMERSON (1960s)
     • Asocial phase (0-3 months): defrentiate humans from inanimate objects but don't desplay feelings towards who provides for it
     • indiscriminate attachment (6 weeks to 7 months): the baby is able to distinguish between different people and may display different signals to people
     • discriminate attachment (7- 11 months): infant becomes able to form a singe strong attachment. may become scared of strangers and show specific signals to caregiver
     • multiple attachment (9 months +): infant can form multiple concurred attachments which can be different in strength and function

2. animal studies

   • LORENZO (1935)
     • imprinting: found that newly born geese formed an attachment to the first moving thing and followed it around endlessly
       • happens 6-12 minutes after birth
         • after this imprinting cannot accrue
     • made two groups one born naturally and the other incubated
     • incubated geese still followed adult geese
     • ethical issues as animals can't provide informed consent
     • unlikely to happen in humans and if it does it take longer and depends on care
     • proved by other studies
   • HARLOW (1959)
     • whether monkeys preferred a source of nutrient of physical comfort
     • monkeys where raised in isolation
     • spent most time with soft cloth surrogate and only went to hard wire to obtain food
       • comfort over physical needs
     • showed signs of severe psychological disturbance
     • ethical issues
     • limited ecological validity
     • experiment couldn't be repeated
     • warned more then being cloth covered or not

3. learning theory

   • attachment forms through the process of conditioning
     • classical conditioning:the gradual processor making connections between two things in our environment
     • operant conditioning: having a response to a need e.g feeling hungry when we haven't eaten
       • caregiver removes discomfort so attachment forms as they are known for that
   • BOWLEYS THEORY (1951)
     • humans have a sofisticated way of imprinting as we have an evolutionary need to form a attachment
       • without attachment its likely infant wouldn't survive
       • Monotrophy: form a single attachment as infants
         • gives a template for all future attachments
     • if attachment is distruspted all attachment will be in the future
     • Schaffer and emersons theory discourages this
   • SKINNERS BOX

4. types of attachment

   • secure: strong attachment, usual a permanent bond
     • if caregiver removed infant becomes distressed but is easily calmed
   • insecure-avoidance: attachments are weaker
     • usually not distressed by removal of caregiver and can be comforted by strangers
   • insecure-resistance: complex attachment
     • infant usually uneasy around caregiver but not distressed when caregiver removed
   • AISENWORTHS STRANGE SITUATION
     • where the infant is placed in a situation which is new to them and their primary caregiver is removed
     • the nature and strength of an attachment can be judged from how the infant reacts tot he situation
     • found that around 70% where securely attached. content without caregiver and happy when with them
     • 15% insecure avoidance. ignored mothers and where indifferent when mother left and came back
     • 15% insecure resistance. uneasy around mother and uneasy when she left. couldn't be comforted
     • CULTURAL VARIATIONS KROONBERG
       • cross-culture similarities in how children are raised and how attachment is formed
       • meta-anylasis
       • there may be some differences in attachment is formed these are thought to be a result of cultural norms

5. disrupting attachment

   • seperation: when a child is away from their primary caregiver for a fairly short period of time
   • deprivation: when something wanted or needed is removed on a permanent basis
   • 44 JUVINEILLE THEIVES BOWLEY
     • examined the background and infancy of 44 young criminals and found their was a link between childhood deprivation and criminality
     • wasn't enough to keep child well fed but caregiver needed to be warm and loving
     • critical period: only will have an affect up to the age of 2
   • reductionist as bowler didn't consider other factors e.g poverty

6. institutionalisation

   • ROMANIAN ORTHAN STUDIES RUTTER (2010)
     • 111 where adopted before the age of 2 and 54 after 5
     • adoptions where monitored on cognitive and social development
     • compared to 52 children adopted in the uk before the age of 6 months
     • Romanian orthan lagged behind the British
     • suggests that the long term consequences aren't as extreme
     • privation: when a attachment never forms at all
     • child over 6 months can remove privation while order cannot
   • disrupting attachment
     • lead to dwarfism child physically undeveloped
     • affection less
     • depression: child shows slow social development
     • delinquency
     • reduced intelligence

7. the internal working model

   • HAZAN AND SHAVER
     • used a series of questions to examine how the relationship of 620 people had with their parents influenced their later relationship
     • found a correlation between insecure resistance and insecure avoidance childhood relationships and expectations of adult relationships