Attachment - Key words

Attachment - Key words

1. Learning theory of attachment - 1) Before conditioning food (milk) is unconditioned stimulus, which produces an unconditioned response (relief)

   • 2) Before conditioning the mother is a neutral stimulus, who produces no response
     • 3) During conditioning the baby associates the NS and UCS
       • 4) After conditioning the mother becomes a conditioned stimulus who produces a conditioned respone (relief from hunger) and the baby forms an attachment

2. Ainsworth (1971) The strange situation

   • Ainsworth's strange situation is a technique involving a controlled observation that is used to test a child's attachment patterns. In a controlled setting, the behaviour of an infant aged 12-18 months is assessed through a two-way mirror. The child is assessed in terms of behaviour towards the mother, stranger, separation anxiety and behaviour when reunited with the mother.
   • Types of attachment
     • Secure - Type B: Percentage 66%. Exploration - uses mother as a safe base. Separation anxiety - Moderate. Stranger anxiety - Moderate. Reunion behaviour - Joy on reunion
     • Insecure - Avoidant type A: Percentage 22%. Exploration - Does not use mother as a safe base. Separation anxiety - Low. Stranger anxiety - Low. Reunion behaviour - Joy on reunion
     • Insecure - Resistant Type C: Percentage - 12%. Exploration - Uncertain exploration behaviours. Separation anxiety - High. Stranger anxiety - Hot and cold. Reunion behaviour - Rejects (resists) mother on reunion

3. Bowlby's theory of attachment

   • Takes an evolutionary perspective. He argued that children are born with an innate tendency to form attachments with their parents in order to increase survival. Bowlby identifies five key criteria for the process of attachment
     • (A) Adaptive - Attachments are adaptive, they give our species an 'adaptive advantage' to survive
       • (Snap) Social releaser - Babies have social releasers, which unlock the innate tendency in adults to care for them
         • (Chat) Critical period - Babies have to form an attachment during a critical period (birth and 2.5 years old)
           • (Makes) Monotropy / (Images) internal working model - They form one special attachment with their mother, known as monotropy, and this relationship acts as a model for future relationships through an internal working model.

4. The role of the father

   • The role of the rather was not considered in early attachment theory and research, which tended to focus on mother-infant attachments. Psychologists disagree over the exact role of the father
   • Some researchers claim that men are simply not equipped to form an attachment. Such psychologists point to biological evidence which suggests that the hormone oestrogen underlies caring behaviour in women and the lack of oestrogen in men is why they are unable to form a close attachment
   • Other researchers argue that fathers do not take on a caregiver role and in fact provide a different role as a playmate. Some researchers argue that fathers can demonstrate sensitive responsiveness and respond to the needs of their children and therefore can form a strong emotional bond

5. Caregiver-infant interactions

   • Caregiver-infant interactions are the behaviours shown between a caregiver (typically a parent) and a child that help attachments to develop and be maintained. There are two clear types:
     • Reciprocity - Which is where an infant responds to the actions of another person. With reciprocity the actions of one person (e.g the primary caregiver) elicit a response from the other (e.g the infant)
       • Interactional synchrony - Which is where an infant mirrors the actions of another person eg their facial expressions and body movements - moving their body in tune with the rhythm of their carer