Flashcards
psychology- attachment
Cards in this deck (37)
- 1define attachment-the formation of a strong reciprocal emotional bond between the infant and the care giver.
- 2behaviours which show attachmentproximity seeking, separation anxiety, and pleasure when reunited with care giver.
- 3Schaffer and Emerson-done a longitudinal study with 40 infants from Glasgow and observed their interactions with carers monthly for approx. 1 year. they measured levels of attachment through separation anxiety.
- 4findings of schaffer and emerson-findings showed that first attachments formed between 6-8 months and stranger anxiety starts soon after. infants start to form other attachments soon after and are attached most to the responsive adult, not the one who fed them.
- 5evaluation of schaffer and emerson-sample was from Glasgow so findings cannot be generalised to wider population. cultural factors may have influenced attachment. parents completed questionnaires so therefore could be influenced by social desirability. high ecological validity as observations were carried out in natural environment.
- 6bowlby's theory of attachment-attachment is a behaviour that has evolved due to its survival value. children were born to become attached to a care giver. attachment Is innate. attachment develops best in the sensitive period (6-9 month). if it develops later, it becomes more difficult. infants are born with social releasers- characteristics which elicit care giving. the child forms various attachments however, the first primary attachment is qualitatively different from later attachments, this is known as 'monotropy' - this attachment must be formed as a template for later attachment.
- 7evaluation of bowlby's theory of attachment- strengths.-1. Lorenz's research on goslings support the view that imprinting is innate. Lorenz showed that goslings become attached the first moving object they see instead of their real mother- this is imprinting.
2. hodges and tizard found that children who had formed no attachment had difficulties with attachments with peers later. this supports bowlby's idea of the critical period.
3. Harlow's study found that monkeys form an attachment with the comforting dummy mother rather than the one who fed it which suggests that attachment is innate and not learnt. - 8evaluation of bowlby's theory- weaknesses-1. however, schaffer and emerson found that children can form multiple attachments rather than single attachments which challenges bowlby's monotropy theory.
2. Hodge's and tizard found that children that have been adopted after 4 yrs of age can still attach to new parents which contradicts bowlby's critical period. - 9maternal deprivation hypothesis- bowlby's theoryif a child does not form an primary attachment within the critical period (monotropy) or if the attachment is disrupted it is likely t o result in serious long term developmental consequences later in life.
- 10continuity hypothesis- bowlbya relationship which acts as a template for future relationships.
hazan and shaver supported this as they showed that attachment in early childhood can often predict the types of relationships in adulthood. - 111. the learning theory of attachment-attachment, like any other behaviour is learnt through the environment through conditioning. states that infants become attached to whoever satisfies their biological drive for food.
- 12learning theory suggests...that attachment is learnt througj classical and operant conditioning. according to classical conditioning, food (UCS) provides pleasure (UCR). the mother is associated with food and becomes the conditioned stimulus. according to operant conditioning, food satisfies hunger and makes the infant feel comfortable, therefore food is a primary reinforcer. the mother is associated with food and becomes secondary reinforcer. the mother is seen as a source of reward.
- 13describe learning theory--classical conditioning- the infant associates the person who feeds them with the pleasure of being fed and being satisfied.
operant conditioning- the infant is born with social releasers and seeks care and food through crying so crying is reinforced.
carer is neutral stimulus which is paired with the unconditioned stimulus. after pairing, the carer becomes the conditioned stimulus and feeling of comfort becomes conditioned response. - 14evaluation of learning theory1. states child is attached to the caregiver who feeds it however Shaffer and Emerson found that child is attached to the most responsive caregiver not necessarily the one who feeds them.
2. harlows monkeys also showed that monkeys were attached to the most responsive 'wire mother' not the mother who had the food. however,
this study cannot be generalised to humans - 15strange situation- Ainsworthsample= 100 middle class America participants.
controlled observation.
infant observed for; stranger anxiety, separation anxiety, reunion behaviour, willingness to explore. - 16describe stages of the strange situation1. mother and child are introduced to the room and left alone so the child can explore.
2. a stranger enters the room and talks with the mother.
3. the stranger tries to interact with child
4. mother leaves the room and stranger tries to interact with child.
5. mother returns to greet and comfort the child.
6. the child is left on its own
7. stranger returns to comfort the child.
8. mother returns, stranger leaves. - 17Strange situation findings-Secure attachment- explores unfimiliar room, upset when mother leaves. But greets her positively when she returns.
Insecure avoidant- did not approach the mother during exploration and is unconcerned about her absence and ignored her when returned.
Insecure resistant- showed intense distress when mother leaves but rejected her when she returns, showed ambivalent behaviour to mother and stranger. - 18evaluation of strange situation-participants were American therefore we cannot generalise the findings to wider population. it was unethical as it put the baby under distress. the study took place in a lab so extraneous variables were controlled and therefore it is replicable. the situation reflected real life situations.
- 19different types of attachment-secure attachment- shows slight anxiety when caregiver departs but easily comforted when she returns. can independently play and explore and is wary of the stranger.
insecure avoidant- infant shows indifference when care giver departs and avoids caregiver when they return. unconcerned about stranger and doesn't show preference for mother over the stranger.
insecure resistant attachment- infants intensely distressed when caregiver departs, rushes to caregiver when she returns but isn't easily comforted. resists contact with caregiver, seeks comfort but rejects it at the same time. - 20reasons for the different types of attachment-responsiveness of the caregiver- securely attached children have responsive and sensitive caregivers whereas insecurely attached have insensitive care givers that ignore them.
temperament hypothesis- suggests that some children for secure attachments because they are innately more friendly that others. - 21why do we carry out cross cultural studies of attachment?to find out if attachment varies within cultures- two types of cultures-
collectivists- emphasis is on group effort and cooperation e.g. japan where dependency is highly valued.
individualists- emphasis is on personal achievement- more independent e.g. USA. - 22outline/describe research into cultural variation- van ijzendoom & Krooneberg.much of the research used the strange situation. van ijzendoom and Krooneberg conducted a meta analysis to see whether secure/insecure attachment was the same proportion in all cultures. his sample was 12% collectivists culture and 88% indivualist culture. found that secure attachment was the most common attachment across all culture studies. lowest percentage of secure attachment was found in china and highest found in great Britain. avoidant attachment was more common in Germany but rare in Israel and japan.
- 23evaluation of VI&krooneberg-sample was biased towards individualists society.
the childrens behaviour may have been due to socialisation differences.
the strange situation was carried out by a different team of psychologists so we cannot be sure if they were all carried out the same way. - 24define separation, deprivation, and privation-separation- occurs when child is separated from primary caregiver for a short time.
deprivation- attachment bond is formed but later broken on a long term basis.
privation- is when a child does not form an attachment with a significant person. - 25effects of separation from primary caregiver-protest - crying, panicking and calling for the carer.
despair- after a few days the child loses interest in its surroundings and becomes withdrawn.
detachment- after a few more days the child recovers however relationship with carer might have been permanently damaged. - 26study showing effects of separation and deprivation.Robertson- natural study.
john (17 months) stayed 9 days in a residential nursery. nurses did not respond to his attention seeking behaviour. under stress of separation from his mother, strange food and surroundings, he eventually stopped playing, became withdrawn and stopped eating (despair) visits from his father failed to relieve his anxiety. when reunited with his mother he screamed and struggled and was not easily comforted. (detachment) - 27findings of Robertson studyRobertson- fostered children on a short term basis and was responsive, didn't disturb their routine and maintained contact with caregiver.
she concluded that child's ability to cope with separation depended on age of child, quality of attachment with primary care giver and quality of care with substitute care giver - 28describe bowlby's deprivation hypothesis-monotropy- child has to have attachment to one main figure.
development of this attachment must continue during the critical period. if attachment is disrupted or broken, it can cause child to suffer irreversible, long term consequences. - 29evaluation of deprivation hypothesis-Robertson's study supports bowlby's theory as it shows how short term deprivation can have a big affect on the child.- applied in real life situations.
PDD shows clear measures.
separation between caregiver and infant should be avoided. children should be allowed to stay with care giver in hospital. bowlby's theory doesn't take into account the quality of the substitute care given. - 30effects of institutionalisation- Hodges and tizardinstitution is somewhere where children are placed in a caring home where their parents cant care for them and they are cared for by other staff (orphanages). Hodges and tizard researched institutionalisation by studying 65 infants at the age of 4 months who had been placed in an institution. by the age of 4, 24 were adopted, 15 returned to original home and rest remained in the institution.
findings= children who were adopted had good family relationships and close attachment. however, restored children had poor relationships. both groups poor peer relationships.
evaluation = longitudinal study so showed long term affects. a weakness was lack of control of extraneous variables as other factors could effect them. Also, the method of collecting data was interview so it could be influenced by social desirability. - 31privation to form an attachment with a significant person- case study -genie, Curtis,
was discovered at the age of 13, she was kept in a dark isolated room, beaten, and malnourished. when discovered, she was given extensive education and support however her language did not develop normally and neither did her social development. suggests the long term irreversible affects of privation.
evaluation- it was a case study so these findings cannot be generalised. Also, genie may have been born with an undiagnosed disability which caused her abnormal behaviour. - 32privation- case study- Czech twinskoluchova- Czech twins-
the mother died and father remarried. step mother had no interest in them and were abused and malnourished and kept in bad conditions. when discovered at age 7 they were physically and mentally retarded. they couldn't stand up properly or walk. and had poor language skills.
findings- they were later fostered by sisters and by age 15- they had normal speech, IQ and emotional state improved greatly which shows they made recovery and effects of privation aren't permanent.
evaluation- it was a case study so cannot be generalised. unlike genie, twins had each other so they may have formed a bond with each other during critical period which means they didn't really suffer from privation. - 33define day caretemporary care for a child provided by someone other than his/her parent- can impact child's social development in various ways.
- 34day care- research on aggression=NICHD- 2001
aim- establish effects of day care on children's development.
longitudinal study. sample of 1000 American children from different backgrounds. parents and children assessed regularly.
they found children who spend longer time in day care, the more adults rated them as assertive, disobedient and aggressive.
conclusion- children in full time day care were more likely to show behaviour problems. - 35rutter et al: institutionalisation/privation- Romanian orphanage-many children were found in overcrowded Romanian orphanages- although taken care of, they didn't form a attachment with a significant person. some orphans were adopted by British families before the age of 6 months and after age of 6 months. rutter et al assessed these children at different ages of their life after adoption (4,6,11) and found those adopted before 6 months developed normally with British family with attachment bond however those older that 6 months showed weak attachments and had problems forming peer relationships. found that privation can be overcomed if attachment is formed before 6 months.
supports bowlby's theory of critical period. - 36can children recover from institutionalisation and privation? factors:quality of care in institution- important to develop an attachment with staff in institution during 6-8 months.
age of child when removed from institution/privation- if removed when young (like Romanian orphans) they tend to make better development than those who experience it for longer.
quality of care after privation= likely to show better development if they are placed in a loving and supportive environment. - 37day care and peer relationshipsClarke- studied 150 children attending school for the first time who had previously attended day care. children who attended nursery's could cope better In social situations and were better at interacting with peers compared to those looked after in family settings.
however, bolsky and bovine found that children who received 20 hrs or more of day care per week were more likely to be insecurely attached compared to those raised at home and therefore be less successful in peer relationships.
shea found that the group that attended day care 5 times a week rather than group that attended only 2 times a week showed increase social skills and were less aggressive.
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- AS level psychology Flashcards on psychology- attachment, created by m.siddika98 on 20/04/2015.
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