Flashcards
Psychology attachment
Cards in this deck (28)
- 1Caregiver-infant interactionReciprocity: occurs when each person responds to the other and elicits responses.
From 3+ months the interaction is frequent and involves close attention to facial expressions
Interactions synchrony: people carry out the same action at the same time. Is important for development of infant-mother interaction. - 2Evaluation• Lowered validity- during observations it's difficult to know if interactions have special meaning.
• increased validity as research is conducted under controlled conditions.
• the research tends to have standardised procedure.
• makes women feel as though they shouldn't return to work after birth (sexism) - 3Schaffers stages of attachment1. Asocial- up to 6 weeks.
2. Indiscriminate attachment- 6 weeks to 6 months. No fear of strangers
Step 3: specific attachment- 7 months +. Separation anxiety shown when primary attachment figure leaves.
Step 4: multiple attachments- 10-11 months+. Firms multiple attachments. - 4Evaluation-Most research is self report based so mothers could lie about their infants behaviour. (Lack validity)
- difficult to test asocial stage is too young to have good coordination.
-collectivist cultures argue babies form multiple attachments from the outset .
- reduced validity as the experiment doesn't distinguish between an attachment figure and a playmate. - 5Schaffer and EmersonLongitudinal study 60 babies, monthly intervals for 18 months, Glasgow w/c families.
50% babies showed signs of separation anxiety. By 40 weeks of age 80% had a specific attachment and almost 30% displayed attachments. - 6Animal studies - Lorenz (1952)• took a large clutch of goose eggs and kept them until hatching.
• half put under goose mother, half with him.
Found geese follow the first moving object they see for 12-17 hr critical period.
This process known as imprinting and suggests that attachment is innate. - 7Animal studies- Harlow's monkeysReared 16 baby monkeys with two wire model mothers.
1. Milk dispensed through plain wire mum
2. Milk from cloth covered.
Found monkeys cuddled cloth mother when scared. Shows that contact comfort was more important than food - 8Evaluation of both- as studies are on animals cannot generalise.
- ethical issues, deliberate separation of mother and babies.
+ good opportunity to study attachment as it'd be unethical to do so on humans.
+ high validity as both were controlled - 9Learning theoryClassical conditioning- learning through association.
Operant conditioning- learning through reinforcement and punishment - 10ConditioningEnter text here...
- 11Evaluation-theory is reductionist. Ignores any evolutionary basis for attachment.
- learning theory based on animal research so lacks generalisability.
- high internal validity as studies controlled.
- application to real life eg. Education and psychiatric hospitals. - 12Bowlbys monotropic theory• adaptive- attachments are innate and promote survival.
• social releasers- babies have social releasers- unlock the innate tendency of adults to care for them. These are physical e.g. Baby face.
• monotropy- infants have an innate tendency to form on special attachment with primary figure.
• sensitive period- 0-5 years to form an attachment. If not then child is damaged for life
• internal working model- children develop a mental scheme for relationships. - 13Evaluation- Lorenz shows attachment is innate and adaptive.
- an application is changes to adoption procedure
- did not distinguish between deprivation and privation.
- theory is sexists and out-dated as it makes mothers feel as if they have to stay at home. - 14Ainsworth strange situation1. Mother and infant enter room
2. Stranger enters room
3. Stranger attempts to interact with infant
4. Mother leaves
5. Mother returns and stranger leaves
6. Mother leaves
7. Stranger re-enters and tries to play
8. Mother returns and stranger leaves - 15Strange situation findingsSecure attachment:70% , distressed when mother leaves. Happy when mother returns. Little stranger anxiety.
Insecure-ambivalent: 15%, intense distress, fearful of stranger, avoids contact with mother on reunion
Insecure avoidant: 15%, no distress when mother leaves, shows little interest on reunion, not avoidant of stranger.
Concludes there are individual differences in attachment - 16Evaluation- may only be measuring the temperament of a child not a parents caring style.
- cause babies distress
- it is culturally bound
- high reliability - 17Cultural variations- simonella et alStudy in Italy to test attachment types. 76, 12 month old babies. 50% secure 36% insecure avoidant. Researchers suggests this may be because more mothers are working longer hours and use professional childcare.
- 18Grossman(1985)Found 49% of children in Germany had type A attachments and that this was the most common attachment type.
- 19Evaluation- the results could be due to the temperament of the babies not a sign of insecure attachment.
-low generalisability as it's a comparison of countries not cultures
- researchers may interpret behaviour from different cultures differently so reduced validity. - 20Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivationDeprivation: disruption of attachment because of separation from primary attachment figure for a period of time.
• argued that the continuous presence of a mother was important in psychological development.
Believed separation during first 30 months of childhood would lead to mental retardation.
Believed it led to people becoming affectionless psychopaths. - 21Evaluation+ bowlbys 44 juvenile thieves supports.
- bowlby may have interpreted the study so that it would fit into his theory so reduced validity.
- the theory is sexist. Makes mothers feel like they have to stay at home
+ helped developed day care so has application - 2244 juvenile thievesTo see if teenage criminals who displayed affectionless psychopathy were more likely to have had an early separation.
Interviewed their families to find out if there had been prolonged separation.
He found that 12/14 had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers in the first two years.
This shows prolonged separation led to serious emotional disruption later in life. - 23Evaluation- the study uses retrospective self-report data so may lack validity
- difficult to establish cause and affect as not carried out in controlled conditions.
- sample was just boys so low generalisability
+ application as children are now assigned to a key worker in day care. - 24Romanian orphan studiesPrivation: refers to the failure to form an attachment due to lack of emotional needs such as love or physical needs. Can be due to neglect, loss of parent or raised in institutions.
Effects of institutionalisation:
-disinhibited attachment: where children become equally friendly to stranger and people they know well.
-mental retardation: low IQs. - 25Rutter et al (2011)Followed 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain to see if good care could reverse earlier experiences.
Physical, emotional and cognitive development was assessed at 4,6,11 and 15 years old. A group of 52 adopted British children served as a control group.
Looked at children: - adopted before 6 months
- between 6 months and 2 years
- after the age of two - 26Rutter findingsWhen first arriving in the U.K. the adoptees showed signs of mental retardation. The average IQ of these adopted before 6 months was 102 compared to 86 for 6 month to 2 yr and 77 of after 2 years.
Children adopted after 6 months showed signs of disinhibited attachment.
• concluded that good quality care can reduce effects of institutionalisation when given at early age. - 27Zeanah et al (2005)Assessed attachment in 95 kids aged 21-31 months. Compared to a control group of 50 who never lived in an institution.
• 74% of control group was securely attached. 19% of the institutional group were securely attached. 65% had disorganised attachment. - 28Evaluation of both studies.-high ecological validity.
- Romanian orphanages are particularly poor so lacks generalisability
- rutters study was longitudinal so eliminates individual differences.
- has application, has enhanced our understanding of the effects of institutionalisation and have led to improvements in the way children are cared for.
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- AS level Psychology Flashcards on Psychology attachment , created by Billy Revell on 11/05/2017.
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- Billy Revell
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