Attachment

Attachment

1. An emotional bond between two people in which each seeks closeness and feels more secure when in the presence of the attachment figure.

2. Care giver infant interactions

   • David Messer said that parents will employ basic strategies such as focusing their communications to the child on objects of current interests meaning the child interacts with the communication.
   • Russell Isabelle found that securely attached mother-infant pairs were those who had shown more instances of interactional synchrony in home observations during the first year. This has high ecological validity and is reliable.
   • Reciprocity is an interactive condition where 2 individuals mutually respond to eachother while performing activities together. The essence ismtual exchange for example positive behaviour from the infant will follow by the same from the mother
     • It influences the child's physical, social and cognitive development becoming the basis fordevelopment of basic trust or mistrust and shapes how the child will relate to the world, learn and for relationships throughout life.
   • Interactional Synchrony is a type of interaction between parent and child in which they share a mutual focus show plenty of reciprocity until they are responsive to each thers cues.
   • Schaffer and Emerson
     • Aim: investigate the formation of early attachments in particular the age at which they developed, their emotional intensity and to whom they were directed.
     • 60 babies all from Glasgow and skilled working class families. Home visits for babies monthly for the first year. Mothers got asked questions about the kind of protest their baby showed in 7 everyday separations to measure separation anxiety. Stranger anxiety (the infants response to unfamiliar adults) got measured.
     • Asocial Stage-first few weeks- Baby is making bonds with carers however its behaviour towards non-human objects and humans is similar but show some preference for familiar adults and those individuals find it easier to calm them.
     • Indiscriminate stage-2-7 months- preference for people rather than objects and familiar ones. Accept cuddles and comfort from any adult and don't show much separation anxiety or stranger anxiety. Its indiscriminate as its not different from one person.
     • Specific Attachment-7 months- anxiety to strangers and separation from 1 particular adult.
     • Multiple Attachments-10-12 months- baby gets attached to more than 1 person
     • Results are that 25-30 weeks 50% of babies showed signs of separation anxiety towards a particular adult usually their mother (specific attachment). Attachment was usually given to the carer who was most interactive and sensitive to their feelings not necessarily the one who spent the most time with them. At 40 weeks 80% of babies had a specific attachment and almost 30% displayed multiple attachments.
     • Was generalizable because there were equal genders but it wasn't because they were all from Glasgow and all from similar socio-economic backgrounds.
     • Wasn't reliable as the mothers were trusted and the babies homes were different.
     • Application for people working in day care and to parents.
     • There is external ecological validity as its their own homes but demand characteristics may have occurred.
     • May be considered unethical as could cause distress for the baby and informed consent only from the mother.
   • Role of the Father
     • Grossman did a longitudinal study looking at both parents behaviour and its relationship to the quality of childrens attachments into their teens. Only the mothers attachment mattered however the quality of fathers play with infants was related to the quality of adolescent attachments suggesting fathers have more to do with play and stimulation and less to do with nurturing.
     • Tiffany Field filmed a 4 month old babies face to face interaction with mothers and fathers primary caregiver fathers like the mothers spent more time smiling and holding the infants that secondary fathers which is behaviour that is important in building attachments.

3. Harlow

   • Aim: to study the mechanisms by which new-born monkeys bond with their mothers.
   • Put monkeys in 2 cages. One with a wired mother giving milk and one with a soft mother giving milk. Both spent time with the soft mother even though she had no milk and would turn to her if they got scared which supports the evolutionary theory of attachment that states that the baby wants sensitive response and security in the carer.
   • The monkeys that were brought up without the soft mother were more timid, had more social skills, were easily bullied and the girls became inadequate mother.
   • In conclusion for a monkey to develop normally they must have some interaction with something they can cling onto during their first few months otherwise they suffered from social deprivation.
   • Cant be completely generalised as they are monkeys not humans.
   • High in reliability as in a lab.
   • Application could be that parents/social services/schools could use this.
   • Not ecologically valid as it was in a lab.
   • Unethical as caused emotional harm, depression and anxiety.

4. Lorenz

   • Took geese eggs and kept them till they were about to hatch. Half were placed under the mother and half were next to him
   • When they hatched Lorenz quacked and the birds regarded him as their mother and followed him. The geese follow the first moving object they see during the 12-17 period. This is imprinting and suggests that attachment is innate and programmed genetically.
   • Imprinting occurs without feeding and if not attachment happens in 32 hours. If not it probably never will.
   • He put all the babies in a box opened it and half followed him and half followed the mother.

5. Explanations of Attachment

   • The learning theory says all behaviour is learnt and we are not born with it and it doesn't depend on genetic factors and learning in the result of two types of conditioning.
     • Classical
     • Operant