Attachment

Attachment

1. Learning theory

   • Dollard and Miller
   • Attachment is learned
     • Operant conditioning= consequence
     • Classical conditioning= association
   • Provides an adequate explanation
   • Assumes food creates attachment
     • Harlow's monkeys
   • Schaffer and Emerson- infants bonded with quality time

2. Evolutionary theory

   • Bowlby
   • ASSCMI
     • Adaptive
     • Sensitive period
     • Social releasers
     • Continuity hypothesis
     • Monotropy
     • Internal working model
   • Lorenz- imprinting
   • Sensitive period- Hodges and Tizard
     • No attachment=peer difficulties
   • Harlow's monkeys
   • Sroufe et al
     • Continuity found
   • Rutter thinks multiple attachments
   • Temperament hypothesis
     • Shapes mothers responsiveness

3. The strange situation

   • Ainsworth 1969
   • Tested four key areas
     • 1)Use of secure base
     • 3)Separation anxiety
     • 2)Stranger anxiety
     • 4)Reunion behaviour
   • 106 middle class infants
   • Found 3 key attachment types
   • Secure (B)
     • 1) high 2) high 3) some soothed 4) happy
   • Avoidant (A)
     • 1) high 2) low 3) indifferent 4) avoids
   • Resistant (C)
     • 1) low 2) high 3) distressed 4) seeks and rejects
   • Composed of 8 situations

4. Cultural variations

   • Similarities
     • Ainsworth Uganda
     • Fox- Israeli kibbutzim
     • Tronick et al- Efe
   • Differences
     • Grossmann and Grossmann- Germany
     • Takahashi- Japan
   • Evaluation
     • Van IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg
       • Secure is 'norm'
     • Rothbaum et al
       • Culture bias

5. Privation

   • Attachment disorder
     • No preferred attachment figure
     • Lack of empathy
     • Severe neglect
     • Inhibited/disinhibited
   • Deprivation dwarfism
     • Gardner
     • Feeding tube= no touching= stunted
   • The Czech twins
   • Genie

6. Institutionalisation

   • Spitz and Wolf
     • Severe depression
   • Skeels and Dye
     • Performed badly on IQ tests
   • Quinton et al
     • Women later had difficulties parenting
   • Hodges and Tizard
     • Ex-institutional children has difficulties with peers and didn't have a special friend
   • Rutter et al
     • Romanian orphans adopted after 6 months= disinhibited