attachment

• What is reciprocity


  responding to each others signals and elicits a response from each other- turn taking
• What interactional synchrony


  reflect each others actions and emotions responding to eachothers actions to communicate- coordinated
• What are the main views on the role of the father

  not equipped- no oestrogen, 'caring' hormone

  fathers are playmates- engage in physical activities and novel play

  sensitive responsiveness- as able to respond to children's needs like mothers
• What is separation anxiety


  becomes distressed when care- giver is not present
• What is stranger anxiety


  emotions are heightened around strangers
• What are the stages of attachment


  asocial - 0-6wks

  indiscriminate attachment- 6wks-6mo

  specific attachment- 7mo

  multiple attachment- 10/11 mo+
• What is the asocial phase


  produce similar responses to all objects

  greater preference for humans shown by fixation

  reciprocity and interactional synchrony plays a role in developing relationships
• What is indiscriminate attachment


  clear preference for humans rather then objects and recognise familiar adults

  smile at more known people, allow adults to hold them

  don't show separation or stranger anxiety
• What is specific attachment


  display stranger anxiety, becomes anxious when separated from primary attachment figure and show joy when reunited

  primary attachment is formed with person who has most meaningful interactions and responds most sensitively to their signals (cry, smile)
• What is the multiple attachment phase


  infant develops wider circle of multiple attachments with other caregivers and non- caregivers (siblings), these are known as secondary attachments

  fear of stranger weakens, but primary attachment figure remains strong

  75% of children had secondary attachments in the first year
• what is reciprocity

  responding to each others signals which elicts a response from each others (turn taking)
• what was Schaffer and Emersons research into stages of attachment

  60 babies: 31 male, 29 females from Glasgow working class families.

  A longitudinal study, baby and mothers visited at home every month for the first 18 months.

  assessed separation anxiety by asking mothers questions about kinds of protest their babies showed e.g. adults leaving room.

  assessed stranger anxiety
• what are the strengths of Schaffer and Emersons study

  + regular visitation

  + sees anxiety in different situations

  + high ecological validity: familiar environments act more naturally
• what are limitations of Schaffer and Emersons study

  X: researcher bias

  X: culture bias, cant be generalised to collectivist cultures.

  X: population validity

  X: social desirability bias- wants to be seen as a good mother

  X: cant generalise to middle/upper class

  X: EVs: researcher present=stranger anxiety
• what was Lorenz animal study into attachment

  two batches of goose eggs, one batch hatched naturally by the mother an the other via an incubator with Lorenz being the first moving object the geese saw. Marked the goslings to determine which ones were from what batch, placed them all under a box.
• what were Lorenz findings

  naturally hatched goslings follow their mother, incubator ones follow Lorenz. The geese has imprinted on Lorenz as he was the first moving object they saw.
• what was Harlow's animal study into attachment

  16 baby monkeys, with two wire model mothers (one plain and one cloth covered)

  In one condition milk was dispensed by the plain wire mother, in the other condition no milk was dispensed by the cloth covered mother.
• what were Harlow's findings

  baby monkeys covered the cloth covered object and sought comfort when frightened, regardless of which dispensed milk. Showed 'contact comfort' was more important to the baby monkeys then food.
• what are strengths and limitations of animal studies

  + research support, Schaffer and Emerson conducted another study which supported Harlows findings.

  + harlow: understanding human mother-infant attachment: contact is important and quality of relationships can affect later life.

  X: hard to generalise findings to humans, as we are more complex

  X: Evs, heads of the wire monkeys were different, may have preferred cloth one due to a more attractive head.

  Ducks imprinted on yellow gloves X: rubber glove doesnt help buck survive BUT + supports theory of imprinting
• what are the explanations for attachment

  learning theory

  bowlbys monotropic theory
• what is the learning theory

  classical and operant conditioning
• how does classical conditioning explain attachment

  before: mother (NS) = no response

  milk (UCS) = pleasure (UCR)

  during: mother (NS) + milk (UCS) = please (UCR)

  after: mother (CS) = pleasure (CR)

  baby forms an association between mother and pleasure from food (an innate response)
• how does operant conditioning explain attachment

  baby crying = positive reinforcement (baby rewarded with milk) and negative reinforcement (mother does it to stop baby from crying).

  mother becomes secondary reinforcer as food is the primary reinforcer
• what are limitations of learning theory

  X: focuses too much on food, ignores affection +time

  X: only focuses on nurture (learnt), ignores nature

  X: doesn't explain why attachments are formed
• what are the five stages of Bowlby's monotropic theory

  Adaptive

  Social releasers

  Critical period

  Monotropic

  Interal working model

  (A Snap Chat Makes Images)
• what does adaptive mean in Bowlby's theory

  attachment is adaptive and has evolved to increase chances of survival through proximity seeking behaviour
• what are social releasers in Bowlby's theory

  born with a innate set of behaviours like smiling and cooing which encourage attention from adults
• what is the critical period

  first 2 years of life where the attachment system is active, if an attachment isnt formed in this time the child will find it hard to form attachments later in life
• what is monotropic in Bowlby's theory

  one particular care giver that is a more important attachment
• what is the internal working model

  a mental representation of their relationship with their primary caregiver, if it is a loving relationship they will grow up and treat their children the same. If it was a poor relationship and poor treatment they will treat others the same
• what are strengths and weaknesses of bowlbys monotropic theory

  mothers ignored their babys social releasers, baby showed signs of distress +: supports that social releasers are important for childs survival

  X: The critical period is too strict as children can form attachments after the two year period.

  Bailey et al: assessed quality of mothers relationship with their own babies and their mother. found those who had a poor relationship growing up also had a poor relationship with their children +: supports idea of internal working model
• what was Ainsworths strange situation

  child + mother play together, child encouraged to explore (secure-base behaviour)

  stranger enters tries to interact with child (stranger anxiety)

  mom leaves room (seperation anxiety + proximity seeking)

  mom returns, stranger leaves

  mother leavers child alone (seperation anxiety + proximity seeking)

  stranger returns (seperation and stranger anxiety)

  mother returns
• what were the three attachment types Ainsworth found

  secure

  insecure-avoidant

  insecure-resistant
• what is secure attachment

  explore happily but go back to caregiver regularly. show moderate separation distress and stranger anxiety. Require and accept comfort from caregiver at reunion stage
• what is insecure- avoidant attachment

  explore freely but don't check back in with caregiver. Show little or no reaction when caregivers leave or when they return. Show little stranger anxiety and don't require comfort at reunion stage.
• what is insecure-resistant

  seek greater proximity and explore less. Hug stranger and separation distress but they resist comfort at reunion stage
• what is cultural variations

  where different cultures may not share the same norms and values. (differences in attachment
• what is the attachment in collectivist cultures like

  emphasis on group efforts (japan)

  less anti social behaviour

  focuses on interpersonal development of infants
• what is the attachment like in individualist cultures

  emphasis on personal achievement (USA, west Germany)

  focus on developing initiative in infants

  more anti social behaviour
• what was Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenbergs research into cross-cultural variations

  32 strange situations from 8 countries were looked at and all studies looked at mother-infant attachment. used meta-analysis to combine findings.