attachment

• define attachment

  a strong emotional and reciprocal bond between two people, usually primary caregivers and infants
• define reciprocity

  when an infant responds to the actions of another person, conversation style turn-taking
• define interactional synchrony

  an infant mirrors the actions of another person, forming a pattern
• state maccoby's 4 characteristics of attachment

  • seeking proximity
  • separation anxiety
  • pleasure upon reunion
  • general orientation of behaviour towards primary caregiver
• what is meant by seeking proximity

  always wanting to be close to primary caregiver
• what is meant by separation anxiety

  stressed or scared when initially separated
• what is meant by pleasure on reunion

  child is happy to see primary caregiver after a period of seperation
• what is meant by general orientation towards primary caregiver

  constantly showing off to parents to seek acknowledgment and engagement
• outline the study in support of reciprocity

  • dr tronick still face experiment
  • mother interacts with child and then stops, pulling a still face
  • the child cries at the still face to gain the mothers attention
  • supports reciprocity as it shows infants expect and rely on mutual interaction, highlighting its role in early bonding and attachment.
• outline the study in support of interactional synchrony

  • meltzoff and moore
  • 2/3 month old babies have dummies when behaviour is modelled
  • the dummies are taken out and the babies reciprocate the behaviours
  • there is an association between the actions modelled and the actions the babies did without dummies
  • supports interactional synchrony by showing infants naturally mirror caregivers, reinforcing its key role in early bonding and attachment.
• outline the study against interactional synchrony

  • jean piaget
  • believed that imitations showed by infants before theyre 1 years old is response training rather than interactional synchrony
  • through operant conditioning the child finds interactions a positive reward
  • assumed they were 'pseudo-imitations'
• state all stages of attachment

  • asocial
  • indiscriminate
  • discriminate
  • multiple attachments
• explain the asocial stage of attachment

  • 0-2 months old
  • infant shows similar responses to objects and people
• explain the indiscriminate stage of attachment

  • 2-6 months old
  • infant prefers humans but can be comforted by anyone (indiscriminatory)
• explain the discriminate stage of attachment

  • 7-12 months old
  • infant shows preference for one caregiver over stranger
  • separation anxiety and pleasure upon reunion are shown
• explain the multiple stages of attachment stage of attachment

  • 12+ months old
  • multiple attachments are formed between infant and people (e.g: siblings)
• outline the study in support of the different stages of attachment

  • shaffer and emerson: glasgow babies
  • a longitudinal study (2 years)
  • assesses 60 working class infants development of attachments
  • attachment measured using stranger and separation anxiety
  • around 1/2 of participants: showed first discriminate attachment between 6-8 months- stranger anxiety showed 1 month later
  • by 18 months: 13% attached to only one person (multiple attachments)
  • 39% of children didn't attach to their primary caregiver
• explain the role of a mother in attachment

  provides emotional development and wellbeing through nurturing the child
• explain the role of the father in attachment

  provides resilience, determination and motivation through playing with the child
• outline the study in support of the role of the father in attachment

  • grossman
  • a longitudinal study to assess how caregiver behaviour relates to the quality of the children's attachment in adolescence
  • early attachment to the mother is a better predictor of what teenage attachment will be like
  • found that if the father has engaged in active play with the child when younger the strength of attachments to both parents increases during teenage years
  • shows that although fathers are less important in creating attachments, they are crucial in their maintenance and strength in adolescent years
• state the critical period of attachment in children

  2.5 years
• What was the main focus of the study by Hrdy?

  To undermine the role of fathers in attachment
• What did Hrdy find regarding fathers and infant distress detection?

  Fathers were less able to detect infant distress
• What biological explanation supports the findings about fathers' attachment abilities?

  Lack of oestrogen in men affects their ability to detect low levels of distress in infants therefore their ability to form nurturing types of attachments
• What does the study suggest about the role of fathers in attachment?

  It is biologically determined and restricted due to the lower oestrogen levels
• What conclusion does the study draw about the importance of fathers in attachment development?

  Fathers are less important than mothers in attachment
• define imprinting

  a biological process which creates the first immediate attachment
• define sexual imprinting

  the object which is imprinted upon when and infant is the object which defines sexual preferences when older and mature
• when does imprinting occur

  immediately/in the critical period
• outline the study in support of imprinting

  • lorenzo
  • showcased imprinting with gosling eggs
  • ensured the first thing the geese were exposed to was either him (experimental group) or the natural mother (control group)
  • the geese that saw lorenzo first imprinted on him and showed no attachment to their biological mother
  • revealed imprinting only happened in the critical period
  • serves as a biological explanation for the formation of attachments
• outline the study which supports the idea that nurture is more important than nature in the formation of attachments

  • harlow monkey study
  • new born monkeys were taken away from their mothers and given the option of either a wire monkey which dispensed milk or a comfortable monkey surrogate which didnt dispense milk
  • monkeys only chose the wire monkey when hungry- the fluffy monkey was chosen most often
  • shows the importance of comfort over food in attachment
• what happened to the harlow monkeys in the long term

  • they became antisocial (socially underdeveloped)
  • they were bad mother (tried to kill their own children)
  • shows that interaction and comfort is a leading factor in the formation of healthy attachments
• harlows research developed the idea of

  the critical period
• is it possible to reverse the effects of harlows research

  yes, the monkeys that were back with their biological mothers within the their critical period (monkeys: 6 months) were still able to form healthy attachments
• define the law of effect

  any behaviour that is followed by a reward is more likely to be repeated
• the learning theory of attachment...

  explains how infants become attached through the process of operant or classical conditioning
• outline the learning theory of attachment

  • PCG (neutral stimulus) creates no response
  • food (unconditioned stimulus) elicits an unconditioned response (relief from hunger)
  • an association is made between the PCG and the food so
  • PCG (neutral stimulus) + food (unconditioned response) = conditioned response (relief from hunger and the need of the PCG)
  • suggests the baby only interacts and wants mother (only forms attachment) because of food (nature) and not love (nurture)
• what study opposes the learning theory of attachment

  • harlow
  • comfort is more important than food in the development of an attachments
• bowlby's theory of attachment has an

  evolutionary basis
• define continuity hypothesis

  the kind of relationship you have as a child will affect the kind of relationship you have as an adult