Attachment

• Attachment

  A reciprocal , emotional bond between two people , usually a primary caregiver and a child .
• Reciprocity

  When an infant responds to the actions of another person in a form of turn-taking

  • actions of one person elicits a response from another
• interactional synchrony

  refers to simultaneous coordinated sequences of movements , communication , emotions.

  • Isabella (1989) - synchrony linked to better quality mother - baby attachment.
• alert phase

  when a baby signals readiness to interact.
• Strength of caregiver-infant interactions - filmed observations

  used filmed observation - very fine details of behaviour can be recorded and analysed later by multiple researchers to establish inter - observer reliability .

  Furthermore , babies don't know they are being observed so their behaviour does not change in response to observation .

  Means the studies have good reliability and validity.
• limitation of caregiver-infant interactions - difficult observing babies

  Limitation is that it is difficult to observe babies as they are not very coordinated , psychologist are only able to observe small gestures and small changes in expression . also hard to interpret the meaning of babies movements. For example , deciding if a hand movement is a deliberate response or a random twitch .

  Means we cannot be certain that any particular interactions observed are meaningful
• limitation of caregiver-infant interactions - developmental importance

  difficulty inferring developmental importance from observing interactions. Feldman (2012) = research into these interaction is able to name patterns of reliably observable behaviour but it may not be useful as it doesn’t tell us their purpose.

  Means we can’t be certain from observations that reciprocity or synchrony are important.

  however , evidence = Isabella suggest that good levels of reciprocity and synchrony are associated with good quality attachment .

  Means early interactions are importation for delevopment .
• Stage of attachment

  Stage 1 - asocial stage (0-8 weeks) - responds similarly to objects and people .

  Stage 2 - indiscriminate stage (2-7 months) - shows preference for primary caregiver but accepts care from others.

  Stage 3 - specific attachment (7-12 months) - prefers primary caregiver and seeks comfort from them - unhappy when separated and shows stranger anxiety .

  Stage 4 - multiple attachments (1 year +) - begins to develop secondary attachments with others .
• Strength of stages of attachment - good external validity

  Has high external validity as observations were made by parents in natural settings rather than researchers , reducing chance of babies behaving differently due to presence of strangers.

  Their behaviour was likely natural , making the results more generalisable .

  However , mothers may have been objective - could have misinterpreted signs of anxiety = inaccurate recordings
• limitation of stages of attachment - poor evidence for asocial stage

  may lack validity

  babies under two months have limited coordination and movement - any signs of anxiety may have been subtle so it’s difficult to detect .

  if babies in this stage did show attachment - may have not been recorded accurately .

  may only appear asocial due to flawed research methods rather than their actual social behaviour .
• strength of stages of attachment - real-world application

  have useful applications in childcare .

  during asocial and indiscriminate attachment stages , babies can be confronted by any adult = day care transitions easier .

  however in specific attachment , babies may struggle with unfamiliar caregiver .

  suggest that parents should plan the timing of day care to align with attachment development = smoother transitions
• Schaffer and Emerson‘s research - role of the father

  75 % of children eventually formed secondary attachments with their father at 18 months .

  • indicated by the fact that the infants protested when their father walked away = sign of attachment .
• Grossmann (2022)

  carried out longitudinal study looking at parent the relationship to the quality of children’s attachments into their teens

  • found the quality of attachment with father = less important in the attachment type of the teenagers than mothers
  • Fathers may be less important in long term emotional development
  • However , quality of fathers play is related to children’s attachments.
• Oestrogen

  hormone that is significantly higher in females than males and has been linked to maternal behaviours e.g emotional sensitivity , responsiveness to an infants cues = greater activation of oxytocin system - Taylor (2010)

  • as men have lower levels = may not experience same biological drive for nurturing behaviour as mothers.
• Primary attachments to the father

  Schaffer and Emerson found that majority of babies come attached to mother first .

  • only 3 % of cases the father was the first.
  • in 27 % cases the father was the joint first .

  Field (1978) found that primary caregiver fathers smile , imitate and comfort more than secondary caregiver fathers .

  • suggest that fathers can be more emotion - focused.
• Limitation of the role of the father - confusion over research questions

  P - there is confusion over research questions.

  E - Some psychologists want to understand the role of fathers as secondary attachment figures - others concerned as fathers as primary attachment.

  E - Former have tended to see fathers as behaving differently from mothers = distinct role.

  Latter found that fathers can take maternal role.

  L - Therefore makes it difficult to answer simple question.
• limitation of the role of the father - conflicting evidence

  conflicting evidence from different methodologies.

  Grossman - fathers have distinct role - involving play and simulation but McCallum and Golombrook found that in lesbian parent and single - mother households - children don't develop differently.

  Means questions of whether fathers have distinctive role is unanswered.

  however - finding may not conflict - fathers take on particular roles - other family structures adapt to not having fathers .

  therefore findings may be clear - fathers may have a distinctive role - families adapt
• Lorenz’s geese study

  Imprinting - bonds baby animal to its caregiver - when an offspring will follow the first moving object they see once born.

  Procedure: Lorenz split goose eggs into two groups - left in natural habitat (control) and one in an incubator (Experimental)

  The incubator eggs’ first living they saw was Lorenz. Natural habitat eggs first saw their natural mother.

  Findings: control group = followed natural mother. Experimental group = followed Lorenz - had imprinted on him.

  Identified a critical period when imprinting occurs.
• Harlow’s monkey study

  Harlow - newborn monkeys died if kept alone in cage but survived with soft cloth.

  Procedure: two fake wire mothers were made - one wrapped in cloth but didn‘t dispense milk and other was made of wire and dispensed milk.

  data collected on amount of time monkeys spent with fake mothers.

  Findings: all monkeys spent most the time with cloth mother. Monkeys only spent time with wire mother when needed feeding then returned to cloth mother.

  scared = monkeys held onto cloth mother.

  Suggest. contact and comfort is how attachment is formed , rather than through feeding.
• Strength of Lorenz’s study - research support

  P - Imprinting is supported by other studies.

  E - Regolin & Vallortigara found that chicks imprint in specific moving shape combos.

  E - suggests that young animals are born with an innate mechanism to imprint which supports Lorenz’s findings.

  L - strengthens the reliability of Lorenz’s theory of imprinting.
• Limitation of Lorenz’s study - generalisability to humans

  P - findings may not apply to humans.

  E - Mammalian attachment is more complex than birds - involving two way emotional process.

  E - means that human attachment may not work the same way as imprinting birds.

  L - findings lack generalisability to how humans attach.
• Strength of Harlow’s study - Real - world value

  P - has practical applications.

  E - helped social workers understand early bonding issues can lead to poor child development ( Howe 1998 )

  E - allows interventions to prevent negative outcomes showing how useful it is to the real world.

  L - Harlow’s research is a valuable study that has helped improve child welfare.
• Limitation of Harlow’s study - generalisability to humans

  P - may not fully apply to humans.

  E - Rhesus monkeys are more similar to humans than birds but human behaviour is still more complex.

  E - means that even though Harlow’s findings provide an insight into, they may not fully explain human attachment.

  L - generalising from moneys to humans should be done carefully.
• Learning theory of attachment

  Dollars and Miller proposed the learning theory of attachment which suggests that children learn to love whoever feeds them.
• Reinforcement for the infant

  • when an infant cries , they are rewarded by comfort from their caregiver - positive reinforcement
• Reinforcement for the caregiver

  • when an caregiver comforts a distressed infant , their crying stops - negative reinforcement.
• Limitation of learning theory of attachment - evidence from animal studies.

  P - animal studies dont support it.

  E - Lorenz’s geese imprinted on the first moving object they see , regardless of food . Harlow’s monkeys proffered soft surrogate mother over wire one .

  E - suggest that attachment is based on comfort and security rather than food.

  L - Learning theory fails to explain attachment in animals which reduces its validity