Attachment

• What is attachment?

  An emotional bond between two people shown by their behavior.

  Two way bond between infant and caregiver (reciprical)
• What are the two types of caregiver-infant interactions?

  • reciprocity
  • interactional synchrony
• What is reciprocity?

  A description of how two people interact. Caregiver-infant interaction is reciprocal in that both caregiver and baby respond to each other’s signals and each elicits a response from the other.
• What is interaction synchrony?

  Caregiver and baby reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a co-ordinated (synchronised) way.
• Reciprocity - alert phases

  Babies have periodic ‘alert phases’ - they signal they‘re ready for spell of interaction

  Research shows: mothers typically respond 2/3 of time (Feldman and Eideman 2007) - varies according to skill of mother and external factors I.e. stress (Finegood 2016)

  From 3 months approx this interaction tends to become more frequency - involves both mother and baby paying close attention to each other’s verbal signals and face expressions (Feldman 2007)
• Reciprocity - Active involvement

  Seems babies as well as caregivers take an active role.

  Both can imitate interactions - take turns in doing so

  Brazelton (1975) describes this interaction as ‘dance’ - like couples dance where each partner responds to other persons moves
• Interaction synchrony - synchrony begins

  Meltzoff and Moore (1977) observed beginning of interactional synchrony -> babies as young as 2 weeks.

  Adult displayed 1 of 3 faces or distinctive gestures - baby’s response was filmed and labelled by independent observers.

  Their expression and gestures more likely mirrored adults than chance would predict I.e. was significant association
• Interactional synchrony - importance for attachment

  Believed it‘s important in development of caregiver-infant attachment.

  Isabella (1989) observed 30 mams and babies together - assessed degree of synchrony and quality of attachment.

  Found: high-levels of synchrony = associated with better attachment (emotional intensity of relationship)
• Strength for types of caregiver-infant interactions

  Research usually filmed in laboratory: means other activity that might distract baby = controlled.

  Using films means observations can be recorded and analysed later - unlikely researchers will miss seeing key behaviours. More than one observer can record data and establish the inter-rater reliability of observations

  Babies don’t know they being observed, so behaviour doesn’t change in response - no demand characteristic (generally main problem of overt observation)

  Data collected should have good reliability and validity.
• Limitations of the types of caregiver-infant interactions

  > difficult to observe : subtle movements being observed - difficult to know intention. also can’t know whether movement is random or triggered by caregivers actions

  Means: cant be certain behaviours seen have a special meaning

  > doesn’t tell us its development importance: Feldman - gave names to patterns of observable C-I behaviours -> cant be reliably observed -> may not be useful in understanding development - doesn’t tell us purpose

  Means: cant be certain from this research alone that they are important for child’s development
• What are Schaffer and Emersons stages of attachment?

  1. Asocial
  2. Indiscriminate
  3. Specific
  4. Multiple
• What’s the asocial stage?

  • First few weeks of life.
  • Behaviours towards humans and objects = similar
  • Show signs they prefer to be with people
  • Show preference for company of familiar people - more easily comforted by them
  • Forming bonds with certain people - form basis of later attachment
• What the indiscriminate attachment stage?

  • 2-7 months
  • Clear preference for humans over inanimate objects
  • Recognise and prefer company of familiar people
  • Usually accept cuddles and comfort from anyone.
  • Don’t usually show separation anxiety or stranger anxiety
• What is the specific attachment stage?

  • Around 7 months
  • Attachment to one particular person
  • Display stranger anxiety - especially when attachment figure absent, and separation anxiety
  • Person who formed attachment with = primary attachment figure -> not necessarily person they spend most time with but who responds to baby’s signals with most skill = baby’s mother in 65% of cases.
• What is the multiple attachment stage?

  • Around 8 months (shortly after specific formed)
  • Extend to multiple attachment with whom they regularly spend time with = secondary attachments
  • S&E observed this occurred (29%) within a month of forming primary attachment.
  • One year - majority of babies developed multiple attachments
• Schaffer and Emerson research (1964)


  > Based theory on observational study of formation of early infant-adult attachments

  > procedure: 60 babies, Glasgow, working class, visited every month for first year and again at 18 months. Asked mothers questions - measure babies attachment. Also assessed stranger anxiety .

  > findings: identified four distinct stages -> make up their stage theory
• Strengths of Schaffer and Emerson’s research

  > good external validity: observations by parents during ordinary activities, then reported to researchers - weren't able distract baby or make them anxious. Means: natural behaviour

  > counterpoint: mothers unlikely to be objective observers - biased - not accurately reported

  > real-world application in day-care: asocial and indiscriminate stages - babies be comforted by any skilled adult. S&E tells us it could be problematic during specific attachment stage, especially starting it

  Means: parents use of daycare can be planned using their stages
• Limitation of Schaffer and Emerson’s research

  Poor evidence of asocial stage: have poor co-ordination and fairly immobile during this stage. If babies less than 2 months felt anxious in everyday situations - may displayed this in subtle, hard to observe manner.

  difficult for mothers to observe and report back to reporters on signs of anxiety and attachment in this age group

  Means: babies may actually be quite social but due to flawed methods - appear asocial
• What is the father?

  In attachment research the father is anyone who takes on the role of the main male caregiver. This can be but isn’t necessarily the biological father.
• Attachment to fathers

  Evidence suggests fathers are less likely to become babies’ first attachment figure compared to mothers.

  Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found majority of babies became attached to mothers first at around 7 months. In 3% of cases, father was first sole object of attachment. In 27% of cases father was joint first object of attachment with mother.

  However: most father become attachment figures. 75% of babies studies by S&E formed attachment with father by 18 months - determined by fact babies protested when father walked away (sign of attachment)
• Distinctive role for fathers

  Grossman (2002) carried out longitudinal study - babies attachments studied into their teens. looked at both parents behaviour and its relationship to quality of baby's later attachments. Quality of attachment (mothers) related to attachment in adolescence - suggests attachment t fathers = less important than mothers.

  However: found quality of fathers play with babies was related to quality of adolescence attachments - suggests fathers have different role from mothers - one more to do with play and stimulation, and less to do with emotional development.
• Fathers as primary attachment figures

  Evidence which suggests that when fathers do take on role of primary caregiver they’re able to adopt emotional role, more typically associated with mothers.

  Field (1978) filmed 4 month old babies in face-to-face interaction with primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers and primary caregiver fathers. PC fathers, like PC mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding babies then secondary fathers.

  Fathers have potential to be more emotion-focused primary attachment - provide responsiveness required for close emotional attachment.
• Strength of research into role of fathers

  > offer advice to parents: this research can be used to offer reassuring advice to parents - e.g. heterosexual parents can be informed that parents are quite capable of becoming primary attachment figures. Also female only parents can be informed that not having a father around doesn’t affect a child’s development

  means: parental anxiety about role of father can be reduced.
• Limitations of research into role of father

  > lack of clarity over question being asked: Some want to understand them as SA figures, others concerned as PA figures. Previously: had distinct role - now found: take on ‘maternal’ role.

  > conflicting evidence: longitudinal studies suggested fathers as SA figures - role in child's development -> expect those with female parents only would turn out in some way different. Research shows this isn't true - leaves their distinctive role unanswered.

  > counterpoint: female parent only families could adapt to accommodate the role played by fathers.
• What are animal studies?


  In psychology these are studies carried out on non-human animal species rather than on humans, either for ethical or practical reasons - practical because animals breed faster and researchers are interested in seeing results across more than one generation of animals.
• Lorenz’s research (1952)


  > Procedure: classic experiment, randomly divided goose eggs, half hatched with mother goose - natural environment. Half hatched in incubator - first moving object they saw was Lorenz

  > Findings: incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere, control group followed their goose mother. When mixed, control groups continued following mother and experimental group followed Lorenz -> imprinting. Critical period identified - as brief as few as hours after hatching. If imprinting doesn’t occur within that time the chicks didn’t attach themselves to mother figure.
• Lorenz - sexual imprinting

  Investigated relationship between imprinting and adult mate preferences.

  Observed birds that imprinted on humans would often later display courtship behaviour towards humans.

  In case study, Lorenz (1952) described peacock that had been reared in reptile house in a zoo where first moving object the peacock saw after hatching were giant tortoises. As an adult this bird only direct courtship behaviour towards giant tortoises. He concluded it meant the peacock had undergone sexual imprinting.
• Evaluation - Lorenz

  (+) research support (imprinting): chicks exposed to to simple shape combination that moves - triangles with rectangle in front. Range of shape combinations were then moved in front of them and they followed original most closely.

  Supports view that young animals are born with innate mechanisms to imprint on moving object present in critical window of development.

  (-) generalisability to humans: Mammalian attachment system = more complex than birds, e.g. two-way process - mother also becomes emotionally attached. So, not appropriate to generalise Lorenz's research.
• Harlow’s research (1958)


  > Procedure: In one experiment he reared 16 baby monkeys with two wire model ‘mothers’. In one condition milk dispensed by plain wire mother whereas in second condition milk dispensed by cloth-covered mother.

  > Findings: baby monkeys cuddles cloth-covered mother in preference to plain-wire mother and sought comfort from the cloth one when frightened (e.g. by noisy mechanical teddy), regardless of which dispensed milk. showed: ‘contact comfort’ was of more importance to monkeys than food when came to attachment behaviour.
• Harlow - maternally deprived monkeys as adults

  Followed the monkeys who had been deprived of a ‘real’ mother into adulthood to see if this maternal deprivation had a permanent effect.

  Researchers found severe consequences - those reared with plain-wire mother didn’t develop normal social behaviour.

  These deprived monkeys = more aggressive and less sociable than other monkeys, bred less often than is typical, being unskilled at mating. When they became mothers, some deprived monkeys neglected their young and others attacked their children, even killing them in some cases.
• Harlow - critical period for normal development

  Harlow concluded there was a critical period - mother figure had to be introduced to young monkey within 90 days for attachment to form. After this time attachment was impossible and the damage was done by early deprivation became irreversible.
• Evaluation - Harlow's monkeys

  (+) important in real-world applications

  helped social workers and clinical psychologists understand that a lack of bonding experience may be risk factor in child development allowing them to intervene to prevent poor outcomes (Howe 1998).

  Means value of Harlow’s research isn’t just theoretical but also practice

  (-) generalisation to humans

  Rhesus monkeys are more similar to humans than Lorenz’s birds, and all mammals share some common attachment behaviours. But, human behaviour = more complex

  Means: not appropriate to generalise findings to humans.
• What is the learning theory?

  A set of theories from the behaviourist approach to psychology, that emphasises the role of learning in the acquisition of behaviour. Explanations for learning of behaviour include classical and operant conditioning.
• What did Dollard and Miller (1950) propose about caregiver-infant attachment and the learning theory?

  Approach is sometimes known as 'cupboard love' - it emphasizes the importance of attachment figures as providers of food. Proposed children learn to love whoever feeds them.
• classical conditioning explaining attachment

  > learning to associate two stimuli together.

  > food serves as an UCS, being fed gives us pleasure (UCR). caregiver starts as NS - produces no response. When caregiver provides food over time they start to become associated with it - when baby sees them there is an expectation of food. NS has become a CS. Once conditioning taken place, the sight of caregiver produced conditioned response of pleasure.

  > To a learning theorist - conditioned pleasure = love (attachment is formed and caregiver becomes attachment figure)
• operant conditioning explaining attachment

  > learning from consequences of behaviour (reinforcement).

  > behaviour produces pleasant consequences - likely to be repeated - behaviour = reinforced.

  > behaviour produces unpleasant consequences (punishment) - less likely repeated.

  > reinforcement = two-way process. at same time a baby is reinforced for crying, caregiver receives negative reinforcement as the crying stops (escaping from something unpleasant is reinforced. - the reinforcement strengthens an attachment.
• attachment as a secondary drive

  > learning theory draws on concept of drive reduction.

  > hunger = primary drive - its innate, biological motivator. we motivate to eat in order to reduce the hunger drive.

  > Sears (1957) suggested that, as caregivers provide food, the primary drive of hunger becomes generalised to them, Attachment is therefore a secondary drive learned by association between caregiver and satisfaction of primary drive.
• Limitations of learning theory explanations of attachment (food)

  > counter-evidence - animal studies: Lorenz: imprinted on first moving object (not associated with food.) Harlow: - no support - displayed attachment to soft 'mother' - didn't give milk -> factors other than association with food = important.

  > counter-evidence - humans: S&E found babies form main attachment to mother, whether she usually fed them or not. Isabella found high levels of interactional synchrony predicted quality of attachment - no relation

  suggests: food not main factor in forming human attachments.
• Strength of learning theory explanation for attachment

  > some conditioning involved: conditioning may still play a role.

  E.g. baby associate feeling warm & comfortable with presence of particular adult - influence baby’s choice of main attachment figure.

  Means: learning theory may be useful in understanding development of attachments.

  > counterpoint: Research shows babies take active role in interactions that produce attachment, not passive role like theories suggest.

  Means: conditioning may not be adequate explanation of attachment
• Monotropic definition


  > Used to describe Bowlby’s theory.

  > Mono = one, tropic = leaning towards

  > This indicated one particular attachment is different from all others and of central importance to a child’s development.