early relationships - jayne spiller

• development of early relationships

  • what are the benefits of forming a close relationship to a caregiver
  • are there psychological risks if an early relationship is not formed
  • with whom can an attachment relationship be formed
  • can strong attachments still be formed after infany
• attachment

  • long enduring , emotionally meaningful tie to a particular individual - schaffer
• attachment

  • characterises the first relationship a child makes
  • object of childs attachment usually reciprocates emotions
  • results in a strong two-way emotional bond
• characteristics of attachment in infancy:

  1. selective - attachment behaviour focused on specific individuals
  2. proximity seeking - effort to remain close to the object of attachment
  3. comforting - proximity provides comfort and security
  4. separation distress - results when proximity cannot be achieved
• theory of attachment: bowlby

  • infant is genetically predisposed to develop attachment to caregiver
  • mother is genetically predisposed to respond appropriately to infants attachment behaviour
• theory of attachment : bowlby

  has function on 2 levels:

  Biological function: motivation to be near the parent increases likelihood of receiving care and thus survival

  psychological function: provide a feeling of security
• stages of attachment: bowlby

  1. pre-attachment (birth -2 months)
  2. attachment-in-the-making (2-7 months)
  3. clear-cut attachment (7-24 months)
  4. goal-corrected partnership (>24 months)
• stages of attachment (bowlby)

  1. birth - 2 months: pre attachment

  predisposed behaviours:

  • grasping, crying, smiling, eye contact, brings adult into contact with infant and maintain contact

  indiscriminate social responsiveness, accept care from anyone
• Bowlby stages of attachment

  2.) 2-7 months: attachment in the making

  child responds differently to caregiver vs stranger

  • babbles and laughs more readily with caregiver
  • more easily comforted by caregiver

  recognise familiar people but still accept care form anyone
• bowlby stages of attachment

  3) 7-24 months: clear-cut attachment

  major change:

  • proximity seeking; separation protest; wariness of strangers; no longer accept care from unfamiliar people
  • depends on achieving 'person permanence'

  Separation protest not always occur; depends also on temperament
• bowlbys stages of attachment

  7-24 months: clear cut attachment

  person permanence:

  • people continue to exist when out of sight, recognition of familiar people not sufficient
  • requires ability to recall representation of person from memory
  • recall ability develops after recognition ability
• bowlby stages of attachment

  4) from 24 months onward: goal-corrected partnership

  child improving representation abilities allow:

  • understand factors influencing temporary absence of caregiver. Prediction of caregivers return
  • negotiation: e.g. child ask parent to play before leaving; cope with absence better
  • child can accommodate mothers needs (e.g. will wait a distance if asked)
• maternal deprivation hypothesis

  • essential for mental health is that the infant should experience a warm, intimate and continuous relationship with his mother in which both find satisfaction and enjoyment (bowlby)
  • inspired by needs of orphans after WW2, institutions focused on physical, not emotional needs
• maternal deprivation hypothesis:

  • bowlby assered: MD causes social and cognitive deficits
  • goldfarb: compared 30 children separated from mother before 9 months
  • 15 children fostered early: before 9 months
  • 15 children institutionalised then fostered at age 3.5 years
  • assessed at age 10-14
• findings of goldfarb - maternal dep hypothesis

  institutionalised children had deficits:

  • intelligence, speech, reading, maths, restless, low concentration, fearful, craved adult attention, unpopular with peers
• development of early relationships: MD hypothesis

  harlow: rhesus monkeys separated from mother

  3 groups : raised in isolation for either 3,6 or 12 months

  released from isolation; placed with other monkeys

  all groups showed social maladjustment, aggression, withdrawal
• md hypothesis:

  harlow results

  if isolated <3 months, can recover

  if isolated >3 months, irreversible effects

  usually unable to mate in adolescence , abused their babies
• evaluation of harlows monkeys

  • generalising monkeys to humans
  • share similarities in attachment ststems
  • human mind more complex
  • not appropriate to generalise harlows studies
• evaluation of harlows research

  • ethical issues
  • long term distress to monkey participants, though research led to useful applications, however his findings and conclusions have important theoretical and practical applications
  • inspite of its benefits, harlows research should perhaps not have been carried out
• maternal deprivation

  • critical period of 2.5 years
  • if a child is separated from their mother (without substitute emotional care) for extended time during first 2.5 years, then psychological damage is inevitable
  • continuining risk up to age of 5
• maternal deprivation def?

  continuous emotional care from mother or mother-substitute is necessary for normal emotional and intellectual development
• maternal deprivation:

  • intellectual development: low iq
  • emotional development: affectionless psychopathy
• evaluation of maternal dep hypothesis:

  1. confounding factors

  • institutional care studies and primate studies confounded MD with social and sensory deprivation
  • care institutions often have high staff turnover: so child cannot form any attachment, let alone a primary one
  • MD resulting from institutionalisation/ divorce: childhood problems may result instead from hostility in the home
• MDH

  counterpoint to confounding factors

  • levy et al found that separating baby rats for one day had a permanent affect on their social development
  • some evidence to support maternal deprivation
• MDH

  critical evaluation

  • deficitis do not occur - many children are maternally deprived (e.g. death of mother), but do not later exhibit cog. deficits or social maladjustment
• md hypothesis

  • deficits can be reversed
  • suomi and harlow
  • deficits in monkeys raised in isolation for 6&12 mo can be reversed if a younger monkey is placed with them
  • effects of MD are not irreversible
  • peer relationships can be as important as mothers
• bowlby 44 thieves study

  = 44 delinquent teenagers accused of stealing

  all thieves were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy: lack of affection, guilt and empathy

  families were interviewed to established any long separations from mothers
• bolwby 44 thieves findings:

  • 14 out of 44 thieves described as affectionless psychopaths
  • 12 of these experienced prologned separation from their mothers in first 2 years of life
  • in contrast only 5 of the remaining thieves had experienced separations. this suggests that early separation caused affectionless psychopathy
• bowlbys monotropism

  • bowlbys theory advocated:
  • infants are genetically predisposed to form an attachment to one person
  • infants are initially incapable of forming attachment to several people
  • all later attachments are minor compared to the primary one
  • childcare involving multiple caregivers is potentially detrimental
• monotropism: internal working model:

  • child forms a mental representation of the relationship with their primary attachment figure. this internal working model serves as a 'template' for what relationships are like
• crticial period evidence:

  • tizard - studied chidlren adopted later than 2.5 years
  • children were institutionalised a few weeks after birth cared for by large grouo: prevented attachment formation
  • ability to form relationships assessed at 8 and 16
  • found most relationships were good
  • developed strong emotional bond with foster parents
  • no evidence of critical period or "affectionless character"
• support for internal working model

  • bailey et al

  studied 99 mothers. those with poor attachment to their own parents were more likely to have one- year olds poorly attached

  • supports bowlby's idea of an internal working model
• bowlbys theory of attachment:

  • evaluation
  • promoted research into early relationships
  • improved understanding of children's emotional needs
  • led to improvements in institutional care

  but...

  • several components of theory are not supported by evidence
  • mistaken beliefs had adverse effects on mothers/careggivers
• ainsworth the strange situation:

  • used 5 categories to judge attachment quality
  • proximity seeking
  • exploration and secure base behaviour
  • stranger anxiety
  • separation anxiety
  • response to reunion
• strange situation:

  seven episodes 3 mins long:

  1. baby encouraged to explore by caregiver
  2. stranger enters task to caregiver, approaches baby
  3. caregiver leaves
  4. caregiver returns, stranger leaves
  5. caregiver leaves baby on own
  6. stranger returns
  7. Caregiver returns
• SST identified 4 types of attachment bechaviour

  • secure attachment (type b)
  • insecure resistant (type c)
  • insecure avoidant (type a)
  • insecure disorganised (type d)
• insecure disorganised

  • disorientated and disoriented behaviour
  • no clear pattern
  • no coherent system for coping with separation/ reunion
  • parent mental illness, child abuse
• criticsms of strange situation test(SST)

  criticisms

  • artificial situation - unfamiliar surroundings, caregiver aware of being observed
  • low internal validity - extraneous variables
• culture bound - strange situation

  • might not have same meaning in countries outside western europe and the USA where it was created
  • japanese babies show anxiety because not used to being left by caregiver
  • difficult to know what the strange situation is measuring in some countries/ cultures
• japan:

  secure : 68

  avoidant: 5

  resistant: 27