attachment

• what is precocial?

  (animals)nborn at a more developed stage of learning - more independant , eg , a horse and elephant can walk and run soon after birth
• attachment bonds can be characterised by?

  proximity

  separation distress

  secure - base behaviour
• what is proximity?

  try to stay physically close
• what is separation distress?

  they become distressed if the person they are attached to is not in close proximity
• what is secure - based behaviour ?

  even when infants play independently without primary caregiver , they make regular contact with them by regularly
• what is attachment?

  a close two-way emotional bond between two individuals in which each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security.
• Meltzoff and Moore's experiment in 1977 aimed to investigate the imitation of facial expressions in newborn infants.
• The procedure of meltzoff and moore's experiment involved videotaping 12 – 21 day old babies as they watched an adult experimenter perform different facial expressions, including tongue protrusion, lip protrusion, and mouth opening.
• The findings of meltzoff and moore's experiment showed that babies’ facial expression matched the experimenter’s significantly more often than would happen by chance.
• meltzoff and moore found that Infant imitation of facial expressions is an innate ability that aids attachment.
• what is the asocial stage ?stage 1

  Baby’s behaviour towards humans and inanimate objects is fairly similar .

  Baby prefers to be with other people, tend to show a preference for the company of familiar people and are more easily comforted by them.

  At this stage the baby is forming bond with certain people and these form the basis of later attachments.
• what is the Indiscriminate attachment stage? stage 2 (2-7months)

  Baby’s display more obvious and observable social behaviours.

  They show a clear preference for being with humans than with inanimate objects .

  They recognise and prefer company of familiar people. Usually accept cuddles and comfort from any person.

  Do not show separation anxiety or stranger anxiety.
• what is the specific attachment stage? stage 3(around 7 months)

  Baby’s start to show classic signs of attachment to a particular person e.g. stranger and separation anxiety.

  Specific attachment is formed with a primary

  attachment figure.
• what is Multiple attachments stage? stage 4 (soon after 7

  months)

  Attachments formed with those people who the baby regularly spends time with (Secondary attachments).

  29% of children did this within a month of forming a primary attachment.

  By the age 1 majority of babies had developed multiple attachments.
• Lorenz ( 1952 )

  aim - aimed to test imprinting to see if animal infants bond with the first subject they meet

  
  

  procedure - randomly divided a large clutch of goose eggs. 1/2 of the eggs were hatched naturally with the mother, the other 1/2 hatched in an incubator where the first moving object they saw was lorenz

  
  

  findings - geese follow the first moving object they see (imprinting) - suggests that attachment is innate and programmed genetically.
• harlow ( 1958 )

  aim - to study the effects of maternal deprivation and isolation.

  
  

  procedure - he reared 16 baby monkeys with 2 wire model ' mothers ' . in 1 condition milk was dispensed by the plain-wire mother whereas in a second condition , the milk was dispensed by the cloth covered monkey

  
  

  findings - the baby monkeys cuddled the cloth-covered mother in preference to the plain-wire mother and sought comfort from the cloth one when frightened regardless of what one produced milk. This shows that contact comfort was of more importance than food
• bowlby's monotrophic theory

  bowlby's theory is described as monotropic as he placed great emphasis on a child's attachment to one particular caregiver ( the mother )
• what is the law of continuity?

  law that states that the more constant and predictable a child's care, the better the quality of their attachment
• what is the law of accumulated separation?

  law stated that the effects of every separation from the mother add up 'and the safest dose is therefore a zero dose'
• what is an internal working model?

  According to Bowlby, an internal working model is a mental representation of our relationship with our primary caregiver that becomes a template for future relationships.
• internal working model - poor parenting

  the lack of an internal working model means that individuals lack a reference point to form relationships with their own children

  this is also found in animal studies - harlow
• what was the aim of hazan and shaver ( 1987 )?

  to explore the possibility that attachment theory offers a perspective on adult romantic love and to create a framework for understanding love, loneliness and grief at different points in the life cycle
• results of hazan and shaver 1987?

  • 56% of respondents in both samples were securely attached
  • 23% of respondents in sample 1 was insecure-avoidant
  • 25% of respondents in sample 2 was insecure-avoidant
  • 19% of respondents in sample 1 was insecure-resistant
  • 20% of respondents in sample 2 was insecure-resistant
• conclusions of hazan and shaver 1987?

  Researchers classified 56% of participants as having secure adult attachments. They were more likely to have balanced and longer-lasting romantic relationships. They described their romantic relationships as positive, happy, friendly, and trusting . The avoidant respondents tended to reveal jealousy and fear of intimacy. These findings suggest that patterns of attachment behaviour are reflected in romantic relationships.
• procedure of hazan and shaver 1987 ?

  They analysed 620 replies to a 'love quiz' printed in an American local newspaper. The quiz had three sections. The first assessed respondents' current or most important relationship. The second part assessed general love experiences, eg, number of partners had. The third section assessed attachment type by asking respondents to choose which of three statements best described their feelings.
• what is separation?

  when the infant is not in the presence of the primary caregiver

  this only becomes an issue for development if the child is deprived , eg , they lose an element of care
• effects on development - intellectual development 


  bowlby believed that if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period , they would suffer delayed intellectual development - abnormally low IQ
• effects on development - emotional development

  bowlby identified affectionless psychopathy as the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion for others. this prevents the person developing normal relationships and is associated with criminality.
• aim of bowlbys 44 thieves study

  to investigate whether prolonged maternal separation led to juvenile delinquency in children
• what was the procedure of bowlby's 44 thieves study?

  He studied 88 children (44 had been caught stealing , the other 44 were a control group). The 'thieves' were interviewed for affectionless psychopathy (lacking emotions of affection , shame , responsibility ). Their families were interviewed to see if the ' thieves ' had prolonged separation at an early age from their mothers.
• findings of bowlby's 44 thieves study

  Bowlby found that 14 children from the thief group were identified as affectionless psychopaths (they were unable to care about or feel affection for others) 12 had experienced prolonged separation of more than six months from their mothers in their first two years of life.
• conclusion of bowlby's 44 thieves study

  Bowlby found in the forty-four juvenile thieves study that prolonged maternal separation is a prominent factor in juvenile delinquency.
• aims of Van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988)

  To investigate whether previously found differences in attachment

  patterns in different countries were real or due to research error.

  To investigate intracultural differences e.g. to compare studies from

  urban and rural communities.

  To use a larger sample of data than had previously been examined
• procedure of Van IJzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988)

  Meta-analysis (looking at findings from a number of studies and drawing general conclusions).

  32 studies in 8 countries, so over 2000 babies studied

  Only studies involving:

  Strange Situation

  Mother-infant interaction

  ‘Normal’ children

  Sample of more than 35 children
• results of van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg 1988

  highest % of securely attached = great britain

  lowest % of securely attached = china

  highest % of insecure avoidant = germany

  lowest % of insecure avoidant = japan

  highest % of insecure resistant = japan

  lowest % of insecure resistant = great britain
• what is an institution ?

  a place dedication to a particular task , eg , looking after children awaiting adoption or care for the mentally ill. it is a place where people stay for a long period of time as opposed to day care where people go home everyday
• schaffer and emerson evaluation?

  1. research is interested in different questions
  2. gender stereotypes / biology
  3. lack of objective observation
  4. economic implications
• evaluation of the role of the father ?

  1. there is conflicting evidence regarding the role of the father
  2. there is real life applications of researching the role of the father
  3. there may be bias in research
  4. gender stereotypes
• evaluation of lorenz research ?

  1. difficulties with generalising the findings to humans - mammalian attachment is different to that in birds , eg mammalian mothers form a more emotional attachment compared to birds
  2. Lorenz’s research has had a significant influence on our understanding of attachment
  3. Some researchers have contradicted the idea of a ‘critical period’ for the development of attachments - sluckin 1966
• evaluation of harlow research?

  1. research has been valuable - findings have influenced other attachment theories eg skin to skin after birth to form strong attachments
  2. has great practical value - helped social workers understand the effects of child neglect and abuse for a child's later development
  3. ethical issues - baby monkeys suffered as a result of his experiment