Attachment

• Attachment is an emotional two-way bond between a child and their primary caregiver
• Babies like to be near their carers and do not like to be separated, as the bond provides a sense of security and comfort influencing psychological, neurological, physical, and cognitive development
• Attachment forms the basis of trust and mistrust and can impact future relationships
• Caregiver-infant interactions involve caregiverese, high-pitched vocal language, mimicking, and physical contact
• Reciprocity in caregiver-infant interactions means the interaction flows both ways between adult and infant, with evidence of turn-taking
• Interactional synchrony in caregiver-infant interactions is when two people move in the same pattern, coordinating speech and movement, sharing a sense of timing and imitating each other's behaviors and emotions
• When reciprocity and synchrony are missing, babies may become distressed when their attempts to interact are not reciprocated
• Practical applications of research on caregiver-infant interactions include hospitals placing mothers and babies in the same room after birth, leading to stronger bond formation
• Le Vine's research suggests that interactional synchrony is not necessary for attachment formation, refuting Isabella's research
• Attachment can be defined as an emotional relationship between two people seeking closeness and feeling more secure in the presence of the attachment figure
• Two features of caregiver-infant interaction outlined from Abdul's conversation: interactional synchrony - adults and babies respond in time to sustain communication, and reciprocity/turn-taking - interaction flows both ways between adult and infant
• Schaffer and Emerson found that 3% of children formed their primary attachment with their fathers, while 27% of fathers were the joint first object of attachment
• Imprinting is an innate readiness to develop a strong bond with the mother, usually occurring within the first few hours after birth/hatching
• A critical period is a specific time period during which an attachment must form
• Lorenz's study showed that animals will imprint to any object present during the critical period, suggesting imprinting is not limited to a certain object
• One critique of Lorenz's study is that research has failed to support the concept of a 'critical period', as some studies found that animals could still imprint after being isolated for a period of time
• Harlow's research on attachment in monkeys raised ethical issues due to distress caused, such as diarrhea and long-lasting emotional harm, questioning the ethicality of the study
• Animal studies, like Harlow's and Lorenz's, attempt to generalize their conclusions to humans, but human behavior is more determined by conscious thought than animals, making it challenging to extrapolate animal research to humans
• Learning theory (behaviorism) argues that we are born as a 'TABULA RASA' (blank slate) and acquire behaviors through experiences with the environment
• Learning theory, also known as 'Cupboard love', suggests that children are attached to caregivers because of food
• Operant conditioning in attachment involves processes like positive reinforcement (e.g., when a baby cries and gets food) and negative reinforcement (e.g., when a child is fed, the unpleasant sensation of hunger stops)
• Primary reinforcers in attachment are biological, like food, water, or pleasure, while secondary reinforcers are learned through association with primary reinforcers, like money or verbal praise
• Classical conditioning in attachment, as seen in Pavlov's dogs, involves the stages where an infant learns to associate pleasure solely with the caregiver, without the need for food
• Schaffer and Emerson's research challenged the claim that attachments are based on feeding, showing that sensitive responsiveness may be more important
• Fox's research suggested that attachment was not solely based on the reward of receiving food, questioning the validity of learning theory in explaining attachment
• Bowlby's theory of attachment emphasizes sensitivity and responsiveness to a child's needs, contrasting with learning theory's focus on the role of food in reinforcing attachment behavior
• Schaffer and Emerson's findings that multiple attachments were the norm and that sensitive responsiveness may be more important than food support Bowlby's theory of attachment
• Kagan (1984) suggests that an infant’s innate personality may explain attachment behavior:

  • 'Easy' temperament infants are more likely to become strongly attached because it is easier to interact with them
  • 'Difficult' infants tend to be insecurely attached
  • Research found that infants showing signs of behavioral instability at just 3 days old later developed insecure attachments
• Sroufe (2005) conducted longitudinal research of parents and their children from infancy to late adolescence:

  • Children securely attached in infancy were rated higher for social competence, less isolated, and more popular later in life
  • Provides support for the continuity hypothesis that early attachments influence later attachments (Internal working model)
• Ainsworth's Strange Situation study:

  • Aim: to identify stages of attachment and find a pattern in the development of attachment between infants and parents
  • Procedure: observed interactions between infants and carers in a set of pre-determined activities
  • Three types of attachment found: secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-resistant
• Exam Practice:

  • Max: Securely attached / type B
  • Jessica: Insecure / Anxious-resistant / ambivalent / type C
  • William: Insecure / Anxious-avoidant / type A
• Exam Practice:

  • Insecure-avoidant children seem unconcerned when the mother leaves, while insecure-resistant children show intense distress
  • During reunion, insecure-avoidant children show little reaction, while insecure-resistant children may cling to their mother but show ambivalent behavior
• Exam Practice:

  • The behavior of a child with insecure-avoidant attachment type would show little concern when the mother leaves and little reaction upon her return
  • In contrast, a child with insecure-resistant attachment type would display intense distress upon separation and cling to the mother but show ambivalent behavior towards her
• Cultural differences in attachment types:

  • Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg's (1988) study into cultural variations
  • Research investigating cultural variations in attachment
• Problems with using tools like the Strange Situation across cultures:

  • Each culture views attachment behaviors differently
  • For example, willingness to explore is seen as secure attachment in America, but in traditional Japanese culture, dependence is valued over independence
• Takahashi (1990) studied infants in Japan and found:

  • Similar rate of secure attachments to Ainsworth's research in America
  • No evidence of insecure-avoidant type, 32% showed insecure-resistant attachments
  • Differences in childcare practices influenced attachment types
• Grossman and Grossman (1991) found that German infants tended to be classified as insecurely attached:

  • German infants do not engage in proximity-seeking behaviors during the Strange Situation due to cultural childrearing practices
  • Attachment types vary depending on culture
• Evaluation of meta-analyses:

  • Van Ijzendoorn's research into cultural variations in attachment
  • Strengths and weaknesses of meta-analyses
• Attachment types vary dependent upon culture, and it would be culture-biased to assume that one attachment type is dominant across all cultures
• It is not appropriate to impose American values onto other cultures (IMPOSED ETIC)