Attachment

• stages of attachment

  Asocial 0-8 weeks, indiscriminate 2-7 months, specific 7-12 month, multiple 1 year+
• Grossman 


  carried out a longitudinal study + found that the quality of fathers play had an impact on the quality of their adolescent attachments
• learning theory


  infants learn to form attachments with their mothers through classical conditioning
• findings of the strange situation

  66% - secure

  22% - insecure avoidant

  12% - insecure resistant
• Separation

  the absence of the primary caregiver for a short period of time
• Reciprocity 


  the children + parent pay attention to each others verbal + non verbal signals - they take it interns to start a sequence
• Interactional synchrony 


  the child + parent mirror each other
• Schaffer + Emerson 


  60 babies in Glasgow, the analysed the interactions between the infants + carers.

  they found that sensitive responsiveness was more important then the amount of time spent with the baby - so infants formed more attachments with those who spent less time but were more sensitive towards them

  they also highlighted the stages of attachments, Asocial, indiscriminate, specific + multiple
• Meltzoff + Moore


  used 2 week old infants + observed them - they found a positive correlation between the infants actions those of the PCG
• The role of the father 


  Schaffer + Emerson found that 75% of infants formed a secondary attachment to their fathers by the age of 18months - this suggests that the father is important but unlikely to be the primary attachment
• Tiffany Felid 


  observed interactions between infants + primary caregivers - she found that primary caregivers are more attentive. This suggests that the primary care giver doesn't always have to be the mother
• Lorenz 


  concept of imprinting - used geese to show that animals will attach to the first moving object/ person they see after birth
• Harlow 


  demonstrated the importance of comfort - when the monkeys were scared they would always seek comfort with the cloth mother highlighting the importance of comfort in attachments
• Classical conditioning 


  babies form an association between the mother + the feeling of pleasure that comes with being fed
• Operant conditioning 


  child is positively reinforced leaving them to continue behaviours as it leads to a reward
• Internal working model 


  mental schema for relationships where information that allows you to know how to behave around people is stored
• Ainsworth 


  assessed how securely attached a child is to its caregiver

  She found securely attached, infant showed some separation anxiety when the caregiver leaves, insecure resistant, very distressed + tries to follow when when the parent leaves when they return both seeking + rejecting, insecure avoidant showed little care when parent leaves the room + shows frustration on reunion
• Van Lzjendoorn + Kronenberg


  conducted a meta-analysis of 32 studies using 8 countries

  Found secure in USA + UK, high levels of avoidant in China + Germany, high levels of resistant in Israel + Japan
• Romaninan orphan studies 


  Rutter et al - investigated the effects of insitualitionalisation of 165 Romanian orphans

  They were assessed at 4,6+11 years old and compared the results with 50 British orphans

  This shows the importance + effects of adopting orphans at different ages, which directly related to their rate of recovery
• early attachments on childhood relationships 


  Bowlby suggested that their is a connection between your experiences as a baby + your relationships later in life
• Grossman - father


  longitudinal study of 44 families comparing the role of fathers + mothers contribution to their children's attachment experiences at 6,10 + 16 years.

  fathers play styles were closely linked to the fathers own internal working model of attachment
• internal working model 


  childhood patterns of attachment are carried forward across the life cycle into adolescence + adulthood
• Monotropic theory of attachment


  this states that attachments are innate

  Adaptive - they are needed for survival

  Social releasers - innate tendency for adults to care for them (cute face)

  critical period - can form an attachment up to 3 years

  Monotropy - one carer, you can only have 1 special attachment

  Internal working model - a mental schema for relationships where information that allows you to know how to behave is stored
• Maternal deprivation 


  this theory argues that attachments are essential for healthy psychological + emotional development, it states there are negative consequences of maternal deprivation such as

  inability to form attachments in the future

  affection less psychopathy

  delinquency

  problems with cognitive development

  prolonged stays lead to disruptive situations causing problems for the child

  USE 44 thieves to back this up
• 44 thieves 


  he found 44 thieves that displayed 14 signs of affection less psychopathy + 12 that suffered from maternal deprivation during the critical period of attachment eg first 30 months of their life
• continiuity hypothesis


  suggests an individuals future relationships will follow a pattern based on their IWM. This pattern includes an individuals childhood friendships, adult partners + parenting their own children