attachment

• RECIPROCITY


  The exchange and coordination of actions between an infant and caregiver, where each one influences the other's actions
• INTERACTIONAL SYNCHRONY


  The development of attentional coordination between an infant and caregiver
• Procedure


  1. Infants (as young as 2-3 weeks old) were shown an adult model displaying one of three facial expressions or hand movements

  2. In the initial display, the infant had a pacifier in their mouth to prevent any response

  3. Following the display, the pacifier was removed and the infant's expression was filmed on video
• Psychologists cannot see what is happening in the mind of a person
• Psychologists infer how mental processes work
• Inference


  Drawing conclusions from findings
• Stages of attachment


  Schaffer & Emerson conducted a landmark study on attachment and used the findings to construct a description of the development of attachment over time
• This shows it is hard to know what is happening when we observe infants in studies
• Schaffer & Emerson study

  1. Longitudinal study on 60 Glasgow infants (5-23 weeks at the start) from working-class homes

  2. Visited infants in their home every four weeks for approximately one year

  3. Asked mothers questions about infant protest in separation examples to measure separation anxiety

  4. Assessed stranger anxiety, the infant's response to unfamiliar adults
• Stages of attachment


  • Asocial attachment (first few weeks)
  • Indiscriminate attachment (2-7 months)
  • Specific attachment (from 7 months)
  • Multiple attachments (after primary attachment is formed)
• Asocial attachment


  Infants produce similar responses to human and non-human objects
• Indiscriminate attachment


  Infants prefer human company to non-human objects, can distinguish between familiar and non-familiar adults but are easily comforted by anyone, do not yet show stranger or separation anxiety
• Specific attachment


  Infants have formed a specific attachment to their primary attachment figure, show separation anxiety when the primary attachment figure leaves and joy when they return, also begin to show stranger anxiety
• Multiple attachments


  Infants form secondary attachments with other adults, show separation anxiety when secondary attachments leave the room
• The father is more likely to become a secondary attachment figure
• Reasons why fathers are less likely to be the primary attachment figure

  • Fathers spend less time with their infants
  • Men are less psychologically equipped because they lack the emotional sensitivity that females offer
  • The female hormone oestrogen underlies caring behaviour and men have less of this
  • Cultural stereotypes reinforce females as caring and nurturing and men do not wish to appear feminine
  • Men are less sensitive to infant cues so do not meet their needs (this theory has been disproven)
• Higher levels of marital intimacy

  Fathers display a secure father-infant attachment
• Lower levels of marital intimacy

  Fathers display an insecure father-infant attachment
• There is research evidence that suggests the role of the father may be more for play and stimulation, while the mother's role is more for nurturing
• The observation was cancelled, why is this?
• What is inter-rater bias?
• No observer bias
• Experimenter aware of who's in a controlled group and what's not
• The extent to which different researchers come to the same conclusion
• Evaluation of research into caregiver-infant interaction

  • One strength is evidence points to the significance of caregiver-infant interaction
  • There is evidence to show the importance of infant-caregiver behaviour
  • It helps infants understand the mental state of others which is important for developing social relationships
  • A limitation is it is difficult to measure caregiver-infant interaction
  • Studies use young infants as young as three weeks old, so it is hard to know if the observed behaviours have special significance or are conscious and deliberate
• Imprinting


  Ante readiness to develop a strong bond with another, which takes place during a specific sensitive period of development, probably the first few hours after hatching. If it doesn't happen at this time, it probably will not happen ever.
• Imprinting only happens if the young see a persistently moving object during the first two days of life, otherwise it will not happen. This time is known as the critical period.
• Imprinting


  • It is a very long-lasting effect, for example one of the geese, called Martina, used to sleep on Lorenz's bed every night
  • It affected the birds' later mate preferences, they would perform mating displays to humans rather than other birds
• Lorenz's study on imprinting

  1. Lorenz took a clutch of goose eggs and divided them into two groups

  2. Half the eggs hatched with their natural mother, while the other half hatched in an incubator where the first moving object they saw was Lorenz

  3. The geese that had been hatched in the incubator followed Lorenz around, while the geese that had been hatched by their mother followed her around

  4. Lorenz marked the two groups of goslings so he could distinguish between them and placed them together, with both him and their mother present

  5. The group that hatched with Lorenz continued to follow him and the other group continued to follow the mother
• Harlow's study on attachment in rhesus monkeys

  • Harlow created two wire monkeys with different heads as surrogate mothers - one covered in soft cloth for comfort, and one with no cloth just a wire head and a teat for food
  • All monkeys spent most of their time with the cloth-covered mother whether it had the feeding bottle or not
  • When frightened, all monkeys clung to the cloth-covered mother and when playing with new objects they kept one foot on her, seemingly for reassurance
• Operant conditioning


  The theory that attachment develops through the process of reinforcement, where the caregiver becomes a secondary reinforcer associated with the primary reinforcer of food
• Classical conditioning


  The theory that attachment develops through the association between the pleasure of food and the presence of the caregiver, who becomes a conditioned stimulus
• The learning theory suggests that attachment develops through the processes of classical and operant conditioning
• Bowlby's evolutionary theory of attachment


  • Attachment is important for survival and infants are innately programmed to form attachments, especially to their mother (monotropy)
  • Attachment style as a child creates a template for future relationships and provides an internal working model for relationships
  • Very early life experiences during infancy have an impact upon later child and adult behaviour (continuity hypothesis)
• The 'Strange Situation' is an important procedure developed by Mary Ainsworth to measure the security of attachment a child displays towards a caregiver
• Stages of the Strange Situation procedure

  1. Mother and child are left alone in the room and the child can investigate toys

  2. A stranger enters the room and talks with the mother, then gradually approaches the infant with a toy

  3. The mother leaves the child alone with the stranger and the stranger interacts with the child

  4. The mother returns to greet and comfort the child

  5. The stranger returns and tries to engage with the child

  6. The child is left on its own

  7. The mother returns, greets and picks up the child, and the stranger leaves inconspicuously
• From the Strange Situation procedure, Ainsworth was able to categorise different types of attachment
• Attachment Types


  • Type Rectly attached (86%)
  • Type Aroecare avalan (22%)
  • Type C restant insecure (12%)
• Secure Attachment (Type B)


  Characteristic behaviours:

  • Will show calmly when approached by a stranger and will move closer to the mother
  • Will approach their caregiver and use them as a secure base for exploring strange environments
  • Will seem to their caregiver at regular intervals
  • Will be subdued when separated from their caregiver and show some distress when they leave
  • Will show pleasure on reunion with their caregiver and greet them warmly
  • Are easily comforted by their caregiver when distressed
• Insecure Attachment


  Insecurely attached children show disturbed behaviour during separation and reunion. They ignore their mother and do not pay much attention to her when she returns. They tend to have less successful relationships with peers, lovers and their own children in later life.