attachment

• attachment definition

  a strong emotional bond between two people. a two way process that continues over time and is characterised by desire to maintain proximity
• Reciprocity

  turn taking when action of one person elicits a response from the other (eg infant cry's to mother feeds)

  
  

  SOCIAL RELEASERS
• interactional synchrony

  behaviours are in tune with each other. when one mirrors the actions of the other
• reciprocity study

  Murray and trevarthen

  - 2 month old infants interacting with video image of mother

  -in other part of the study the video didn't respond to the infants actions

  findings:

  show the infant experienced acute distress

  after couldn't gain attention they turned away

  shows infants actively seek a response from caregiver

  highlighting importance of reciprocity in development
• interactional synchrony study

  melzoff and Moore

  -controlled observation's for infants as young as 2 weeks

  -caregiver displayed one of 3 expressions/gestures and the child's response was filmed and identified by independent observers

  findings:

  -found association between infants behaviour and caregiver role model

  - suggests infants ability to mirror is innate
• evaluation of infant caregiver interactions( one + and one -)

  +methodology used

  observations of these are fairly well controlled and filmed meaning they can later be analysed my multiple people

  infants don't know are care they are being filmed so behaviour doesn't change in response to study(internal validity)

  
  

  -reliability testing infant behaviour

  infants mouths and bodies are in fairly constant movement

  this means its difficult to distinguish between activity and a specific behaviour

  however this can be solved by filming like m&m did
• stages of attachment- Schaffer


  1. asocial attachment

  2.indiscriminate attachment

  3.discriminate attachment

  4.multiple attachment
• 1. asocial attachment

  birth to 3 months

  -produce similar response to all objects

  toward the end of this stage they begin to have a preference for social stimuli
• 2.indiscriminate attachment

  3 to 6 months

  - smiling more at well known people but can easily be comforted by anyone

  do not display stranger anxiety
• 3. discriminate attachment

  7 months onwards

  develops specific attachment to primary caregiver

  shown through stranger and separation anxiety

  and joy on reunion
• 4. multiple attachments

  10 moths onwards

  develops a wider circle of attachments (grandparents, siblings)

  secondary attachments

  also show separation anxiety with these
• Schaffer and Emerson research into stages of attachment


  -longitudinal study with 60 infants from wc Glasgow

  -studied each moth of first year and again at 18 months

  mother reported response to separation and strangers

  findings:

  -first attachment was usually around 6/8 months

  -mothers was primary caregiver in 65% at 18 moths whilst only 3% developed primary attachment to their father

  -by 18 months, 31% had multiple attachments

  not all infant developed attachment to who they spent the most time with but who responded to needs

  suggested quality over quantity
• eval of Schaffer and Emerson's study(1+ and 2-)

  +study has mundane realism

  carried out in own homes and observations done by parents

  meaning babies behaviour was unlikely to be effected

  however some mothers may have been less sensitive to infants protests and may have not reported them leading to systematic bias

  -sample used

  because they used a small sample of 60 from the same class and area so cant b generalised to other cultures as child rearing skills vary

  this study was also done in the 60s so parental care has changed over time eg: more women at work

  (lacks temporal validity)

  -problem with how multiple attachment is assessed

  just because an individual leave and infant is distress doesn't mean the individual is true attachment figure

  Bowlby points out that children have playmate attachments who get distressed by
• Role of father not important

  Grossman longitudinal study found the quality of attachment with father was less important for teens in terms of long term emotional development
• role of the father important

  Bowlby- fathers role is different to mothers

  fathers engage more in fun physical activities whilst mother is more nurturing

  infants prefer contact with mother when distressed and contact with father when in happier state

  could be explained biologically (female hormones oestrogen= caring behaviour)
• eval for role of the father (2-)

  -major implications for lifestyle choices

  studies suggests mother is most likely to be pcg-->

  Bowlby's law of accumulated separation implies time apart from pcg increases risk of poor attachment-->

  this pushes mothers(dual burden) into particular lifestyle

  
  

  -not clear that separate gender role are important

  studies have shown that children growing up in same sex/single families develop no different from straight families

  suggests key to attachment is responsiveness not gender
• Lorenz animal study

  -lab study with independent groups design

  controlled= half eggs with natural mother

  experimental= half placed in incubator and first thing they saw was Lorenz

  studied imprinting

  findings:

  formed a rapid attachment to lornez

  when the groups were joined they both stuck this 'mothers'

  IMPRINTING IS IRREVERSIBLE and had effect on later mating preferences

  critical period for imprinting

  CONCLUDED ATTACHMENT IS BIOLOGICAL
• Evaluation of Lorenz (2 points)

  +number of studies to support Lorenz research on imprinting

  guiton yellow rubber gloves on chicks and they imprinted on the gloves. shows young animals will imprint on any moving object

  -some disagree that imprinting is irreversible and long lasting

  guiton, once chicks spent time with own species they developed normal mating habits

  imprinting can be reversed
• Harlow's animal study

  -lab using independent groups design

  -condition one= cloth mother provided milk

  -condition two- wire mother proved milk

  studied for 165 days, measurements made by time spent with mother and reaction when frightened

  findings:

  monkeys spent the most time with cloth mother even if didn't have feeding bottle, when frightened clung to cloth mother

  
  

  in adulthood, monkeys developed abnormally

  they were aggressive and mothers neglected their young sometimes killing them

  
  

  also found critical period of 90 days

  and found monkeys preferred contact comfort
• evaluation of Harlow study (1 points)

  +research led to important applications for humans and animals

  study showed importance of emotional care

  this can help social worker understand child neglect and how to assist

  can also help in the case of captive animals in zoos

  PRATICAL VALUE
• evaluation of animal studies (2 points)

  -extrapolation (generalising) these attachments to human infants

  human attachment behaviours are different to animals as our behaviour is governed by conscious decisions

  means it may not be appropriate to generalise

  -ethical issues

  both studies separated animal infants from their mothers and can cause long term emotional harm

  cost benefit analysis need to be done

  could be justified by significant effect it had on our understanding
• the 2 explanations for attachment

  1.bowlbys monotropic theory of attachment(biological)

  2.learning theory of attachment (environmental)
• Bowlby's monotropic theory


  biological/evolutionary theory

  ASCMI

  1.adaptive

  attachment is innate. it aids survival of infant by ensuring safety

  2.social releasers

  features that trigger caregiver behaviours eg smiling

  help for reciprocal bond between

  3.critical period

  first two years of life as critical period to develop attachment. if one is not formed it harder to do later on

  4.monotropy

  innate tendency to attach to one particular person which is different that other attachments LAW OF ACCUMILATED SEPARATION

  5.internal working model

  first relationship forms a mental representation of future attachments.
• Evaluation of Bowlby's monotropic theory (2+ 1-)

  +studies for imprinting have showed attachment is adaptive and innate

  eg: lorenz

  however have to be careful generalising to humans from animals

  -socially sensitive

  major implications for mothers lifestyle choices and places a burden of responsibility

  also underestimates the role of the father

  (outdated and sexist)LACKS TEMERPAL VALIDITY

  
  

  +support for the internal working model

  studied done into child and adult relationships like hazan and shaver

  most concluded it links to internal working model (attachment types)
• learning theory of attachment

  environmental approach

  infant becomes attached through classical conditioning to who feeds them

  classical conditioning learning though association

  behaviour is maintained though operate conditioning
• classical coditioning

  unconditioned stimulus(food)---> unconditioned response (happy)

  
  

  neutral stimulus (mum) + unconditioned stimulus ---> unconditioned response

  
  

  conditioned stimulus ---> conditioned response
• operate conditioning

  learning through reinforcement

  hungry infant is driven to seek food. when fed, drive is reduced and produces pleasure(reward)

  food is a primary reinforcer. the person providing is secondary reinforcer.

  negative reinforcement-

  baby cries so mums reaction is cuddling---> mum receives reward of stopping crying ----> reward reinforces action so mum repeats
• evaluation of learning theory(2 points)

  +plausible and scientific

  lots of research that implies we learn lots through association and reinforcement so no reason for attachment to be different

  -doesn't take into account quality of infant/caregiver interactions

  if attachment was purely based on feeding there would be no purpose for these complex interactions like interaction synchrony

  limits this theory
• challenging research for learning theory of attachment(can be used as eval)

  HAY AND VESPO

  proposed social learning theory

  this is were attachment is acquired as a result of modelling/imitations of parents eg; hugging family

  attachment is leaned indirectly rather than a direct approach
• Ainsworth's Strange Situation Test

  investigating types of attachment

  -lab playroom with controlled observation (two way mirror/video)

  -consists of 8 episodes each 3 minutes to judge-

  -proximity

  -secure base

  -stranger/separation anxiety

  -joy on reunion

  episodes consist of child and caregiver, caregiver leaves, comes back, stranger enters, caregiver leaves, stranger leaves

  FINDINGS:

  secure attachment= 70%

  moderate distress on separation and stranger, joy on reunion

  avoidant=20%

  little distress on separation and avoids contact on reunion

  resistant=10%

  concludes attachment is effected by life experiences
• 3 types of attachment

  1.secure-

  has the most healthy outcome

  2.insecure avoidant-

  low anxiety and weak attachment

  3.insecure resistant-

  high anxiety and strong attachment
• findings from ainsworth's strange situation

  secure attachment = 70%

  moderate distress for separation and strange

  joy on reunion

  willing to explore

  
  

  avoidant = 20%

  little distress on separation and responds similarly to mum and stranger

  freely explores

  avoids contact on reunion

  
  

  resistant= 10%

  very distressed on separation and resists stranger

  not willing to explore

  seeks then resists contact on reunion
• evaluation of strange situation

  +strongly predicts later development (predictive validity)

  studies like Wilson and smith show this in bullying

  -culturally biased

  tested in the USA so reflects us norms

  childrearing practices are different in different cultures

  -there many be more than 3 types of attachment

  such as insecure disorganised- lacks consistent patterns of social behaviour-15%(ijzendoorn)
• cultural variations of strange situation

  ijzendoorn-

  carried out meta analysis of 32 studies in 8 different counties using strange situation.

  all studies comprised of 35 mothers/infants and research included individualistic and collectivistic cultures

  findings:

  Britain and Sweden had the most secure attachments at 75%

  china had the lowest type b (secure) at 50%

  Germany had the highest avoidant 35%

  18/32 OF THE STUDIES WERE AMERICAN
• smaller cultural variation with strange situation

  Italian study- simonelli et al (2012)

  study to see if proportion of infants of different attachments matched other studies

  findings:

  50% secure

  36% avoidant

  lowest rate of secure found in studies

  suggests its because mothers are now working longer hours and children are in childcare more
• evaluation of cultural variations into attachment

  +ends up with a very large sample and high population validity

  however many more be a truly representative sample as 18/32 were American and 27 were individualistic cultures whilst 5 were collectivistic

  - not an appropriate way of measuring other cultures as reflects norms and values of American culture

  -not comparing cultures but countries

  within countries there are different subcultures each having different child rearing practices
• Bowlby's maternal deprivation theory


  if an infant is unable to develop intimate relationship with caregiver it will have difficulty in the future and risks behavioural disorders

  -first 2 years is a critical period so if infant is deprived of care bc of prolonged separation then psychological damage is inevitable

  even short term disruption can have effect on child's development

  intellectual delay and low iq

  AFFECTIONLESS PSYCHOPATHY
• affectionless psychopathy


  the inability to experience guilt or strong emotions for others

  lack of affection, guilt , empathy

  prevents person from developing relationships and becomes associated with crime as feels no remorse
• 44 thieves study- Bowlby

  link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation

  -natural experiment analysing 88 patients from child clinic in London

  all children were emotionally maladjusted

  44 were accused of stealing and other 44 were controlled group of non criminals

  interviewed for signs as well as families (eval)

  findings:

  14/44 thieves were affectionless psychopathy and 12/14 o these experienced prolonged separation from mothers in critical period

  only 2/44 controlled experience separation
• evaluation of maternal deprivation theory

  +real world applications

  before theory babies were separated from mum at hospital

  but this created distress. concluded emotional care is needed and can prevent disruption

  -44 thieves cant be generalised

  done in one clinic with very small sample& attitudes about children have changed since 40s

  -reliability and validity

  interviews so patients and families could have easily lied to give desirable answer & memories could be disrupted as it was from childhood.