Paper 1 Attachment

• Meltzoff and Moore


  Found babies expression and gestures more likely to mirror those of adults more than chance would predict
• Isabella et al (1989)


  Found that the quality of a mother-infant attachment was related to the levels of interactional synchrony.
• Tiffany Field (1975)


  Primary caregiver fathers can be more nurturing - level of responsiveness, not gender.
• Grossman (2002)


  Attachment to fathers is less important than mothers but fathers have different role, more to do with play and stimulation.
• Geiger (1996)


  Found dads play interactions are more exciting and pleasurable than mums whilst mums are more nurturing and affectionate suggesting they have different roles
• Hrdy (1999)

  Found that fathers are less able than mothers to detect low levels of infant distress
• Belsky et al (2009)


  Found secure father infant attachments to be associated with high levels of marital intimacy.

  Closeness of the relationship between fathers and partners affect the type of attachment a father has with his children.
• Schaffer


  Stages of Attachment: longitudinal study of 60 working class glaswegian newborns, testing every month for separation protest by leaving infant alone in a room, cot or pram outside, and stranger anxiety by the researcher approaching.

  Stages of attachment:

  (Few weeks) Asocial - similar behaviour to objects and humans.

  (2-7 mths) Indiscriminate - Prefer people, recognise familiar adults. No separation anxiety.

  (7 mths) Specific - Separation and stranger anxiety

  (1 yr) Multiple - Attachment toward other people.
• Schaffer AO3

  Bushnell (1989)

  Carpenter (1975)

  Bushnell - asocial - less than 24 hours old prefer looking at mum.

  Carpenter - Specific - 2 week old recognise mother, distress at stranger presence.
• Pavlov


  Classical conditioning :

  Dog (unconditioned response, controlled response)

  food (unconditioned stimulus)

  Bell (neutral stimulus, controlled stimulus)
• Dollard and Miller (1950)


  Proposed that caregiver-infant attachment can be explained by learning theory
• Bowlby's monotropic theory 


  Social releasers (Physical baby features and behaviour)

  Adaptiveness

  Critical period (Babies form attachment between birth and 2.5 years, if no attachment babies damaged emotionally, socially, intellectually and physically)

  Monotropy (1 special bond with mother)

  Internal working model (all future relationships based on early attachment)
• Lorenz (1935)

  Investigated imprinting with geese. Geese chicks in incubator imprinted on him and followed him everywhere. Natural followed mother. (Critical period - few hours to imprint)
• Harlow (1959)

  - same monkey study as for Bowlby

  - after separation, put baby monkeys into cage with "cloth mother" and "wire mother"

  - wire mother was cold, hard, uncomfortable, unrealistic face, but had a bottle of milk. Cloth mother was padded and comfortable, more realistic face, but no food

  - observed baby monkeys to see with "mother" they bonded with (scared them by putting noisy toy in and seeing which "mother" they ran to)

  - found that monkeys spent all their time with cloth mother, and just fed off wire mother.

  THEREFORE food is not the most important thing, it's about contact/comfort
• Mary Ainsworth


  1. Caregiver sits on chair and reads magazine infant encouraged to play and explore.

  2. Stranger enters and interacts with infant

  3. Caregiver leaves and stranger interacts with infant

  4. Caregiver returns, stranger leaves

  5. Caregiver leaves child alone

  6. Stranger returns, tries to interact with infant

  7. Caregiver returns and reunited with child
• Ainsworth attachment types

  Secure = Mother is safe base, medium separation and stranger anxiety, joy on reunion

  Insecure resistant = High separation anxiety, 'hot and cold' stranger anxiety, reject mother on reunion

  Insecure avoidant = Not mother safe base, low separation and stranger anxiety and no joy on reunion
• Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg


  Meta analysis of 32 studies, 8 countries, 18 samples from USA
• Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg

  Insecure avoidant = 35% of German infants

  Insecure resistant = Japan

  Secure = Britain and China
• Bowlby Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis


  Early Separation or loss of the mother has emotional and intellectual consequences and results in failure to develop an attachment

  -Bowlby proposed that continuous care from a mother is essential for normal psychological development
• Rutter et al Procedure


  165 Romanian orphans

  Investigate extent to which good care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions

  Physical, cognitive and emotional development assessed at 4,6,11 and 15 years
• Rutter et al Findings

  • Half adopted children showed signs of delayed intellectual development and were undernourished
  • At 11 different rates of recovery related to age of adoption
  • Mean IQ when adopted before 6 months = 102, older than 6 months = 86
  • Adopted after 6 months = disinhibited attachment (attention seeking and clingy)
• Zeenah et al procedure


  100 children between 21 and 31 months, 90% spent most lives in orphanage, compared to control group who were never institutionalised.

  Used strange situation method, carers were also asked about children's behaviour
• Zeenah et al Findings


  3/4 of control group = secure

  1/5 experimental group = Secure

  2/3 experimental group = disinhibited
• Myron-Wilson and Smith

  Insecure avoidant = bullied

  Insecure resistant = bullies
• Hazen and Shaver attachment types on adult relationships

  Secure = Positive love experience, trust others and enduring love, positive image of mother as dependable and caring

  Resistant = Pre-occupied by love, fall in love easily, mother is positive and rejecting

  Avoidant = Fear of closeness in love, love isn't durable or necessary for happiness, mother is cold and rejecting
• Bailey et al 


  Assessed 99 mothers (with 1yr olds) attachment to their mothers and attachment of children to them

  Mothers with poor attachment to parents more likely to have insecure children.