Attachment

• Define an attachment

  Attachment is the formation of a strong, reciprocal, emotional bond between an infant and a primary caregiver, it serves the function of protecting an infant
• How can the strength of a bond be seen

  • Reciprocity
  • interactional synchrony
• What are the stages of attachment

  • Asocial stage
  • indiscriminate stage
  • specific attachment stage
  • multiple attachment stage
• Define reciprocity

  Reciprocity is when each person takes it in turn to respond to the others signal, similar to a coversation
• Define Interactional synchrony

  Interactional synchrony is a simultaneous interaction between the infant and primary caregiver as they mirror actions and emotions
• Who created the stages of attachment

  Schaffer and Emerson
• Who looked at the role of the father

  Grossman
• Who conducted animal studies

  • Lorenz
  • Harlow
• What are the types of attachment

  • Insecure avoidant - type A
  • secure - type B
  • insecure resistant - type C
• What did Schaffer and Emerson find from their study

  • 65% of infants specific attachment was with their mother
  • only 3% of infants specific attachment was with the father
  • sensitive responsiveness
  • by 18 month, 75% of the infants had formed attachments to their fathers
• Define sensitive responsiveness

  Sensitive responsiveness refers to the idea that social interaction and play matter most when forming an attachment
• What facts can be used for the role of the father

  • Grossman study
  • Schaffer and Emerson - only 3% of infants specific attachment was their father
  • Infants had formed their secondary attachment with their father by 18 months in 75% of cases
• Explain Grossman’s study

  • Longitudinal study
  • Grossman looked at both the parents behaviours and its relationship to the quality of the children’s attachment into their teens
  • fathers were seen to engage infants in active play activities more consistently than mothers
  • fathers interactions emphasise stimulation so their role is to encourage risk taking behaviours compared to the more comforting style of mothers
• Explain Meltzoff and Moore’s study

  • An adult displayed four different stimuli (three facial expressions and one hand gesture)
  • the infants behaviour in response to the stimuli was observed
  • there was clear association between the infants behaviour and that of the adult model
  • this supports Interactional synchrony
• What sample was used in Ainsworth strange situation

  106 m.c American infants (12 to 18 months old) and their mothers
• What did Ainsworth strange situation find

  • 2/3 of the infants had a secure attachment, 22% were insecure avoidant and 12% were insecure resistant
  • identified a range of shared behaviours that indicate attachment strength
  • e.g proximity to the mother, separation and stranger anxiety, reunion response and sensitive responsiveness from the mother
• What sample was used in Van Izjendoorn’s study

  Large scale meta analysis from 32 studies in 8 countries
• What did Van Izjendoorn find

  • Secure attachment type was the most common in all countries
  • generally insecure resistant was the least common
  • the avoidant attachment type was the most common in western cultures which suggests that parenting style can affect attachment
• Define institutionalisation

  When children are cared for by the state
• Define deprivation

  Deprivation means that an infant is not receiving suitable emotional care from a primary attachment figure
• Define privation

  Privation refers to a total lack of care so that there is no ability to form an attachment bond
• Explain Rutter et al Procedure

  • The children that had been adopted from Romanian institutions were grouped into three categories based on age
  • under 6 months, 6 months to 2 years and over 2 years old
  • each group was assesses at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15
• Rutter et al findings

  • Adoption within the first 6 months was crucial as their rate of recovery depended on the age that they were adopted
  • age 11 check up findings - children adopted after 6 months showed significant delays in their emotional, intellectual and social development
  • the children that were adopted under 6 months had a higher IQ than those adopted after 2 years old
• Who conducted a study on Roman orphans

  Rutter et al
• Romanian orphan studies evaluation

  Strengths - practical applications

  strength - research support