attachment

• what is meant by the term attachment

  - the reciprocal emotional bond between an infant and their caregiver

  - caregiver is usually the mother but can also be the father
• what is meant by reciprocity in attachment

  a two way process where each person responds to the other and elicits a response from them
• what is meant by interactional synchrony in attachment

  mother and infants actions and emotions mirror eachother and do this in a synchronised way
• outline research that supports the idea of interaction synchrony

  Isabella (1989) observed 30 mother and infant relationships, and found that high levels on interactional synchrony were associated with more secure mother-infant attachments, suggesting interactional synchrony is an important caregiver-infant interaction
• outline research that contradicts the idea of interactional synchrony

  Le vine et al (1994) found that Kenyan mothers had little physical contact or interactions with infants however a high proportion of infants formed secure attachments

  - shows interactional synchrony is not seen in all cultures and is not necessary for attachments to form
• give one strength of research into caregiver-infant interactions

  - can draw conclusions as to how infants form healthy attachments with their caregiver, and which behaviours promote these

  - can be taught in parenting classes or books to inform new parents how to interact with their infant to form healthy attachments
• give two weaknesses of research into caregiver-infant interactions

  - infants cannot talk to researchers must make interpretations about their behaviour - subjective approach which may lead to inaccurate conclusions being drawn - for example some behaviours may be random and not intentional

  
  

  - research is often correlational as it is not ethically possible to manipulate interactions between caregivers and their infants so it is difficult to conclude cause and effect between attachment and caregiver-infant interaction (eg whether specific interactions lead to a secure attachment, or if a secure attachment causes specific interactions)
• what are the 4 stages of attachment and who identified them

  Shaffer (1996)

  - Asocial

  - Indiscriminate attachment

  - Specific attachment

  - Multiple attachments
• describe the asocial stage of attachment

  - occurs between 0-6 weeks

  - infant begins to form bonds with caregivers and a slight preference is shown for human adults over non human objects

  - infant will smile at human faces
• describe the indiscriminate attachment stage of attachment

  - occurs between 6 weeks to 7 months

  - infants will show a distinct preference for familiar adults by smiling more at them

  - infants do not show separation or stranger anxiety and will accept comfort from any adult
• describe the specific attachment stage of attachment

  - occurs between 7-9 months

  - infant will show stranger anxiety if by protesting if handled by strangers

  - infant will develop a specific attachment to one caregiver, usually the mother and show separation anxiety when away from them
• describe the multiple attachments stage of attachment

  - occurs after 9 months

  - infant begins to form secondary attachments with other caregivers such as grandparents

  - emotional ties begin to form with non caregivers such as siblings
• outline the method of Schaffer and Emerson's research into the stages of attachment

  - they studied working class mothers and babies, observing them each month for the first year of the baby's life, and again at 18 months

  - attachment was measured by looking at separation protest, eg when the infant was left alone in its cot at night AND stranger anxiety when the researcher approached the child, levels of distress were recorded

  - interviews were also conducted with the mothers, including questions like who the infant smiled at and what caused them distress
• outline the findings of Schaffer and Emerson's research into the stages of attachment

  - there was a distinct pattern of attachment formation common to all infants, suggesting that it is innate and biological

  - most infants started to show separation protest from their attachment figure between 6-9 months

  - most infants went on to develop multiple attachments, at 18 months 87% of infants had at least two attachments
• give 2 strengths for Schaffer and Emerson's research into the stages of attachment

  - high mundane realism - researchers used observations and interviews which allows the infants and their mothers to be studied in their everyday life environments, increasing the ecological validity of the study

  - longitudinal design allowed for the same infants and their mothers to be studied over a period of time, reducing individual differences which increases the internal validity of the study
• give 2 weaknesses for Schaffer and Emerson's research into the stages of attachment

  - lacks temporal validity - conducted in 1964 and the way babies are raised has changed greatly from the 20th to the 21st century, eg fathers are more involved, grandparents live further away and nannies/childcare facilities are more common outside of upper class families, attachment formation may have changed

  - sample is unrepresentative of the general population - all the participants in the research were working class glasweigan mothers, the way in which infants were raised may vary between classes and environments
• outline the traditional role of the father in attachment

  - the father is the 'breadwinner' of the family, typically working full time whilst the mother provides care to the children

  - the father was seen as less important in attachment formation, as the mother was the primary caregiver due to biological factors (eg mother would traditionally breastfeed)
• outline Field's research (1978) on the role of the father in attachment

  - studied 4 month old babies interacting with their caregivers

  - found fathers who were the primary caregiver spent more time displaying attachment formation behaviours with the infant than fathers who were secondary caregivers

  - suggests it is not the gender of the caregiver that affects attachment formation, but behaviour displayed AND sensitive response to infants is not an innate biological response in women only
• what do Geiger and Lamb say on the role of the father in attachemnt

  - Geiger viewed fathers as PLAYMATES to their children which is important in their development, but not as nurturing or attentive as mothers

  
  

  - Lamb found that infants in a positive state wanted their father (for play) and in a negative state wanted their mother (for comfort)
• outline Grossman's research (2002) on the role of the father in attachment


  - performed a longitudinal study looking at both parents behaviours with the child and the relationship to quality of attachments in adolescence

  - found that the quality of mother-child attachment was important when assessing the quality of attachment into adolescence, but this was not the case for father-child attachment, suggesting the role of the father is less important.
• outline the procedure of Lorenz's (1935) study of attachment in animals

  - lorenz randomly split a clutch of goose eggs into two conditions, naturally reared by their mother OR incubated, where the first large moving object seen was lorenz

  - goslings were later marked to show which group they belonged to and placed under an upturned box
• outline the findings of Lorenz's study of attachment in animals

  - immediately after birth, the naturally reared goslings followed their mother, and the incubated goslings followed lorenz

  - once released from the upturned box, the same pattern was seen and this effect was irreversible

  - imprinting only occurred within the 'critical period' between 4 to 25 hours

  - showed that goslings would imprint on the first large moving object that they saw, and would try to keep close contact with this object, showing attachment is innate and irreversible
• outline sexual imprinting

  - when animals that imprint on a specific object/species show courtship behaviour towards that species in adulthood
• how does sexual imprinting support lorenz (1935)

  - it was observed that birds that had imprinted on humans displayed courtship behaviour towards humans

  - supporting lorenz's idea that imprinting has a lasting irreversible effect
• how can evolutionary theory be used to explain imprinting

  - baby animals (often prey animals such as birds) imprint on the first large moving object they see

  - in nature this is usually the mother, meaning they would constantly be in close proximity to their mother, who could protect them from possible danger such as predators
• give 2 strengths of Lorenz's study of attachment in animals

  + supported by the idea of sexual imprinting (irreversible)

  
  

  + practical applications - eg in agriculture if a lamb is orphaned and another ewe has lost its own young, fur from the dead young can be tied to the orphaned lamb and imprinting/attachment can occur through scent, so the orphaned lamb will be raised by the ewe
• give 2 weaknesses of Lorenz's study of attachment in animals

  - attachment in geese may not be the same as in humans - lorenz' conclusion ignores the complexities of human cognition that may be more advanced than those of geese

  - Guilton (1966) found that chickens who sexually imprinted with a rubber glove eventually showed a preference for mating with chickens, suggesting imprinting is not irreversible as lorenz said
• outline Harlow's research of attachment in monkeys

  - newborn rhesus monkeys were separated from their mothers and raised in caged isolation by 'surrogate' mothers, either cloth or wire with milk

  - the time that the monkeys spent with each mother was recorded

  - stress was induced by a loud and frightening machine to demonstrate the mother preference

  - a larger cage was also used to test the exploration of the monkeys
• outline the findings of Harlow's research of attachment in monkeys

  - monkeys preferred the cloth mother over the wire mother, some staying there for up to 22 hours a day and clinging onto the cloth mother while feeding from the wire mother

  - monkeys with ONLY the wire mother had diarrhoea which was a sign of stress

  - when frightened by the machine, monkeys would cling to the cloth mother

  - in the larger cage, monkeys raised by the cloth more were more explorative, using the mother as a 'safe base' to explore from

  - this showed that the availability for comfort in rhesus monkeys was more important in forming attachments than the availability of food, and this comfort was associated with lower levels of stress
• give 2 strengths of Harlow's research of attachment in monkeys

  + laboratory experiment used, meaning standardised procedures and a highly controlled environment allowed the experiment to be easily replicated, increasing the internal reliability

  + practical applications - as rhesus monkeys are similar enough to humans to generalise the findings to humans this research has been crucial in helping social workers understand child abuse or neglect, and intervene to remove children from harmful environments
• give two weaknesses of Harlow's research of attachment in monkeys

  - extraneous variables may have become confounding - the two surrogate mothers looked completely different facially, with the towelling mother looking much more natural, which may have caused the monkeys to prefer it

  - ethical issues - extreme lasting psychological damage was seen in the monkeys (in adulthood were aggressive and neglectful towards their young, some even killing them) as a result of the severely cruel nature of the experiment, which may to some outweigh the practical applications
• outline the learning theory of attachment (Pollard & Miller)

  - infants do not have an innate tendancy to form attachments, however they are developed through classical and operant conditioning because of a need for food

  
  

  OPERANT CONDITIONING - when the baby is hungry, caregiver gives the baby food which removes the negative stimulus of hunger (negative reinforcement) food is the primary reinforcer and the caregiver bringing the food is the secondary reinforcer

  
  

  CLASSICAL CONDITIONING - baby learns to associate the mother (the neutral stimulus) with food (unconditioned stimulus) which provides an conditioned response of being happy when the mother is near
• outline one weakness of the learning theory of attachment

  — there is contradictory evidence from animal studies. For example, Harlow demonstrated that contact comfort was more important than food in the development of an attachment, where the baby monkeys formed a primary attachment to the cloth-bound mother, regardless of which mother was dispensing milk. This suggests that there is no unconditioned stimulus (of food) and even if there is, it has very little influence upon the formation of attachments.
• outline Bowlby's monotropic theory of attachment

  - attachment is innate in both infants and their caregivers, and concerns 2 major factors - monotropy and the internal working model
• give 2 strengths of Bowlby's monotropic theory of attachment

  - Bailey (2007) supports IWM - observed 99 mothers and their 1 year old babies on quality of attachment - found mothers who reported their own attachment with their mother as poor showed poor attachment to their babies supporting IWM

  
  

  - Lorenz (1935) supports evolutionary theory - found certain animals have an innate tendancy to respond to various stimuli immediately and consistently - often displayed by a parent - will follow anyone displaying such stimuli - attachment provides an evolutionary advantage as baby animals are protected from harm by following parents - adaptive attachments
• give 3 weaknesses of Bowlby's monotropic theory of attachment

  - evidence from schaffer and emerson (1964) contradicts monotropic theory - found in stages of attachment that multiple attachments are the norm BUT often one primary attachment figure

  - socially sensitive theory - idea of monotropy places pressure on mother to be primary caregiver, may feel guilty for returning to work

  - disregards research into role of the father - field (1978) found fathers that spent more time with infants could be primary caregiver
• what does ASCMI stand for

  adaptive

  social releasers

  critical period

  monotropy

  internal working model
• what is meant by 'adaptive' in bowlby's monotropic theory

  attachments give humans an adaptive advantage, making us more likely to survive - if an infant has an attachment to a caregiver they are kept safe, warm and given food
• what is meany by 'social releasers' in bowlby's monotropic theory

  babies have social releasers, which 'unlock' the innate tendency of adults to care for them - these can be either physical (the facial features of a baby) or behavioural (crying, cooing, gripping on to things)

  - relationship between mother and baby is reciprocal
• what is meant by 'critical period' in Bowlby's monotropic theory

  - babies have to form attachments to their mothers between birth and 2.5 years named the critical period by bowlby

  - if this does not happen then infant will be socially, intellectually and emotianally damaged