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Attachment - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Codon and Sander - noticed babies would co-ordinate their actions in time with adult speech. Babies would move in time with the rhythm of the conversation - subtle form of turn-taking
      - Isabella et al - observed 30 mums and infants together in their homes during their 1st year. Found that mother-infant pairs who showed more instances of Interactional Synchrony were significantly more likely to be securely attached
    - - Correlation findings - research evidence shows that reciprocity and IS is helpful in attachment forming(Isabella et al). However, findings are mostly correlation based, cannot be taken as evidence that the secure attachment is a direct result of these behaviours
      - Practical Application - Music therapists and other therapists recognise the importance of reciprocity and IS in their work. Caregivers encouraged to mirror their child's emotions and facial expressions.
    - - Difficulty interpreting -cannot tell what the infants perspective is, cant tell that behaviours have a special meaning
        
        Not found in all cultures - Le Vine et al - Kenyan mums had little physical contact/interaction with their infants but many were securely attached
- - - - Discriminate attachment stage: 7 months onwards
        
        Multiple attachment stage: 9 months onwards
        
        Infant forms strong emotional ties with other major caregivers (grandparents + other children). Fear of strangers decreases but attachment to primary caregiver remains strongest
        
        Infant develops specific attachments, stays close to particular people and distressed when separated. Avoid unfamiliar people and protest if a stranger tries to handle them
      - Infant can tell between familiar and unfamiliar faces, smiles at known faces, though still allows strangers to handle them
- - - - The primary attachment forms an internal working model that influences all future relationships and so the quality of the attachment is vital. -Bowlby's theory of Monotropy
        
        Assumed primary attachment figure would be the mother but concede there may be situations this is not the case
  - - - Studied via separation protest and stranger anxiety
        
        Findings : Separation protest first shown at 6-8 months and stranger anxiety 1 month later
        
        Strongly attached infants had more responsive and interactive caregivers
        
        At 18 months 87% had at least 2 attachments, 31% had more than 5
        
        Attachments to different adults were of similar quality
        
        For 39% of infants, the attachment formed first was not the main carer
        
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        Conclusions:
        
        Pattern to attachment formation in all infants, suggest process is biologically controlled
        
        Attachments made easier with those who display sensitive responsiveness rather than those spending the most time with a child
        
        Multiple attachments are the norm and similar quality, opposes Bowlby's idea of monotropy. nothing to suggest mothering cant be shared
  - - - Geiger -found fathers' play interactions more exciting and pleasurable than mothers' while mothers were more nurturing and affectionate
        
        Hardly - reported fathers less able than mothers to detect low levels of infant distress
    - - Lamb - found that fathers who became main care givers seemed able to quickly develop greater sensitivity to children's needs
- - - - Findings and conclusions:
        
        Immediate Imprinting: followed first thing they saw. Must be innate biological behaviour , not enough time to be learnt.
        
        Imprinting must occur in first 25hrs or wouldn't occur at all - critical period for imprinting(possibly attachment in humans aswell
        
        Imprinting/ attachment was important for future relationships - Geese who imprinted on humans tried to mate with humans
      - Evaluations
        
        Strengths
        
        Weaknesses/Limitations
        
        Generalisation - Goslings + humans are different(imprinting within minutes, babies attachment occurs later)
        
        Sluckin - research questions the finings of a critical period - Duckling's kept in isolation for 5 days were still able to imprint
  - - - Amount of time spent with mother, amount of feeding time, mother preference during stress and exploration in a larger cage were all recorded.
        
        Findings
        
        In condition 1, monkeys spent 17hrs a day with cloth monkey and 1hr with wire monkey and ran to cloth mother during stressful situations
        
        When in larger cage, wire mother ignored, ran to cloth mother when present for comfort and when calm went to explore
        
        Conclusions
        
        Contact comfort provides emotional security(lower levels of stress). Findings suggest, therefore. that attachment concerns emotional security more than food
    - - Strengths
        
        Many consider valuable - strongly influenced bowlby's therory on maternal deprivation
      - Weaknesses/Limitations
        
        Generalisation- can findings be applied to humans. Monkeys have same brain structure-might be similar attachment behaviour?
        
        Unethical
- - - - Reciprocal nature of the attachment bond - caregiver also negatively reinforced as annoying sound of crying is removed when caring for the child
      - Evaluations
        
        Strengths
        
        Schaffer and Emmerson -babies formed attachment based on who was more receptive to their needs
        
        Weaknesses/Limitations
        
        Bowlby criticised - influenced by Harlow's research, attachment is based off comfort
        
        Fox - found in communal farms where feeding was done by a carer, children generally more attached to their mothers than the feeder
        
        Behaviourist explanations are reductionist - simplify attachment begaviours by focussing only on feeding when other factors occur
  - - - Believed primary attachment would normally be to mother and formed within 2 and 1/2 years the "Critical Period"
        
        Short term goal of attachment: Provide safety and promote survival
        
        Long term purpose: form a template for future relationships, infants mental model of relationships formed between themselves and others - "Internal working model"
- - - - Meta analysis of SS carried out in different cultures- compare 32 studies from 8 countries from western + non-western cultures
      - Findings
        
        High level of Insecure avoidant: West Germany, Netherlands, China
        
        Value child's independence
        
        High levels of Insecure resistant: Israel, Japan, China
        
        Very close to children, Israel - strap child to the mother
        
        Secure was most common in all 8 countries
        
        Intra-cultural differences(between samples in the same country) > Inter-cultural (between different countries)
        
        Conclusion
        
        Overall consistency with 3 attachment types - suggest universal characteristics that underpin infant/caregiver interactions
        
        Significant variation suggests differences in the pattern of attachment across cultures, different child rearing practices:
        
        Asian cultures - children sleep in parents bed till 3
        
        France - children expected to entertain themselves, taught independence
  - - - Standardised procedure , 106 infants observed with their mothers. 8 step procedure involving comfort seeking and exploration
        
        (1) Mother, baby, and experimenter (lasts less than one minute).
        
        (2) Mother and baby alone.
        
        (3) A stranger joins the mother and infant.
        
        (4) Mother leaves baby and stranger alone.
        
        (5) Mother returns and stranger leaves.
        
        (6) Mother leaves; infant left completely alone.
        
        (7) Stranger returns.
        
        (8) Mother returns and stranger leaves.
        
        Behavioural categories were used -structured observation interested in 4 things
        
        Willingness to explore
        
        Stranger anxiety
        
        Separation anxiety - distress on mum leaving
        
        Reunion -how caregiver is greeted on return
        
        Findings
        
        Ainsworth classified the infants into 3 attachment types:
        
        Insecure Avoidant 15% -Type A
        
        Did not focus on mother when exploring the room. Little separation anxiety. Little interest upon reunion. Not interested in stranger either
        
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        Insecure Resistant 15% - Type C
        
        Intense distress when separated from mother. Sought contact when reunited but simultaneously rejected and resisted contact. Showed ambivalent behaviour to the stranger as well
        
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        Securely Attached 70% -Type B
        
        Generally willing to explore if mother present. Moderate separation anxiety. greeted mother positively on reunion. Moderate avoidance of stranger when mother wasn't present
        
        (Mothers described as sensitive)
        
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    - - Strengths
        
        Developed useful methodology, first method used for classification of attachment types and most widely used method
        
        Support for the hypothesis found in other studies with a larger sample size
        
        Studies using the SS have generally agreed on 3 classification types Reliable
        
        Also found that the classification they are put in is usually the same when they are retested at a different age test reliability
      - Weaknesses/Limitations
        
        Low population validity, only used middle class American children
        
        Incomplete classification, Main and Soloman found 4th attachment type (insecure disorganised/type D) - small number of children who's behaviour was a mixture
        
        Controlled setting, lacks ecological validity
        
        Possibly unethical? Although, situations the child would be put in naturally
      - Attachment type not a characteristic of the infant but linked to the individual relationship with caregiver, Main and Weston found children acted different with different parent