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Developmental - Attachment (Y1) - Coggle Diagram
Developmental - Attachment (Y1)
Theories of attachment - attachment is a close emotional relationship between two people characterised by mutual affection and a desire to maintain proximity to each other
An affectionate and long enduring bond and the partner is just as important as the unique individual
Freud - proposed the first stage theory of development (psychosexual) -
oral stage - attachment bond is formed with the mother because of the satisfaction of the id demand for food (oral gratification)
Erikson - overall responsiveness - trust and mistrust; similar to caregiver sensitivty hypothesis of Ainsworth where a more responsive caregiver gives stronger attachment
Learning theorists - operant and classical conditioning, behaviourism
Feeding -> infant contentment -> caregiver affection (Dollard and Miller, drive reduction)
Multiple comforts at feeding time -> mother associated with pleasurable sensations (Pavlov, classical conditioning)
Mother-infant relationship a secondary by product (reinforcer) of reduction of primary drives of hunger, thirst and pain (drive reduction, D and M, operant conditioning)
Harlow challenge - hunger is not the underlying factor in the attachment bond; comfort is more important
Lorenz's geese - studied imprinting from bird attachment, first large moving object was basis of attachment in critical period (incubated v natural)
Attachments are typical to mother, but most infants have multiple early attachments
Schaffer and Emerson - 1/3 strongest to mother, attachments with responsive caregivers and interactive persons
Israeli Kibbutzim - 1-2 year olds showed strong attachment to mother and to the metapelet as both were reassuring and provided a secure base
Harlow's monkey's: 1960s study of the factors most important to attachment:
Important conclusions - contact comfort is essential to attachment, not just basic survival needs - supports sensitivity hypothesis and also the idea of insecure attachment coming from depressed caregivers who are dismissive of needs
He tested how important feeding is by confronting rehsus monkey's with two mothers; one wire with food and one covered in cloth, aiming to see which mother was preferred
Infant's affection for cloth mother provides basis for later close relationships, showing comfort is more important than food
It is also important that the child is communicated with and is exposed to social situations in order for normal development socially and cognitively as monkey's were maladapted following release due to separation
John Bowlby - theories of attachment
Father of attachment theory - british psychoanalyst who mainly focused on studying children who had been separated from their mother in hospitals for short and long periods:
Believed mental health and behavioural problems could be attributed to early childhood and concluded that disruptions to the attachment bond leads to later mental health issues or problems as an adult in terms of relationship formation - internal working model and the monotropic bond
Short term separation effects: separation protest; immediate reaction
Despair - outwardly calmer but is sad with no interest in others; may not anticipate return of mother so start seeking self comfort
Detachment - continued separation will lead to child superficially responding to others and when reunited with mother will relearn the relationship or reject them
Attachment theory:
Biological need for babies to have a warm, stable and continuous attachment to mother figure
Monotropic attachment; (one primary attachment and other second attachment, not multiple like S&E expressed)
Bond occurs from 7 months onwards, and is synchronised with crawling behaviour (biologically adaptive mechanism keeps child close to mother figure) - separation and stranger anxiety (S&E, Ainsworth)
Critical period for bonding - 7 months - 3 years
Maternal deprivation risks long term consequences
Ethological approach: Infants are biologically programmed from birth to form attachments (social releasers with adult attachment systems):
Attachment serves biological function in promoting infant survival
parent's are hardwired to respond to an infant's cry
Evidence from animal (imprinting) studies such as Lorenz for critical periods
Critical periods - this is the crucial time for attachment bonds to be formed, thought to be around 7 months-3 years, but risk of maternal deprivation interrupting this continues until 5-7 years of life (Koluchova twins) - also critical periods for a number of developmental processes
Bowlby's 4 stages of attachment
Pre attachment phase - indiscriminate: Birth-6 weeks, baby's innate signals attract caregiver (social releasers)
Caregivers remain close when baby responds positively
Infants encourage caregiver to remain close, as closeness comforts them and baby's recognize the smell, voice and face of their primary caregiver
Not yet attached and do not mind strangers
Attachment in the making - 6 weeks to 8 months; infants respond more positively with familiar caregivers compared to strangers, smiling and babling at primary caregiver
Learns actions affect behaviour of those around them and develop sense of trust
Separation protest
Clear cut attachment - 6-8 months to 18-24 months, with babies showing clear separation anxiety and protest when left
If caregiver is supportive and sensitive to child's needs, the distress is short lived
If baby has no object permanence, they do not become anxious at separation (Lester et al, 1974)
Formation of reciprocal relationship - 18 months to 2 years - rapid growth in language and representation means toddler can understand fatcors that influence caregivers coming and going
Toddlers understand parents will return, separation protest declines
With age, the child becomes less dependent on caregiver and has more confidence that the caregiver will be accessible and responsive in times of need
Characteristics of attachment - proximity maintenance, separation protest / stranger anxiety, reunion / safe haven and secure base behaviour
Circle of security - safe haven; skilful use of caregiver as a safe haven in times of distress and as a secure base for exploration is a boon in development and attachment
Baby explores, then returns to caregiver in a cycle - this underpins positive mental health for adults and a representation of future relationships which is healthy - knowing if you explore someone will support
Internal working model - mental representation of our relationship with our primary caregiver which acts as a template for future relationships and allows individuals to predict, control and manipulate their own environment
Self model - perceptions of self worth
Others model - expectations about others trustworthiness
Continuity hypothesis:
Attachment with parents -> relationship with peers -> later romantic relationships (Isabella, McCarthy, Hazan and Shaver)
Continuity of IWM established in infancy
Early attachments are prototypes for later relationships (Strobe et al 2005)
Attachment type developed in childhood (secure/insecure) will continue into later relationships
Canalised developmental process - instinctive nature of newborn and learning are essential in early social interactive, cognitive sensorimotor development is also essential until the infant has some idea of cause-effect relations, and of the continued existence of objects and people when out of sight
Other attachment theories
Attachment in later years - Bartholomew and Horowitz's model of attachment (1990 and 1991) - 4 category model:
Attachment styles can transfer to one's best friend, romantic partner and children
Positive view of others and the self - secure attachment, comfortable with intimacy and autonomy
Positive view of self but negative view of others - dismissive-avoidant - avoidant and narcissitic
Negative view of self but positive view of others - anxious-preoccupied - feel worthless, approval seeking
Negative view of self and others - fearful-avoidant - unworthy self and untrustworthy of others
Attachment - Schaffer and Emerson; Glasgow babies longitudinal study (1964)
Parents interviewed monthly for one year then again at 18 months to measure stranger and separation anxiety - asked about observations, tested babies in a number of separation situations
Attachment formed from 6-8 months, 70+% formed primary attachment with mother, by 18 months 85% had multiple
4 stages of attachment; multiple equal importance attachment:
Asocial phase (0-6 weeks) - no discrimination between humans, preference for human stimuli
Indiscriminate attachments (6 weeks - 7 months) - tell people apart, stronger bonds with familiar adults, no fear of strangers
Specific attachments (7-9 months) - secure base for exploration - strong displays of separation anxiety and distress at company of strangers
Multiple attachments (9-18 months) - hierarchy of attachments; attachment with primary carer grows, increased interest in developing bonds with others
Replicable, reliable, ecological and cultural validity - generalisable model
Basis of attachment
Genes - twin study from O'Connor and Croft showed close concordance in MZ and DZ twins suggesting no influence of genetics on attachment
Model suggest 14th variance in attachment type due to genetics, 32% to shared environment and 53% to non shared environment
Roisman and Fraley - 485 same sex twin pairs; found shared and non shared environments contribute to attachment security
Dozier - attachment to foster mothers was as good as the concordance for biological infant pairs, suggesting little genetic influence
Environmental influence - Maternal sensitivity hypothesis; Ainsworth
Quality and sensitivity of mother-infant interactions predicts attachment - responding to infant cues
Meins - mother's mind-mindedness - treats infant as individual with their own mind, rather than a creature needing satisfaction, with emphasis on respond to inferred mental state not just behaviour - predict attachment security at 12 months
True - mother's frightened / frightening behaviour may contribute to attachment security
Maternal depression - Kemppinen et al; mothers with low maternal sensitivity scores and high maternal control predicted low child cooperation and prenatal depression
A lot of varriance from non shared environment, and even a mother responding differently to each child can result in different attachment (gender, birth order etc)
Impact of care outside the family:
Fostering; beneficial alternative to institutional care, children often develop normally if given responsive caregiving
Childminding and day care - Insecure attachments are a possibility due to large carer:child ratios, and Belsky suggested those spending more than 20 hours a week as 1-2 year olds in these settings would lead to insecure attachment
Melhuish (1990) - childminded group performed worse cognitively, in communication and language development and this was the area that was least stimulated
NICHD Longitudinal study - Studied children who were in early child care at 4.5, 7, 9, 11 and 12 years old
Cognitive language development - higher the quality of day care, the better the outcomes, but all detriment is solved by 11 in terms of language and academic achievement
Social development - quantity of day care leads to more aggression and disobedience, effects do decrease but often stay significant until 12 years old at least
-> Positive and negative outcomes of daycare are highest for centre based daycare rather than hom based care - no adverse effects from paternal or grandparental care (Linting and IV 2009)
Effects sizes outweighed by quality of parenting quality
Impacts of the day care in relation to the child:
Temperament interactions:
Pluess and Belsky - interaction effect; children with difficult temperament show more behaviour problems in low quality day care than high quality day care
Group effects:
Dmitrieva (2007) - ECLS study found contagion or diffusion effect; the more children with extensive exposure to childcare, the more teacher-rater externalising behavour there was
Same for achievement - the group follows the majority behaviour
Many children may be affected, but individual aggression etc is increased by group
Genetic moderation - Belsky and Pluess (2013)
NICHD sample - diathesis stress model best explains effects as those externalizing poor behaviour had poor childcare quality (7 repeat allele)
Teacher reported social skills in kindergarten showed a significant crossover interaction supporting a differential susceptibility model
Better quality childcare predicts better social skills in kindergarten, but children with the repeat 7 allele do noticeably worse when experiencing poor quality childcare, and better with higher quality