Please enable JavaScript.

Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.

Attachment - Coggle Diagram

- - - - AO1
        
        Method
        
        Half were hatched with the mother present, so she was the first moving object they saw
        
        Half were hatched in an incubator with Lorenz present so that he was the first moving object they saw
        
        Goose eggs were randomly divided (more validity)
        
        The behaviour of all goslings was observed and recorded
        
        Findings
        
        They would follow the figure they imprinted on around & performed mating rituals to Lorenz
        
        Lorenz identified that there was a critical period of 18hrs after birth
        
        Lorenz found that baby geese imprinted on whoever was the first living object they came into contact with
        
        If the geese didn't imprint during this time, they would never have a healthy attachment
      - AO3
        
        Imprinting could be reversed
        
        In time, the checks would learn to mate with other chicks
        
        Suggests that the impact of imprinting isn't as serious
        
        Data extrapolation
        
        Birds are very different to other mammals who do demonstrate emotional attachment
        
        We should be very cautious generalising Lorenz' research
        
        Animals aren't the same as humans, as we have more complex cognitive and emotional abilities
        
        Guiton
        
        Suggests imprinting is linked to later reproductive behaviour
        
        Even performed mating rituals to the glove
        
        This could have disastrous consequences
        
        Showed that chicks imprinted on the first moving object they saw (a rubber glove used to feed the chicks)
        
        Supports Lorenz
    - - AO3
        
        Contribution
        
        Demonstrated the importance of comfort over food & a stable early attachment for success in future relationships & the notion of a critical period
        
        Social workers have applied these theories in order to understand risk factors in childhood neglect & abuse, so develop interventions for prevention
        
        Extrapolation of data
        
        The heads were very different
        
        This lack of standardisation decreases the validity
        
        The comfort mother had a more realistic face so this could be why they spent more time on it
      - AO1
        
        Method
        
        Plain wire mother dispensing food, cloth-covered mother with no food
        
        Behaviour was observed & time spent with each mother was recorded
        
        In a controlled environment, infant monkeys reared with 2 mother surrogates
        
        Long term effects recorded: sociability, relationship to offspring etc.
        
        Findings
        
        Baby monkeys spent 18hrs a day on comfort & 1hr on feeding
        
        Also ran to comfort mother when frightened
        
        Showed that contact comfort was more important than food
        
        H&H also found there was a critical period of 90 days
        
        In further experiments, H&H investigated effects of maternal deprivation by rearing monkeys with only wire mothers into adulthood
        
        They were deranged, aggressive and unsociable, unskilled at mating and some even attacked and killed their own children
  - - - Another study which doesn't find support
      - Discovered that many of the babies they studied had a primary attachment to their mother, even though other carers were doing most of the feeding
    - - Bowlby's evolutionary theory, which provides a much more credible explanation for attachment, with much more research support
      - This theory proposes that infants are biologically primed to attach to mothers and there are a series of innate mechanisms which make this happen
    - - It is credible that the association of the mother bringing comfort, safety, warmth etc. could help form a strong attachment
      - Although attachments based on feeding are a poor explanation of attachment, perhaps the conditioning aspect could have some validity
- - - - The main result would be an abnormally low IQ
      - Bowlby believed that this would be delayed if the child suffered from deprivation during the critical period
      - This has indeed been demonstrated in multiple studies of adoption over the last 70 years
    - - This is the total inability to feel any emotion for other people
      - This prevents the child from forming normal relationships throughout their life
      - Bowlby identified 'affectionless psychopathy' as a risk factor deprivation
      - This is associated with criminal behaviour
  - - - With the 'thieves' themselves to see whether they fit the criteria for affectionless psychopathy
      - With parents to determine whether the thieves had experienced maternal deprivation during the critical period
    - - 12/14 had experienced prolonged separation from Mum during the critical period
      - Only 5 of the non-psychopath thieves had experienced it and only 2 in the control group of non-thieves
      - 14/44 thieves could be described as affectionless psychopaths
    - - Total support for the hypothesis
      - The results clearly show that MD during the CP is linked to thieving behaviour and in the extreme, affectionless psychopathy
  - - - Found no link between MD during the CP and criminality or psychopathy
      - No support
      - Replicated Bowlby's study with 500 teenagers
    - - If the separation lasted less than 3 months, the children recovered well
      - If the separation lasted longer than 3 months, the children never fully recovered
      - Studied 100 'normal' children who became depressed after a hospital stay
      - Supports Bowlby's Hypothesis
    - - Bowlby carried out the interviews, there was no inter-rater reliability established
      - Relying on parent's memories being accurate and this is problematic because memory is fallible
    - - Robertson recorded their experiences
      - The children were so distressed at separation & their experiences, even though they were only for a few days, that they caused lasting negative effects
      - Visits from parents were severely limited
      - Support for Bowlby's theory - deprivation lead to emotional issues
      - A husband & wife team, studied a number of children who experienced brief separation from their parents
        
        John was put into a residential nursery when his mum went into hospital to have a baby
        
        Laura went into hospital for treatment
      - Implications
        
        Key worked schemes in child care settings to minimise the effects of short-term deprivation
        
        Extension of maternity leave
        
        Radical changes to allow parents to stay in hospital with their children
        
        Essentially all changes in government legislation
- - - - Procedure
        
        The babies were exposed to 4 diff. stimuli; 3 facial gestures and 1 manual gesture
        
        The babies response to each gesture was observed and their actions were video recorded
        
        Conducted a series of controlled observations using babies aged 6-27 days old
        
        An independent observer was asked to note all instances of tongue protrusion and head movements using a number of behavioural categories
        
        Each observer scored the recordings twice (both inter-rater reliability and intra-observer reliability)
      - The results indicated that babies aged 12-27 days old could imitate both facial expressions and manual gestures
      - To investigate reciprocity between infants and their caregivers
      - Meltzoff and Moore concluded that the ability to imitate serves as an important building block for later social & cogntiive development
    - - Observer Bias
        
        Methodological problems using observational methods, as there is a possibility of observer bias
        
        A strength of this research is that they had an independent observer
      - Interactional synchrony is only present in secure infants
        
        Isabella et al (1989) found that the more securely attached an infant, the greater level of IS
        
        M&M's original findings may have overlooked individual differences
        
        Recent research has found only securely attached infants engage in interactional synchrony
      - Internal Validity
        
        Questions the validity and suggests the psychologists should be cautious when interpreting the findings from this research
        
        Infants move their mouths and wave their arms constantly as they have no control over them yet, so we cannot be certain they are engaging in interaction as it could be chance
  - - - Baby talk
      - Abundance of research which suggests that this type of interaction is important in language and attachment development
    - - Research suggests infants show a marked preference for adults who use motherese as it captures their attention and enhances communication
      - Research suggests the amount of Motherese an infant is exposed to directly affects oxytocin levels
      - Research suggests parents who use this communication bring a more sophisticated lang. development in their children
      - Motherese is a feature of communication used all over the world, suggesting a biological and evolutionary drive
- - - - Physical - the typical 'baby face' features and body proportions
      - Behavioural - crying, cooing
      - Babies have social releasers, which 'unlock' the innate tendency of adults to care for them
    - - This is between birth and 2yrs old
      - Babies have to form an attachment with their caregiver during a critical period
      - Bowlby said that if this didn't happen, the child would be damaged for life - socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically
    - - This means they give out species an 'adaptive advantage' making us more likely to survive
      - This is because if an infant has an attachment to a caregiver, they are kept safe, given food and kept warm
      - Attachments are adaptive
    - - All the child's future adult relationships will be based on this
      - This also affects what kind of parent we will be in the future
      - This is a special mental schema for relationships
      - Through the monotropic attachment, the infant would form an IWM
    - - This special, intense attachment is monotropy
      - If the mother isn't available, the infant could bond with another ever-present adult, mother-substitute
      - Bowlby believed that infants form one very special attachment with their mother
    - - It is the idea that whatever attachment type we develop as an infant continues into adulthood
      - 3 Types
        
        Secure - created by a loving mum
        
        Insecure Resistant - created by an inconsistent mum
        
        Insecure Avoidant - created by a cold mum
  - - - Bowlby's theory says that after 2yrs, the infants wouldn't be able to form an attachment, but older infants did develop atatchment (but made slower progress than children adopted within the first year)
      - Shows that the idea of a critical period should be modified to a sensitive period
      - Rutter (1998) studied Romanian orphans who had been placed in orphanages with minimal adult contact
    - - The idea of monotropy is even supported by research into complex attachments
      - In the Efe tribe of Congo, Efe women share the care of infants in the tribe and take turns to breastfeed them, but infants return to their biological mother at night and form a stable bond with her
    - - Results were striking
        
        Those who had a negative IWM to MAF were more likely to be divorced and not believe in love
        
        Those who had a positive IWM were likely to be married and believe in ever-lasting love
      - Total support for IWM
      - Hazan & Shaver placed a love quiz in a local newspaper which sought information about respondent's current and childhood attachment experiences
    - - In a kibbutz, infants are cared for by a kind of nurse during the day while their mothers work, and they return to their mothers in the evenings
      - Despite the fact that the mothers weren't the daily caregivers, the infants still formed strongly emotional attachments with their mothers
      - Fox (1977) studied attachment styles in an Israeli kibbutz
    - - Huge research support has been found for Bowlby's concept of IWM
      - Babies who had a positive IWM and a good relationships with their MAF were more popular, content and confident in childhood
      - They have been studied, observed and assessed in infancy on a monthly basis, then every 6-12 months in childhood and by the time, they were in their 20s every 2-4 yrs
      - Research is now focusing on how the IWM is affecting their adult relationships at 32 and their experiences of parenthood
      - This study commenced in 1985, recruiting 267 first time mums (and their new born babies
        
        The babies are now 37
- - - - Flooded in new mothers during and after birth and is key in the attachment process
      - Released on skin to skin contact - something breast-feeding mothers are doing continuously
    - - Linked to emotional sensitivity
      - Men are naturally at a disadvantage as testosterone doesn't aid in sensitivity
    - - Li et al (2017)
        
        Their testosterone levels dropped and oxytocin levels rose
        
        Testosterone usually hinders production of oxytocin
        
        Evidence shows that oxytocin facilitates physical stimulation of infants during play as well as the ability to synchronise their emotions with their children
        
        Men can also undergo hormonal changes when they become fathers
        
        Has implications for treatments of fathers with postnatal depression
      - Implications
        
        Encouraged to remove their shirt and hold their baby close
        
        Stimulates production of oxytocin and beings to foster the attachment bond
        
        Midwives encourage new fathers to engage in skin-to-sin contact with their newborns immediately after birth
      - Hardy (1999)
        
        Results support the idea that lack of oestrogen means fathers aren't equipped with the right hormones to form close relationships with their childre
        
        Suggests that the role of the father is biologically determined
        
        Fathers were less able to detect low levels of infant distress
  - - - Demonstrates that society wasn't giving an appropriate platform to allow fathers to bond
      - Fathers are now allowed to share parental leave with their partners
      - Paternity leave laws impact the amount of bonding time available for the father
        
        Up until last year this was onl 2 weeks
      - The guidelines surrounding adoption are really strict - both partners have to take a years parental leave
      - Time has to be spent together for attachments to form and norms and laws don't allow this
    - - The type of attachment fathers had with their own parents appear to lead to similar attachment with their children
      - The intimacy shown between father and mother as well as the level of support he gives in coparenting affects the attachment
    - - The classic play-mate dad is a strong norm across many societies
      - Likely to hugely impact the continuation of this idea and how it plays out in families
      - Cultural stereotypes of what it means to be a father impact the father's schemas about what role they should play
  - - - Field (1978)
        
        If the father was the main PCG from birth, they were more nurturing and caring than the traditional father role
        
        Demonstrates that there is flexibility in the role of the father and how men can respond to diff, needs of their children
      - MacCallum and Golombok (2004)
        
        Children growing up in single or same sex families don't develop any differently from those growing up in conventional families
        
        The role of the father isn't significant in attachment
- - - - Secure children were very unlikely to be involved in bullying or to be bullied
      - Resistant children were more likely to be bullies
      - Avoidant children were more likely to be victims
  - - - Investigated the attachments of 99 women to their mothers (interviews) and their own babies (strange situation)
      - Found strong evidence that the majority had the same attachment style
  - - - Insecure-Resistant - Inconsitent mother
      - Insecure-Avoidant - Neglecting mother
      - Secure - Loving mother
    - - Minnesota Longitudinal
      - Simpson (2007)
        
        Findings
        
        Ppts who were securely attached as infants were more popular as children and adolescents and has closer friendships
        
        Were also judged to be more emotionally intelligent and expressive by their partner
        
        Longitudinal study of 78 ppts at 4 diff. stages of their lives
        
        6-8 - rated by teachers on interaction with peers
        
        16 - self-report on own relationships
        
        Age 1 - rated by parents on attachment behaviour
        
        Young adults - report by partner about relationship
      - Hazan & Shaver - Love Quiz
      - Some psychologists believe that attachment isn't stable and that your current relationship can determine your attachment type which is why some people who are insecurely attached have a secure happy marriage
- - - - They were more likely to be classified as 'mentally impaired'
      - By the time they were 4, some had caught up especially ones adopted before 6 months
      - Romanian orphans were smaller, more undernourished and weighed less than the British orphans
      - By age 11 (still remaining at 16) there were differences which hinged upon the age at which the child had been adopted
        
        IQ decreased according to age of adoption, on average 102 if adopted before 6 months, and 76 if after 2 and half
      - Those adopted after 6 months showed disinhibited attachment which involves attention seeking, clinginess and indiscriminate treatment of all adults
    - - Intellectual Underfunctioning
        
        Cognitive development is slowed by lack of love/care (lower IQ)
      - Emotional and behavioural issues
        
        The child is likely to experience difficulty controlling their emotions & moving forward in childhood, may display issues with conduct and general behaviour
      - Physical Underdevelopment
        
        It is a lack of emotional care rather than lack of nourishment that psychologists say impacts upon the growth of the child
      - Attachment issues
        
        The child is likely to find it difficult to attach to the new caregiver
        
        Child is likely to find it difficult forming and maintaining friendships
      - Disinhibited attachment
        
        Likely caused by the many carers the child experienced in the institution
    - - The aim was to see whether good care could make up for what they had experienced in institutions
      - Physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at 4, 6, 11 and 15
      - Followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain
      - A control group of 52 British children adopted at the same time was used as a comparison
  - - - The standard of care in these institutions was so bad that it is incomparable to other institutional care
      - The results about institutionalisation and its effects cannot be generalised
      - The results of the study cannot be easily generalised
    - - Zeanah (2005) compared 136 Romanian chiildren (1-2.5) who had spent over 90% of their lives in an institution to a control group of Romanian children who had never been an institution
      - Institutionalised children much more likely to show disinhibited attachment
    - - When children are institutionalised, they're given a key worked to bond with
      - Allows them to develop attachments that will prevent damage to their development
      - Apparently orphanages have been made better as a result of Rutter's research
    - - Psychologists have suggested that perhaps if the children had been given more time to adjust before the assessments were made, they would have shown greater evidence of recovery
      - More data should have been obtained through the teenage years, early 20s and onwards to draw out whether the effects are irreversible
    - - Children will have often suffered bereavement or abuse prior to institutionalisation which acts as a massive confounding variable
      - We can be fairly in Rutter's study that it is the institution causing the behaviour/traits we are measuring
      - One major strength of Rutter's research is that there are fewer confounding variables than other studies
- - - - Reciprocity was key in who the PAF was
      - By 10 months, 80% had a PAF and 30% had SAFs
      - Between 6-8 months, 50% of babies showed separation anxiety with PAF
    - - Longitudinal design
        
        Took place over many months with the same babies means good internal validity
      - Population validity
        
        60 babies from the same background and city over 50 years ago
        
        Lacks population and temporal validity so can be generalised with caution
      - Good ecological validity
        
        Babies/parents were being observed/questioned in their own homes
        
        Mothers reported back so no observer effects
    - - Babies visited at their home every month for the first year and then at 18 months
      - Mothers were questioned about separation & stranger anxiety
      - Studied 60 Glaswegian babies from working-class families
  - - - Separation anxiety from PAF (Mum 65%)
      - Relationship with PAF is fully established
      - From 7 months, the majority start to display stranger anxiety
      - Not necessarily the person they spend the most time with but the one who responds/interacts with them the most
    - - Baby starts to form multiple attachments with other adults they see regularly
      - 30% had secondary attachments by 10 months
    - - No separation or stranger anxiety
      - Babies usually accept cuddles and comfort from any adult
      - From 2-7 months, babies show a preference for humans over objects
      - They are happier/smile more at familiar adults
    - - Conflicting evidence on multiple attachments
        
        Some psychologists believe all babies are capable of these from the outset
        
        In many cultures, multiple attachments from birth are the norm
      - Measuring multiple attachments
        
        Sometimes babies cry because an adult plays with them and the play stops
        
        This is a weakness of S&E's research and theory
        
        If they do, a judgement is made that this adult is an attachment figure
        
        Doesn't distinguish between AFs and playmates
        
        The main measure of attachment is if the baby cries when the adult leaves
      - Problems with observation
        
        New babies are immonile and can't control their movements so their physical action may not reflect psychological
        
        Difficult to make accurate judgements when observing babies during stage 1
    - - Happier in the presence of other humans
      - Not much difference between objects and humans
      - Baby is only capable of limited interaction but does recognise the PAF and starts to form a bond with them
- - - - A stranger enters the room & talks with the mother, the stranger gradually approaches the child with a toy
      - Mother leaves the child with the stranger and the stranger interacts with the child
      - Mother and child are left alone and the child can investigate the toys
      - Mother returns to greet and comfort the child
      - Mother and child introduced to the room
      - The child is left on their own
      - The stranger returns and tries to engage with the child
      - Mother returns, greets and picks up the child, the stranger leaves inconspicuously
    - - Separation anxiety
      - Stranger anxiety
      - Willingness to explore
      - Reunion behaviour
    - - Insecure Avoidant
        
        Separation anxiety - Low
        
        Reunion behaviour - No change
        
        Stranger anxiety - Low
        
        22%
        
        Willingness to explore - High
      - Insecure Resistant
        
        Separation anxiety - Very High
        
        Reunion behaviour - Seek and reject
        
        Stranger anxiety - Very High
        
        12%
        
        WIllingness to explore - Low
      - Secure
        
        Separation anxiety - High
        
        Reunion behaviour - Instantly soothed
        
        Stranger anxiety - High
        
        66%
        
        Willingness to explore - High (safe base behaviour)
    - - Only measures relationship with mother
      - Isn't applicable to other cultures
      - Puts the baby under stress
      - Lab setting (out of natural environment)
      - Lacks population validity
      - Demand characteristics of mother
  - - - Found that the strange situation wasn't appropriate way of measuring attachment because results could be due to German cultural norms
      - German parents encourage keeping some interpersonal distance between themselves and their children - they believe that they're capable of being more independent
      - Found that German infants were more likely to be avoidant
      - Thus in the strange situation, the infants wouldn't appear to need their mum and wouldn't show evidence of wanting to be close to them
    - - There is a considerable consistency across cultures with the overall average as 65% secure, 21% avoidant and 14% resistant
      - Involved 32 studies in 8 different countries
    - - Findings
        
        65% securely attached
        
        None were classified as avoidant
        
        32% classisified as resistant
      - Results
        
        Japanese children were much more disturbed than the Americans at being left alone
        
        The left alone stage was stopped in 90% of cases because the infants became so distressed
      - 60 Middle class Japanese boys and girls aged 1 put in the strange situation
      - Reasoning
        
        Means the strange situation was incredibly stressful for the Japanese infants
        
        The fact that no infants were classified as avoidant could be due to the fact that in Japanese culture, it's considered incredibly rude to behave in this way and children would be actively discouraged from that behaviour
        
        Japanese infants experience much less separation than Americans - they're always with their mothers, even sleeping in the same bed as them until 2 years of age - they are never left alone
        
        The strange situation is not appropriate in Japanese culture
        
        Findings suggest that there are cross-cultural variations in the ways infants respond to separation and being left alone
    - - 'There is greater consistency across cultures than within cultures' i.e. 3 studies within the UK had wildly varied results
      - A couple of countries fell outside the normal pattern
        
        Germany - disproportionate amount of avoidant
        
        Israel & Japan - disproportionate amount of resistant
    - - Emphasises that secure attachment is always characterised by certain measurable behaviours in the strange situation
      - Soon revealed that the Strange Situation was a biased measure and appropriate only in the culture it was developed in
      - Shining example of ethnocentrism
      - Imposed etic as she takes her own biased model and tries to impose it, inappropriately, on other cultures