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Topic 5 - Social & Emotional Development - Coggle Diagram
Topic 5 - Social & Emotional Development
Ainsworth (1978) Strange Situation to Measure Attachment study
Aim
To determine the influence of maternal behaviour on the child's attachment style
Sample
100 American infants and their mothers from middle class families
Research design
Observational study
Test procedure
Mother, baby, experimenter (<1 minute)
Mother, baby alone
Stranger joins mother and infant
Mother leaves baby and stranger alone
Mother returns and stranger leaves
Mother leaves, infant is left completely alone
Stranger returns
Mother returns and stranger leaves
Data collection tool
Infants responses at each stage were recorded by a video camera for later analysis, the occurrence of infant behaviours was recorded on a checklist (crying, hiding face, disinterest)
Infant behaviours observed
Willingness to use mum as a safe base to explore the environment
Separation anxiety when separated from mum
Stranger anxiety when interacting with the stranger
Reunion response behaviour towards the mum on their return
Type A 20% Anxious avoidant (insecure)
Caregiver behaviour
Caregiver is insensitive and rejecting of the infant's needs, caregiver may withdraw from helping during difficult tasks and is often unavailable during times of the infant's emotional distress (post natal depression, drug use, chronic long term illness)
Infant willingness to explore
Shows insecurity by ignoring caregiver, doesn't use care giver as base to explore the environment
Low infant stranger anxiety
Infant separation anxiety
Indifferent, shows little emotion when the caregiver leaves
Infant reunion response behaviour
Does not attempt to get comfort from caregiver on their return
Type B 70% Secure Attachment
Caregiver behaviour
Caregiver is sensitive to infant's signals and responds appropriately to their needs, mother has time, resources and desire to be maternal
Infant willingness to explore
High, uses caregiver as a secure base from which to explore
High infant stranger anxiety
High infant separation anxiety
Infant reunion response behaviour
Easy to soothe and quick to settle back to exploration on reunion with caregiver
Type C 10% Anxious resistant (insecure)
Caregiver behaviour
Infant receives an inconsistent level of response to their needs from the caregiver (mother has multiple kids or works long hourse)
Infant willingness to explore
Does not explore the environment is inconsistent wanting closeness with or distance from caregiver
High infant stranger anxiety
Very high infant separation anxiety
Infant reunion response behaviour
Seeks and rejects, unable to settle when reunited with caregiver rejecting attention such that they cling to her but also kick and push her away
Contributions
The strange situation test provides a highly controlled standard diagnostic tool used to measure strength and type of attachment between caregivers and their infants
The strange situation test can be replicated, enhancing the repeatability and generalisability of its findings
Criticisms
Observation was only a snapshot, caregiver or infant might distort their behaviour due to the artificial laboratory type situation
Unethical as it caused distress to the infants
Culturally biased, created and tested in the USA, researcher assumed that the strange situation is suitable across different cultures
Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988) Cross Cultural patterns of Attachment
Aim
To carry out a meta analysis of strange situation research conducted cross culturally
Study analysis
32 studies 8 different countries
Findings
Evidence of all three attachment types in all cultures
Secure attachment was the most common attachment type in all countries
More anxious avoidant attachment in Germany, as they value independent children so try to raise non clingy infants
More anxious resistance in Japan, as the value an especially close relationship with their children and are rarely left by their caregivers and thus react differently to separation
Bowlby (1969) Attachment theory
Bowlby defined attachment as a "lasting psychological connectedness between human beings"
Characteristics of theory (ASCMI)
Critical period
Proposed a critical period of 2/5 years for developing attachment, if not developed during this time, then it may not happen at all
Sensitive period was later proposed of 5 years for attachment to be formed
Monotropy
A child has an innate need to attach to one main attachment figure
Internal working model
A cognitive framework comprising mental representations for understanding the world, self and others based on the relationship with a primary caregiver, this becomes a prototype for future social relationships and allows individuals to predict, control and manipulate interactions with others
The internal working model becomes a prototype for future social relationships and allows individuals to predict, control and manipulate
A model of others as being trustworthy
A model of the self as valuable
A model of the self as effective when interacting with others
Social releasers
Infant behaviours that ensure proximity of the infant to their attachment target, proximity to caregiver reduces the chance of the infant experiencing danger (smiling, babbling, crying, cooing, round face big eyes)
Adaptive
Attachment is adaptive as it enhances the infant's chance of survival, children come into the world biologically preprogrammed to form attachments with others to help them survive
Maternal deprivation hypothesis
A child should receive the continuous care of their attachment figure, if the attachment is broken or disrupted during the critical 2.5 year period (and up to 5 years) the child will suffer irreversible long term consequences (delinquency, reduced intelligence, increased aggression, depression, affectionless psychopathy)
Affectionless psychopathy
An inability to show affection or concern for others, individuals act on impulse with little regard for the consequences of their actions
Maternal deprivation
Seperation of less of the mother as well as a failure to develop an attachment
Strengths
Explains development of social relationships
Theory enables prediction of future behaviours
Empirically based (evidence based)
Criticisms
Rutter found that infants may show indicators of attachment to a variety of attachment figures (siblings, grandparents) discrediting monotropic attachment
Bowlby did not distinguish between deprivation (loss and damage to an attachment) and privation (failure to develop attachment) Rutter argued that privation and deprivation have different effects, Rutter stressed that the quality of the attachment bond is the most important factor
Real life application
Attachment therapies in clinical applications try to foster greater security and trust through goal corrected partnerships
Informs child welfare and child care decisions made by social workers and courts
Changes in hospital policies
Hospitals extended visiting hours for parents and care givers to focus on forming attachments
Harlow (1958) Emotion over Physiological Needs in Rhesus Monkeys study
Aim
To investigate whether provision of physiological needs (food) or contact comfort (emotion) is more important in the formation of attachment
Methodology
Research design
Experimental
IV
Provision of food by either a cloth or wire mother
DV
Amount of contact time spent with cloth and wire mother
Procedure
8 newborn rhesus monkeys separated from their mothers immediately after birth and placed in one of two conditions 1. wire mother had a milk bottle and cloth mother did not 2. cloth mother had a milk bottle and wire mother did not
Data collection
Objective quantitative
Findings
Rhesus monkeys spent more time with their contact comfort surrogate, than their wire surrogate regardless of which one provided food
Conclusion
In Rhesus monkeys contact comfort is more important than feeding in the formation of the infant/mother attachment bond
Criticisms
Monkeys were taken outside their natural environment so behaviours may be atypical and the research invalid
Animal ethic, irreparable harm was caused to the monkeys
Generalisation from animal behaviour to human behaviour should not be made
Applications to psychology
Provided evidence of the importance of emotion in attachment, attachment was previously considered primarily to develop because of having physiological needs met