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Questions and Answers
What is the Monotropy Theory?
Idea that infants have an inbuilt tendency to make an initial attachment with one attachment figure, usually the mother.
What are Social Releasers?
What is the Critical Period in attachment theory?
Approximately 2/3 years
Lorenz's research in 1935 supported the idea of innate 'pre-programming' in infants.
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What is the aim of Van Ijzendoorn et al's 1988 meta-analysis study?
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Which attachment type was found to be the most common across all cultures?
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According to the findings, Type A attachment is more common in Western cultures compared to Eastern cultures.
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In Germany, the percentage of Type A attachment was ___% according to the study.
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What does the Learning Theory propose as the primary driver of attachment?
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Match the following conditioning concepts with their descriptions:
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Define attachment.
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What are the three characteristics of attachment?
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Infants have an innate ability to imitate caregivers' facial expressions. This suggests that it is a biological device to aid in what?
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Reciprocity in caregiver-infant interactions implies that only the caregiver produces responses.
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The Tronick Still Face Paradigm is used to test the importance of ____________ in caregiver-infant interactions.
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Match the following stages of attachment with their corresponding ages: 1. Pre-attachment phase, 2. Indiscriminate attachment phase, 3. Discriminate attachment phase, 4. Multiple attachments phase
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According to Geiger 1996 and Lamb 1987, what role do fathers typically play in comparison to mothers?
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What are some positive influences of fathers on children?
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What negative outcomes are associated with children having fathers, according to the text?
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What is the main aim of Lorenz's 1952 study on imprinting?
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What was the main difference in the two groups of goslings in Lorenz's study?
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In Harlow's 1958 study, infant rhesus monkeys showed a preference for the wire mother over the cloth mother.
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Ainsworth's 'Strange Situation' is a standardized method used to assess and manipulate the quality of ________.
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Study Notes
Caregiver-Infant Interactions
- Attachment: a close, two-way emotional bond between two individuals where each sees the other as essential for their own emotional security.
- 3 characteristics of attachment:
- Proximity: parent-child physical closeness
- Secure-base behaviour: children often return to parent
- Separation distress: when authority figure leaves the child's presence
Factors Influencing Attachment
- Bodily Contact: physical interactions between carer and infant, especially in the period after birth
- Research support: Klaus and Kennell (1975) - mothers who had extended physical contact with their child in the first three days showed a stronger bond
- Mimicking: infants have an innate ability to imitate carers' facial expressions, suggesting a biological device to aid formation of attachment
- Research support: Meltzoff and Moore (1977) - infants as young as 2-3 weeks old mimicked specific facial expressions and hand movements of an adult
- Caregiverese: a modified form of vocal language used by adults when talking to babies, aiding communication and strengthening the bond
- Research support: Papousek et al (1991) - a cross-cultural study showing that mothers from different cultures use a similar rising tone when speaking to babies
- Reciprocity: interactions between carer and infant result in mutual behaviour, with both parties producing responses from each other's verbal signs and facial expressions
- Research support: Feldman and Eidelman (2007) - infants as young as 3 months old showed more frequent and attentive interactions with their carers
- Interactional Synchrony: infants move their bodies in rhythm with the carer's spoken language, reinforcing the attachment bond
- Research support: Condon and Sander (1974) - frame-by-frame analysis of video recordings showed that infants coordinated their actions with adults' speech
Stages of Attachment
- Pre-attachment phase (0-2 months): infants are attracted to humans and objects
- Indiscriminate attachment phase (2-7 months): infants discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar people, smiling more at familiar individuals
- Discriminate attachment phase (7-9 months): specific attachments develop, with infants staying close to familiar people and showing distress when separated
- Multiple attachments phase (10-18 months): infants form strong emotional ties with other caregivers, such as grandparents
Key Study: Schaffer and Emerson (1964)
- Aim: to study the pattern of attachment formation in infants
- Procedure: a longitudinal study of 60 babies and their mothers, with observations and interviews at home and at 18 months
- Results:
- Separation protest shows at 6-8 months, with stranger anxiety 1 month later
- 87% of infants showed at least two attachments
- 31% had five or more attachments
- 39% had a prime attachment to a non-primary caregiver
Role of the Father
- Bowlby's view: one primary attachment figure (mother), with others being minor
- Rutter's view (1995): multiple attachments are of equal importance, combining to form the child's internal working model
- Factors affecting the relationship between father and child:
- Degree of sensitivity and secure attachments
- Type of attachment with own parents
- Marital intimacy and co-parenting
Animal Studies into Attachment
- Lorenz's study (1952) on imprinting in geese
- Imprinting occurs in a specific timeframe (4-25 hours) and is irreversible
- Harlow's study (1958) on emotional attachment and maternal separation in rhesus monkeys
- Innate need for contact comfort, not food
- Attachment concerns emotional security rather than food provisioning### Caregiver Types
- Sensitive-responsive caregiver: able to interpret infant signals and respond correctly, leading to a secure attachment
- Indifferent caregiver: leads to an ambivalent attachment
- Ambivalent caregiver: leads to an anxious-ambivalent attachment
Ainsworth's 'Strange Situation'
- Test to assess quality of attachment between mother and infant
- Involves a series of episodes, including a stranger entering the room, the mother leaving, and the infant's reaction to the mother's return
- Classifies attachment into three types: A (avoidant), B (secure), and C (resistant)
Evaluation of Ainsworth's Research
- Strengths: replicable, high inter-observer reliability
- Weaknesses: low population validity, culturally biased, and only focuses on mothers, not fathers
Cultural Variations in Attachment
- Study by Van Ijzendoorn et al. (1988) found:
- Secure attachment was the most common type across cultures
- Intra-cultural differences were higher than inter-cultural differences
- Type A was more common in Western cultures, while Type C was more common in Eastern cultures
Explanations of Attachment
- Learning Theory:
- Association of food with mother leads to attachment
- Operant conditioning: baby cries, mother responds, baby associates mother with relief
- Evaluation of Learning Theory:
- Strengths: research support from Dollard and Miller (1950)
- Weaknesses: reductionist, oversimplifies complex attachment process
Bowlby's Monotropic Theory
- Evolutionary theory of attachment
- Infants are genetically programmed to form an initial attachment with one caregiver
- Key concepts:
- Monotropy: infant's initial attachment to one caregiver
- Social releasers: innate infant behaviors that stimulate adult interaction
- Critical period: specific time period during which an attachment must form
- Internal working model: cognitive framework for understanding the world, self, and others
- Evaluation of Bowlby's Theory:
- Strengths: research support from Lorenz (1935)
- Weaknesses: doesn't consider learning and association, and role of father in attachment
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Description
This quiz explores the concept of attachment, including its characteristics and importance in caregiver-infant interactions. Learn about proximity, secure-base behavior, and separation distress.
