Define Attachment
An emotional bond between two people. It is a two way process that endures over time. It leads to behaviours such as proximity seeking and serves the function of protecting the infant
Define interactional synchrony
An interaction between two people where they mirror one another in terms of facial or body movements, this includes emotional mirroring as well as behavioural
Define reciprocity
Responding to the action of another with a similar action, where the actions of one partner elicit the actions of another
Meltzoff and Moore
Studied intercational synchrony and found that infants as young as two weeks old imitate specific facial expressions and hand gestures. The fact this happens so early shows that imitation is not a learnt behaviour but rather an innate one
Meltzoff and Moore… Evaluation
- Failure to replicate, other studies have failed to replicate the results of this study
- Individual differences, Isabella et al showed that stronger attachments between caregiver and infant showed greater interactional synchrony
What are the stages of attachment
1- Indiscriminate attachments
2- the beginnings of attachment
3- discriminate attachment
4- multiple attachments
Explain “Indiscriminate attachments”
From birth until two months infants produce similar responses to all objects, inanimate or animate. Towards the end they show preference for social stimuli.
Explain “begging’s of attachment”
Around 4 months the infant becomes more social, they prefer human company to inanimate objects and can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people. However they don’t yet show stranger anxiety
Explain “discriminate attachment”
By seven months most infants show stronger attachment to a particular caregiver. The infant begins to display stranger anxiety and separation anxiety
Explain “multiple attachments”
Very soon after the primary attachment forms, the infant also begins to form secondary attachments
Schaffer and Emerson
studied sixty working class Glasgow families for a year. the mothers were visited every 4 weeks and asked to report the infants response to separation and stranger anxiety was measured by the infants reaction to the researcher
Schaffer and Emerson… Evaluation
- Unreliable data, data is based on mothers reports some of which may be less inclined to report protests
- Biased sample, only studies working class population (not applicable to all families) and conducted in the 60’s (differences in modern day parenting)
- cultural differences, collectivist or individualist cultures
Lorenz
- Tested imprinting by dividing goslings into two groups, the first thing the goslings saw was either Lorenz or their mother
- Lorenz found that imprinting is an innate process that occurs during a critical period, and if it does not occur at this time it will not occur at all
Lorenz… Evaluation
- Research support, for example Guiton exposed chicks to a rubber glove and found they imprinted on the glove, this shows that animals do not imprint on a specific object but anything that moves
- Criticisms, Imprinting is reversible, if Guitons chicks spent time with their own species they were able to interact and mate with their own species
Define separation anxiety
The distress shown by an infant when separated from their primary caregiver.
Define stranger anxiety
The distress shown by an infant when approached by somebody unfamiliar
Lorenz long lasting effects
- The process of imprinting is irreversible and long
- Imprinting also had an effect on mating preferences
Harlow
- Two wire “mothers”, one with cloth body and one with a milk bottle
- found that most spent time with the cloth body “mother” than the mother with the bottle
- This suggests that infants do not develop attachments to the person who feeds them but to the person offering them comfort
Harlow…. Evaluation
- Confounding variable, the conclusion of this study lacks internal validity as the two head were different meaning the reason the monkeys choose that could be that they preferred that “mothers” face
- Generalising animal studies to human behaviours, Humans behaviours are governed by conscious thought
Classical conditioning in terms of attachment
Learning through association.
- food is an UCS and pleasure is the UCR and the mother is the NS
- After conditioning the mother becomes the CS and elicits pleasure, the CR
Learning theory… Evaluation
- Learning theory is based on animal studies, the explanations lack validity because they present an oversimplified version of behaviour
- Attachment is not based on food, Harlow’s study disproves learning theory
Define continuity hypothesis
The idea that emotionally secure infants go on to be emotionally secure, trusting, socially confident adults
Define critical period
A biologically determined period of time, during which attachments form, outside of this window such development is not possible
Define internal working model
A mental template for all the child’s future relationships, as it generates expectations of what relationships should look like
