3 - Attachment
Contents
Caregiver-infant interactions in humans.....................................................................................................1
Stages of Attachment..................................................................................................................................2
The Role of the Father.................................................................................................................................4
Animal Studies of Attachment.....................................................................................................................4
Lorenz......................................................................................................................................................4
Harlow.....................................................................................................................................................5
Explanations of Attachment........................................................................................................................6
Learning Theory.......................................................................................................................................6
Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory...................................................................................................................7
Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’...................................................................................................................8
Types of Attachment................................................................................................................................8
Cultural Variations in Attachment...............................................................................................................9
Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation.................................................................................................10
Effects of Institutionalisation.....................................................................................................................11
Hodges and Tizard 1989........................................................................................................................11
Attachment Disorder.................................................................................................................................13
Influence of Early Attachment on Childhood and Adult Relationships......................................................14
Caregiver-infant interactions in humans
➥ Attachment: a strong reciprocal emotional bond between an infant and a primary care giver.
1
, ➥ Reciprocal = two/both ways
o The child must bond with the mother and vice versa for an attachment to form.
o Reciprocity’s importance demonstrated by Brazelton et al: 2-week-olds have been viewed
attempting to copy their caregiver, who responds to the signals on average 2/3 of the time.
o Reciprocity teaches the child to communicate and allows the caregiver to better care for the
child due to their ability to detect certain cues and act on them.
➥ Interactional synchrony = the infant and primary caregiver are synchronised in their interactions
o Condon and Sander (1974) showed children can synchronise movements with the sound of an
adult’s voice.
o Brazleton et al showed that infants can copy displayed distinctive facial expressions or gestures.
o Interactions change depending on rhythm, pitch, volume, etc of the adult’s speech, which leads
to better communication between parent and child when the child is older.
➥ Evaluation:
Many studies (e.g. Brazelton et al) used heavily controlled observations – allows valid
conclusions to be drawn, inter-rater reliability can be established, high level of detail and
accuracy in observations.
- Unclear whether the actions of such young children are meaningful as little/no motor
coordination, distinction between behavioural response and behavioural understanding pointed
out by Bremner (just because an interaction appears to be reciprocal, does not mean that the
child understands the purpose of either reciprocity or interactional synchrony).
Stages of Attachment
Schaffer & Emerson’s study (1964)
➥ Aim:
2
Contents
Caregiver-infant interactions in humans.....................................................................................................1
Stages of Attachment..................................................................................................................................2
The Role of the Father.................................................................................................................................4
Animal Studies of Attachment.....................................................................................................................4
Lorenz......................................................................................................................................................4
Harlow.....................................................................................................................................................5
Explanations of Attachment........................................................................................................................6
Learning Theory.......................................................................................................................................6
Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory...................................................................................................................7
Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’...................................................................................................................8
Types of Attachment................................................................................................................................8
Cultural Variations in Attachment...............................................................................................................9
Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation.................................................................................................10
Effects of Institutionalisation.....................................................................................................................11
Hodges and Tizard 1989........................................................................................................................11
Attachment Disorder.................................................................................................................................13
Influence of Early Attachment on Childhood and Adult Relationships......................................................14
Caregiver-infant interactions in humans
➥ Attachment: a strong reciprocal emotional bond between an infant and a primary care giver.
1
, ➥ Reciprocal = two/both ways
o The child must bond with the mother and vice versa for an attachment to form.
o Reciprocity’s importance demonstrated by Brazelton et al: 2-week-olds have been viewed
attempting to copy their caregiver, who responds to the signals on average 2/3 of the time.
o Reciprocity teaches the child to communicate and allows the caregiver to better care for the
child due to their ability to detect certain cues and act on them.
➥ Interactional synchrony = the infant and primary caregiver are synchronised in their interactions
o Condon and Sander (1974) showed children can synchronise movements with the sound of an
adult’s voice.
o Brazleton et al showed that infants can copy displayed distinctive facial expressions or gestures.
o Interactions change depending on rhythm, pitch, volume, etc of the adult’s speech, which leads
to better communication between parent and child when the child is older.
➥ Evaluation:
Many studies (e.g. Brazelton et al) used heavily controlled observations – allows valid
conclusions to be drawn, inter-rater reliability can be established, high level of detail and
accuracy in observations.
- Unclear whether the actions of such young children are meaningful as little/no motor
coordination, distinction between behavioural response and behavioural understanding pointed
out by Bremner (just because an interaction appears to be reciprocal, does not mean that the
child understands the purpose of either reciprocity or interactional synchrony).
Stages of Attachment
Schaffer & Emerson’s study (1964)
➥ Aim:
2
