Attachment
What is attachment?
An attachment is a strong emotional and reciprocal bond between two people,
develops over time and depends on the interactions between those people
who are attached. Maccoby identified four characteristics of attachment.
These are: seeking proximity, separation anxiety, pleasure on reunion and
general orientation of behaviour towards primary caregiver
Development
- Caregiver infant interaction, reciprocity, interactional synchrony
Reciprocity is the idea of turn taking, infants coordinate, and actions of a
person elicit a response.
Interactional synchrony is the idea of mirroring, 2 or more things in pattern, 2
people interact mirror facial and body, imitate specific actions.
Meltzoff and Moore – method, 2 weeks, dummies facial expressions and copy
after taking out dummy, children filmed. There was an association between
infant behaviour and modelled behaviour, attachment forming, intentional
imitation. Jean Piaget believed this interaction was response training,
repeating action that simply elicits a response.
Evaluation – confirmation bias, individual differences of different attachment
styles, response training and real world of importance of bonding.
- Early attachments
Shaffer and Emerson Glasgow babies – used to find out about the
development of attachments. Longitudinal study over 2 years followed 60
infants from working class area of Glasgow. Observed every four weeks until
one year old and then again at 18 months, measuring stranger and separation
anxiety.
Results – half participants showed specific attachments between 6-8 months,
after one attachments, others followed. Mainly the mother was the first
attachment. At 18 months only 13% had only one attachment.
Evaluation – population validity, only working class in Glasgow, or Hogans
temperament hypothesis.
, Types of attachment – indiscriminate (asocial), indiscriminate, discriminate and
multiples. Asocial is the first few weeks, infant’s similar responses to animate
and inanimate objects preference to social stimuli at end of stage.
Indiscriminate 2-7 months, babies more social, prefer human com-any,
distinguish family or not, still comforted by anyone. Discriminate, 7 months
form specific attachments, monotropy, start feeling stranger anxiety,
separation, and preference to once person. Multiple, soon after specific, more
attachments to others.
Role of the father – more common for infants to attach to mother e.g., Shaffer
and Emerson only 3% attach to father, they are usually secondary attachment,
seen as an exciting playmate. Grossman study – longitudinal, quality of father’s
play is related to infants’ attachment in adolescence. Mums’ attachment is
forefront, but father has same effect in the adolescence of the child.
Evaluation – methodological issues, S and E relies on report of mother. Culture
variations, multiple attachments common in collectivist groups. Bowlby
suggesting that monotropy so not all equal.
Animal studies
- Lorenz
Links to biological explanation of attachment. Imprinting – instant attachment
and connection to first living thing, critical period for this to occur, links to
evolutionary survival. Lorenz separated a clutch of geese eggs and allowed half
of them to hatch with mother another half in incubator when first hatch see
Lorenz and not mother.
Findings – imprinting, ½ Lorenz imprint on him even when given back to
mother choose to stay with him and separate themselves, suggests attachment
innate/biological, for survival.
Guiton showed support for this by showing that chicks fed by people wearing
yellow gloves became imprinted on the gloves, males tried to mate with
gloves. However, he found that when immersed back with own species the
effects started to reverse, which opposes Lorenz study.
- Harlow
Method, Harlow took newborn monkeys away from their mother, given the
option of cold wire surrogate mother or a warm comfortable surrogate cloth
mother, with no food.
2
What is attachment?
An attachment is a strong emotional and reciprocal bond between two people,
develops over time and depends on the interactions between those people
who are attached. Maccoby identified four characteristics of attachment.
These are: seeking proximity, separation anxiety, pleasure on reunion and
general orientation of behaviour towards primary caregiver
Development
- Caregiver infant interaction, reciprocity, interactional synchrony
Reciprocity is the idea of turn taking, infants coordinate, and actions of a
person elicit a response.
Interactional synchrony is the idea of mirroring, 2 or more things in pattern, 2
people interact mirror facial and body, imitate specific actions.
Meltzoff and Moore – method, 2 weeks, dummies facial expressions and copy
after taking out dummy, children filmed. There was an association between
infant behaviour and modelled behaviour, attachment forming, intentional
imitation. Jean Piaget believed this interaction was response training,
repeating action that simply elicits a response.
Evaluation – confirmation bias, individual differences of different attachment
styles, response training and real world of importance of bonding.
- Early attachments
Shaffer and Emerson Glasgow babies – used to find out about the
development of attachments. Longitudinal study over 2 years followed 60
infants from working class area of Glasgow. Observed every four weeks until
one year old and then again at 18 months, measuring stranger and separation
anxiety.
Results – half participants showed specific attachments between 6-8 months,
after one attachments, others followed. Mainly the mother was the first
attachment. At 18 months only 13% had only one attachment.
Evaluation – population validity, only working class in Glasgow, or Hogans
temperament hypothesis.
, Types of attachment – indiscriminate (asocial), indiscriminate, discriminate and
multiples. Asocial is the first few weeks, infant’s similar responses to animate
and inanimate objects preference to social stimuli at end of stage.
Indiscriminate 2-7 months, babies more social, prefer human com-any,
distinguish family or not, still comforted by anyone. Discriminate, 7 months
form specific attachments, monotropy, start feeling stranger anxiety,
separation, and preference to once person. Multiple, soon after specific, more
attachments to others.
Role of the father – more common for infants to attach to mother e.g., Shaffer
and Emerson only 3% attach to father, they are usually secondary attachment,
seen as an exciting playmate. Grossman study – longitudinal, quality of father’s
play is related to infants’ attachment in adolescence. Mums’ attachment is
forefront, but father has same effect in the adolescence of the child.
Evaluation – methodological issues, S and E relies on report of mother. Culture
variations, multiple attachments common in collectivist groups. Bowlby
suggesting that monotropy so not all equal.
Animal studies
- Lorenz
Links to biological explanation of attachment. Imprinting – instant attachment
and connection to first living thing, critical period for this to occur, links to
evolutionary survival. Lorenz separated a clutch of geese eggs and allowed half
of them to hatch with mother another half in incubator when first hatch see
Lorenz and not mother.
Findings – imprinting, ½ Lorenz imprint on him even when given back to
mother choose to stay with him and separate themselves, suggests attachment
innate/biological, for survival.
Guiton showed support for this by showing that chicks fed by people wearing
yellow gloves became imprinted on the gloves, males tried to mate with
gloves. However, he found that when immersed back with own species the
effects started to reverse, which opposes Lorenz study.
- Harlow
Method, Harlow took newborn monkeys away from their mother, given the
option of cold wire surrogate mother or a warm comfortable surrogate cloth
mother, with no food.
2
