Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Attachment
Attachment
● Attachment is a two way enduring emotional bond that develops between the infant
and the caregiver early in the infant’s life. It develops as a result of their two-way
communication.
● This process of responding to each other builds emotional bonds and ultimately results
in the infant showing distress when separated from the caregiver.
Types of interactions
● Interactional synchrony- Infant and caregiver reflect each other's actions and emotions
in a coordinated manner.
● A behaviour linked to this is reciprocity. Reciprocity- is interaction wherein the adult and
infant continuously respond to each others actions and can initiate or respond to
communication.
● Interaction can also occur via direct imitation where the infant mimics/copies the adult’s
behaviour exactly (i.e: smiles elicit smiles).
● Sensitive responsiveness is when the adult pays close attention to the infant’s
communication and responds in an appropriate manner (i.e: providing milk, changing).
● Caregiverese is where adults modulate their voice, slowing it down and raising the pitch
to make it almost song-like. Most adults will do this when encountering an infant.
● Bodily contact (physical contact, often skin-to-skin) is seen as important in bonding,
particularly in the first few hours of life.
Evaluation
★ Melzoff and Moore (1977) had an experimenter display facial gestures such as sticking
their tongue out, opening mouth in shock, and manual gestures such as opening and
closing their hand to infants between 12 and 21 days old. Infants responses were
recorded and rated by people blind to the aims of the experiment. The ratings showed
that these infants imitated the experimenter. This suggests that the ability to observe and
imitate develops very early on in infants, potentially as a way to develop an attachment
bond with their caregiver.
★ Papusek et al (1991) Showed that the tendency to produce caregiverese (high pitched
baby talk) is common across American, Chinese, and German mothers. This suggests
that some aspects of caregiver-infant interactions in the development of attachment are
not culturally biased but are universal to all or many cultures and thus may be innate
within infants and caregivers.
★ Modern techniques of studying attachment tend to use multiple observers, providing
inter-rater reliability and reducing potential for bias.
★ They also often have a system of video cameras to document and slow down micro-
sequences of interactions between caregivers and infants that may not be observable in
real time. This also allows other researchers to more easily review the evidence at a
later date.
★ An issue with studies on infant-caregiver interaction is that infants are unable to
communicate their thoughts and emotions, so findings depend on inferences about
internal mental states based on observations of infant behaviour. This is unscientific as it
is subjective and so some studies could suffer from observer bias, that is an
interpretation that matches the observer’s preconceptions rather than what they were
actually viewing.
★ Also researcher are unable to claim intentionality (that imitation behaviour is deliberate)
as it may be an unconscious automatic response.
★ Social sensitivity is a concern when investigating child rearing techniques as some
parents may find their life choices criticised, such as mother who return to the workplace
shortly after giving birth. Findings may lead new parents to blame themselves if their
attachment is not strong or their children do not develop according to the models (see
below).
➔ Schaffer and Emerson (1964): The Glaswegian baby study- collected the data of 60
babies and their families over the course of a year via monthly observations and
interviews, with a follow-up visit at 18 months. Two types of behaviour were looked at,
stranger distress (signs of discomfort when around a stranger and ability to distinguish
between familiar and unfamiliar people) and separation anxiety (signs of discomfort
when the caregiver moved to another room, showing the development of an attachment
bond). They found separation anxiety in the majority of babies by 25-32 weeks, with
stranger anxiety occurring in most babies approximately one month later. In the 18
month follow-up 87% of babies had developed multiple attachments. The strongest
attachments tended to be to the mother, particularly those with consistent caregiver-
infant interaction.
➔ This suggested to the researchers that attachment occurs in stages in all babies,
perhaps being a biologically controlled process. Also the quality of caregiver interaction
has a direct impact on the strength of the attachment for infants and their caregivers.
Evaluation
★ This study used only white, working class Scottish babies from Glasgow, so cannot be
generalised to babies of other classes or cultures (or even babies living in other cities in
Scotland) so lacks external validity.
★ Study was carried out in the 1960s so now may lack temporal validity as childrearing
practices have changed significantly over the last 50 years.
★ Has high ecological validity as children were studied in their own homes, and high
mundane realism as strangers visiting the home would have been a fairly normal
occurrence for the babies, as would have been the caregiver leaving the presence of the
infant
★ By incorporating self-report into the study researchers were able to use the process of
triangulation (using two different research methodologies -interview and self-report- and
finding the same results), so greater internal validity.
➔ Harlow (1958)- Harlow aimed to study the mechanisms by which newborn rhesus
monkeys bond with their mothers. 16 monkeys were separated from their mothers
immediately after birth and placed in cages with access to two surrogate mothers, one
made of wire and one covered in soft terry towelling cloth.
➔ Eight of the monkeys could get milk from the wire mother
➔ Eight monkeys could get milk from the cloth mother
➔ The animals were studied for various length of time.
➔ Both groups of monkeys spent more time with the cloth mother (even if she had no milk).
The infants of the second group would only go to the wire mother when hungry. Once
fed they would return to the cloth mother for most of the day. If a frightening object was
placed in the cage the infant took refuge with the cloth mother. The infant would explore
more when the cloth mother was present.
➔ Then Harlow observed the difference in behavior between the monkeys who had grown
up with surrogate mothers and those with normal mothers. He found that (for the
surrogate mother monkeys):
1. They were much more timid (though monkeys with access to a cloth mother were
less timid than those without, who were very distressed).
2. They didn’t know how to act with other monkeys.
3. They were easily bullied and wouldn’t stand up for themselves.
4. They had difficulty with mating.
5. The females were inadequate mothers.
➔ These behaviors were observed only in the monkeys who were left with the surrogate
mothers for more than 90 days. For those left less than 90 days the effects could be
reversed if placed in a normal environment where they could form attachments.
➔ Harlow concluded that “contact comfort” (provided by the cloth mother) was more
important than food in the formation of attachment. This also shows that contact comfort
is preferable to food but not sufficient for healthy development.
➔ He also concluded that early maternal deprivation leads to emotional damage but that its
impact could be reversed in monkeys if an attachment was made before the end of the
critical period. However if maternal deprivation lasted after the end of the critical period
then no amount of exposure to mothers or peers could alter the emotional damage that
had already occurred.
➔ Harlow found therefore that it was social deprivation rather than maternal deprivation
that the young monkeys were suffering from. When he brought some other infant
monkeys up on their own, but with 20 minutes a day in a playroom with three other
monkeys, he found they grew up to be quite normal emotionally and socially.
➔ This study suggests that Rhesus macaques and potentially other primates such as
humans have a biological (nature) need for physical contact and will attach to whatever
provides comfort rather than food, going against the behaviourist theory of attachment
(see below).
Evaluation of animal studies
★ There are serious ethical concerns about the level of suffering that primates endures in
Harlow’s experiments as he intentionally orphaned infants and subjected them to high
levels of stress. Some of Harlow’s other experiments were more extreme and lead in
part to a negative view of psychology as a field of research, though this also lead to
changed ethical standards.
★ Similarly, as Lorenz’s experiment had a permanent and irreversible negative effect on
the geese (for example those that imprinted to him were less able to mate with their own
kind) so was very unethical.
★ There are problems with generalising findings on attachment from animal studies to
humans infants, as geese are very different in evolutionary terms, and whilst monkeys
are similar genetically to humans, there are still significant differences in both biology
and cultural/social environments.
★ Knowledge gained form Harlow’s studies has been applied effectively to the early
childcare of human infants. For example contact between mothers and babies is
encouraged in the first few hours after birth to promote attachment, and social workers
investigate cases of infant neglect as they understand the long term damage that can
result from this. It has also been argued that the long-term benefit to millions of human
infants resulting from Harlow’s research justifies the studies in terms of cost-benefit
analysis.
➔ Bowlby (1944) The 44 juvenile thieves: their characteristics and home life
➔ Aim: To investigate the long-term effects of maternal deprivation.
➔ Procedure: He selected an opportunity sample of 88 children attending his clinic.
➔ Group 1- thief group: 31 boys and 13 girls in the ‘theft group’ were referred to him
because of their stealing.
➔ Group 2- control group: 34 boys and 10 girls were referred to him because of emotional
problems.
➔ The two groups were matched for age and IQ.
➔ The children and their parents were interviewed and tested by a psychiatrist (Bowlby), a
psychologist and a social worker focusing specifically on their early life experiences.
➔ Findings: 14 children from the theft group were identified as affectionless psychopaths,
12 of those had experienced prolonged separation of more than six months from their
mothers in their first two years of life whereas only 5 of the 30 children not classified as
affectionless psychopaths had experienced separations. Out of the 44 children in the
control group, only 2 had experienced prolonged separations and none of them were
affectionless psychopaths.
➔ This suggests that the affectionless psychopathy may have led to criminal/delinquent
behaviour and may be linked to the periods of separation that thieves experienced in
early life.
Evaluation
★ However this research was only correlational, so a third factor such as extreme poverty,
criminal relatives, or a family history of mental issues like psychopathy could be related
both to the early separation and to the children’s behavioural difficulties.
★ This was an opportunity sample, so these delinquents weren’t necessarily a
representative sample of children who have experienced long separations. They were
likely brought to Bowlby’s clinic because they were extreme cases, meaning that the
external validity of this study is questionable.
★ Bowlby’s theories come from assuming findings from animal studies should be applied to
humans, but there are significant biological and psychological differences between
humans and even our closest evolutionary relative, meaning that such findings can’t be
validly generalised to humans.
★ Bowlby's Maternal Deprivation theory is supported by Harlow's (1958) research with
monkeys. He showed that monkeys reared in isolation from their mother suffered
emotional and social problems in older age. The monkey's never formed an attachment
(privation) and as such grew up to be aggressive and had problems interacting with
other monkeys.
★ Due to Bowlby’s theory a number of real life applications have been made: In
orphanages now they have to take account of emotional needs, fostered children have
to be kept in one stable home rather than being moved around. In maternity units
mothers are now allowed to spend more time with their babies as well as if they have a
sick child the visiting hours in hospital have been extended, parents can even stay
overnight if they wish.
★ Critics such as Rutter have also accused Bowlby of not distinguishing between
deprivation and privation – the complete lack of an attachment bond, rather than its loss.
Rutter stresses that the quality of the attachment bond is the most important factor,
rather than just deprivation in the critical period.
★ Bowlby assumed that physical separation on its own could lead to deprivation but Rutter
argues that it is the disruption of the attachment bond rather than the physical
separation. This is supported by Radke-Yarrow (1985) who found that 52% of children
whose mothers suffered with depression were insecurely attached. This figure raised to
80% when this occurred in a context of poverty (Lyons-Ruth,1988). This shows the
influence of social factors.
★ Bowlby did not take into account the quality of the substitute care. Deprivation can be
avoided if there is good emotional care after separation. Hodges and Tizard's research
(on privation / institutional care) shows that the effects of deprivation can be reversed to
some extent.
★ Bowlby’s work focuses on the unique importance of the mother-child bond but
Schaffer’s work does not show this. Instead it shows how children quickly move from
specific attachments to multiple attachments. Also in the Glaswegian baby study 35%
didn’t have the mother as a primary attachment figure even before they reached the
multiple attachments stage.
★ Studies such as Rutter (2011, see below) highlight the importance of a sensitive period
rather than a critical period. That is that while deprivation has long term damaging
effects, some of these can be reversed.
● Rutter (2011) aimed to understand the impact that this privation had on the romanian
orphans. Studied 165 Romanian orphans adopted into British families. The children were
followed in four groups; Group 1 were 58 children under the age of 6 months, Group 2
were 59 children between the ages of 6 and 24 months, Group 3 were 48 children over
24 months, and Group 4 was a control group of 52 british adoptees. At the start of the
observation half of the Romanian children were severely malnourished and had low IQ
compared to children of the same age. Each group was assessed at ages 4, 6, 11, and
15.
● At age 6 children adopted after 6 months showed disinhibited attachment and were
overly friendly with strange adults. At 11 just over half (54%) of the Romanian adopted
children that showed disinhibited attachment at six still displayed the behaviour. Children
adopted after 6 months showed significant delays in intellectual development, scoring
lower on IQ tests and with difficulty concentrating, with those adopted after 24 months
showing an average IQ of 77. In a small number of cases (only in the Romanian
orphans), quasi-autism tendencies were identified, with children having problems
understanding the meaning of social contexts. Intellectual problems continued at the 15
year follow-up.
● Rutter concluded that adoption within the first six months of life is important to stop the
effects of deprivation and privation from becoming permanent, however there may be
some recovery as children develop, suggesting that the critical period is more of a
sensitive period.
Evaluation
★ Research on the negative effects of institutionalisation changed policies around adoption
and care in orphanages and other institutional settings. Key workers in institutions
ensured a higher level of care, and adoption at an early age and suitable care from the
new family ensured by regular follow-ups were prioritised.
★ This study provided detailed measurements through the use of interviews and
observations of the children’s behaviors. The problem is that it is not easy to find out
information about the institutional experience for the child and therefore we don’t know
the extent of early privation experienced by these children.
★ Another problem with this type of study is that once the children were adopted they may
not wish to take part in the study anymore so the results would not be representative
★ Children not randomly assigned to adoption and control groups, but were selected by the
new parents, so it could be that the more sociable children were more likely to be
adopted.
★ This research is longitudinal so still ongoing, so long-term effects on Romanian orphans
are still to be found (i.e: it could be that the children with disinhibited attachments at 11
catch up to their peers in development in early adulthood).
● Hodges & Tizard (1989) conducted a longitudinal natural experiment using 65 children
had been placed into institutional care before the age of 4 months, where there was a
no-attachment policy.
● By 4 years, 24 had been adopted, 15 returned home & the remaining 26 were still in the
institution. Assessments were taken at ages 8 & 16 years. A control group of normal
children were used. Data was obtained through interviews with the adolescents and their
mothers (and sometimes fathers).
● A self-report questionnaire on social difficulties was completed by adolescents and
finally, teachers completed a postal questionnaire, focusing on the adolescents'
relationships with teachers and peers. The findings revealed that maternal deprivation
was overcome to a large extent by adopted children, with them going on to develop
stronger and longer lasting attachments to adoptive parents once placed in families in
comparison to restored and institutionalised groups who made limited recoveries.
● However all three groups were more oriented towards adult attention, and had more
difficulties with peers and fewer close relationships than a matched control group of
adolescents, suggesting that early institutional experience had damaging long-term
effects, but that some effects could be overcome with appropriate substitute care.
● It can be concluded that it does not support the Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis as the
findings demonstrate that recovery was possible given the correct circumstances in the
environment.
● The children who were adopted may have had adoptive new families that made a
considerable effort to attach to them, where as the restored children returned to the
same difficult circumstance. This demonstrates that the subsequent after care can affect
the recovery from privation.
● It can be concluded to support the Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis as the findings show
that both groups of children have difficulties outside of the family.
● As they both experience this difficulty it shows that privation has a lasting impact upon
later development.
Evaluation
★ Hodges and Tizard’s research can be seen to be ethical, as it used a natural experiment
meaning that the independent variable was naturally occurring, rather than being
deliberately manipulated by a researcher.
★ Lacks random allocation – As children were already placed in the institution, participants
were not randomly allocated to conditions, which means that individual differences
between the children could influence the findings in unanticipated ways.
★ The research appears to suggest that positive subsequent care can minimise the
harmful effects of privation, however, the adopted children might have been adopted
because of personal characteristics such as apparent resilience or being more attractive
in some way. These characteristics might explain why they made a partial recovery
rather than the fact that they were adopted, which lowers the internal validity of the
research.
The influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships, including the
role of an internal working model
● According to Bowlby (1969) later relationships are likely to be a continuation of early
attachment styles (secure and insecure) because the behavior of the infant’s primary
attachment figure promotes an internal working model of relationships which leads the
infant to expect the same in later relationships. This is the continuity hypothesis.
Evaluation
★ Considerable evidence has supported this view. For example, the Minnesota study
(2005) followed participants from infancy to late adolescence and found continuity
between early attachment and later emotional/social behavior. Securely attached
children were rated most highly for social competence later in childhood, were less
isolated and more popular than insecurely attached children.
★ An alternative explanation for continuity in relationships is the temperament hypothesis
which argues that an infant’s temperament affects the way a parent responds and so
may be a determining factor in infant attachment type. The infant’s temperament may
explain their issues (good or bad) with relationships in later life. For example Manlove et
al. (2002) fathers are less likely to be involved with their infant if the infant has a difficult
temperament.
● Hazan and Shaver (1987) - Hazan and Shaver aimed to understand if childhood
attachment type would predict the behaviours and attitudes of adults with regards to
romantic relationships. Hazan placed a 'love quiz' in a newspaper which measured
individuals' attachment experiences as children and current attitudes to love and
romantic relationships on over 600 American males and females. 56% of respondents
were secure, 25% avoidant (insecure-avoidant), and 19% were anxious (insecure-
resistant). They were judged secure if they balanced closeness and independence,
avoidant if they were mostly independent, and anxious if they were not very
independent.
● There was a strong correlation between childhood attachment type and adult attachment
type. Securely attached adults believed in enduring love and were less likely to get
divorced, Insecure-avoidant types were fearful of emotional closeness and believed love
was not long-lasting, and Insecure-resistant types were preoccupied by love, fell in love
easily but had trouble finding real satisfaction with partners. Percentage of types was
similar to those typically found in Ainsworth’s strange situation.
● This supports the hypothesis that parenting styles create an internal working model
which influences attachment type which has long-lasting consequences on personality
and motivation.
● So Hazan and Shaver concluded that adult relationships are a continuation of the infant
types according to Ainsworth's secure and insecure resistant and avoidant categories.
Evaluation
★ Hazan's study has the advantage of having a large sample meaning we can generalise
results, however, as it was conducted in the USA, it only measures western-style
relationships and is, therefore, ethnocentric.
★ It is correlational so does not show cause and effect.
★ There could also have been demand characteristics with participants giving socially
desirable answers: e.g. exaggerating how positive their relationships were rather than
being honest.
★ This study supports that our adult relationships are dictated by our early experiences, an
example of determinism, which ignores the free-will that people have to overcome past
attachment experiences and create positive relationships with partners.
★ Not representative as is self report and a volunteer sample.
● McCarthy (1999) studied 40 women who had been assessed for attachment style while
in infancy and found that those assessed as secure in infancy were more likely to be in
secure adult relationships (both friendships and relationships) and also had higher self-
esteem. Insecure-avoidant had particularly poor romantic relationships, while resistant
had poor friendships. Both insecure groups were more likely to have lived with a deviant
partner. This suggests that early attachment style is linked to the quality of both adult
relationships and friendships.
+ By using women assessed in infancy we can avoid the issues of accurate recall found in
Hazan and Shaver’s study
● Poor Parenting - Harlow's monkeys went on to become poor parents themselves.
● Research by Bailey (2007) found that the majority of women had the same attachment
classification both to their babies and their own mothers, suggesting that attachment
style is passed on intergenerationally.
● Zimmerman (2000) studied a group of children growing up in Germany, and found that
child attachment type did not predict adult attachment type. Life events such as the
divorce of parents or parental illness or death had much more influence on later security.
This suggests there are individual differences in the influences of early attachment type
on later relationships. It suggests that there are other, perhaps more important,
influences on adult relationships.
● Knowledge of the internal working model can be used by schools to help children alter
their IWM and to address issues such as bullying and loneliness, and potentially to help
people with relationship problems.