Attachment

• What is an attachment?

  A close emotional bond between two individuals
• How long does it take for attachment to develop in humans?

  It takes a few months to develop
• What behaviors indicate attachment in individuals?

  Separation distress and secure base behavior
• What is reciprocity in mother-infant interaction?

  How two people react to each other
• How often do mothers pick up on babies' alert phases?

  About 2/3 of the time
• What is interactional synchrony?

  Simultaneous actions between two people
• Who defined interactional synchrony as 'the temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behaviour'?

  Feldman
• What did Meltzoff and Moore (1977) observe in infants?

  Beginnings of interactional synchrony
• What did Isabella et al (1989) find regarding mother-infant attachment?

  High levels of synchrony indicate better attachment
• What is the role of observational research in studying attachment?

  It allows analysis of mother-infant interactions
• What did Grossman (2002) study about parental behavior?

  Its relationship to children's attachments into their teens
• What did Grossman find about father attachment?

  Less important than mother attachment
• What role do fathers play in attachment according to Grossman?

  More related to play and stimulation
• What did Field (1978) find about primary caregiver fathers?

  They engage similarly to mothers in attachment
• What is the key to the attachment relationship?

  The level of responsiveness, not gender
• What is separation anxiety?

  Distress shown when separated from caregiver
• What is stranger anxiety?

  Distress shown towards unfamiliar adults
• What did Schaffer and Emerson (1964) investigate?

  The formation of early attachments in infants
• How often did Schaffer and Emerson visit the babies and mothers?

  Every month for the first year
• What age range did infants show signs of separation anxiety?

  Between 20 and 32 weeks
• What is the first stage of Schaffer and Emerson's attachment theory?

  Asocial attachment (birth-2 months)
• What characterizes the second stage of attachment?

  Preference for people over inanimate objects
• What happens in the third stage of attachment?

  Infants show stranger anxiety and distress
• What occurs in the fourth stage of attachment?

  Display of attachment behavior towards familiar people
• What animal did Harlow use in his attachment research?

  Rhesus monkeys
• What did Harlow find about newborn monkeys in bare cages?

  They often died without something soft to cuddle
• What was the procedure in Harlow's experiment?

  Reared monkeys with two wire model mothers
• What did Harlow's findings suggest about attachment?

  Contact comfort is more important than food
• What is a limitation of Harlow's research?

  Generalizing findings from monkeys to humans
• What does operant conditioning involve?

  Learning from the consequences of behavior
• How does operant conditioning explain crying in babies?

  Crying leads to caregiver's comforting response
• What is the role of mutual reinforcement in attachment?

  Strengthens the attachment between baby and caregiver
• What are the stages of Schaffer and Emerson's attachment theory?

  1. Asocial attachment (Birth-2 months)
  2. Indiscriminate attachment (2-7 months)
  3. Specific attachment (From 7 months)
  4. Multiple attachments (After specific attachment)
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of Harlow's research?

  Strengths:

  • Informs understanding of attachment
  • Highlights importance of contact comfort

  
  

  Weaknesses:

  • Limited generalizability to humans
  • Ethical concerns regarding animal distress
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of Grossman's study?

  Strengths:

  • High internal and ecological validity
  • Longitudinal design

  
  

  Weaknesses:

  • Low reliability due to observation consistency issues
  • Ethical implications of using children
• What is the significance of the role of the father in attachment?

  • Secondary attachment figures (e.g., fathers, grandparents)
  • Primary attachment figures (first attachments)
  • Importance of play and stimulation in attachment
• What is the concept of multiple attachments?

  • Having more than one attachment figure
  • Includes primary and secondary attachment figures
• What is the significance of separation and stranger anxiety in attachment research?

  • Measures of attachment quality
  • Indicators of infant's emotional responses to caregivers