Theorist's, research and experiments timeline.
Created by JayDee106 on Jan 10, 2011
Last updated: 01/11/11 at 11:38 AM
Investigating the differences between Japanese and American perceptions of attachment. Using a semi-structured interview, they questioned mothers to find out what each culture thought: - Meaning of 'Separation Anxiety'. - Views of 'desirable' and 'undesirable' attachment behaviours in a child. - How secure attachment was. A native language speaker (nothing lost in translation) interviewed 14 mothers (bad small sample size) from each culture. Most mothers agreed that secure attachment was the desired behaviour. However: - Japanese mothers thought co-operation, harmony and social roles were desirable - American mothers thought personal attributes and personal achievements were most desirable. Japanese mothers more likely to attribute a childs demanding behaviour as need for security and interdependence (Amae) whilst US mothers saw this as attention seeking behaviour. Cross cultural variations exist between attachment types, but also cross cultural perceptions as to what constitues secure and insecure attachments.
Children who were securely attached to their mothers as infants enjoyed closer friendships later on in life, whereas those who were avoidant or resistant had few or no friends.
Meta Analysis.
Looked at 32 studies of attachment spanning 8 different countrie, including indivualistic (Western - Me, I, myself) and collectivist (Non- Western - We, us, together). Looked at percentake of different attachment types.
The majority of studies generally fitted with those found in the USA throughout the country, however some stark differences appear.
Noticeable examples:
- Germany - Highest percentage of avoidant relationships, as this is highly praised and taught, being seen as the secure type.
- Israel - Highest Resistant type. Many children live in Kibbutz whose community shares parenting responsibilities meaning babied are uses to different caregivers.
- Japan - Once again a higher resistant group, however this time it is because they never leave their baby, so the baby is highly emotionally distressed by the event, but the parents trust is broken, so become unsure whether they can be comforted by the mother.
- GB - Highest Secure attachment type, and the lowest resistant.
(Table of results in link)
http://www.simplypsychology.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/IJzendoorn-Kroonenberg.html
Aimed to see if there was a correlation between an infants attachment type and their future approach to romantic relationships. Used simple checklist for child-parent and parent-parent relationships, and a loce experience questionnaire. Found high correlation between infant attachment styles and the adult romantic love styles.
Mothers who had been brought up in institutions and unable to attach to a caregiver at that time were found to be less sensitive, supportive and warm to their own babies.
Privation - 10 years virtual isolation. After a year in hospital she went to live with a therapist and his family. It focused on whether she could learn language, or whether she had passed the critical peroid for language development. Genie made good progress at hospital and with her therapist. She learnt to say and recognise lots of words, and despite never getting to grips with Grammar she could communicate well.
1) Parent and infant are introduced to the experimental room.
2) Parent and infant are alone. Parent does not participate while infant explores.
Stranger enters, converses with parent, then approaches infant. Parent leaves inconspicuously.
3) First separation episode: Stranger's behaviour is geared to that of infant.
4) First reunion episode: Parent greets and comforts infant, then leaves again.
Second separation episode: Infant is alone.
5) Continuation of second separation episode: Stranger enters and gears behaviour to that of infant.
6) Second reunion episode: Parent enters, greets infant, and picks up infant; stranger leaves inconspicuously.
- Four aspects of the child's behavior are observed:
1) The amount of exploration (e.g. playing with new toys) the child engages in throughout.
2) The child's reactions to the departure of its caregiver.
3) The stranger anxiety (when the baby is alone with the stranger).
4) The child's reunion behaviour with its caregiver.
THE TYPES OF ATTACHMENT
- Secure - Cries on leaving of mother, not comforted by stranger, seeks proximity to mother when she returns and then is easily soothed.
- Insecure: Resistant - Anxious of exploration of environment even with mother present (does not provide a safe base) Extremely distressed when mother leaves The child will be ambivalent when she returns - seeking to remain close to the mother but resentful, and also resistant when the mother initiates attention. When reunited with the mother, the baby may also hit or push their mother when she approaches and fail to cling to her when she picks them up.
- Insecure: Avoidant - Ignores caregiver, shows little emotion or attention when they depart or enter the room, does not explore much no matter who is present, strangers often not treated differently from caregiver and a limited emotional range no matter who is in the room with the child.
Made and designed based on USA relationships, so said to be ethnocentric (culturally biased) , where as behaviour is seen differently in different cultures.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_situation#Strange_Situation
John (aged 17 months) put into residential nursery for 9 days.
Four of the five other children had been there their entire life, and were noisy, demanding and agressive. John was a quiet child, and although he often approached the careers, he was ignored to meet the demands of the children who caused the problems, and when he did get attention it was not for very long.
(PROTEST) Johns protests and anger were ignored, and after some days his distress became worsened. He started crying for long peroids of the day.
This lasted for several days, and the nurses gave all the attention that they could manage, but it was no where near enough.
(DESPAIR) He bagan to refuse food and wouldn't sleep. With each day passing his condition worsened. His cries of distress became long peroids of sobbing with despair.
After another few days of this, his behaviour changed once again. He stopped trying to be near the nurses, and instead would be playing with whatever toys he could get, and became particularly fond of a large cuddly bear. He began to ignore his father who had been coming in each night. He was becoming slowly emotionally detached.
When his mother finally came to pick him up, he didn't seem to want to know her. He wouldn;t go to her, look at her and resisted her attempts to comfort him.
He had started out by being loving, and seeking companionship. Over the 9 day peroid he had changed to being distressed, despairing and finally appearing emotionally detached.
When he went home he showed signs of seperation anxiety anytime his mother left the room. He would constantly check his house to make sure his mother was still there, and became 'clingy'.
This developed into the PDD model - Protest, Despair, Detachment.
- Protest - child screams, cries and protests departure of caregiver. They may try to hold back or cling on to the leaving parent.
- Despair - The childs angry protests seems to subside, becoming calmer, however they are still extremely upset. They refuse comfrot from anybody else, and they appear withdrawn from people.
- Detachment - If the seperation continues further from this point the child may begin to interact with others but is likely to be wary. When the caregiver returns they reject them, and display signs of anger;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Robertson_(psychoanalyst)#Protest.2C_despair.2C_detachment
1) Asocial stage (1st 6 weeks) - any form of emotional behaviour isn't directed at anyone in particular, for example crying. 2) Indiscriminate attachments (6 weeks-7 months) - the infant is content with attention from different people. 3) Specific attachments (7 - 11 months) - the infant not only forms attachments with others but also forms a particularly strong one to one individual. INCLUDED IN 1977 4) Multiple attachments, (11 months +) - other close attachments are formed (i.e. grandparents) after the first main strong one. Naturalistic Observation. In 39% of cases the person who fed and looked after the infant was NOT the one they formed an attachment with. By 18mths only a few were attached to one person, and 31% had 5 or more attachments. Also saw tempremental differences in all children, even with primary caregiver.
Children observe an adult entering a room with a Bobo doll in it.
In one variation the adult attacks and is agressive to the doll; in the other they are kind and non-agressive.
The children then enter the room with the Bobo doll and they are observed to see what behaviour they exert on the doll.
Those who saw the adult being more agressive to doll were themselves more likely to be agressive to it also.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobo_doll_experiment
Rhesus monkeys removed from their mother at birth.
Put into a cage with two surrogate mothers, a wire mesh mother, who gives out milk, and a warm cotton mother who can not give out milk.
It was found that the monkey chose the warm cotton mother over the wire mesh food giving mother to form a primary attachment with.
Shows that primates have a comfort contact need, over the one to be fed. Needing a place where they can feel safe and secure, over just getting food.
Later in life, when introduced to other monkeys who had grown up normally, the research monkeys found it difficult to socilalise and mate, as they had no one to imitate and learn from. When they did mate they were usually bad mothers, neglecting the baby of it's basic needs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Harlow#Surrogate_mother_experiment
James Robertsons film that brought on much change in how we look after children during extended periods without their parent.
"
Admitting the mother to help in his care makes hospital a much happier place for the young child. It is also a positive measure of preventative mental health.
Separation from the mother can be traumatic and may leave long lasting and possibly permanent emotional disturbances. The presence of the mother disposes of that danger.
Her presence also helps to prevent anxieties arising from illness, pain, investigation and operation from becoming cumulatively overwhelming."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Robertson_(psychoanalyst)#Film_-_A_Two-year-old_goes_to_Hospital_.281952.29
An animal, for instance a Pidgeon, is placed in a caged box, where a certain action, such as pecking a red dot, will release food for the pidgeon to eat. They learn to peck this dot to get food - a positive reward.
Can be used for negative rewards such as electrifying the floor, which they then learn not to do the action that caused it.
Babies get a positive reward when they cry, as the mother appears and comforts them. This is negative reinforcement - as the baby is seeking proximity to stop pain or doscomfort. The parents also get a positive reward from seeing the baby comforted, and therefore both parties are being conditioned into attachment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operant_conditioning_chamber
When Pavlov fed his dogs he would ring a bell. The dogs made an ASSOCIATION between the pleasure of the Stimulus (food) and the Neutral Stimulus (bell) so that each time they heard the bell they would salivate, proving they had associated the food and bell.
A baby will associate it's mother and food, and the pleasure that comes with it, therfore becoming attached to the mother due to the pleasure of seeing her and getting the food.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_conditioning
Little Albert, 11 years old, was given a white lab rat to play with, and he did so with comfort and no fear. Later on, a loud noise was made each time he picked up or played with the rat, and unsurprisingly he became distressed and cried at the sound.
Eventually, when presented with the rat he became upset and refused to look at it or touch it, as he had associated the fear of the loud noise and the natural reaction to this, with the white lab rat.
"This experiment led to the following progression of results:
Introduction of a loud sound (unconditioned stimulus) resulted in fear (unconditioned response), a natural response.
Introduction of a rat (neutral stimulus) paired with the loud sound (unconditioned stimulus) resulted in fear (unconditioned response).
Successive introductions of a rat (conditioned stimulus) resulted in fear (conditioned response). Here, learning is demonstrated."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Albert_experiment
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