3. Attachment Flashcards
What did research in the 1970s demonstrate about infants interacting with their caregivers?
That infants coordinated their actions with caregivers in a kind of conversation
Give an example of a researcher in the 1970s who demonstrated that infants reciprocate caregivers actions
Jaffe et al. (1973)
What is an example of reciprocity relating to babies?
From birth, babies move in a rhythm when interacting with an adult - almost as if they were having a conversation
What did Brazelton (1979) suggest about the rhythms that infants have?
That the basic rhythm babies have is an important precursor to later communications
What does the regularity of an infant’s signals allow a caregiver to do?
To anticipate the infant’s behaviour and respond appropriately
What does the sensitivity of an infant’s behaviour lay the foundations for?
For later attachment between caregiver and infant
What is attachment?
An emotional bond between two people - it is a two way process that endures over time. It leads to certain behaviours such as clinging + proximity-seeking and serves the function of protecting an infant
What is a caregiver?
Any person who is providing care for a child, such as a parent, grandparent, sibling etc
What is interactional synchrony?
When two people interact they mirror what the other is doing in terms of their facial + body movements. Includes limiting emotions as well as behaviours - this is described as synchrony, when 2+ things move in the same pattern
What is reciprocity?
Responding to the action of another with a similar action, where the actions of one partner elicit a response from the other partner - responses are not necessarily similar as in interactional synchrony
Who conducted the first systematic study of interactional synchrony?
Meltzoff and Moore (1977)
What did Meltzoff and Moore’s study of interactional synchrony show?
Found that infants as young as 2 or 3 weeks imitated specific facial and hand gestures
How was Meltzoff and Moore’s study of interactional synchrony conducted?
An adult model displayed 1 of 3 facial expressions or hand movements - A dummy placed in the infants mouth to prevent any initial response
Following the display the dummy was removed + the child’s expressions filmed - they found there was an association between the infant behaviour and that of the model
What did Meltzoff and Moore’s second study of interactional synchrony (1983) show?
Infants as young as 3 days old showing interactional synchrony
What did the results of Meltzoff and Moore’s second study of interactional synchrony (1983) show?
The fact that infants as young as 3 days old were displaying the behaviours would appear to rule out the possibility that interactional synchrony are learned
What did Meltzoff and Moore propose about interactional synchrony with infants?
They proposed that the imitation was intentional - the infant is deliberately copying the other person
What did Jean Piaget believe about interactional synchrony with infants?
He disagreed with Meltzoff and Moore - he believed that true imitation only developed towards the end of the first year
What did Jean Piaget think about interactional synchrony with infants before the end of their first year?
Any imitation before the end of the first year was a kind of ‘response training’
What was ‘response training’ talked about by Jean Piaget?
What the infant is doing is repeating a behaviour that was rewarded
Who discussed Pseudo-imitation?
Jean Piaget
How could the data collected in Schaffer and Emerson’s study be unreliable?
It was based off mother’s self reports of their infants
How could the mother’s self reports in Schaffer and Emerson’s study make the data bias?
- Some mothers might have been less sensitive to their infant’s protests + less likely to report them
- Demand characteristics
How would the mother’s self reports affect the validity of Schaffer and Emerson’s study?
This would create a systematic bias which would challenge the validity of the data
What is Pseudo-imitation?
Any imitation before the end of the first year was a kind of ‘response training’ - an infant is repeating a behaviour that was rewarded
Why did Piaget think that babies use pseudo-imitation?
The infant had not consciously translated what they see into a matching movement
Who presented Meltzoff and Moore’s view in a study?
Murray and Trevarthen (1985)
What did the first part of Murray and Trevarthen’s study involve?
Two-month-old infants first interacted with their mother via a video monitor in real time
What did the second part of Murray and Trevarthen’s study involve?
The video monitor played a tape of the mother so that the image on the screen was not responding to the infant’s facial and bodily gestures
What did the results of Murray and Trevarthen’s study show?
Showed that the infant is an active and intentional partener in the mother-infant interaction
What did the infant’s response to the mother not reacting in Murray and Trevarthen’s study show?
The result was acute distress for the infant
This shows the infant actively eliciting a response rather than displaying a response that has been rewarded
What are the 5 main evaluations of interactional synchrony etc?
- Problems with testing infant behaviour
- Failures to reciprocate
- Intentionally supported
- Individual differences
- The value of the research
What are multiple attachments?
Having more than one attachment figure
What is a primary attachment figure?
The person who has formed the closest bond with a child, demonstrated by the intensity of the relationship
Who is usually the primary attachment figure? How can this vary?
The biological mother
Other people can fulfil this role ie father or grandparents
What is separation anxiety?
The distress shown by an infant when separated from their caregiver. Not necessarily the child’s mother
What is stranger anxiety?
The distress shown by an infant when approached or picked up by someone unfamiliar
When did Schaffer and Emerson conduct their study?
In the 1960s
Who theorised the stages of attachment?
Schaffer and Emerson
What are the 4 stages of attachment?
- Indiscriminate attachment
- The beginnings of attachment
- Discriminate attachment
- Multiple attachments
When is the indiscriminate attachment stage?
From birth until about 2 months
What is the infant like in the indiscriminate attachment stage?
Infants produce similar responses to all objects, whether they are animate or inanimate
Towards the end of indiscriminate attachment, what is the infant like?
Infants begin showing greater preference for social stimuli (ie a smiling face) and to be more content when they are with people
During the indiscriminate attachment stage, how do infants begin to form relationships?
During this period of time reciprocity and interactional synchrony play a role in establishing the infant’s relationships with others
What age do infants reach the beginnings of attachment?
Around the age of 4 months the infant becomes more social
What sort of company do infants prefer in the beginnings of attachment stage?
They prefer human company to inanimate objects - they can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people
How easily comforted are infants in the beginnings of attachment?
They are still relatively easily comforted by anyone - do not yet show stranger anxiety
What is the most distinctive feature of the beginnings of attachment?
The infant’s general sociability (enjoyment of being with peeps)
When do infants reach the discriminate attachment stage?
By 7 months
What is a sign of infants reaching the discriminate attachment stage?
Separation anxiety
They begin to show a distinctly different sort of protest when one particular person puts them down - joy at reunion with that person
Which stage do infants form an attachment to their primary attachment figure?
Discriminate attachment
What do infants develop when they reach the discriminate attachment stage?
- Separation anxiety
- Stranger anxiety
What is an infant having stranger anxiety a sign of?
A specific attachment having formed
What did Schaffer and Emerson find with primary attachments?
Primary attachments were not always with the person the child spends the most time with
How did Schaffer and Emerson show how mother’s interaction with their children affected their attachment?
Interactive mothers had v strong bonds with their children
Less interactive mothers had poor attachments to their child
From observing mothers interacting with their children, what did Schaffer and Emerson conclude was most important for a healthy relationship?
They concluded that the quality of the relationship, not the quantity mattered the most in forming an attachment
What % of infants did Schaffer and Emerson find that their first specific attachment was their mother?
65%
What % of infants did Schaffer and Emerson find that their first joint object of attachment was their mother?
30%
What % of infants did Schaffer and Emerson find that their first joint object of attachment was their father?
27%
What % of infants did Schaffer and Emerson find that their first specific attachment was their father?
3%
When does the multiple attachments stage occur?
Very soon after the main attachment is formed
What happens in the multiple attachments stage?
The infant forms a wider circle of multiple attachments depending on how many consistent relationships they have
What did Schaffer and Emerson find about multiple attachments forming in their study?
Within one month of first becoming attached , 29% of infants had multiple attachments to someone else
Within 6 months it rose to 78%
By 1 year majority of infants formed multiple attachments
When was Lorenz’s study on geese?
1935
What was the aim of Lorenz’s 1935 study?
Investigate infant attachment in geese
What are the levels of the IV in Lorenz’s 1953 study?
IV(1) - Chick raised from birth by mother
IV(2) - Chick raised from birth by Lorenz
What is the DV in Lorenz’s 1935 study?
The chicks follow mother or Lorenz
What were the results of Lorenz’s 1935 study?
Chick always followed the first adult they saw - the effect seemed permenant
What were the conclusions from Lorenz’s 1935 study?
There is a critical period just after birth when infants imprint on the first adult they came into contact with
What do animal studies in attachment look at?
The formation of early bonds between non-human parents and their offspring
Why can we use animal studies to understand attachment in humans?
Attachment like behaviour is common to a range of species - through evolution
What is imprinting?
An innate readiness to develop a strong bond with the mother which take place during a specific time in development
If imprinting doesn’t happen what will happen?
It probably won’t happen - there is a critical period. It will be irreversible + long lasting
What is sexual imprinting?
The idea that imprinting can affect adult mate preferences - animals will choose to mate with the same kind of object upon which they were imprinted
When was Harlow’s study with monkeys?
1959
What was the aim of Harlow’s 1959 study?
Investigate infant attachment in memory
What were the levels of IV in Harlow’s 1959 study?
IV(A) - Food on wire mother (4 monkeys)
IV(B) - Food on cloth mother (4 monkeys)
IV(C) - Stranger anxiety/sec. base (scary robot/new toys)
What are the DV’s of Harlow’s 1959 study?
DV 1/2 - time spent with mother
DV 3 - Secure base behaviour + mother choice
What were the results of Harlow’s 1959 study?
All monkeys spent much longer with clothe mother regardless of food location
All used cloth mother for comfort + explored new toys more willingly with cloth mother in room
What were the conclusions of Harlow’s 1959 study?
- Infants seek comfort over food
- There’s a critical period for attachment and attachment is crucial
- Lack of mother resulted in abnormal development
- Recovery only possible if mother attachment formed in the first 3 months
What is classical conditioning?
Learning through association - a neutral stimulus is consistently paired with an unconditioned stimulus so that it eventually takes on the properties of this stimulus and is able to produce a conditioned response
What is a learning theory?
The name given to a group of explanations (classical or operant conditioning), which explain behaviour in terms of learning rather than any inborn tendencies or higher order thinking
What is operant conditioning?
Learning through reinforcement
What is a social learning theory?
Learning through observing others + imitating behaviours that are rewarded
What is the learning theory of attachment?
A set of ideas from the behaviourist approach
What do behaviourists believe about attachment?
That we are born as blank slates + so everything can be explained in terms of experiences we have
What do behaviourists prefer to focus on in attachment?
Explanations of behaviour rather than might or might not be going on in their minds because it is more objective + allows more control
List the steps of conditioning attachment
Step 1 (before conditioning)
- Food (UCS) –> Baby happy (UCR)
- Mother (NS) –> Baby no response
Step 2 (during conditioning) - Mother (NS) + food (UCS) --> Baby happy (UCR)
Step 3 (After conditioning) - Mother (CS) --> Baby (CR)
In operant conditioning what is positive reinforcement?
Increases the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated because it involves a reward for behaviour
In operant conditioning what is negative reinforcement?
Removal/escape from unpleasant consequences
What is operant conditioning?
Learning to repeat a behaviour, or not, depending on its consequences
In operant conditioning, what happens if a behaviour produces a pleasant consequence?
If a behaviour produces a pleasant consequence, that behaviour is more likely to be repeated
In operant conditioning, what happens if a behaviour produces an unpleasant consequence?
If a behavior produces an unpleasant consequence, it is less likely to be repeated
Draw a positive reinforcement loop for a baby
- Baby performs action: crying
- Baby receives reward: food relieves hunger
- The reward reinforces the action, so the baby repeats it
This loops round
Draw a negative reinforcement loop for a baby
- Baby cries + mum performs action: feeding + cuddling
- Mum received reward: baby stops crying
- The removal of distress reinforces the action, so the mum repeats it
This loops round
What is drive reduction?
When we feel discomfort, this creates a drive to reduce this discomfort
Draw a drive reduction chain
- Need (for food)
- Drive (hunger)
- Drive-reducing behaviours (eating)
What is the example of classical conditioning to do with babies?
The mother becomes the neutral stimulus after the baby is conditioned with food
How can the social learning theory explain attachment?
- We might observe role models with whom we identify, being rewarded for caring behaviours
- The mediational process of modelling allows vicarious reinforcement
- Imitation results in direct reinforcement
Give an example of a primary reinforcer for a baby
Food is a primary reinforcer because it directly supplies a reward
Give an example of a secondary reinforcer for a baby
The mother/caregiver who supplied the food is associated with the food do they become the secondary reinforcer
What is the continuity hypothesis?
The idea that emotionally secure infants go on to be emotionally secure, trusting and socially confident adults
What is the critical period?
A biologically determined period of time, during which certain characteristics can develop. Outside of this time window such development will not be possible
What is the internal working model?
A mental of the world which enables individual to predict and control their environment. In the case of attachment the model relates to a person’s expectations about relationships
What is monotropy?
The idea that the one relationship that the infant has with their primary attachment figure is of special significance in emotional development
What is a social releaser?
A social behaviour or characteristic that elicits caregiving and leads to attachment
Who was John Bowlby?
A psychiatrist in London, treating emotionally disturbed children
When was Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment?
1969
Lorenz’s research on imprinting led Bowlby to believe what?
It led Bowlby to believe that a similar process operating in humans
Why did Lorenz believe that attachment behaviour evolved?
It serves an important survival function - an infant who is not attached is less well protected
If our distant infant ancestors did not attach what did Bowlby believe was the risk?
Our distant infant ancestors would have been in danger if they did not remain close to an adult
Why is it important that attachments form in two directions?
The caregiver must be want to care for the infant as the infant is attached to them
Why must parents be attached to their infant?
Parents must also be attached to their infants in order to ensure that they are cared for + survive
Which parents are likely to produce subsequent generations according to Bowlby?
Only the parents who look after their offspring
What happens during the critical period?
Babies have an innate drive to become attached - innate behaviours usually have a special time period (critical period) for development
How long did Bowlby say the critical period for attachment lasted?
3-6 months
What did Bowlby suggest would happen to children who do not form attachments during the critical period?
They seem to have difficulty forming relationships later on
For learning theorists, what was an important factor of attachment?
Food
What did Bowlby propose mainly determines attachment?
Sensitivity
What influenced Bowlby to believe sensitivity was a key factor is attachment?
Mary Ainsworth’s strange situation
What did the results of Mary Ainsworth’s strange situation lead her to believe?
Her observations of mothers led her to suggest that the infants who seemed most strongly attached were the ones whose mothers were more responsive, more cooperative and more accessible than less closely attached infants
Why did Bowlby think social releasers are important during the critical period?
They are important during this time to ensure that attachments develop from parent to infant
Give an example of a social releaser that Bowlby discussed
Smiling and having a ‘babyface’ - all of which are social releasers
Why do babies perform social releasers?
They are innate mechanisms that explain how attachments to infants are formed
What did Bowlby propose that monotropy was?
That infants have one special emotional bond - the primary attachment relationship
Who did Bowlby suggest was usually the child’s primary attachment?
Often the biological mother - but not always
Why did Bowlby propose that infants form secondary attachments?
As they provide an emotional safety net and are important for healthy psychological and social development
What are the key things that Bowlby proposed in his theory?
- Critical period
- Social releasers
- Monotropy
What is the importance of monotropy?
That an infant has one special relationship & forms a mental representation of this relationship called an internal working model
What are the consequences of an internal working model?
1 - in the short term it gives the child insight into the caregiver’s behaviour & enables the child to influence the caregiver’s behaviour, so that a true partnership can be formed
2- In the long term it acts as template for all future relationships because it generates expectations about what intimate, loving relationships are like
What does the continuity hypothesis in Bowlby’s theory propose?
That individuals who are strongly attached in infancy continue to be socially & emotionally content
Infants who are not strongly attached have more social & emotional difficulties in childhood & adulthood
Who conducted The Strange Situation study?
Mary Ainsworth et al. (1971, 1978)
Why did Ainsworth devise the strange situation?
To be able to systematically test the nature of attachment
What was the aim of the strange situation?
To see how infants (aged 9-18 months) behave under conditions of mild stress & also novelty
What sort of observation was the strange situation?
A controlled observation - designed to measure the security of attachment that a child displays towards a caregiver
What is the room in Ainsworth’s strange situation like?
A 9x9 foot space, often marked off into 16 squares to help record the infant’s movements
How many stages are there in Ainsworth’s strange situation?
8
What happens in the first stage of Ainsworth’s strange situation?
Mother & infant go into a room - mothersits & baby on the floor to explore
What happens in the second stage of Ainsworth’s strange situation?
Stranger enters room & talks to mother
What happens in the third stage of Ainsworth’s strange situation?
Mother leaves the room & stranger leans forward to engage & play with the infant
What happens in the fourth stage of Ainsworth’s strange situation?
Mother leaves room - stranger comforts baby if they get upset
What happens in the fifth stage of Ainsworth’s strange situation?
Mother returns to room - stranger leaves
What happens in the sixth stage of Ainsworth’s strange situation?
Mother leaves infant alone
What happens in the seventh stage of Ainsworth’s strange situation?
Stranger returns to comfort baby
What happens in the eighth stage of Ainsworth’s strange situation?
Mother returns - stranger leaves
What are the 3 attachment types that Ainsworth discussed?
- Insecure-avoidant attachment
- Secure attachment
- Insecure-resistant attachment
What are insecure-avoidant infants like?
- Explore freely - don’t seek prox/sec. base
- Little to no reaction to mother leaving/entering
- Little stranger anxiety
- Do not require comfort at reunion
What are secure infants like?
- Explore happily - go back to caregiver
- Moderate separation anxiety
- Moderate stranger anxiety
- Require comfort from caregiver in reunion
What are insecure-resistant infants like?
- Seek proximity - explore less
- Huge separation + stranger anxiety
- Resist comfort when reunited
Who participated in the strange situation studues?
100 middle-class infants and their mothers
How did Ainsworth divide the children into the 3 attachment types?
She categorised their behaviours and 3 clear categories emerged
How internally valid is Ainsworth’s strange situation?
Ainsworth said her experiment measures attachment type
Main et al. (1981) found kids showed different “types” with mothers/fathers
What is the inter-rater reliability of Ainsworth’s strange situation?
Ainsworth’s 3 observed scores had a correlation of 0.94 - they were 94% consistent
A good score is usually 0.8
What was the 4th types of attachment that Ainsworth missed but later added?
Disorganised attachment
What were disorganised attached infants like?
- Fears proximity
- Avoidant + resistant
- Little/no sense of safety in relationships
- Inability to self-regulate emotion
- Seem dazed
What were disorganised attached infants like as infants?
- Fear proximity in relationships
- Fear showing vulnerability
- Angry
- Emotionally distant
Which type did Ainsworth say was the best sort of attachment?
Secure
Who did Mary Ainsworth have an influence on and how did this affect them?
John Bowlby - it provided him important evidence for his theory
She provided Bowlby with the concept of the attachment figure as a secure base which an infant can explore the world
Pointed to the importance of maternal sensitivity
How did Bowlby and Ainsworth differ in what they focussed on?
Bowlby focussed on the universality of attachments
Ainsworth was interested in individual differences - the different attachment types
Is Ainsworth’s method of assessing children used now?
Her method of assessing attachment type continues to be the standard test used in a great number of studies of attachment
What are cultural variations?
The ways that different groups of people vary in terms of their social practices, and the effects these practices have on development and behaviour
What did Bowlby think about culture in his theory?
Culture was an issue of central importance in his theory because the theory suggests that attachment evolved to provide the biological function of protection for the infant, thus enhancing survival
If attachment was a biological and innate process what would attachment be like?
Secure attachment should be the optimal form for all humans, regardless of cultural variations
If attachments are found in particular cultures and not others, what would attachment be like?
This would suggest that attachment is not innately determined but related to different child rearing methods used in different cultures
Who conducted the study on cultural variations?
Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)
How did Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg conduct their study?
The conducted a meta-analysis of the findings from 32 studies of attachment behaviour
They overall studied 2,000 strange situations in 8 different countries
What were Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg studying?
They were interested to see whether there would be evidence that inter-cultural differences did exist
They were also interested in intra-cultural differences
What are inter-cultural differences?
Differences between countries and cultures
What is intra-cultural differences?
Differences in the findings from studies conducted within the same culture
What did Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg find overall in their study (with reference to variations between cultures)?
The differences were small however there were variations overall
What did Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg find was the most common type of attachment in all countries?
Secure attachment
What did Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg find was the second most common type attachment in each country?
Insecure-avoidant was second most common - except in Israel and Japan
Which type of attachment was second most common in Israel and Japan and how does this relate to their cultures?
Insecure-resistant - they were both classed as collectivist countries at the time
What conclusion did Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg draw about cultural variations in attachment?
The global pattern across cultures appears to be similar to that found in the US - secure attachment is the norm, it is the most common found in all countries
Results support the idea that secure attachment is the best for healthy social and emotional development
Cultural similarities support that attachment is an innate & biological process
Name another study that supports Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s finding of cultural similarity
Tronick et al. (1992) - cultural similarity
What was the Tronick et al. study?
Studied an African tribe, the Efe, from Zaire who live in extended family groups
The infants were looked after & breastfed by different women but usually slept with their own mother at night
What were the findings of Tronick et al.’s study?
Despite such differences in child rearing practices the infants, at 6 months still showed one primary attachment
Name two studies that support Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s finding of cultural differences
Grossman and Grossman (1991)
Takahashi (1990)
What was found in Grossman and Grossman’s study?
Higher levels of insecure attachment amongst German infants than in other cultures
Why did Grossman and Grossman believe German infants may have higher levels of insecure attachments?
Due to different childrearing practices
German culture believes keeping some interpersonal distance between parents and children - infants do not engage in proximity-seeking behaviours in the strange situation
They therefore appear to be insecurely attached
What did Takahashi look at in his study?
They used the strange situation to study 60 middle-class Japanese infants & their mothers
What did Takahashi find in his experiment?
Similar rates of secure attachment to those found by Ainsworth
Japanese infants showed no evidence of insecure-avoidant
High rates of Insecure-resistant (32%)
How did the Japanese infants react to being left alone in Takahashi’s study?
They were particularly distressed being left alone, in fact their response was so extreme that for 90% of the infants, the study was stopped at this point
What might account for cultural variations in infant attachment?
Different childcare practices
In Japan infants rarely experience separation from their mothers - this would be why they were more distressed in the strange situation than their American counterparts
This would make them seem insecurely attached
What conclusions can be drawn about cultural variations in attachment?
That despite the fact that there are cultural variations in infant care arrangements - strongest attachments still formed with the infant’s mother
What is deprivation?
To lose something
In the context of child development deprivation refers to the loss of emotional care that is normally provided by a primary caregiver
Who proposed the theory of maternal deprivation?
Bowlby (1951, 1953)
What did John Bowlby propose in his maternal deprivation theory?
He proposed that prolonged emotional deprivation would have long-term consequences in terms of emotional development
What are the 3 main parts of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation?
- The value of maternal care
- Critical period
- Long-term consequences
What evidence did Bowlby use for his findings of the value of maternal care?
His 44 thieves study and other previous research
What did the findings from Bowlby’s 44 thieves study help Bowlby to find out about separation (maternal care)?
No one had really considered the long-term importance that the effects of separation would have on infants and children until this study
Before Bowlby’s research into maternal care what was considered that a baby needed?
Good standard of food and physical care was the key to good care
If children were separated from their caregivers then all that was necessary was to maintain this standard
What did Bowlby believe was required to ensure normal development of a child?
He believed that keeping children well-fed, safe and warm wasn’t enough
He believed infants needed a ‘warm, intimate and continuous relationship’ with their mother - this would ensure normal mental health
What did Bowlby famously say about “mother love”?
“Mother love infancy and childhood is as important for mental health as are vitamins and proteins for physical health”
When is the critical period according to Bowlby?
Up to the age of 2 and a half
Continuing risk up to the age of 5
What did Bowlby believe would happen to a child who is denied maternal care due to prolonged separations?
They may become emotionally disturbed - especially if this happens in the critical period
What conditions must be in place for a child to become emotionally disturbed due to lack of maternal care?
- Before the age of 2 and a half (critical period)
- No substitute mother-person available
- Continuing risk up to the age of 5
What did Bowlby suggest were the long term concequences of deprivation?
Emotional maladjustment or even mental health problems such as depression
This was demonstrate in his key study
What was Bowlby’s key study for maternal deprivation?
The 44 juvenile thieves
Who conducted the Romanian Orphan studies?
Ritter et al. (2011)
What are orphan studies?
Concern children placed in care - an orphan is a child whose parents have either died or abandoned them
How did so many children become orphaned in Romania?
In 1966 President Nicolas Ceausescu incentivised Romanian women to have more children & banned abortions
Romania was a very poor country, so many families could not support these children
How did Nicolae Ceausescu incentivise women to have more babies?
Mothers of >5 babies got large tax cuts
Mothers of >10 babies became “heroine mothers”
What happened to all the children who were born after being promoted by Ceausescu?
Romania’s 1989 revolution overthrew Ceausescu
All unwanted children were later discovered in government-run institutions
Children had experienced far more than maternal deprivation & allowed unique opportunity to study the total absence of critical period care
What sort of study was Rutter et al.‘s?
A longitudinal natural study - of the long term effects of institutionalisation & maternal depression
What is institutionalisation?
Refers to effects of living in an institutional setting e.g. hospital, orphanage, where children live for long continuous periods of time
Often very little emotional care provided
What are the effects of institutionalisation?
- Physical underdevelopment
- Intellectual under functioning/low IQ
- Poor parenting
- Disinhibited attachment
- Lack of internal working model
- Emotional functioning
- Quasi-autism
How does physical underdevelopment affect children who have been institutionalised?
Children in institutional care are usually phsically small
Lack of emotional care rather than poor nourishment causes what has been called developmental dwarfism
How does intellectual underfunctioning/low IQ affect children who have been institutionalised?
Children in institutional care often show signs of intellectual disability disorder as identified by Bowlby
How does poor parenting affect children who have been institutionalised?
Study by Quinton et al. (1984) compared group of 50 women who were reared in institutions (children’s homes) with a cont. group of 50 women reared at home.
When the women were in their 20s, it was found that the ex-institutional women were experiencing extreme difficulties as parents. For example, more of them had children who spent time in care
How does disinhibited attachment affect children who have been institutionalised?
Form of insec. attachment where children are friendly & affectionate to people they know & strangers
May also be attention seeking & clingy
Thought this is an adaption to living with mulriple caregivers during sensitive period of attachment
In poor quality institutions, a child may have 50 carers none of whom they see enough to form sec. attachment
How does lack of internal working model affect children who have been institutionalised?
Children in institutional care may have difficulty interacting w peers & forming close relationships
How does emotional functioning affect children who have been institutionalised?
Children in institutional care sometimes show affectionless psychopathology - idetified by Bowlby
More likely to have temper tantrums
How does quasi-autism affect children who have been institutionalised?
Children in institutional care sometimes have difficulty understanding the meaning of social contexts & may display obsessional behaviour
Compare the main differences between insitutional care & family care
Institutional care:
- No attachment figure
- Bored
- Not cared for well
- Less sociable & interactions
- Fewer toys
Family care:
- Strong emotional attachment
- Well stimulated
- Cared for well
- Lots of socialising & interactions
- More toys
What were some of the horrifying coditions that the Romanian orphan children experianced?
- Bedrooms infested w fleas & rats
- Children subject to sexual & physical abuse
- Rain would often come through the roof
- At 18 most orphans kicked out onto the street to fend for themselves
What was the conclusion of Rutter et al.’s study?
Long term concequences may be less severe than was thought IF children have opportunity to form attachments
When children don’t form attachments, consequences are likely to be severe
Appears children can recover & may be slower development rather than irreversible damage
