3.5: Short-term separation

Question 1

Bowlby’s theory of monotropy believes that healthy psychological development is dependent upon what?

Answer 1

Bowlby’s theory of monotropy believes that healthy psychological development is dependent upon attachments forming between:

1. Infants
2. Their mothers

Question 2

Bowlby’s theory of monotropy believes that healthy psychological development is dependent upon attachments forming between infants and their mothers.
Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis (MDH) explains what happens if what?

Answer 2

Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis (MDH) explains what happens if these attachments are broken

Question 3

Bowlby’s theory of monotropy believes that healthy psychological development is dependent upon attachments forming between infants and their mothers.
Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis (MDH) explains what happens if these attachments are broken.
Bowlby argues that disruption of the attachment bond, even short-term disruptions, results in what?

Answer 3

Bowlby argues that disruption of the attachment bond, even short-term disruptions, results in serious and permanent damage to a child’s:

1. Emotional
2. Social
3. Intellectual

Question 4

The best way to examine the validity of Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis (MDH) is to assess the effects of disruption to infants’ attachments and see if Bowlby’s predictions are true.
How can disruptions occur?

Answer 4

Disruptions can occur in 3 basic ways:

1. Short-term separation
2. Long-term deprivation
3. Privation

Question 5

Separation

Answer 5

Separation is short-term disruption of an attachment bond

Question 6

Deprivation

Answer 6

Deprivation is long-term disruption of an attachment bond

Question 7

Privation

Answer 7

Privation is never having the opportunity to form an attachment bond

Question 8

What does short-term separation consist of?

Answer 8

Short-term separation consists of brief, temporary separations from attachment figures

Question 9

Short-term separation consists of brief, temporary separations from attachment figures, like what?

Answer 9

Short-term separation consists of brief, temporary separations from attachment figures, like:
1. Attending day care
2. Being left with a babysitter
Or,
3. A short period of hospitalisation

Question 10

Short-term separation consists of brief, temporary separations from attachment figures, like attending day care, being left with a babysitter or a short period of hospitalisation.
Who (what year) described the distress caused by short-term separation in terms of the PDD model, the 3 stages babies go through when a caregiver leaves?

Answer 10

Bowlby (1969) described the distress caused by short-term separation in terms of the PDD model, the 3 stages babies go through when a caregiver leaves

Question 11

Short-term separation consists of brief, temporary separations from attachment figures, like attending day care, being left with a babysitter or a short period of hospitalisation.
Bowlby (1969) described the distress caused by short-term separation in terms of the PDD model, the 3 stages babies go through when a caregiver leaves.
What is the PDD model?

Answer 11

The PDD model is:

1. Protest
2. Despair
3. Detachment

Question 12

Short-term separation consists of brief, temporary separations from attachment figures, like attending day care, being left with a babysitter or a short period of hospitalisation.
Bowlby (1969) described the distress caused by short-term separation in terms of the PDD model, the 3 stages babies go through when a caregiver leaves.
The PDD model is protest, despair and detachment.
Protest:
What does the immediate reaction to separation involve?

Answer 12

The immediate reaction to separation involves:
1. Crying
2. Screaming
3. Kicking
4. Struggling to escape
Or,
5. Clinging to the mother to prevent her leaving

Question 13

Short-term separation consists of brief, temporary separations from attachment figures, like attending day care, being left with a babysitter or a short period of hospitalisation.
Bowlby (1969) described the distress caused by short-term separation in terms of the PDD model, the 3 stages babies go through when a caregiver leaves.
The PDD model is protest, despair and detachment.
Protest:
The immediate reaction to separation involves crying, screaming, kicking, struggling to escape or clinging to the mother to prevent her leaving.
What is this an outward, direct expression of?

Answer 13

This is an outward, direct expression of the child’s:

1. Fear
2. Bitterness
3. Confusion
4. Anger

Question 14

Short-term separation consists of brief, temporary separations from attachment figures, like attending day care, being left with a babysitter or a short period of hospitalisation.
Bowlby (1969) described the distress caused by short-term separation in terms of the PDD model, the 3 stages babies go through when a caregiver leaves.
The PDD model is protest, despair and detachment.
Despair:
Protest is replaced by what behaviour?

Answer 14

Protest is replaced by:
1. Calmer
2. More apathetic
behaviour

Question 15

Short-term separation consists of brief, temporary separations from attachment figures, like attending day care, being left with a babysitter or a short period of hospitalisation.
Bowlby (1969) described the distress caused by short-term separation in terms of the PDD model, the 3 stages babies go through when a caregiver leaves.
The PDD model is protest, despair and detachment.
Despair:
Protest is replaced by calmer, more apathetic behaviour, but what?

Answer 15

Protest is replaced by calmer, more apathetic behaviour, but
1. Anger
2. Fear
are still felt inwardly

Question 16

Short-term separation consists of brief, temporary separations from attachment figures, like attending day care, being left with a babysitter or a short period of hospitalisation.
Bowlby (1969) described the distress caused by short-term separation in terms of the PDD model, the 3 stages babies go through when a caregiver leaves.
The PDD model is protest, despair and detachment.
Despair:
Protest is replaced by calmer, more apathetic behaviour, but anger and fear are still felt inwardly.
How does the child often seem?

Answer 16

The child often seems:

1. Withdrawn
2. Uninterested in anything

Question 17

Short-term separation consists of brief, temporary separations from attachment figures, like attending day care, being left with a babysitter or a short period of hospitalisation.
Bowlby (1969) described the distress caused by short-term separation in terms of the PDD model, the 3 stages babies go through when a caregiver leaves.
The PDD model is protest, despair and detachment.
Despair:
Protest is replaced by calmer, more apathetic behaviour, but anger and fear are still felt inwardly.
The child often seems withdrawn and uninterested in anything and refuses what?

Answer 17

The child:

1. Often seems withdrawn and uninterested in anything
2. Refuses others’ offers of comfort

Question 18

Short-term separation consists of brief, temporary separations from attachment figures, like attending day care, being left with a babysitter or a short period of hospitalisation.
Bowlby (1969) described the distress caused by short-term separation in terms of the PDD model, the 3 stages babies go through when a caregiver leaves.
The PDD model is protest, despair and detachment.
Despair:
Protest is replaced by calmer, more apathetic behaviour, but anger and fear are still felt inwardly.
The child often seems withdrawn and uninterested in anything and refuses others’ offers of comfort.
Instead, what does the child do?

Answer 18

Instead, the child comforts itself

Question 19

Short-term separation consists of brief, temporary separations from attachment figures, like attending day care, being left with a babysitter or a short period of hospitalisation.
Bowlby (1969) described the distress caused by short-term separation in terms of the PDD model, the 3 stages babies go through when a caregiver leaves.
The PDD model is protest, despair and detachment.
Despair:
Protest is replaced by calmer, more apathetic behaviour, but anger and fear are still felt inwardly.
The child often seems withdrawn and uninterested in anything and refuses others’ offers of comfort.
Instead, the child comforts itself, for example by doing what?

Answer 19

Instead, the child comforts itself, for example by sucking their thumb

Question 20

Short-term separation consists of brief, temporary separations from attachment figures, like attending day care, being left with a babysitter or a short period of hospitalisation.
Bowlby (1969) described the distress caused by short-term separation in terms of the PDD model, the 3 stages babies go through when a caregiver leaves.
The PDD model is protest, despair and detachment.
Detachment:
If separation continues, what happens?

Answer 20

If separation continues, the child will start to engage with other people again

Question 21

Short-term separation consists of brief, temporary separations from attachment figures, like attending day care, being left with a babysitter or a short period of hospitalisation.
Bowlby (1969) described the distress caused by short-term separation in terms of the PDD model, the 3 stages babies go through when a caregiver leaves.
The PDD model is protest, despair and detachment.
Detachment:
If separation continues, the child will start to engage with other people again, but does what?

Answer 21

If separation continues, the child:
1. Will start to engage with other people again
,but
2. Treats everyone warily

Question 22

Short-term separation consists of brief, temporary separations from attachment figures, like attending day care, being left with a babysitter or a short period of hospitalisation.
Bowlby (1969) described the distress caused by short-term separation in terms of the PDD model, the 3 stages babies go through when a caregiver leaves.
The PDD model is protest, despair and detachment.
Detachment:
If separation continues, the child will start to engage with other people again, but treats everyone warily.
The child will reject the caregiver on their return and show what?

Answer 22

The child will:

1. Reject the caregiver on their return
2. Show strong signs of anger

Question 23

Who (what year) studied the effects of separation in the 1960s?

Answer 23

Robertson and Robertson (1971) studied the effects of separation in the 1960s

Question 24

Robertson and Robertson (1971) studied the effects of separation in the 1960s.
One of the most well known cases is that of John, aged 17 months, who had a close and stable relationship with his mother.
John experienced extreme distress while spending 9 days in a residential nursery while his mother was in hospital having a baby.
On his mother’s return, John was confused and struggled to get away from her.
The negative effects of this separation were evident even years later.
John had appeared to go through the 3 stages of the PDD model, suffering serious, irreversible damage, lending support to Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis.

Answer 24

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Question 25

Douglas (1975) found that separations of less than a week for children below 4 years of age were correlated with behavioural difficulties, giving further support to Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis

Answer 25

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Question 26

Quinton and Rutter (1976) found greater behavioural problems in samples of adolescents separated briefly from attachment figures before 5 years of age through hospitalisation, than among adolescents who weren’t hospitalised, supporting Bowlby’s prediction of long-term developmental damage

Answer 26

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Question 27

Separation is short-term disruption of an attachment bond.

When does this only become an issue for development?

Answer 27

This only becomes an issue for development if the child is deprived

Question 28

Separation is short-term disruption of an attachment bond.
This only becomes an issue for development if the child is deprived.
Brief separations are not significant for development, but what can extended separations lead to?

Answer 28

1. Brief separations are not significant for development
   ,but
2. Extended separations can lead to deprivation

Question 29

The critical period:

Bowlby saw the first how many months of life as a critical period for psychological development?

Answer 29

Bowlby saw the first 30 months of life as a critical period for psychological development

Question 30

The critical period:
Bowlby saw the first 30 months of life as a critical period for psychological development.
If a child is separated from their mother in the absence of suitable substitute care and so is deprived of her emotional care for an extended period during this critical period, then what was inevitable?

Answer 30

If a child is separated from their mother in the absence of suitable substitute care and so is deprived of her emotional care for an extended period during this critical period, then psychological damage was inevitable

Question 31

Effects on development - Intellectual development and emotional development.
Intellectual development:
One way in which maternal deprivation affects children’s development is their intellectual development.
Bowlby believed that if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period, they would suffer mental what?

Answer 31

Bowlby believed that if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period, they would suffer mental retardation

Question 32

Effects on development - Intellectual development and emotional development.
Intellectual development:
One way in which maternal deprivation affects children’s development is their intellectual development.
Bowlby believed that if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period, they would suffer mental retardation, characterised by what?

Answer 32

Bowlby believed that if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period, they would suffer mental retardation, characterised by abnormally low IQ

Question 33

Effects on development - Intellectual development and emotional development.
Intellectual development:
One way in which maternal deprivation affects children’s development is their intellectual development.
Bowlby believed that if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period, they would suffer mental retardation, characterised by abnormally low IQ.
Where has this been demonstrated?

Answer 33

This has been demonstrated in studies of adoption

Question 34

Effects on development - Intellectual development and emotional development.
Intellectual development:
One way in which maternal deprivation affects children’s development is their intellectual development.
Bowlby believed that if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period, they would suffer mental retardation, characterised by abnormally low IQ.
This has been demonstrated in studies of adoption.
Example

Answer 34

For example, Goldfarb (1947) found lower IQ in children who:

1. Had remained in institutions as opposed to those who were fostered
2. Thus had a higher standard of emotional care

Question 35

Effects on development - Intellectual development and emotional development.
Emotional development:
A second major way in which being deprived of a mother figure’s emotional care affects children is in their emotional development.
Bowlby identified affectionless psychopathy as the inability to experience what?

Answer 35

Bowlby identified affectionless psychopathy as the inability to experience:
1. Guilt
Or,
2. Strong emotion
for others

Question 36

Effects on development - Intellectual development and emotional development.
Emotional development:
A second major way in which being deprived of a mother figure’s emotional care affects children is in their emotional development.
Bowlby identified affectionless psychopathy as the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion for others.
What does this do?

Answer 36

This prevents the person developing normal relationships

Question 37

Effects on development - Intellectual development and emotional development.
Emotional development:
A second major way in which being deprived of a mother figure’s emotional care affects children is in their emotional development.
Bowlby identified affectionless psychopathy as the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion for others.
This prevents the person developing normal relationships and is associated with what?

Answer 37

This:

1. Prevents the person developing normal relationships
2. Is associated with criminality

Question 38

Effects on development - Intellectual development and emotional development.
Emotional development:
A second major way in which being deprived of a mother figure’s emotional care affects children is in their emotional development.
Bowlby identified affectionless psychopathy as the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion for others.
This prevents the person developing normal relationships and is associated with criminality.
Why do affectionless psychopaths lack remorse for their actions?

Answer 38

Affectionless psychopaths lack remorse for their actions, because they cannot appreciate the feelings of victims

Question 39

Effects on development - Intellectual development and emotional development.
What did Bowlby’s 44 thieves study find?

Answer 39

Bowlby’s 44 thieves study found that the long-term effects of separation included:

1. Affectionless psychopathy
2. Anaclitic depression
3. Deprivation dwarfism

Question 40

Effects on development - Intellectual development and emotional development
Bowlby’s 44 thieves study found that the long-term effects of separation included affectionless psychopathy, anaclitic depression and deprivation dwarfism.
What does anaclitic depression involve?

Answer 40

Anaclitic depression involves:

1. Appetite loss
2. Sleeplessness
3. Impaired social and intellectual development

Question 41

Effects on development - Intellectual development and emotional development
Bowlby’s 44 thieves study found that the long-term effects of separation included affectionless psychopathy, anaclitic depression and deprivation dwarfism.
What does deprivation dwarfism mean?

Answer 41

Deprivation dwarfism means being physically underdeveloped, due to emotional deprivation

Question 42

Goldfarb (1947) compared 2 groups of children in an orphanage.
One group of 15 children stayed in the orphanage for a few months, but then were fostered.
The second group of children remained in the orphanage until they were 2 or 3 years old.
Both groups were tested at 12 years old and the second group of children scored less well on IQ tests, were more aggressive and not as socially advanced

Answer 42

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Question 43

Evaluation:
Robertson and Robertson (1971) took children facing short-term separations into their own home, providing them with an alternative attachment and a normal home routine and found this prevented the severe psychological damage, such as that seen with John.
This suggests that negative outcomes are not inevitable, lessening support for Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis

Answer 43

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Question 44

Evaluation:
Much evidence linking short-term separation to negative outcomes is correlational and doesn’t show causality.
Kagan et al. (1978) found no direct causal link between separation and later emotional and behavioural difficulties

Answer 44

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Question 45

Evaluation:
Barrett (1997) argued that individual differences in reactions to short-term separation are important.
For instance, securely attached children and more mature children cope better with separations, which suggests that only some children experience distress

Answer 45

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