Attachment

Question 1

Attachment

Answer 1

An emotional link between the child and their primary caregiver, which ties them together

Question 2

Four ways an attachment can be tested?

Answer 2

1. Seeking Proximity
2. Distress on separation
3. Joy on reunion
4. General Behaviour

Question 3

What is a bond?

Answer 3

A bond is a set of feelings that ties one person to another

Question 4

Benefits of an attachment

Answer 4

Survival
Food
Love
Security

Question 5

Two caregiver-infant interactions are…

Answer 5

Reciprocity and Interactional Synchrony

Question 6

What is reciprocity?

Answer 6

a description of how two people interact, the mother infant interaction is reciprocal in that they both respond to each others signal and each shows a response from the other.

Question 7

What is interactional synchrony?

Answer 7

Where mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions of one another and do this in a co-ordinated manner.

Question 8

Schaffer and Emerson

Answer 8

Schaffer and Emerson (1964) studied 60 babies from Glasgow at monthly intervals for the first 18 months of life using a longitudinal method. Results revealed that attachments were most likely to form with carers who were sensitive to the baby’s signals, rather than the person they spent the most time with.

Question 9

Asocial stage

Answer 9

(0-6 weeks)

Similar responses to objects & people. Preference for faces/ eyes.

Question 10

Indiscriminate attachments

Answer 10

(6 weeks – 6 months)

Preference for human company. Ability to distinguish between people but comforted indiscriminately.

Question 11

Specific

Answer 11

(7 months +)

Infants show a preference for one caregiver, displaying separation and stranger anxiety. The baby looks to particular people for security, comfort and protection.

Question 12

Multiple

Answer 12

(10/11 months +)

Attachment behaviours are displayed towards several different people eg. siblings, grandparents etc.

Question 13

Strengths of Stages of Attachment

Answer 13

The observational study had high ecological validity because the infants were observed in their homes. This means that the findings are more accurate as the babies were behaving naturally.

Question 14

Weakness of the Stages of Attachment

Answer 14

The sample consisted of only 60 Glasgow working families; it is not representative of a broader population, and therefore the results are not generalisable to the wider population.

Question 15

Role of the father (Bowlby) AO1

Answer 15

Bowlby (1988)

Reasoned that if patterns of attachment are a product of how their mother has treated them, it could be anticipated that the pattern he develops with his father is the product of how their father has treated them. Bowlby suggests that fathers can fill a role closely resembling that filled by a mother but points out that in most cultures this is uncommon. Bowlby argues that in most families with young children, the father’s role tends to be different. According to Bowlby, a father is more likely to engage in physically active and novel play than the mother and tends to become his child’s preferred play companion.

Question 16

Role of the father (Grossman) AO1

Answer 16

Conducted a longitudinal study of 44 families comparing the role of fathers’ & mothers’ contribution to their children’s attachment experiences at 6,10 and 16 years. Fathers’ play style (whether it was sensitive, challenging and interactive) was closely linked to the fathers’ own internal working model of attachment. Play sensitivity was a better predictor of the child’s long-term attachment representation than the early measures of the of attachment type that the infant had with their father.

Question 17

Role of the father AO3

Answer 17

Studies such as MacCallum and Golombok 2004, have found that children growing up in same sex or single parent families do not develop any differently from those with heterosexual or two parent families. This contrasts Grossman’s and Bowlby’s findings, suggesting that the father as a secondary attachment figure is not important. The approach they are taking to finding the role of the father (and ultimately their understanding of that question in its entirety) leads to inconsistent findings.

Question 18

Learning theory of attachment

Answer 18

The learning theory of attachment explains how children become attached to their mother (or parents) through the process of classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Children ‘learn’ to attach to their mother by associating their mother with food, and the pleasure they receive from being fed.

Question 19

Learning theory of attachment weakness

Answer 19

Evidence from Harlow contradicts the learning theory of attachment. Harlow found that baby monkeys spent more time with a soft towelling monkey (which did not provide food), in comparison to a wire monkey which did provided food. This suggests that baby monkeys do not form attachments based on food, but actually prefer ‘contact comfort’. This goes against the learning theory of attachment which suggests that children attach on the basis of an association forming between the mother and food.

Question 20

Learning theory of attachment weakness

Answer 20

The theory and research is largely based on studies using non-human participants. Learning theorists argue that the principles of learning are the same in humans and animals; however, many psychologists argue that not all human behaviours can be explained in terms of conditioning, especially attachment. For example, psychologists like Bowlby argue that attachments are a complex behaviour that is an adaptive behaviour that aids survival. This suggests that the learning theory of attachment presents an overly simplified view of attachment, and many psychologists argue that attachment is far more complex than an infant forming an association between a mother and food.

Question 21

Harlow’s monkey study

Answer 21

Harlow found that baby monkeys spent more time with a soft towelling monkey (which did not provide food), in comparison to a wire monkey which did provided food. This suggests that baby monkeys do not form attachments based on food, but actually prefer ‘contact comfort’.

Question 22

Harlow’s monkey study eval

Answer 22

Harlow’s experiment on monkeys has ethical issues.
The monkeys were subject to psychological harm in the form of isolation and fear, something that should be avoided when conducting experiments.

Question 23

Harlow’s monkey study eval

Answer 23

The heads of the two wire monkeys within Harlow’s study varied significantly which then acted as a confounding variable with the independent variable which is whether the monkey is clothed or not.

The findings of the study lack internal validity due to the drastic difference of the heads of the monkey. This could then suggest that the monkeys possibly choose one wire monkey over the other as they preferred the physical appearance of one monkey over the other.

Question 24

Lorenz’s goose study

Answer 24

Lorenz (1935) using a clutch of gosling eggs divided them with one half once incubated seeing Lorenz as their first moving thing.

Lorenz later placed the marked ducklings together to show which had imprinted on the duckling’s mother and Lorenz and they quickly divided themselves up. The animals exposed to Lorenz during the critical period of imprinting.

Question 25

Lorenz’s goose study eval

Answer 25

The usefulness of the study is supported by research in regard to imprinting. For example, Guiton (1966) using chicks showed yellow rubber gloves to feed them during the critical period and the chicks imprinted on the glove. Suggests that young animal imprint on any moving thing present during the critical period of development. The chicks were then later found trying to mate with the yellow rubber glove.

Question 26

Lorenz’s goose study eval

Answer 26

The imprinting of animals was considered cruel due to its everlasting effects on the animals social and sexual behaviour. Hoffman (1976) suggested that this is not an irreversible change which is then further supported by Guiton which suggested that after spending time with their own species they were able to engage in normal sexual behaviour suggesting that imprinting is moderately reversible.

Question 27

Bowlby monotropic

Answer 27

Bowlby’s evolutionary theory of attachment suggests that children come into the world biologically pre-programmed to form attachments with others, because this will help them to survive.

Question 28

Critical period

Answer 28

Bowlby’s suggests that there is a critical period for developing at attachment (2.5 years). If an attachment has not developed during this time period then then it may well not happen at all. Bowlby later proposed a sensitive period of up to 5 years.

Question 29

Internal working model

Answer 29

According to Bowlby, an internal working model is is a cognitive framework comprising mental representations for understanding the world, self and others, and is based on the relationship with a primary caregiver. It becomes a prototype for all future social relationships and allows individuals to predict, control and manipulate interactions with others.

Question 30

Bowlby Attachments

Answer 30

Bowlby (1969) believed that attachment behaviors (such as proximity seeking) are instinctive and will be activated by any conditions that seem to threaten the achievement of proximity, such as separation, insecurity, and fear. Bowlby also postulated that the fear of strangers represents an important survival mechanism, built in by nature.

Question 31

Social Releasers

Answer 31

Babies are born with the tendency to display certain innate behaviors which help ensure proximity and contact with the mother or attachment figure (e.g., crying, smiling, crawling, etc.) – these are species-specific behaviors.

Question 32

Bowlby eval

Answer 32

Bowlby designed and conducted the experiment himself. This may have lead to experimenter bias. Particularly as he was responsible for making the diagnosis of affectionless psychopathy.

Question 33

Bowlby eval

Answer 33

Another criticism of the 44 thieves study was that it concluded affectionless psychopathy was caused by maternal deprivation. This is correlational data and as such only shows a relationship between these two variables.

Question 34

Bowlby eval

Answer 34

The study was vulnerable to researcher bias. Bowlby conducted the psychiatric assessments himself and made the diagnoses of Affectionless Psychopathy. He knew whether the children were in the ‘theft group’ or the control group. Consequently, his findings may have unconsciously influenced by his own expectations. This potentially undermines their validity.

Question 35

Mary Ainsworth

Answer 35

Ainsworth developed an experimental procedure in order to observe the variety of attachment forms exhibited between mothers and infants.

The experiment is set up in a small room with one way glass so the behavior of the infant can be observed covertly. Infants were aged between 12 and 18 months. The sample comprised of 100 middle-class American families.

The procedure, known as the ‘Strange Situation,’ was conducted by observing the behavior of the infant in a series of eight episodes lasting approximately 3 minutes each

Question 36

Secure attachment

Answer 36

Bowlby (1988) described secure attachment as the capacity to connect well and securely in relationships with others while also having the capacity for autonomous action as situationally appropriate. Secure attachment is characterized by trust, an adaptive response to being abandoned, and the belief that one is worthy of love.

Question 37

Ambivalent attachment

Answer 37

Ambivalent attachment relationships are characterized by a concern that others will not reciprocate one’s desire for intimacy. This is caused when an infant learns that their caregiver or parent is unreliable and does not consistently provide responsive care towards their needs.

Question 38

Disorganized Attachment

Answer 38

Main and Solomon (1986) discovered that a sizable proportion of infants actually did not fit into Groups A, B, or C, based on their behaviors in the Strange Situation experiment. They categorized these infants as Group D, disorganized attachment type.

Question 39

Avoidant attachment

Answer 39

Children with avoidant attachment styles tend to avoid interaction with the caregiver, and show no distress during separation. This may be because the parent has ignored attempts to be intimate, and the child may internalize the belief that they cannot depend on this or any other relationship.

Question 40

SS eval

Answer 40

Different observers watching the same children generally agree on attachment type. Bick et al. (2012) found 94% agreement in one team. This may be because the Strange Situation takes place under controlled conditions and because the behavioural categories are easy to observe. So we can be confident that the attachment type of an infant identified in the Strange Situation does not just depend on who is observing them.

Question 41

SS eval

Answer 41

THERE Is PREDICTIVE VALIDITY Attachment type predicts later development. For example, secure babies typically have greater success at school and more lasting romantic relationships. In contrast, insecure-resistant attachment is associated with the worst outcomes, e.g. bullying (Kokkinos 2007) and adult mental health problems (Ward et al. 2006).This is evidence for the validity of the concept because it can explain future outcomes.

Question 42

SS eval

Answer 42

culture-bound test. The test might not have the same meaning in countries outside Western Europe and the USA. Cultural differences in children’s experiences mean they respond differently. Also caregivers from different cultures behave differently. Takahashi (1990) notes that Japanese mothers are rarely separated from infants, thus the infants show high levels of separation anxiety.

Question 43

SS eval

Answer 43

THERE MAY BE OTHER ATTACHMENT TYPES Ainsworth identified three attachment types: insecure-avoidant (A), secure (B), and insecure-resistant (C).Main and Solomon (1986) pointed out that some children display atypical attachments that do not fit types A, B or C. This is disorganised attachment - a mix of avoidant and resistant behaviours. This challenges Ainsworth’s initial notion of attachment types and could question whether the Strange Situation is a useful method to identify these types.

Question 44

Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988)

Answer 44

Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg’s (1988)meta-analysis summarized findings from 8 countries, which included the UK, US, Sweden, Japan, China, Holland, Germany & Israel. The meta- analysis examined 32 studies and consulted nearly 2000 Strange Situation classifications in total.

Question 45

Findings of Meta-Analysis

Answer 45

Average findings were consistent with Ainsworth’s original research - Secure 65% - Avoidant 21% - Resistant 14%

Intra-cultural variation was nearly 15 times greater than the cross-cultural variations. Van Ijzendoorn speculated that this was linked to differences in socio-economic factors and levels of stress that varied between samples used within each country.

Question 46

Strengths of L&K MA

Answer 46

Comparison is aided by the standardised methodology.The use of the strange situation as a procedure means that a comparison can be made across cultures, and the reliability is therefore high.

Question 47

Weakness of L&K MA

Answer 47

The study was not globally representative -Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg recognised that data from less Western-oriented cultures were required to establish a more global perspective attachment classifications, pointing out that Africa, South America, and Eastern European socialist countries were not represented.

Question 48

Weakness of L&K MA

Answer 48

Overall findings are misleading - As a disproportionately high number of the studies reviewed were conducted in the USA (18/32), the overall findings would have been distorted by these. This means that the apparent consistency between cultures might not genuinely reflect how much attachment types vary between cultures.

Question 49

Weakness of L&K MA

Answer 49

Applying Strange Situation procedures and behavioural categories is ethnocentric – Cross-cultural research using the Strange Situation judges and categorises infant behaviour according to behavioural categories that were developed following observations of middle-class American infants. This means that when researchers interpret non-American infant behaviour, it is being judged against an American standard. Eg. an infant exploring the playroom by themselves would be classed as avoidant based on American standards but is valued as reflecting independence in Germany