Attachment

Question 1

Interactional Synchrony

Answer 1

Mother and Infant’s actions and emotions mirror each other

Question 2

Reciprocity

Answer 2

Mother and Infant respond to each other and elicits a response from the other

Question 3

Lorenz

Answer 3

Geese
Clutch of eggs half = incubator and saw Lorenz first
Half= with mother saw mother first

Geese imprinted on the first moving object they saw - would follow were attached
Critical period: could be a short as a few hours if imprinting did not occur during this period they will not imprint at all

Question 4

Harlow

Answer 4

Monkeys
One condition: wire mother- gave milk
One condition: soft mother - provided comfort

• recorded time spent with each mother
• recorded response to frightening situations
• recorded long-term effects (mating/offspring)

Preferred soft mother over wire mother even if it gave food
Sought comfort from the soft mother when frightened
Contact comfort more important than food when developing attachments
Critical period identified = 90 days

The monkeys deprived from their mothers later developed abnormally socially – more aggressive, less sociable and mated less
if mated were unable to care for offspring

Question 5

Lorenz evaluation

Answer 5

P- Problem generalising to humans
E- mammalian attachment is quite different from birds e.g., mammalian = more emotional attachments than birds
C- this is a limitation because it is not appropriate to generalise this research to humans

Question 6

Harlow evaluation

Answer 6

P- Developed understanding of human-infant attachment
E- attachment does not develop as a result of being fed by the mother but as a result of contact comfort also showed that early relationships impact us later in life e.g socially and sexually
C- this is a strength because we now have better knowledge into how and why infant-caregiver attachments form

P- important applications
E- helped social workers understand the risk factors in child neglect and so intervene to prevent it, also important for the care of captive monkeys
C- we now understand the importance of proper attachment figures

Question 7

Learning theories: attachment –> Classical conditioning

Answer 7

• association
• food = unconditioned stimulus
• pleasure from food = unconditioned response
• caregiver starts as = neutral stimulus
• food + caregiver are paired together - creates an association between food and caregiver
• expects food whenever caregiver is present
• care giver now = conditioned stimulus
• happiness upon sight of the caregiver = conditioned response

Question 8

Learning theories: attachment –> Operant conditioning

Answer 8

• reinforcement
• the baby cries
• the mother picks up/cares for/soothes the baby
• the baby stops crying –> negative reinforcement the unpleasant crying has been taken away
• paired together enough the behaviour becomes natural ‘attachment’

Question 9

Evaluation of learning theory explanations for attachment

Answer 9

P- counter evidence from animal studies
E- Lorenz’ geese imprinted before they were fed and Harlow’s monkeys preferred the contact comfort ‘soft’ mother over the wire one even when it provided food
C- These studies make it clear attachment is not a result of feeding - the same must be true for humans

P- counter evidence from human research
E- Schaffer and Emerson’s study babies developed primary attachments to the mother even though other carers did most of the feeding
C– shows that feeding is not a key element in the formation of attachment

P- ignores other factors
E- research shows the quality of attachments is associated with reciprocity and good levels of interactional synchrony- best attachments are with sensitive carers
C- if attachments occurred solely due to feeding alone there would be no purpose for complex interactions and we would not find associations between them and the quality of infant-caregiver attachments

Question 10

Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory

Answer 10

• one more important and different attachment (usually the mother - does not have to be biological)
• qualitvely unique to all other attachments
• more quality time with this figure (primary attachment figure) = a better attachment

Question 11

Attachment Critical period

Answer 11

• attachment takes place during a critical period
• if a child does not form an attachment before the critical period (2.5 years) attachment will not occur
• Bowlby later proposed a sensitive period of up to 5 years.

Question 12

social releasers

Answer 12

• innate ‘cute behaviours’
• cooing and smiling encourage attention from adults –> activate the adult attachment system
• mother and baby have an innate predisposition to become attached

Question 13

Internal Working Model

Answer 13

• A child forms a mental representation of their relationship with their primary caregiver
• serves as a model for what relationships are like
• has effect on the nature of the child’s future relationships
• loving + reliable first relationship = relationships are loving and reliable, child will bring these qualities to future relationships
• poor first relationship = poor future relationships
• continuity hypothesis - it also effects they parent themselves later on - they use there own experiences functional families make functional families make function families

Question 14

Evaluation of Bowlby’s monotropic theory

Answer 14

P - Support for the idea of an internal working model
E - internal working models predicts that patterns of attachment will be passed from one generation to the next
- Bailey et al. (2007) studied 99 mothers. Those with poor attachment to their own parents were more likely to have one-year-olds who were poorly attached
C - Supports Bowlby’s idea of an internal working model of attachment, as it is being passed through families

P - Evidence to support the existence and value of social releasers
E - Brazleton et al. (1975) instructed primary attachment figures to ignore their babies’ social releasers
- Babies who were shown to be normally responsive initially showed some distress, but eventually, some curled up and lay motionless
C - Support of Bowlby’s ideas about the significance of infant social behaviour eliciting caregiving from adults and the role of releasers in initiating social interaction

P - Monotropy is socially sensitive
E - Law of accumulated separation: having substantial time away from a primary carer risks a poor quality attachment that will disadvantage the child in a range of ways
C - Feminists (e.g. Burman, 1994) argue mothers are blamed for everything that goes wrong in a child’s life, and this law pushes mothers into making lifestyle choices e.g. not returning to work when a baby is born

Question 15

primary attachment figure

Answer 15

• formed with the person who is most responsive to the infants cues e.g. cries

Question 16

Ainsworth’s strange situation: procedure

Answer 16

• controlled observation
• designed to measure the security of attachment a child displays towards a caregiver
• takes place in a controlled environment (room) with a two-way mirror for observation
• seven episodes - each 3 minutes:
  1. child encouraged to explore: tests exploration and secure base

2. stranger enters and tries to interact with the child: tests stranger anxiety
3. caregiver leaves stranger and child together: tests stranger and separation anxiety
4. caregiver returns + stranger leaves: tests response to reunion and exploration/secure base
5. the caregiver leaves the child alone: tests separation anxiety
6. the stranger returns: tests stranger anxiety
7. the caregiver returns: tests response to reunion

Question 17

Ainsworth’s strange situation: behaviours judged

Answer 17

• proximity seeking:
• good attachment: will stay fairly close
• Exploration and secure base behaviour:
• good attachment enables the child to feel confident to explore, using their carer as a secure base i.e. a point of contact that will make them feel safe
• Stranger anxiety:
• sign of being closely attached = display of anxiety when a stranger approaches
• separation anxiety:
• sign of being attached = protesting at separation from caregiver
• response to reunion

Question 18

Ainsworth’s strange situation finding: Secure attachment

Answer 18

• Type B
• explore freely
• but regularly go back to their caregiver (secure-base behaviour and proximity seeking)
• show moderate separation distress
• show moderate stranger anxiety
• require and accept comfort at reunion stage
• 60-75% British toddler

Question 19

Ainsworth’s strange situation finding: insecure-avoidant attachment

Answer 19

• Type A
• explore freely
• do not display secure base behaviour or proximity seeking
• little to no reaction when carer leaves (lack separation anxiety)
• make little to no effort to make contact when carer returns
• little to no stranger anxiety
• do not require comfort at reunion
• 20-25% British toddlers

Question 20

Ainsworth’s strange situation finding: insecure-resistant attachment

Answer 20

• Type C
• seek greater proximity
• explore less
• huge amounts of stranger anxiety
• huge amounts of separation anxiety but resist comfort when reunited
• 3% British toddlers

Question 21

Ainsworth’s strange situation: evaluation

Answer 21

P - good predictive validity
E - children who are securely attached go on to have better outcomes in many areas
e.g. succuss at school, in romatic relationships and in friendships in adulthood
- whereas those who were identified as resistantly attached are associated with the worst outcome
e.g. bullying and adult mental health problems
C -This is evidence for the validity as it can explain future outcomes.

P - very good inter-rater reliability
E - observers watching the same children in the Strange Situation generally agree on what attachment type to classify them in
- because the situation takes place under controlled conditions and the behavioural categories are easy to observe
- studies have found observers agree 94% of the time
C - we can be confident that attachment types identified in the Strange Situation do not just depend on who is observing them.

P - may be culturally bound
E - procedure was designed to identify security of attachment based of off USA values/child rearing

• culture differences may mean that children react differently to the Strange Situation
• E.g. Japanese infants were judged as being resistant due to high levels of separation anxiety but this reflects their lack of experience of separation from their caregiver (as is the norm in Japan) rather than an resistant attachment type.
  C - can be argued that it is eurocentric to judge non-Americans according to American standards.

P - there is at least one more attachment type
E - Main et al identified children who display a fourth atypical attachment which is an odd mix of insecure-resistant and insecure-avoidant behaviour
- ‘disorganised attachment’
C - makes the findings less helpful since the categories cannot be used to describe the attachment types of all children

Question 22

Cultural Variations: Van Ijzendoorn: procedure and sample aim

Answer 22

• conducted a meta-analysis study
• identifying the proportions of each attachment type across a range of countries
• also looked at differences within countries to get an idea of variations within a culture

Question 23

Cultural Variations: Van Ijzendoorn: procedure and sample

Answer 23

• looked at 32 studies of the Strange Situation
• 8 countries
• 15/32 were in the USA
• 1990 children
• meta-analysed

Question 24

Cultural Variations: Van Ijzendoorn: Findings

Answer 24

• all studies = secure attachment most common type
• but varied e.g. 75% in Britain to 50% in China
• Insecure-resistant= overall least common attachment type
• but varied e.g. 30% in Israel to 3% in Britain
• Insecure-Avoidant types were most common in Germany and least common in Japan (collectivists vs individualists)
• Interesting finding: Variations in attachment type were greater within the same country (intra-cultural) than across different countries (cross-cultural)
  e. g. one USA study found 46% securely attached whereas another found 90%

Question 25

Cultural Variations: other studies: Italian Study

Answer 25

Italian study: 2014

• investigated to see if proportions from the 70s/80s were the same as today
• used the Strange Situation
• Secure = 50%
• insecure-avoidant: 36%
• this is a lower rate of secure attachment than previously
• maybe due to the increasing no. of mothers working long hours whilst children are young
• suggest that cultural changes have a dramatic impact on patterns of secure and insecure attachments

Question 26

Cultural Variations: other studies: Korean Study

Answer 26

• most children were found to be secure BUT
• found out of the insecurely attached children, more were insecure-resistant than avoidant
• similar to that of Japan in van Ilzendoorns study
• Japan and Korean child-rearing practices = similar
• clear that cultural practices influence attachment type

Question 27

Cultural Variations: Conclusion

Answer 27

• since a majority were securely attached –> supports Bowlby’s theory that attachment is innate BUT
• clear that cultural practices influence attachment type

Question 28

Cultural Variations: Evaluation

Answer 28

P - Large Samples
E - van IJzendoorn meta-analysis had almsot 2000 children and PAFs
C - large samples improve internal validity by reducing the impact of anomalous results caused by method errors or unusual P’s
- this makes the results more generalisable to the population

P - Samples were unrepresentative of culture
E - in Van IJzendoorn’s study comparisons were made across country NOT culture
- within any country, there are many different cultures each with diff child-rearing practices
- e.g a study found that distribution of attachment type in the city of Tokyo was more comparable to western studies whereas a more rural setting had an increase in insecure-resistant individuals
C - this means cross-country comparisons may have little meaning
- cultural characteristics and child-rearing styles need to be specified in order to make comparisons

P - method may be biased towards american/british culture
E - The Strange Situation = designed by American and based on a British theory (Bowlby).
—> trying to apply a theory designed for one culture to another is known as imposed etic which disregards cultural emic (cultural uniqueness).
e.g –> lack of pleasure on reunion indicating insecure attachment is an example of imposed etic
- In Germany might be seen more as independence than avoidance not a sign of insecurity.
C - Theory and assessment does not apply to other cultures

Question 29

Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 29

• the idea that continual presence of nurture from a mother or mother-substitute is essential for normal psychological development, both EMOTIONALLY and INTELLECTUALLY
• prolonged separation from this adult causes serious damage to emotional and intellectual development

‘mother love during childhood is as important for mental health as are vitamins and proteins are for physical health’

Question 30

Separation vs Deprivation

Answer 30

• important distinction
• Separation: not being in the presence of the mother figure, does not affect development especially if there is a substitute caregiver
• Deprivation: separation only becomes an issue if child is deprived e.g. loses an element of their care

Question 31

Deprivation critical period

Answer 31

• first 30 months of life = critical period for psychological development
• if child is separated from mother and without suitable substitute care and therefore deprived of her emotional care for an extended period during the critical period
• –> cause emotional and intellectual development damage

Question 32

maternal deprivation effect on intellectual development

Answer 32

• if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period they would suffer from delayed intellectual development:
• abnormally low IQ
• Adoption study: Goldfarb
• found lower IQ in children who remained in institutions opposed to those who were fostered

Question 33

maternal deprivation effect on emotional development

Answer 33

• Bowlby identified ‘Affectionless psychopathy’ as the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion for others
• prevents a person from developing normal relationships
• is associated with criminality: cannot appreciate the feeling of victims and so lack remorse for their victims

Question 34

Affectionless psychopathy

Answer 34

the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion for others
- prevents a person from developing normal relationships

Question 35

Bowlby’s 44 Juvenile Thieves: procedure

Answer 35

• sample: 44 teenagers accused of stealing
• all thieves were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy
• characterised by lack of: affection, guilt for their actions and empathy for their victims
• families were also interviewed to determine if thieves had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers
• control group: non-criminal emotionally disturbed young people (to see how often deprivation occurred in children who were not thieves

Question 36

Bowlby’s 44 Juvenile Thieves: Findings

Answer 36

• 14/44 were identified as affectionless psychopaths
• 12/14 had prolonged separation from their mothers in the first two years of their lives
• in contrast, only 5/30 remaining thieves had experienced separations
• control group: 2/44 had experienced long separations
• conclusion: prolonged, early deprivation caused affectionless psychopathy

Question 37

Evaluation: Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 37

P - evidence is poor
E - Goldfarb studied war-orphans who were traumatised & had poor aftercare –> These factors may have caused later developmental diffculties rather than separation.
- children growing up in poor quality institutions were deprived of many aspects of care, not just maternal.
- Bowlby carried out the interviews himself, knowing what he hoped to find. Therefore the results may be biased.
C - suggests Bowlby’s finding may have been due to other factors than maternal deprivation - reduces the validity

P - Counter evidence
E - Lewis partially replicated the 44 thieves study on a larger scale - 500 young people
- Early prolonged maternal separation didn’t predict criminality or difficulty forming close relationships.
C - This is a limitation of Bowlby’s theory because it suggests that other factors may affect the outcome of early maternal separation.

P - animal studies
E - Levy et al showed that separating baby rats from their mother for as little as a day had a permanent effect on social development.
C - supports the theory that maternal deprivation can emotional and intellectual developmental damage
H -However, some doubt over the extent to which animal studies like this can be generalised to human behaviour.

Question 38

Institutionalisation

Answer 38

• effects of living in an institutional setting
• e.g. a hospital or orphanage where children live for long, continuous periods of time
• very little emotional care provided

Question 39

Rutter: Romanian Orphan study ERA: Evaluation

Answer 39

P - real-life applications
E - has enhanced our understanding of the effects of institutionalisation
- this has led to improvements in the ways children are cared for in institutions
- e.g. rather than having large no. of caregivers for each child they now ensure a much smaller no. of people play a central role for the child
- ‘key worker’ –> allows children to develop normal attachments and helps avoid disinhibited attachments
C - research has been helpful in practical terms and improving institutionalised children’s QOL

P - Romanian orphans were not typical
E - Romanian Orphanages were not typical of other types of Institutionalized care.
- children raised in extreme conditions,
- given poor care
- very low levels of intellectual stimulation
C - conditions were so bad that can question whether the results can be applied to effects caused by any sort of Institutionalization.

P - Fewer Extraeneous variables than other orphan studies-
E - many studies before the Romanian Orphan Studies studied children who had often suffered trauma beforehand
—> confounding participant variables that meant it was difficult to observe the effects of institutionalization.
C - In the Romanian Orphan studies, the children didn’t have these variables, so it had higher internal validity.

Question 40

Romanian Orphan Studies: Procedure

Answer 40

• Longitudinal study
• Followed group of 165 Romanian Orphans adopted in Britain
• tested to what extent good care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions
• Physical, Cognitive & Emotional development tested
• At ages 4, 6, 11 & 15
• 52 British children adopted at the same time = control group

Question 41

Romanian Orphan Studies: Findings

Answer 41

• First arrived:
• half showed signs of delayed intellectual development
• majority undernourished

Intellectual:

• Age 11: children showed differential rates of recovery that related to their age at adoption
• Mean IQ of children adopted before 6 months = 102
• between 6 months and 2 years: 86
• after 2 years: 77
• these differences remained at age 16

Attachment:

• difference in outcome relating to whether adoption took place before or after 6 months
• after 6 months = signs of disinhibited attachments (attention-seeking, clinginess, social behaviour indiscriminate toward all adults both familiar and unfamiliar
• before 6 months -rarely showed disinhibited attachment

Question 42

Disinhibited attachment

Answer 42

• Child shows equal affection to strangers as they do people they know well
• clingy
• attention seeking

Question 43

internal working model: future relationships

Answer 43

first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver = assume this is how relationships are meant to be

• —> seek this in future relationships and behave functionally in them
• e.g. not too emotionally involved and not too controlling/argumentative
• first experience = bad = child will bring these bad experiences to relationships or struggle to form them all together/unable to behave appropriately

Question 44

Relationships in later childhood

Answer 44

• attachment type is associated with the quality of peer relationships in childhood
• securely attached = form best quality childhood friendships, less likely to be involved in bullying
• Insecurely attached = friendship difficulties
• insecure-avoidant: most likely to be victims of bullying
• Insecure-resistant: most likely to be bullies

Question 45

The Love Quiz Hazen & Shaver: procedure:

Answer 45

• analysed 620 replies
• printed in a newspaper
• 3 sections: current relationships, general love experiences, attachment type

Question 46

The Love Quiz Hazen & Shaver: findings:

Answer 46

• 56% securely attached
• 25% insecure-avoidant
• 19% insecure-resistant
• secure = most likely to have good, longer-lasting romantic experiences
• avoidant = most likely to be jealous and have a fear of intimacy
• findings suggest patterns of attachment behaviour are reflected in romantic relationships

Question 47

influence of early attachment on later relationships: Evaluation:

Answer 47

P - evidence on continuity of attachment is mixed
E - internal working models predict continuity between early attachment type and the infant’s future relationships
- Zimmerman (2000) founder counter-evidence There was very little association between the quality of infant and adolescent attachment
C - problem because it is not what we would expect if internal working models were important in development

P- evidence support
E - Love quiz found securely attached children go on to have the most successful and long lasting relationships where as avoidant respondents were often jealous within relationships
C - supports the idea of the internal working model

P - Retrospective & social desirability
E - The questionnaire required looking back in adulthood at one’s early attachment
- they rely on respondents being honest and having a realistic view of their attachment
- lacks validity because it relies on accurate recollection
C - this reduces the validity of the results and so further evidence is required to state early attachment influences future relationships

P - correlation does not mean causation
E - association between infant attachment type and later relationships but correlation does not mean causality
- Alternative explanations: Studies show the child’s temperament may influence both infant attachment and the quality of later relationships.
C -his is a limitation because it counter’s Bowlby’s view that the internal working model caused these later outcomes