Attachment

Question 1

Adaptive

Answer 1

Forming attachments help to ensure the survival of the child

Question 2

Social releases

Answer 2

Unlock an inmate tendency in adults
Physical - babies face
Behavioural/Emotional - baby crying or smiling

Question 3

Critical period

Answer 3

Between birth and 2 1/2 years

If no attachment formed then child would be physically and psychologically damaged

Question 4

Monotropy

Answer 4

Baby forms a special attachment, usually with the mother

Question 5

Internal Working Model

Answer 5

Makes sure the child makes a good relationship during adulthood

Question 6

Lorenz

Answer 6

Group 1 - left geese eggs with real mother to hatch
Group 2 - Separated geese eggs from mother and placed them in incubator to hatch
Lorenz made sure that he was the first moving thing that the geese saw when they hatched, they continued to follow him around even after being placed back with real mother
Group 1 followed real mother around
Supports Bowlby’s mono tropic theory as it shows the critical period
However, it’s an animal study so can’t generalise to humans - birds imprint and human attachment is more complicated

Question 7

Hazan and Shaver - ‘The love quiz’

Answer 7

Examined current attachment experiences and attachment history
620 people responded to the questionnaire that was published in an American newspaper
There was a positive correlation between attachment type in childhood and later love experiences
Supports Bowlby’s idea of an internal working model
However, volunteer sample so demand characteristics, lacks population validity and no evidence of early attachment - their memory could be incorrect

Question 8

Rutter et al

Answer 8

Measured impact of attachment over time from 165 Romanian orphans
111 adopted before 2
54 adopted after 2
52 British adopted children = control
Children adopted before 2 caught up with the British children
Children adopted after 2 had significant cognitive, social and psychological problems but managed to form attachments, it just took them longer
Against Bowlby’s theory as attachments were formed outside the critical period - was remanded the sensitive period
Strength - longitudinal study, increased ecological validity
Limitation - extraneous variables, participant attribution - could drop out and data may be important

Question 9

The learning theory

Answer 9

Classical conditioning 
UCS                UCR
MILK                HAPPY BABY 
NS                   NO RESPONSE 
MOTHER.       BABY 
UCS + NS        UCR
MILK + MOTHER  HAPPY BABY 
CS                    CR
MOTHER          HAPPY BABY 

Attachment formed through breastfeeding

Question 10

Harlow

Answer 10

8 Rhesus monkeys were placed in a cage with two surrogate mothers
1 = wired with food
2 = cloth with no food
Monkeys spent the most time on the cloth mother = 22/24 hours a day
Against learning theory as it shows attachment is based on contact comfort not food
Supports critical period - monkeys that were allowed to go into adulthood struggled to form good adult relationships as they didn’t form mother relationships
CAN’T relate findings to humans

Question 11

Stages of attachment

Answer 11

Asocial
Indiscriminate attachment
Discriminate attachment
Multiple attachment

Question 12

Asocial

Answer 12

0-6 weeks
Infant shows similar responses to objects and people
Don’t show preferences to faces or eyes

Question 13

Indiscriminate attachment

Answer 13

6 weeks - 6 months
Infant now shows preference for human company over non-human company
Ability to distinguish between different people but are comforted by anyone

Question 14

Discriminate attachment

Answer 14

7-12 months
Infant shows a preference to one caregiver, displaying separation and stranger anxiety
Infant looks for a particular person for security, comfort and protection

Question 15

Multiple attachments

Answer 15

1 year +
Attachment behaviours are ow displayed towards several different people
e.g siblings and grandparents

Question 16

Schaffer and Emerson

Answer 16

60 Glasgow working class babies
Visited babies homes every month for a year then at 18 months
Interviewed mothers and observed Childs behaviour
25-32 weeks 50% showed operation anxiety towards mother
40 weeks 80% of the children had specific attachment and 30% started to form multiple attachments
Strength - high internal validity
Limitation - lacks population validity, frequent presence of researcher = used to strangers, lacks ecological validity, demand characteristics and temporal validity

Question 17

The strange situation - Ainsworth

Answer 17

1) Child and caregiver enter the room
2) Caregiver reads magazine and child plays
3) Stranger toys to interact with infant
4) Caregiver leaves and stranger toys to interact
5) Caregiver returns and stranger leaves
6) Caregiver leaves child alone
7) Stranger returns and interacts with child
8) caregiver returns
Set up in a lab = controlled variables = high internal validity but low ecological validity
One way mirror = overt observation for parents = social desirability = demand characteristics
= covert observation for children = won’t change behaviour
Controlled observation = event sampling and inter-rater reliability

Question 18

Secure

Answer 18

66%
Mother = safe base 
Moderate separation anxiety 
Moderate stranger anxiety 
Joy on reunion

Question 19

Insecure avoidant

Answer 19

22% 
Mother = not safe base 
Low separation anxiety 
Low stranger anxiety 
No joy on reunion

Question 20

Insecure resistant

Answer 20

12%
High separation anxiety
Stranger anxiety
Rejection on reunion

Question 21

Van Lizendoorn and Kroonbenberg

Answer 21

Meta-analysis of 32 studies using Ainsworth strange situation
Secure attachment in all countries
Japan and Israel = high levels of insecure resistance - babies raised by mothers and hardly left
Germany = high levels of insecure avoidant - value independence
Biased sample = 27/32 individualistic western cultures
Cultural bias = not valid as child may not be used to day care
Large sample size

Question 22

Rothbaum et al

Answer 22

Interviewed 14 mothers from Tokyo and US on their views of attachment
Both cultures agreed that secure was the best type
Japanesse mothers saw crying as a positive whereas US did not
Also Japaneese saw exploration as a negative and US did not
Interview = researcher bias

Question 23

Bowlby’s maternal deprivation

Answer 23

88 kids between 5 and 16 years who were referred to a guidance clinic
44 were thieves - 16 of these were affectionless psychopaths
44 were a control who committed no crime
Interviewed kids and their families about early life experiences - 86% of affectionless psychopaths experienced prolonged separation anxiety

Question 24

Attachment

Answer 24

An emotional tie between two people that is reciprocated