attachment Flashcards
1
Q
strengths of Lorenz imprinting
A
- supportive research by Guiton. leghorn chicks exposed to yellow rubber gloves for feeding during first few weeks of life, became imprinted on the gloves. shows young animals not predisposed to imprint on a specific animal, but any moving thing present in the critical period
- important findings suggest a critical period for attchment to occur. this influenced bowlbys critical period theory. findings from the goslings can be extrapolated to humans
2
Q
weaknesses of lorenz imprinting
A
- problem generalising birds to humans as mammals attach differently to birds. mammals have a much more emotional attachment to their young
- lorenz stated imprinting had permanent effects on mating but this has been contested by guiton. guiton found that his chicks imprinted on rubber gloves, tried to mate with them but then learnt to prefer mating with other chickens. the impact of imprinting behaviour is not permanent as lorenz suggested questioning the validity of his findings
3
Q
strengths of harlows research on effects of privation
A
- influenced bowlbys theory of attachment and can be applied to humans as both are mammals so have emotional attachments
- practical applications e.g help psychologists with children who have experienced privation and can help people who work in zoos to understand the importance of animals forming attachments
4
Q
weaknesses of harlows research on the effects of privation
A
- confounding variable, two heads on the wire and cloth mother were different. the monkeys may have preferred the cloth mother as they had a more attractive head, not due to contact comfort
- unethical research as the monkeys were separated from their mothers at birth and made to feel anxious. the experience was distressing for them and affected some for the rest of their lives e.g timid, lacked social skills, difficulty mating and the mothers even killed their own offspring
5
Q
strengths of learning approach
A
- dollard and miller state there is ample oppotunity for babies to attach as they are fed 2000 times in the first year of life generally by the main carer. this gives ample opportunity for the baby to associate the caregiver with the removal of the unpleasant feeling of hunger (negative reinforcement)
- may have some explanatory power and may demonstrate the importance of forming attachments through feeding
6
Q
weaknesses of learning approach
A
- harlow shows contact comfort is more important than food, the monkeys only went to the wire mother when hungry and then returned to the cloth mother who they had formed an attachment with
- bowlby believes attachment is formed innately. babies born with innate tendency to attach to increase chances of survival e.g social releasers like smiling cooing and gripping
7
Q
strengths of bowlbys monotropic theory
A
- research evidence by bailey to support the internal working model. 99 mothers and their 1 year old babies were assessed on the quality of their to their own mothers using interviews and the attchment of the babies was measured by observation. mother with poor attachments to parents were more likely to have children poorly attached
- hazan and shaver love quiz demonstrates internal working model. those securely attached tended to have happy long lasting romantic relationships but insecure attachments led to people finding relationships less easy and more likely to be divorced.
8
Q
weaknesses of bowlby monotropic theory
A
- attachments to the primary caregiver is not special or unique. schaffer and emerson studied 60 babies from glasgow and found that multiple attachments was the norm. 31% had formed multiple attachments and the mother was not the main attachment figure for 39%
- kagan temperament hypothesis implies that innate temperamental characteristics that makes a child easy or difficult for the caregivers has an impact on the quality of mother-infant relationships which influences a childs later relationships
9
Q
strengths of the strange situation
A
- predictive validity. secure attached have greater success at school and lasting romantic relationships but those inscure resistant may be involved in bullying and adult mental health issues. identifying those insecurely attached can help those in danger of having later issues
- very good inter rater reliablilty. different observers watched the same children and Bick et al found 94% agreement as it takes place in controlled conditions so behavioural categories are easy to observe
10
Q
weaknesses of strange situation
A
- may be other attachment types. main and solomon suggested some children display atypical attachments. this is a mix of insecure avoidant and resistant
- issues with validity as only identifies attachment to the mother so does not measure general attchment style
11
Q
strengths of cross cultural variations
A
- methodology is ethically sound. meta analysis means no new data collection so no new children have to experience the potentially distressing strange situation
- applications and gained understanding of how child rearing practices can impact attachment type
12
Q
weaknesses of cross cultural variations
A
- strange situation is ethnocentric. it was developed in america and based on american norms so may only be useful for studing western cultures. it is imposed etic when used to study non western children
- may not be fully representative in some countries. e.g only 1 study done in GB and china but 18 done in america. results on these countries may not be representative of the country as a whole
13
Q
strength of bowlby maternal deprivation theory
A
- bowlby studied 88 children who were patients at the Child Guidance Clinic London. 44 were thieves and the other 44 were control group. all were emotionally maladjusted. of the 44 thieves, 14 were classsed as affectionless psychopaths as the felt no shame/responsibilty/affection. 12/14 experienced frequent early separation from their mothers in comparison to 17% of the other thieves. early childhood seapration linked to affectionless psychopathy
- support by harlow research of 8 monkeys who underwent privation. they became more timid, aggressive, did not know how to mate and the females were inadequate mothers. early maternal deprivation leads to emotional damage but effects can be reversed if an attachment is made before end of critical preiod
14
Q
weaknesses of bowlby maternal deprivation theory
A
- critical period may be sensitive period. kolochova twins from czechoslovakia were locked in a cupboard from 18months to 7 years. they were looked after by two loving sisters and made a full recovery e.g had normal IQ and went on to marry. critical period may be sensitive but not critical as attchment can form after
- rutter claims bowlby does not distinguish between deprivation and privation. privation is when an attachment has never formed but deprivation is an attachment formed then lost. rutter believes severe long term damage proposed by bowlby is more likely to be result of privation not deprivation
15
Q
strengths of romanian orphans research
A
- practical applications, enhanced understanding of effects of institutionalisation so improvements can be made.e.g orphanages now avoid having large numbers of caregivers for each child and focus on one-two key-workers per child so they can form normal attachments and avoid disinhibited attachments
- studies effects of institutionalisation without confounding variables. other orphan studies involve children who have been neglected, abused or experience bereavement. this makes it hard to distinguish the effects of institutions in isolation. increases internal validity of romanian orphan studies
