Attachment

Question 1

Naturalistic observations

Answer 1

Watching and recording behaviour in the setting within which it would normally occur.

Question 2

Strengths and limitations of naturalistic observations

Answer 2

S= High ecological validity as the researcher records naturally occurring behaviour in a natural environment, without any outside interference from the researcher.
L = Cannot be replicated to check reliability, as the researcher is not in control of variables.

Question 3

Controlled observations

Answer 3

Watching and recording behaviour within a structured environment

Question 4

Strengths and limitations of Controlled observations

Answer 4

L= Low ecological validity as the researcher records behaviours in an artificial (manipulated) environment, with potential outside interference from the researcher. Findings can’t be applied to everyday life.

S= Can be replicated to check reliability, as the researcher is in control of variables and therefore can repeat the method as they wish

Question 5

Participant observations

Answer 5

The researcher becomes a member of the group whose behaviour he/she is watching and recording

Question 6

Strengths and limitations of Participant observations

Answer 6

S=The researcher can obtain in-depth data as they are in close proximity to the participants and so are unlikely to overlook or miss any behaviours.

L=The researchers’ presence might influence the participants’ behaviour= may show demand characteritics = reduces validity

Question 7

Non -participant

Answer 7

The researcher remains outside of the group whose behaviour he/she is watching and recording.

Question 8

Strengths and limitations of Non -participant

Answer 8

S=Investigator effects and evaluation apprehension are less likely as the researcher is not visible.

L=Due to a lack of proximity the researcher might overlook or miss behaviours of interest.
- may lose valuable insight

Question 9

Covert Observations

Answer 9

Participant’s behaviour is watched and recorded without their knowledge or consent.

Question 10

Strengths and limitations of Covert Observations

Answer 10

S= Investigator effects are unlikely meaning that participants’ behaviour will be genuine. - No demand characteristics
- Increases internal validity
L= Less ethical as participants are not aware they are taking part and cannot give fully informed consent

Question 11

Overt observation

Answer 11

Ps behaviour is watched and recorded with their knowledge and consent.

Question 12

Strengths and limitations of Overt observation

Answer 12

S= It is possible to inform participants in advance and obtain informed consent.
L= Behaviour can be distorted through investigator effects in which the participant changes their behaviour through social desirability bias

Question 13

Structured observations

Answer 13

Behavioural categories - target behaviour is broken into components that are observable and measurable

Event sampling - target behaviour or event is first established then the researcher records this event every time it occurs.

Time sampling - a target individual or group is first established then the researcher records their behaviour in a fixed time frame eg. every 60 seconds

Question 14

Strengths and limitations of Structured observations

Answer 14

S=
- Makes the recording of data easier and more systematic.
- Likely to produce quantitative data which makes it easier to analyse and compare.
- The smaller risk of observer bias.
L=
-Results aren’t as in-depth and detailed.
- Some behaviours the researcher records may not be important.

Evaluation
- It is easier to analyse the data recorded using a structured observation, but the results aren’t as detailed.

Question 15

unstructured observations

Answer 15

the researcher records all relevant behavior without system.

Question 16

Strengths and limitations of unstructured observations

Answer 16

S=More detailed results
L=
-There may be a greater risk of observer bias (no behavioural categories)
- Produces qualitative data which is more difficult to analyse.

Evaluation -
Although unstructured observations produce more in-depth results, they are much harder to analyse and there is a greater risk of observer bias.

Question 17

Observer bias

Answer 17

The observer’s expectation may affect what they see and hear. This reduces the validity of the observation.
Observers must be consistent in their judgement and record the same data. Trained to establish inter-observer reliability.
A test of correlation between 2 sets of scores +0.8/.8 or above.

Question 18

Reciprocity

Answer 18

is where an infant responds to the actions of another person. With reciprocity, the actions of one person (e.g. the mother) elicit a response from the other (e.g. the infant).

Question 19

Interactional synchrony

Answer 19

-Mother and infants actions mirror each other
- Caregiver and baby reflect both the actions and emotions and do this in a co-ordinated way.

Question 20

Supporting evidence for interational synchrony

Answer 20

Andrew Meltzoff and Keith Moore 1977
- Babies’ expressions and gestures were more likely to mirror those of the adults than the chance would predict.

Isabella et al - assessed the quality of mother-baby attachment. They found high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attachment. This shows how important caregiver interaction is probably in development.

Question 21

Schaffer and Emerson 1964

Answer 21

The majority of babies become attached to their mothers at around 7 months.
3% of cases the father was the first object of attachment.
27% was the joint object attachment with the mother.
75% of babies studied by Schaffer and Emerson formed an attachment with their father by the age of 18 months.
This was determined by the fact that the babies protested when the father walked away - a sign of attachment.

Question 22

Grossmann et al 2002

Answer 22

He found that the quality of fathers’ play with babies was related to the quality of adolescent attachments. This suggests that fathers have a different role from mothers- one that is more to do with play and stimulation and less to do with emotional development

Question 23

Field 1978

Answer 23

So it seems that fathers have the potential to be the more emotion focused

The study concluded that the caregiver’s behaviour, not their gender, is more important in establishing attachment with the infant.

Question 24

Schaffer and Emerson stages of attachment

can be used for supporting evidence for reciprocity

Answer 24

P= Schaffer and Emerson studied 60 infants, visiting their homes every 4 weeks for 12 months and then again when the infant was 18 months old. They recorded and then analyzed children’s reactions during seven everyday situations where adults would naturally be separated from their infants.

FINDINGS -
- 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.
- Between 25-32 weeks 50% showed separation anxiety
towards a particular adult, usually the mother (specific attachment)
- Attachment tended to be with the person who was most interactive and sensitive to infant signal and facial expressions (reciprocity).
- By 40 weeks 80% had specific attachments and 30% displayed multiple attachments.

Question 25

4 stages of attachment

Answer 25

Asocial - 0-6 weeks
Very young infants are asocial in that many kinds of
stimuli, both social and non-social, produce a
favourable reaction, such as a smile, Very few
produce protest.

Indiscriminate attachment - 6 weeks -7 months
Infants indiscriminately enjoy human company.
They get upset when an individual ceases to interact
with them. From 3 months smile more at familiar
faces and comforted easily being a regular caregiver.

Specific attachment / The first true attachment 7 months -9 months
Expresses protest when separated from one
particular individual.- primary attachment figure
They attempt to stay close to the person, and show
wariness of strangers.

Multiple attachments - 10 months onward
Children begin to attach to others- secondary
attachment. By 18 months the majority of infants
have formed multiple attachments.

Question 26

Lorenz

Answer 26

P= He randomly divided a large clutch of goose eggs. Half of the eggs were hatched with the mother goose in their natural environment. The other half hatched in an incubator where the 1st moving object they saw was Lorenz.

F= The control group continued to follow the mother whereas the experimental group followed Lorenz.
Imprinting - Bird species that are mobile from birth attach to and follow the Ist moving object they see.
- Lorenz identified a critical period in which imprinting needs to play. Depending on the species, it takes a few hours after hatching. If imprinting does not occur within that time Lorenz found that chicks did not attach themselves to a mother figure.

Question 27

Harlow 1958

Answer 27

P= Harlow tested the idea that a soft object serves some of the functions of a mother. In 1 experiment he reared 16 baby monkeys with 2 wire model mothers. In 1 milk was dispensed by the plain-wire mother whereas in a 2nd condition, the milk was dispensed by the cloth-covered mother.

F= The baby monkeys cuddled the cloth-covered mother in preference to the plain wire mother and sought comfort from the cloth one when frightened regardless of which mother dispensed milk.
This showed that contact comfort was of more importance to the baby monkeys than food regarding attachment behaviour.

Question 28

Learning Theory

Answer 28

This proposes that attachments are formed when an infant receives food - they learn to ‘love’ the person who feeds them- this is the ‘cupboard love’ idea.

Question 29

Classical conditioning

Answer 29

Involves learning through associating a stimulus with a response. In this case, as food naturally gives pleasure, food is a neutral stimulus , leading to the unconditioned pleasure response. The caregiver (unconditioned stimulus ) gives the infant food, and the infant learns to associate the caregiver with the food- so the caregiver becomes a conditioned stimulus. The conditioned response is the pleasure of being fed, with is now ‘paired’ with the caregiver.

Question 30

Operant conditioning

Answer 30

Involves learning through rewards/punishments. By crying, infants produce a response from the caregiver of caring and comforting them, so learns that by crying, the caregiver will care for them. From the caregiver’s perspective, comforting the infant leads to the crying stopping, so this behaviour will be repeated by the caregiver (this is negative reinforcement- continuing a behaviour to avoid a negative outcome).

Question 31

Secondary drive

Answer 31

Hunger can be thought of as a primary drive - it’s an innate, biological motivator
Because the caregiver reduces hunger, the attachment to them becomes the ‘secondary drive’ for the infant.

Question 32

Evaluation of the learning theory

Answer 32

• Lorenz and Harlow’s research weakens learning theory. Lorenz’s goslings imprinted on him before he fed them, and Harlow’s monkeys preferred a cloth mother (which didn’t have a milk bottle) over a wire mother (which did). This suggests food is not the primary reason for attachment.
• Schaffer and Emerson’s research showed that babies did not necessarily become attached to whoever fed them the most, but rather, who spent time sensitively responding to them. This weakens the assumption of learning theory.
• Learning theory only considers food as the driving force behind attachment formation and quality, not considering other factors such as sensitive responding and developing reciprocity. This makes the explanation over-simplistic.

Question 33

Bowlby’s evolutionary theory of attachment

Answer 33

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. A child has an innate (i.e. inborn) need to attach to one main attachment figure.

Question 34

Monotropy

Answer 34

Bowlby believed that the more time a baby spent with this mother figure the better the quality of the attachment
- the law of continuity stated that the more constant and predictable a child care the better the quality of their attachment

Question 35

Social releasers with critical period

Answer 35

• The time when an attachment must form.
• Their purpose is to activate social interaction and so make an baby attach to the adult.
• Bowlby proposed that there is a critical period of around 6 months when the infant attachment system is active.
• If an attachment is not formed in this time, a child will find it much harder to form one later.

Question 36

Internal working model
- forms the foundation for future relationships

Answer 36

Bowlby proposed that a child forms a mental representation of their relationship with their primary attachment figure.
- it also affects the child’s later ability to be a parent. People tend to base their parenting behaviour on their own expressions of being parented. This explains why children from functional families tend to have similar families themselves.

Question 37

strange situation A01

Answer 37

The strange situation is used to measure different attachment types . The purpose of the Strange Situation is to measure four key behaviours, including:exploration behaviours– how the child explores the environment and whether they use the mother as a safe base;separation anxiety– how the child responds to/behaves when the mother leaves the room;stranger anxiety –how the child responds in the presence of a stranger; andreunion behaviours –how the child acts when reunited with their mother. Depending on how the child responds in the strange situation, Ainsworth classified the children as securely attached, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant.

Question 38

Evaluate the strange situation 5 marks

Answer 38

The controlled observations lack ecological validity as its conducted in an artificial setting, which makes it difficult to generalise it to everyday life. However, the standardised procedure makes it easier to establish cause and effect and allows for the researcher to replicate the study to check for consistency of the results. Furthermore, a limitation of the strange situation is that it has a cultural bias (ethnocentrism) and is imposed etic. As there were only white American children, Ainsworth assumes that behaviour is universal across cultures. This may not be the case in other cultures.

Question 39

Ainsworth Strange situation Procedure

What is she testing for a securely attached infant?

Answer 39

Proximity - seeking a baby with a good quality attachment will stay fairly close with a caregiver.

Exploration and secure base behaviour - good attachment enables a baby to feel confident to explore, using their caregiver as a secure base.

Stranger anxiety - one of the signs of becoming closely attached is a display of anxiety when a stranger approaches

Separation anxiety - another sign of becoming attached is protesting at separation from the caregiver

Response for a reunion - babies who are securely attached greet the caregiver’s return with pleasure

Question 40

Ainsworth Strange situation conclusion

Answer 40

Secure attachment - babies happily explore but regularly go back to their caregiver. Moderate separation distress and moderate stranger anxiety.
Securely attached babies require and accept comfort from the caregiver in the reunion stage.

Question 41

meta analysis

Answer 41

uses secondary data - so its saves time and money
where researchers combine the findings from multiple studies to draw an overall conclusion.
this increases validity can be generalised to a wider population.
Qualitative - discussion of findings and conclusion
Quantitative - analysis of statistical data of findings.

Question 42

Collectivist cultures

Answer 42

is a community that prioritizes the group over the individual

Collectivistic cultures emphasize personality traits and attributes like cohesion, harmony, duty, interdependence, achievement of group goals, and conflict avoidance.

Question 43

individualistic culture

Answer 43

• an individualistic culture is a community that prioritizes the individual over the collective group.

Individualistic cultures emphasize attributes like uniqueness or individuality; personal goals; independence, self-reliance, self-sufficiency; and privacy.

Question 44

findings of Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg

Germany had the highest rate of insecure avoidant and Japan and Israel had the highest rates of insecure resistant.

Answer 44

• Results showed that individualistic countries that support independence such as Germany had high levels of anxious-avoidant, whereas countries that are more culturally close (collectivist), such as Japan, had quite high levels of ambivalent resistance.
• • Japan & Israel revealed a higher incidence of resistant than avoidant children.
• Chinese findings revealed the lowest rate of secure attachments (50%) with the remaining children falling into the other categories equally.
• It was concluded that the modest cross-cultural differences reflect the effects of mass media, which portrays similar notions of parenting.

Germany is the most insecure avoidant whereas japan had the least.
Sweden and GB had the most secure attachment whereas Germany had the least.
GB had the least insecure resistant whereas Isreal had the highest.

Question 45

Deprivation

Answer 45

Attachment has formed but is disrupted
- Extended separation

Question 46

Privation

Answer 46

Attachment did not form - Brief separation

Question 47

Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation hypothesis

Answer 47

“Mother love in infancy and childhood is as important for mental health as are vitamins and proteins for physical health.’
Separation in early childhood has serious intellectual consequences resulting in a low IQ .
Bowlby identified affection less psychopathy as the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion development towards others. This prevents a person developing normal relationships and is associated with criminality. Affectionless psychopaths cannot appreciate the feelings of victims and so lack remorse for their actions.

Disruptions of attachments leads to social psychological problems

Question 48

Interviewer bias

Answer 48

The behaviour or simply the presence of the interviewer may influence the responses that they receive from the respondent.

Social characteristics
Personal characteristics- body language, appearance
Status difference - keep a distance and clear power division

Question 49

Social desirability bias

Answer 49

Respondent answer questions in such a way that represents them in a positive light

Question 50

Levy et al

Answer 50

Separating baby rats from their mother for as little as a day had a permanent effect on their social development and not other aspects of it

Question 51

Lewis
Contradictory evidence

Answer 51

Partially replicated from 44 thieves study on a larger scale with 500 Ps. She found that a history of deprivation did not predict criminality or difficult forming attachments

Question 52

Simonella et al

Answer 52

50% secure
36% insecure-avoidant
lower % of secure attachment because of the increased no. of a working mothers with young children using professional care.

Question 53

Jin et al

Answer 53

aim - to compare the proportions of attachment types in Korea to other studies it assessed 87 children

Findings - the overall proportion of insecure and secure babies was similar to most countries
- japan and Korea have similiar child-rearing styles

Question 54

The Bucharest Early Intervention Project

Answer 54

95 Romanian children aged 12-31 months
The researcher found that 74% of the control group were classed as securely attached in the strange situation. However only 19% of the institutional group were securely attached in contrast, the description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutional children as opposed to less than 20% of the controls.

Question 55

Effects of institutionalisation

Answer 55

Disinhibited attachment - children are friendly and affectionate towards familiar people and show no sign of stranger anxiety. This is because of living with multiple caregivers during the critical period.

Mental retradation - damage to intellectual development

Question 56

Attachment and later relationship
Internal working model

Answer 56

This model affects our future relationships because it carries our perception of what relationships are like.
A baby whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable attachment figure will tend to assume this is how relationships are meant to be.

Question 57

Discuss the influence of early attachment on childhood relationships 8 marks

Answer 57

There is supporting evidence for the influence of early attachment on childhood relationships. Bowlby’s internal working model states that early attachment provides a blueprint for later relationship formation in childhood. Moreover, securely attached children have developed a positive internal working model for the future and so are less likely to be involved in bullying compared to insecurely attached children.

A limitation of the influence of early attachment on childhood relationships is that most studies use self-report techniques to assess infant parent relationships. This reduces internal validity as respondents may not accurately recall or be honest and give socially desirable answers. This discredits the theory and requires it be further investigated or use different explanation to understand the influence of early attachment on childhood relationships

Question 58

Relationship in later childhood
kerns

Answer 58

• securely attached infants form quality friendships.
• insecurely attached infants have friendship issues.

secure attachment as a baby appears to convey fairly mild disadvantages for any aspect of development, disorganised
attachment is strongly associated with later mental disorder

Question 59

Myron and Wilson and. Smith- bullied 196 children aged. 7-11

Answer 59

• securely attached very unlikely to be involved in bullying.
  insecure avoidant - most likely to be victims
  insecure resistant - most likely to be bullies

Question 60

Relationship in adulthood with romantic partners

Hazan and Shaver (1987)

Answer 60

• Hazan and Shaver (1987)
  Conducted a ‘love quiz’ study, they asked people to respond to a love quiz in the newspaper, the quiz examined feelings in a romantic relationship
• They found a correlation between adult relationships and attachment types:
  Securely attached adults believe in long-lasting love and were less likely to get divorced
• Whereas insecure types were more likely to report loneliness
• This suggests there is a link between childhood attachment and adult relationships

Question 61

Zimmerman et al 2000

Answer 61

studied a group of children growing up in Germany and. found. that. child. attachment. type did. not predict. adult attachment type. Life events such. as the divorce. of parents or parental illness/death had a much more influence on later security

Question 62

Rutter quinton and. hill. 1999

Answer 62

identified. a. group of people. who had. experienced. problematic relationships with their parents but had. gone on to achieve secure, stable and happy adult relationships which they termed ‘earned. security’

Question 63

Relationships in adulthood as. a parent

Answer 63

people tend to base their parenting style on their internal working model. - attachment type tends. to be passed. on through generations of a family.

Bailey et al - mothers who reported. poor. attachments to their own. parents in the interview were. more. likely to have children. classified as. poor. according to the observation.

Question 64

The Influence of Early Attachment on Childhood & Adult Relationships

Answer 64

According to Bowlby, the attachment a child has with its primary caregiver provides the infant with a schema and template for future relationships
This will determine if the child loves, trusts and relies on others and the health of future relationships

Secure attachment: when a child has a secure loving relationship with their primary caregiver, they will assume all relationships should be like that and will seek out functional relationships and be functional within these relationships
When a child does not have a loving relationship with their primary caregiver, they are more likely to be unable to function in their relationships and be:
Insecure-avoidant: emotionally closed and/or uninvolved in their relationships, making it difficult to form secure attachments
Insecure-resistant: controlling and argumentative in their relationships, making it difficult to form secure attachments

Hazan and Shaver (1987)
Conducted a ‘love quiz’ study, they asked people to respond to a love quiz in the newspaper, the quiz examined feelings in a romantic relationship

hey found a correlation between adult relationships and attachment types:Securely attached adults believe in long-lasting love and are less likely to get divorced
Whereas insecure types were more likely to report loneliness
This suggests there is a link between childhood attachment and adult relationships

Question 65

economic implications of the role of the father

Answer 65

attachment research has shown the importance of the role of the father, meaning that today it is recognised that both parents are equally capable of raising the child. This has implications in terms of shared parental leave, and the sharing of childcare duties at home so both parents are able to work. ‘Implications’ therefore, often refers to:

The time spent working/number of days off sick
The amount of tax revenue that can be raised
The pressure on public services such as the NHS

The economic implication of the role of the father are that the gender pay gap may be reduced if parents’ roles are regarded more as equal. Paternity laws are changing as either or both parents can take leave in order to look after the baby within the first year. Bowlby suggested fathers should provide an economic function rather than an emotional one. Increasingly fathers remain at home and contribute less to the economy, whilst more mothers may return to work and contribute more to the economy.

Question 66

McCarthy (1999)

Answer 66

Studied 40 adult women who had been assessed as children in their early attachment types
Those who had been assessed as securely attached as infants had the most secure and ‘best’ adult friendships and relationships
Those who had been assessed as insecure and resistant as infants, struggled to maintain friendships
Those who had been assessed as insecure-avoidant, struggled with intimate relationships
This research supports Bowlby’s attachment theory and Hazan & Shaver’s (1987) research