attachment

Question 1

what is the definition of attachment?

Answer 1

a close two way emotional bond between two individuals in which each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security

Question 2

what is reciprocity?

Answer 2

a description of how two people interact. Caregiver-infant interaction is reciprocal in that both caregiver and baby respond to each others signals and each elicits a response from each other

Question 3

what are alert phases?

Answer 3

when babies signal that they are ready for a spell of interactions ( e,g by making eye contact)

Question 4

what is active involvement?

Answer 4

traditional views of childhood have portrayed babies in a passive role, receiving care from an adult

Question 5

what is interactional synchrony?

Answer 5

caregiver and baby reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a co ordinated way.

Question 6

describe Meltzoff and Moors’s research that supports interactional synchrony

Answer 6

-Meltzoff and Moore completed a study into the interactional synchrony of babies as young as two weeks old.
-An adult made one of three expressions or one of three gestures.
-The child’s response was filmed and identified by independent observers.
-An association was found between the expression or gesture an adult had displayed and the actions of babies.

Question 7

describe Isabella’s research that supports interactional synchrony

Answer 7

-Isabella observed 30 mothers and infants and assessed the degree of synchrony.
-Researchers assessed the quality of mother-infant attachment.
-High levels of synchrony were associated with better quality attachments.

Question 8

features of attachment

Answer 8

-proximity
-separation distress
-secure base behaviour

Question 9

define proximity

Answer 9

desire to be near

Question 10

define separation distress

Answer 10

people show signs of anxiety when an attachment figure leaves their presence

Question 11

define secure base behaviour

Answer 11

even when we are away from our attachment figure, we tend to make regular contact with them

Question 12

evaluation 1- filmed observations (caregiver-infant interactions)

Answer 12

-strength
-caregiver infant interactions are usually filmed in a lab
-means other activity that might distract a baby can be controlled
-also means that observations can recorded and analysed later so its less likely for researchers to miss seeing key behaviours
-babies don’t know they are being watched so their behaviour doesn’t change
-so the dated collected in such research should have good reliability and validity

Question 13

evaluation 2- difficulty observing babies (caregiver-infant interactions)

Answer 13

-limitation
-its hard to interpret a baby’s behaviour
-movements being observed are just small hand movements or subtle changes in expression
-it is difficult to be sure whether a baby is smiling or passing wind
-also we don’t know whether a movement is random or triggered by something the caregiver has done
- means we cannot be certain that the behaviours in caregiver infant interactions

Question 14

evaluation 3- developmental importance (caregiver-infant interactions )

Answer 14

-limitation
-simply observing behaviour doesn’t tell us its developmental importance
-Feldman points out that ideas like synchrony simply give names to patterns of behaviour but may not be useful in understanding child development
-means that we cannot be certain from observable research alone that reciprocity and synchrony are important for a child’s development

Question 15

evaluation 4- counterpoint of developmental importance (caregiver-infant interactions)

Answer 15

-there is evidence that early interactions are important
-Isabella found that that achievement of interactional synchrony predicted the development of a good quality attachment
-means that caregiver infant interactions may possibly be important in development

Question 16

What are the Schaffer’s stages of attachment

Answer 16

-stage 1 : asocial stage
-stage 2: indiscriminate attachment
-stage 3: specific attachment
-stage 4: multiple attachments

Question 17

what is the asocial stage

Answer 17

-in a baby’s first few weeks
-Infants respond to people and objects the same
-but they do show a preference of familiar faces

Question 18

what is the indiscriminate stage

Answer 18

-from 2 to 7 month old babies
-clear preference for being with other humans rather than objects
-recognise and prefer company of familiar faces
-they do not show separation anxiety or stranger anxiety

Question 19

what is the specific attachment stage

Answer 19

-from around 7 month old babies
-classic signs of attachment towards one particular person
-stranger anxiety and separation anxiety occurs
-the person is called a primary attachment figure

Question 20

what is the multiple attachment stage

Answer 20

-7+ month old babies
-babies extend the specific attachment behaviour with the other people with whom they regularly spend time with
-these relationships are called secondary attachments

Question 21

what was the procedure of Schaffer and Emerson’s research

Answer 21

-involved 60 babies- 31 boys and 29 girls
-all from Glasgow and from skilled working class families
-researcher visited mothers and babies in their own homes every month for first year and then again after 18 months
-asked mother questions about the kind of protests their babies showed in seven everyday separations to measure separation anxiety
-also measured stranger anxiety by exposing them to unfamiliar faces

Question 22

what were the findings of the Schaffer’s and Emerson’s research

Answer 22

-Schaffer and Emerson identified four distinct stages in the development of infant attachment behaviour

Question 23

evaluation 1- good external validity ( Schaffer’s stages of attachment )

Answer 23

-strength
-most observations were made by parents
-researchers recording the observations might have distracted the babies or made them feel more anxious
-this means that it is highly likely that the participants behaved naturally while being observed

Question 24

evaluation 2- counterpoint of good external validity (Schaffer’s stages of attachment)

Answer 24

-there are issues with asking the mothers to be the observers.
-They were unlikely to be objective observers.
-They might have been biased in terms of what they noticed and what they reported, e.g. they might not have noticed when their baby was showing signs of anxiety or they may have misremembered it.
-This means that even if babies behaved naturally their behaviour may not have been accurately recorded.

Question 25

evaluation 3- Poor evidence for the asocial stage (Schaffer’s stages of attachment)

Answer 25

-limitation is the validity of the measures they used to assess attachment in the asocial stage.
-Young babies have poor co-ordination and are fairly immobile. If babies less than two months old felt anxiety in everyday situations they might have displayed this in quite subtle, hard-to-observe ways.
-This made it difficult for mothers to observe and report back to researchers on signs of anxiety and attachment in this age group.
-This means that the babies may actually be quite social but, because of flawed methods, they appear to be asocial.

Question 26

evaluation 4- Real-world application (Schaffer’s stages of attachment)

Answer 26

-strength
-has practical application in day care
-In the asocial and indiscriminate attachment stages day care is likely to be straightforward as babies can be comforted by any skilled adult.
-However, Schaffer and Emerson’s research tells us that day care, especially starting day care with an unfamiliar adult, may be problematic during the specific attachment stage.
-This means that parents’ use of day care can be planned using Schaffer and Emerson’s stages.

Question 27

what is meant by Father in attachment

Answer 27

-anyone who takes on the role of the main male caregiver
-can be but not necessarily the biological father

Question 28

Attachment to fathers- Schaffer and Emerson

Answer 28

-Fathers are much less likely to become babies’ first attachment figure
-found that the majority of babies first became attached to their mother at around 7 months.
-In 3% of cases =father was the first sole object of attachment.
-In 27% of cases =the father was the joint first object of attachment with the mother.
- 75% of the 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 their father walked away - a sign of attachment.

Question 29

Distinctive role for fathers- Grossmann

Answer 29

-Grossmann et al. carried out a longitudinal study where babies attachments were studied until they were into their teens.
-Quality of a baby’s attachment with mothers but not fathers was related to attachments in adolescence.
-This suggests that attachment to fathers is less important than attachment to mothers.
- Grossmann et al. also 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 30

Fathers as primary attachment figures- Field

Answer 30

-some evidence suggests that when fathers do take on the role of primary caregiver they are able to adopt the emotional role more typically associated with
-Field filmed 4-month-old babies in face-to-face interaction with primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers and primary caregiver fathers
-Primary caregiver fathers spent more time smiling, imitating and holding babies than the secondary caregiver
-fathers Smiling, imitating and holding babies are a part of reciprocity and interactional synchrony which are part of the process of attachment formation
-So it seems that fathers have the potential to be the more emotion-focused primary attachment figure

Question 31

Evaluation 1- confusion over research questions ( the role of the father)

Answer 31

-limitation
-lack of clarity over the question being asked
-The question, ‘What is the role of the father?’ in the context of attachment is much more complicated than it sounds.
-Some researchers attempting to answer this question actually want to understand the role of fathers as secondary attachment figures. But others are more concerned with fathers as a primary attachment figure.
-The former have tended to see fathers, as behaving differently from mothers and having a distinct role.
-The latter have found that fathers can take on a ‘maternal role’
-this makes it difficult to offer a simple answer as to the ‘role of a father”.

Question 32

Evaluation 2- conflicting evidence for fathers being a secondary attachment ( the role of the father)

Answer 32

-limitation
-Longitudinal studies such as that of Grossmann et al. have suggested that fathers as secondary attachment figures have an important and distinct role in their children’s development, involving play and stimulation.
-However, if fathers have a distinctive and important role we would expect that, children growing up in single-mother and lesbian-parent families would turn out in some way different from those in two-parent heterosexual families.
-studies like e.g. McCallum and Golombok consistently show that these children do not develop differently from children in two-parent heterosexual families.
-This means that the question as to whether fathers have a distinctive role remains unanswered.

Question 33

Evaluation 3- counterpoint of conflicting evidence-distinct roles in heterosexual families ( the role of the father)

Answer 33

-These lines of research may not in fact be in conflict.
-It could be that fathers typically take on distinctive roles in two-parent heterosexual families, but that parents in single-mother and lesbian-parent families simply adapt to accommodate the role played by fathers.
-This means that the question of a distinctive role for fathers is clear after all. When present, fathers tend to adopt a distinctive role, but families can adapt to not having a father.

Question 34

evaluation 4- real world application (role of the father)

Answer 34

-strength
-it can be used to offer advice to parents.
-Mothers may feel pressured to stay at home because of stereotypical views of mothers’ and fathers’ roles.
- Research into the role of the father can be used to offer reassuring advice to parents.
- For example, heterosexual parents can be informed that fathers are quite capable of becoming primary attachment figures. Also lesbian-parent and single-mother families can be informed that not having a father around does not affect a child’s development.
-This means that parental anxiety about the role of fathers can be reduced.

Question 35

what are the two animal studies of attachment

Answer 35

-Lorenz’z research
-Harlow’s research

Question 36

Lorenz’s research (imprinting)- procedure

Answer 36

-he randomly divided a large clutch of goose eggs.
-Half the eggs were hatched with the mother goose in their natural environment.
-The other half hatched in an incubator where the first moving object they saw was Lorenz

Question 37

Lorenz’s research( imprinting)- findings

Answer 37

-The incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere whereas the control group, hatched in the presence of their mother, followed her.
-When the two groups were mixed up the control group continued to follow the mother and the experimental group followed Lorenz.
-This phenomenon is called imprinting - whereby bird species that are mobile from birth (like geese and ducks) attach to and follow the first moving object they see.
-Lorenz identified a critical period in which imprinting needs to take place. Depending on the species this can be as brief as a few hours after hatching (or birth).
- If imprinting does not occur within that time Lorenz found that chicks did not attach themselves to a mother figure.

Question 38

Lorenz’s research- sexual imprinting

Answer 38

• he observed that birds that imprinted on a human would often later display courtship behaviour towards humans.
• In a case study Lorenz described a peacock that had been reared in the reptile house of a zoo where the first moving objects the peacock saw after hatching were giant tortoises.
  -As an adult this bird would only direct courtship behaviour towards giant tortoises.
  -Lorenz concluded that this meant the peacock had undergone sexual imprinting.

Question 39

evaluation 1- research support ( Lorenz’s research)

Answer 39

-strength
-existence of support for the concept of imprinting.
-A study by Regolin and Vallortigara supports Lorenz’s idea of imprinting.
-Chicks were exposed to simple shape combinations that moved, such as a triangle with a rectangle in front.
-A range of shape combinations were then moved in front of them and they followed the original most closely.
-This supports the view that young animals are born with an innate mechanism to imprint on a moving object present in the critical window of development, as predicted by Lorenz.

Question 40

evaluation 2- generalisability to humans ( Lorenz’s research)

Answer 40

-limitation
-cant generalise findings and conclusions from birds to humans.
-The mammalian attachment system is quite different and more complex than that in birds.
-For example, in mammals attachment is a two-way process, so it is not just the young who become attached to their mothers but also the mammalian mothers show an emotional attachment to their young.
-This means that it is probably not appropriate to generalise Lorenz’s ideas to humans.

Question 41

Harlow’s research (importance of contact comfort )- procedure

Answer 41

• tested the idea that a soft object serves some of the functions of a mother
• In one experiment he reared 16 baby monkeys with two wire model mothers
• In one condition milk was dispensed by the plain-wire mother whereas in a second condition the milk was dispensed by the cloth-covered mother.

Question 42

Harlow’s research (importance of contact comfort )- findings

Answer 42

-The baby monkeys cuddled the cloth-covered mother in preference to the plain-wire mother and sought comfort from the cloth one when frightened (e.g. by a noisy mechanical teddy bear) regardless of which “mother” dispensed milk.
-This showed that ‘contact comfort’ was of more importance to the monkeys than food when it came to attachment behaviour.

Question 43

Harlow’s research- materially deprived monkeys as adults

Answer 43

-followed the monkeys who had been deprived of a’real’ mother into adulthood to see if this early maternal deprivation had a permanent effect.
- The researchers found severe consequences: The monkeys reared with plain-wire mothers only were the most dysfunctional.
- even those reared with a cloth-covered mother did not develop normal social behaviour.
-These deprived monkeys were more aggressive and less sociable than other monkeys and they bred less often than is typical for monkeys, being unskilled at mating.
- When they became mothers, some of the deprived monkeys neglected their young and others attacked their children, even killing them in some cases.

Question 44

Harlow’s research- critical period for normal development

Answer 44

-Harlow concluded that there was a critical period for attachment formation
- a mother figure had to be introduced to a young monkey within 90 days for an attachment to form.
-After this time attachment was impossible and the damage done by early deprivation became irreversible.

Question 45

evaluation 1- real world value ( Harlow’s research)

Answer 45

-strength
-its important real-world applications.
-For example, it has helped social workers and clinical psychologists understand that a lack of bonding experience may be a risk factor in child development allowing them to intervene to prevent poor outcomes (Howe ).
-We also now understand the importance of attachment figures for baby monkeys in zoos and breeding programmes in the wild.
-This means that the value of Harlow’s research is not just theoretical but also practical.

Question 46

evaluation 2- generalisability to humans ( Harlow’s research)

Answer 46

-limitation
-cant generalise findings and conclusions from monkeys to humans.
-Rhesus monkeys are much more similar to humans than Lorenz’s birds, and all mammals share some common attachment behaviours.
-However, the human brain and human behaviour is still more complex than that of monkeys.
-this means that it may not be appropriate to generalise Harlow’s findings to humans.

Question 47

Learning theory in attachment

Answer 47

A set of theories from the behaviourist approach to psychology, that emphasise the role of learning in the acquisition of behaviour. Explanations for learning of behaviour include classical and operant conditioning.

Question 48

classical conditioning in attachment

Answer 48

-unconditional stimulus ( food) ->unconditional response (pleasure)
-neutral stimulus ( caregiver) -> no response
-unconditioned(food) + neutral stimulus ( caregiver) -> unconditioned response (pleasure)
-conditioned stimulus( caregiver)-> conditioned response (pleasure)

Question 49

Operant conditioning in attachment

Answer 49

-If a behaviour produces a pleasant consequence, that behaviour is likely to be repeated again (the behaviour is said to be reinforced)
-If a behaviour produces an unpleasant consequence (punishment) it is less likely to be repeated
-Operant conditioning can explain why babies cry for comfort - Crying leads to a response from the caregiver, for example feeding. As long as the caregiver provides the correct response, crying is reinforced.
-The baby then directs crying for comfort towards the caregiver who responds with comforting social suppressor behaviour.

Question 50

how is operant conditioning in attachment a two way process

Answer 50

At the same time as the baby is reinforced for crying, the caregiver receives negative reinforcement because the crying stops - escaping from something unpleasant is reinforcing. This interplay of mutual reinforcement strengthens an attachment.

Question 51

Attachment as a secondary drive- learning theory

Answer 51

-Hunger can be thought of as a primary drive - it’s an innate, biological motivator.
-We are motivated to eat in order to reduce the hunger drive.
- Sears et al. suggested that, as caregivers provide food, the primary drive of hunger becomes generalised to them.
-Attachment is thus a secondary drive learned by an association between the caregiver and the satisfaction of a primary drive.

Question 52

evaluation 1- Counter-evidence from animal studies (learning theory)

Answer 52

-limitation
-lack of support from studies conducted on animals.
-For example, Lorenz’s geese imprinted on the first moving object they saw regardless of whether this object was associated with food.
- In Harlow’s research with monkeys, there is no support for the importance of food ; monkeys displayed attachment behaviour towards a soft surrogate mother in preference to a wire one which provided milk.
-This shows that factors other than association with food are important in the formation of attachments.

Question 53

evaluation 2- Counter-evidence from studies on humans (learning theory)

Answer 53

-limitation
-lack of support from studies of human babies.
-Schaffer and Peggy Emerson found that babies tended to form their main attachment to their mother regardless of whether she was the one who usually fed them.
-In another study, Isabella et al. found that high levels of interactional synchrony predicted the quality of attachment.
-These factors are not related to feeding.
-This suggests that food is not the main factor in the formation of human attachments.

Question 54

evaluation 3- Some conditioning may be involved (learning theory)

Answer 54

-strength
-elements of conditioning could be involved in some aspects of attachment.
-conditioning may still play a role.
-For example a baby may associate feeling warm and comfortable with the presence of a particular adult, and this may influence the baby’s choice of their main attachment figure.
-This means that learning theory may still be useful in understanding the development of attachments.

Question 55

evaluation 4- counterpoint of some conditioning may be involved (learning)

Answer 55

-Both classical and operant conditioning explanations see the baby playing a relatively passive role in attachment development, simply responding to associations with comfort or reward.
-research shows that babies take a very active role in the interactions that produce attachment.
-This means that conditioning may not be an adequate explanation of any aspect of attachment.

Question 56

Monotropy- Bowlby’s monotropic theory

Answer 56

-theory described as monotropic because he placed emphasis on a child’s attachment to one particular caregiver
-one caregiver is different and more important than others->Bowlby called this person the ‘mother’
-Bowlby believed that the more time a baby spent with this mother-figure or primary attachment the better.
-theres two principles to clarify this:
*The law of continuity stated that the more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better the quality of their attachment.
*The law of accumulated separation stated that the effects of every separation from the mother add up ‘and the safest dose is therefore a zero dose

Question 57

Social releasers -Bowlby’s monotropic theory

Answer 57

-Bowlby suggested that babies are born with a set of innate ‘cute’ behaviours like smiling, cooing and gripping that encourage attention from adults.
-He called these social releasers because their purpose is to activate adult social interaction and so make an adult attach to the baby.
-Bowlby recognised that attachment was a reciprocal process. Both mother and baby are ‘hard-wired to become attached.

Question 58

critical period-Bowlby’s monotropic theory

Answer 58

-proposed that there is a critical period around six months when the infant attachment system is active.
-Bowlby viewed this as more of a sensitive period.
-A child is maximally sensitive at six months and this possibly extends up to the age of two.
-If an attachment is not formed in this time, a child will find it much harder to form one later.

Question 59

Internal working model-Bowlby’s monotropic theory

Answer 59

-child forms a mental representation of their relationship with their primary attachment figure ->this is called an internal working model
-A child whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver will tend to form an expectation that all relationships are as loving and reliable, and they will bring these qualities to future relationships.
-a child whose first relationship involves poor treatment will tend to form further poor relationships in which they expect such treatment from others or treat others in that way.
-internal working model affects the child’s later ability to be a parent themselves.
-People tend to base their parenting behaviour on their own experiences of being parented.
-This explains why children from functional families tend to have similar families themselves.

Question 60

evaluation 1- validity of monotropy challenged ( Bowlby’s monotropic theory)

Answer 60

-limitation
-concept of monotropy lacks validity.
-Schaffer and Emerson found that although most babies did attach to one person at first, a significant minority formed multiple attachments at the same time.
-although the first attachment does appear to have a particularly strong influence on later behaviour, this may simply mean it is stronger, not necessarily different in quality from the child’s other attachments.
-For example other attachments to family members provide all the same key qualities.
-This means that Bowlby may be incorrect that there is a unique quality and importance to the child’s primary attachment.

Question 61

evaluation 2- support for social releasers ( Bowlby’s monotropic theory)

Answer 61

-strength
-theres evidence supporting the role of social releasers.
-Brazelton et al observed babies trigger interactions with adults using social releasers.
-The researchers then instructed the babies’ primary attachment figures to ignore their babies’ social releasers. -Babies became increasingly distressed and some eventually curled up and lay motionless.
-This illustrates the role of social releasers in emotional development and suggests that they are important in the process of attachment development.

Question 62

evaluation 3- support for internal working model ( Bowlby’s monotropic theory)

Answer 62

-strength
-Theres support for the internal working model.
-Heidi Bailey et al assessed attachment relationships in 99 mothers and their one-year-old babies.
-The researchers measured the mothers’ attachment to their own primary attachment figures and assessed the attachment quality of the babies.
-They found that mothers with poor attachment to their own primary attachment figures were more likely to have poorly attached babies.
-This supports Bowlby’s idea that mothers’ ability to form attachments to their babies is influenced by their internal working models.

Question 63

evaluation 4- counterpoint of support for social releasers ( Bowlby’s monotropic theory)

Answer 63

-There are probably other important influences on social development.
-some psychologists believe that genetic differences in anxiety and sociability affect social behaviour in both babies and adults.
-These differences could also impact on their parenting ability (Kornienko).
-This means that Bowlby may have overstated the importance of the internal working model in social behaviour and parenting at the expense of other factors.

Question 64

what were the behaviours used to judge attachment in Ainsworth’s ‘strange situation’

Answer 64

-Proximity-seeking - >a baby with a good quality attachment will stay fairly close to 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 - >sign of becoming attached is to protest at separation from the caregiver.
-Response to reunion -> babies who are securely attached greet the caregiver’s return with pleasure and seek comfort.

Question 65

Ainsworth’s strange situation procedure

Answer 65

1.The baby is encouraged to explore ->Tests exploration and secure base.
2.A stranger comes in, talks to the caregiver and approaches the baby-> Tests stranger anxiety.
3.The caregiver leaves the baby and stranger together-> Tests separation and stranger anxiety
4. The caregiver returns and the stranger leaves-> Tests reunion behaviour
5. The caregiver leaves the baby alone-> Tests separation anxiety.
6. The stranger returns-> Tests stranger anxiety.
7. The caregiver returns and is reunited with the baby-> Tests reunion behaviour

Question 66

findings-types of attachment ( Ainsworth’s strange situation)

Answer 66

*Secure (Type B).
-explore happily
-proximity-seeking and secure-base behaviour
-moderate separation distress
-moderate stranger anxiety.
-require and accept comfort from the caregiver in the reunion stage
-About 60-75% of British babies are classified as secure.
*Insecure-avoidant (Type A).
-explore freely
-do not seek proximity or show secure-base behaviour.
-little or no reaction when their caregiver leaves
-little stranger anxiety.
-little effort to make contact when the caregiver returns and may even avoid such contact.
-About 20-25% of British babies are classified as insecure-avoidant.
*Insecure-resistant (Type C).
-seek greater proximity
-explore less.
- high levels of stranger and separation distress
-resist comfort when reunited with their caregiver.
-Around 3% of British babies are classified as insecure-resistant.

Question 67

evaluation 1- good predictive validity ( Ainsworth’s strange situation)

Answer 67

-strength
-its outcome predicts a number of aspects of the baby’s later development.
-research has shown that babies and toddlers assessed as Type B (secure) tend to have better outcomes than others, both in later childhood and in adulthood.
-In childhood this includes better achievement in school and less involvement in bullying (McCormick et al, Kokkinos ).
-Securely attached babies also tend to go on to have better mental health in adulthood (Ward et al).
-Those not falling into Types A, B or C tend to have the worst outcomes.
-This suggests that the Strange Situation measures something real and meaningful in a baby’s development.

Question 68

evaluation 2- counterpoint of good predictive validity ( Ainsworth’s strange situation)

Answer 68

-Strange Situation clearly measures something important that is associated with later development.
-However, not all psychologists believe this something is attachment.
-Kagan suggested that genetically-influenced anxiety levels could account for variations in attachment behaviour in the Strange Situation and later development.
-This means that the Strange Situation may not actually measure attachment.

Question 69

evaluation 3- good reliability ( Ainsworth’s strange situation)

Answer 69

-strength
-good inter-rater reliability (the agreement between different observers).
-Bick et al tested inter-rater reliability for the Strange Situation for a team of trained observers and found agreement on attachment type in 94% of cases.
-This high level of reliability may be because the procedure takes place under controlled conditions and because behaviours involve large movements and are therefore easy to observe.
-For example, anxious babies cry and crawl away from strangers.
-This means that we can be confident that attachment type as assessed by the Strange Situation does not depend on subjective judgements.

Question 70

evaluation 4- the test may be culture-bound ( Ainsworth’s strange situation)

Answer 70

-limitation
- it may not be a valid measure of attachment in different cultural contexts.
-Strange Situation was developed in Britain and the US. It may be culture-bound
-babies have different experiences in different cultures and these experiences may affect their responses to the Strange Situation.
- in one Japanese study by Takahashi babies displayed very high levels of separation anxiety and so a disproportionate number were classified as insecure-resistant.
-Takahashi suggests that this anxiety response was not due to high rates of attachment insecurity but to the unusual nature of the experience in Japan where mother-baby separation is very rare.
-This means that it is very difficult to know what the Strange Situation is measuring when used outside Europe and the US.

Question 71

Van IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s research procedure - cultural variations in attachment

Answer 71

-located 32 studies of attachment
-Strange Situation had been used to investigate the proportions of babies with different attachment types.
-conducted in eight countries
-15 were in the US.
-studies yielded results for 1,990 children.
-data for these 32 studies was meta-analysed

Question 72

Van IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s research findings - cultural variations in attachment

Answer 72

-wide variation between the proportions of attachment types in different studies.
-In all countries secure attachment was the most common classification. However,75% in Britain to 50% in China.
-In individualist cultures rates of insecure-resistant attachment were similar to Ainsworth’s original sample (all under 14%)
-collectivist samples from China, Japan and Israel had rates above 25% for insecure resistant (rates of insecure-avoidant attachment were reduced).

Question 73

The italian study- cultural variations in attachment

Answer 73

-Simonelli conducted a study in Italy
-assessed 76 babies aged 12 months using the Strange Situation.
-found 50% were secure, with 36% insecure-avoidant.
-researchers suggest this is due to increasing numbers of mothers of very young children working long hours and using professional childcare.
-findings suggest that patterns of attachment types are not static but vary in line with cultural change.

Question 74

The korean study- cultural variations in attachment

Answer 74

-Mi Kyoung Jin conducted a study in Korea
- Strange Situation was used to assess 87 babies
- overall proportions of insecure and secure babies were similar to those in most countries, with most babies being secure.
- more of those classified as insecurely attached were resistant and only one baby was avoidant.
- similar to the distribution of attachment types found in Japan
-Since Japan and Korea have quite similar child-rearing styles this similarity might be explained in terms of child-rearing style.

Question 75

evaluation 1- indigenous researchers ( cultural variations in attachment)

Answer 75

-strength
-most studies were conducted by indigenous psychologists.
- For example, van IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg included research by a German team (Grossmann) and Takahashi who is Japanese.
-means that many of the potential problems in cross-cultural research can be avoided, such as researchers’ misunderstandings of the language used by participants or having difficulty communicating instructions to them.
-Difficulties can also include bias because of one nation’s stereotypes of another.
-This means there is an excellent chance that researchers and participants communicated successfully
- this enhances the validity of the data collected.

Question 76

evaluation 3- confounding variables ( cultural variations in attachment)

Answer 76

-limitation
- there’s an impact of confounding variables on findings
-Studies conducted in different countries are not usually matched for methodology when they are compared in reviews or meta-analyses.
-Sample characteristics such as poverty, social class and urban/rural make-up can confound results as can the age of participants studied in different countries.
-Environmental variables might also differ
-For example the size of the room and the availability of interesting toys there
-babies might appear to explore more in studies conducted in small rooms with attractive toys compared to large, bare rooms.
-This means that looking at attachment behaviour in different non-matched studies conducted in different countries may not tell us anything about cross-cultural patterns of attachment.

Question 77

evaluation 2- counterpoint of indigenous researchers ( cultural variations in attachment)

Answer 77

-However this has not been true of all cross-cultural attachment research.
- For example Morelli and Tronick were outsiders from America when they studied child-rearing and patterns of attachment in the Efé of Zaire.
- data might have been affected by difficulties in gathering data from participants outside their own culture.
-This means that the data from some countries might have been affected by bias and difficulty in cross-cultural communication.

Question 78

evaluation 4- imposed etic ( cultural variations in attachment)

Answer 78

-limitation
-trying to impose a test designed for one cultural context to another context.
-Imposed etic occurs when we assume an idea or technique that works in one cultural context will work in another.
-An example is in the use of babies’ response to reunion with the caregiver in the Strange Situation.
-In Britain and the US, lack of affection on reunion may indicate an avoidant attachment. But in Germany such behaviour would be more likely interpreted as independence rather than insecurity.
-This means that the behaviours measured may not have the same meanings in different cultural contexts, and comparing them across cultures is meaningless.

Question 79

Maternal deprivation

Answer 79

-emotional and intellectual consequences of separation between a child and his/her mother or mother-substitute.
-Bowlby proposed that continuous care from a mother is essential for normal psychological development

Question 80

Separation versus deprivation- theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 80

-Separation simply means the child not being in the presence of the primary attachment figure.
-This only becomes a problem if the child becomes deprived of emotional care
- Brief separations are not significant for development but extended separations can lead to deprivation, which by definition causes harm.

Question 81

The critical period- theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 81

-first two-and-a-half years of life is a critical period for psychological development.
-If a child is separated from their mother , they are deprived of her emotional care for an extended duration during the critical period leading to inevitable psychological damage
-Bowlby believed there was a continuing risk up to the age of five.

Question 82

what are the two effects on development due to maternal deprivation

Answer 82

-Intellectual development
-Emotional development

Question 83

Intellectual development- theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 83

-Bowlby believed that if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period they would experience delayed intellectual development, characterised by abnormally low IQ.
-For example,Goldfarb found lower IQ in children who had remained in institutions as opposed to those who were fostered and thus had a higher standard of emotional care

Question 84

Emotional development- theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 84

-being deprived of a mother figures’ emotional care affects children is in their emotional development.
-Bowlby identified affectionless psychopathy as the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion towards others.
-prevents a person developing fulfilling relationships and is associated with criminality.
-Affectionless psychopaths cannot appreciate the feelings of victims and so lack remorse for their actions.

Question 85

Bowlby’s research findings- theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 85

-found that 14 of the 44 thieves could be described as affectionless psychopaths and 12 of these had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers in the first two years of their lives.
-Only 2 participants in the control group of 44 had experienced long separations.
-Bowlby concluded that prolonged early deprivation caused affectionless psychopathy.

Question 86

Bowlby’s research procedure- theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 86

-study consisted of 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing.
-thieves’ were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy
-Their families were also interviewed in order to establish whether the ‘thieves’ had prolonged early separations from their mothers.
- sample was compared to a control group of 44 non-criminal but emotionally-disturbed young people.

Question 87

evaluation 1- flawed evidence (theory of maternal deprivation)

Answer 87

-limitation
-poor quality of the evidence
-Bowlby’s 44 thieves study is flawed because it was Bowlby himself who carried out both the family interviews and the assessments for affectionless psychopathy.
-This left him open to bias because he knew in advance which teenagers he expected to show signs of psychopathy.
-Bowlby was also influenced by the findings of Goldfarb’s research on the development of deprived children in wartime orphanages.
-This study has problems of confounding variables because the children had experienced early trauma and institutional care as well as prolonged separation from their primary caregivers.
-This means that Bowlby’s original sources of evidence for maternal deprivation had serious flaws and would not be taken seriously as evidence nowadays.

Question 88

evaluation 2- counterpoint of flawed evidence (theory of maternal deprivation)

Answer 88

-A new line of research has provided some support for the idea that maternal deprivation can have long-term effects.
- Lévy showed that separating baby rats from their mother for as little as a day had a permanent effect on their social development though not other aspects of development.
-This means that, although Bowlby relied on flawed evidence to support the theory of maternal deprivation, there are other sources of evidence for his ideas.

Question 89

evaluation 3- deprivation and privation (theory of maternal deprivation)

Answer 89

-limitation
-Bowlby was confused between different types of early experience.
-Rutter drew an important distinction between two types of early negative experience.
-Deprivation strictly refers to the loss of the primary attachment figure after attachment has developed.
-privation is the failure to form any attachment in the first place - this may take place when children are brought up in institutional care.
-Rutter pointed out that the severe long-term damage Bowlby associated with deprivation is actually more likely to be the result of privation.
-similarly, many of the children in the 44 thieves study had disrupted early lives and may never have formed strong attachments.
-This means that Bowlby may have overestimated the seriousness of the effects of deprivation in children’s development.

Question 90

evaluation 4- critical vs sensitive periods (theory of maternal deprivation)

Answer 90

-limitation
-Bowlby’s idea of a critical period.
-For Bowlby, damage was inevitable if a child had not formed an attachment in the first two-and-a-half years of life.
-however, Koluchová reported the case of the Czech Twins who experienced very severe physical and emotional abuse from the age of 18 months up until they were seven years old.
-Although they were severely damaged emotionally , they received excellent care and by their teens they had recovered fully.
-This means that lasting harm is not inevitable even in cases of severe privation. The critical period’ is therefore better seen as a ‘sensitive period’.

Question 91

Rutter et al’s research procedure-Romanian orphan studies

Answer 91

-Rutter followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans for many years as part of the English and Romanian adoptee (ERA) study.
-The orphans had been adopted by families in the UK.
-The aim of the ERA has been to investigate the extent to which good care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions.
-Physical, cognitive and emotional development has been assessed at ages 4, 6, 11, 15 and 22-25 years.
-A group of 52 children from the UK adopted around the same time have served as a control group.

Question 92

Rutter et al’s research findings (Romanian orphan studies)

Answer 92

-half the adoptees showed signs of delayed intellectual development and the majority were severely undernourished.
-At age 11 the adopted children showed differential rates of recovery
-The mean IQ of those children adopted before the age of six months was 102, compared with 86 for those adopted between six months and two years and 77 for those adopted after two years.
-These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett ).
-ADHD was more common in 15- and 22-25-year-old samples (Kennedy).
-Those children adopted after they were six months showed signs of a disinhibited attachment (attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar)
-those children adopted before the age of six months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Question 93

Zeanah et al’s research procedure (Romanian orphan studies)

Answer 93

-Zeanah conducted the Bucharest early intervention (BEI) project, assessing attachment in 95 Romanian children aged 12-31 months who had spent most of their lives in institutional care (90% on average).
-They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
-Their attachment type was measured using the Strange Situation.
-carers were asked about unusual social behaviour including clingy, attention-seeking behaviour directed inappropriately at all adults (a measure of disinhibited attachment).

Question 94

Zeanah et al’s research findings (Romanian orphan studies)

Answer 94

-found that 74% of the control group were classed as securely attached in the Strange Situation.
- only 19% of the institutional group were securely attached.
-description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children as opposed to less than 20% of the controls.

Question 95

what is meant by institutionalisation

Answer 95

A term for the effects of living in an institutional setting. The term ‘institution’ refers to a place like a hospital or an orphanage where people live for long, continuous periods of time.

Question 96

what are the 2 effects of institutionalisation ( romanian orphan studies)

Answer 96

*Disinhibited attachment
-Children who have spent their early lives in an institution often show signs of disinhibited attachment, being equally friendly and affectionate towards familiar people and strangers.
- highly unusual behaviour -most children in their second year show stranger anxiety.
-Rutter has explained disinhibited attachment as an adaptation to living with multiple caregivers during the sensitive period for attachment formation
-In poor quality institutions a child might have 50 carers but doesn’t spend enough time with any one of them to be able to form a secure attachment.

*Intellectual disability
-In Rutter’s study most children showed signs of intellectual disability when they arrived in Britain.
- most of those adopted before they were six months old caught up with the control group by age four.
-shows damage to intellectual development as a result of institutionalisation can be recovered provided adoption takes place before the age of six months - the age at which attachments form.

Question 97

evaluation 1- real world application (romanian orphan studies)

Answer 97

-strength
-their application used to improve conditions for children growing up outside their family home.
-it improved psychologists’ understanding of the effects of early institutional care and how to prevent the worst of these effects
-This has led to improvements in the conditions experienced by looked-after children e.g. children’s homes now avoid having large numbers of caregivers for each child.
-Instead the children tend to have one or two ‘key workers’ who play a central role in their emotional care.
-Also institutional care is now seen as an undesirable option and effort is made to accommodate such children in foster care or to have them adopted instead.
-This means that children in institutional care have a chance to develop normal attachments and disinhibited attachment is avoided.

Question 98

evaluation 2- fewer confounding variables (romanian orphan studies)

Answer 98

-strength
- lack of confounding variables.
-There were many orphan studies before the Romanian orphans became available to study (e.g. orphans studied during the Second World War).
-Many of the children studied in orphanages had experienced varying degrees of trauma, and it is difficult to disentangle the effects of neglect and physical abuse from those of institutional care.
-However the children from Romanian orphanages had been handed over by loving parents who could not afford to keep them.
-This means that results were much less likely to be confounded by other negative early experiences (higher internal validity).

Question 99

evaluation 3- counterpoint of fewer confounding variables (romanian orphan studies)

Answer 99

-studying children from Romanian orphanages might have introduced different confounding variables.
-The quality of care in these institutions was remarkably poor, with children receiving very little intellectual stimulation or comfort.
-This means that the harmful effects seen in studies of Romanian orphans may represent the effects of poor institutional care

Question 100

evaluation 4- lack of adult data (romanian orphan studies)

Answer 100

-limitation
-lack of data on adult development.
-The latest data from the ERA Study looked at the children in their early- to mid- 20s.
-This means that we do not currently have data to answer questions about the long-term effects of early institutional care.
-research questions include the lifetime prevalence of mental health problems and participants’ success in forming and maintaining adult romantic and parental relationships.
-This means it will be some time before we know more completely what the long-term effects are for the Romanian orphans. It is possible that late-adopted children may ‘catch up’.

Question 101

Internal working model (Attachment and later relationships)

Answer 101

-Bowlby suggested that a baby’s first relationship with their primary attachment figure leads to a mental representation of this relationship.
-This internal working model acts as a template for future childhood and adult relationships.
-The quality of a baby’s first attachment is crucial for their future relationships.
-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.
-They will then seek out functional relationships and behave functionally within them,
-i.e. without being too uninvolved or emotionally close or being controlling and argumentative
-A child with bad experiences of their first attachment will bring these bad experiences to bear on later relationships.
-they may struggle to form relationships in the first place or they may not behave appropriately within relationships,
-they might display insecure-avoidant or insecure-resistant behaviour towards friends and partners.

Question 102

Relationships in childhood and research on bullying(Attachment and later relationships)

Answer 102

-Securely attached babies tend to go on to form the best quality childhood friendships whereas insecurely attached babies later have friendship difficulties
- bullying behaviour can be predicted by attachment type.
-Myron-Wilson and Smith assessed attachment type and bullying involvement using standard questionnaires in 196 children aged 7-11 from London.
-Secure children were very unlikely to be involved in bullying.
-Insecure-avoidant children were the most likely to be victims
-insecure-resistant children were most likely to be bullies.

Question 103

Relationships in adulthood- romantic relationships (Attachment and later relationships)

Answer 103

-McCarthy studied 40 adult women who had been assessed when they were babies to establish their early attachment type.
-Those assessed as securely attached babies had the best adult friendships and romantic relationships.
-Adults classed as insecure-resistant as babies had particular problems maintaining friendships
-those classed as insecure-avoidant struggled with intimacy in romantic relationships.

Question 104

Relationships in adulthood- parental relationships (Attachment and later relationships)

Answer 104

-People tend to base their parenting style on their internal working model so attachment type tends to be passed on through generations of a family.
-Bailey -considered the attachments of 99 mothers to their babies and to their own mothers.
-Mother-baby attachment was assessed using the Strange Situation
-mother’s attachment to their own mother was assessed using an adult attachment interview.
-The majority of women had the same attachment classification both to their babies and their own mothers.

Question 105

evaluation 1- research support ( attachment and later attachments )

Answer 105

-strength
-concept of later relationships has supporting evidence.
-Fearon and Roisman have concluded that early attachment consistently predicts later attachment, emotional well-being and attachment to own children.
-How strong the relationship is between early attachment type and later development depends both on the attachment type and the aspect of later development.
-disorganised attachment is strongly associated with later mental disorder.
-This means that secure attachment as a baby appears to convey advantages for future development while disorganised attachment appears to seriously disadvantage children.

Question 106

evaluation 2- counterpoint of research support ( attachment and later attachments )

Answer 106

-Not all evidence supports the existence of close links between early attachment and later development.
-Regensburg longitudinal study followed 43 individuals from one year of age.
-At age 16 attachment was assessed using the adult attachment interview and there was no evidence of continuity.
-This means that it is not clear to what extent the quality of early attachment really predicts later development.
-There may be other important factors.

Question 107

evaluation 3- validity issues with retrospective studies ( attachment and later attachments )

Answer 107

-limitation
- attachment is assessed retrospectively.
-Most research on the link between early attachment and later development are not longitudinal
- Instead researchers usually ask adolescent or adult participants questions about their relationship with parents, and identify attachment type from this.
-This causes two validity problems.
- asking questions relies on the honesty and accurate perception of the participants.
- it is very hard to know whether what is being assessed is early attachment or in fact adult attachment
-This means that the measures of early attachment used in most studies may be confounded with other factors making them meaningless.

Question 108

evaluation 4- confounding variables ( attachment and later attachments )

Answer 108

-limitation
-existence of confounding variables.
-in some studies, the assessment of early attachment is valid.
-these studies may have validity problems because associations between attachment quality and later development may be affected by confounding variables.
-For example parenting style may influence both attachment quality and later development.
-genetically-influenced personality may be an influence on both factors.
-This means that we can never be entirely sure that it is early attachment and not some other factor that is influencing later development.