Attachment

Question 1

Define the term attachment

Answer 1

An emotional link between an infant and caregiver, each seek closeness and feel more secure when in the presence of the attachment figure. Interactions between a carer and an infant is where an attachment starts. It is the responsiveness of the caregiver to the infants signals that has a deep effect on the child.

Question 2

How do researchers/psychologists recognise an infant has an attachment?

Answer 2

1) Proximity: People try to stay physically close to those they are attached to.
2) Separation distress: People are distressed when an attachment figure leaves their presence.
3) Secure base behaviour: We always ‘touch base’ with our attachment figure regularly return to their attachment

Question 3

Caregiver-Infant interactions: Interactional synchrony

Answer 3

Caregiver and infant respond in time to keep communication going. e.g infant smiles, caregiver smiles back at the same time. This type of communication ensures infant and caregivers emotions and actions mirror each other’s.

Meltzoff and Moore conducted a controlled observation of forty two-week old babies to measure caregiver-infant interactions. An adult displayed one of three facial expressions or distinctive gestures, such as mouth opening or tongue protrusion. The child’s response was filmed and identified by an independent observer. A link was found between the facial expression of the adult and the response of the baby.

Question 4

Caregiver-Infant interactions: Reciprocity

Answer 4

This is a two-way, mutual process where infant and caregiver take turns to respond to each other’s behaviours/signals, to sustain interaction. The behaviour of each party elicits a response from the other, E.g child puts arms out to be held - caregiver picks up.

Babies have ‘alert phases’ and signal when they are ready for interaction. Mothers pick up and act on these signals 2/3rd of the time

Brazleton said both mother and baby initiate the interaction and take it in turns to do so. He called this the ‘dance.’ He said it’s like when a couple dance together they respond to each other’s moves.

Question 5

Caregiver – Infant Interactions AO3

Answer 5

One potential criticism of the research into caregiver-infant interactions, is that much of the research lacks ecological validity. This is because the research takes place in controlled environments, such as a controlled observation with the caregiver and infant being filmed. Therefore, it is difficult to generalise the findings to real life cases of caregiver-infant interactions as the infant may not behave how they usually do in the real world, for example, they may interact with the parent more as they are the only familiar person in the room, or they may interact less as they feel uncomfortable in an unfamiliar environment. Therefore, lowering the external validity of the research in to care-giver infant interactions.

Moreover, because the research takes place in controlled environments (controlled observation) this means that the research can be praised for having high control over extraneous variables. A potential extraneous variable that would be controlled is not having other adults in the room during observations of caregiver-infant interactions as it may distract the baby. This means that cause and effect can be established in the interactions between caregivers and infants, thus increasing the internal validity of the research in to caregiver-infant interactions.

However, critics argue that the research in to caregiver-infant interactions can be prone to bias, as babies cannot speak, inferences must be drawn about their behaviour. This means that a psychologist may interpret this information in a way that fits their hypothesis, for example a baby may have wind but the psychologist may infer that this is a smile in response to their parents smile, reducing the internal validity of the research in to caregiver-infant interactions. In order to minimise this, there should be two observers present to agree on the findings.

Question 6

Stages of Attachment

Answer 6

Aim: To investigate the formation of early attachments, the age at which they develop and who they are directed to.

Procedure:
* Longitudinal study on 60 working class newborn babies and their mothers from Glasgow
* The babies and mothers were visited at their own homes every month for the first year of the baby’s life and again at 18 months
* Observations and interviews (with mothers) were used.

Attachment was measured in two ways:
* Separation anxiety - assessed by the infant being left alone in a room, or the researcher asking the mother how the infant reacts in this instance.
* Stranger Anxiety – assessed by the researcher starting each home visit by approaching the infant to see if this distressed the child.
* Researchers asked the mothers questions such as who infants smiled at, whom they responded to etc.

Findings:
Schaffer and Emerson found there were 4 stages to attachment:
1) Asocial (first few weeks) Babies behaviour to adults and inanimate objects was similar.
2) Indiscriminate (2-7 months) Babies show a preference to people over inanimate objects but usually do not show stranger or separation anxiety.
3) Specific – from around 7 months babies start to form attachments and show separation and strangers anxiety when separated. In 65% of cases this was with the mother.
4) Multiple – within 1 months of forming a specific attachment 29% of children formed multiple attachment. By 1 year most infants had multiple attachments. At 18 months 75% of children had an attachment with their father.

Conclusion: Infants form attachments in stages, multiple attachments can be formed.

Question 7

Stages of attachment detailed

Answer 7

Asocial- The baby’s behaviour towards non-human objects and humans is quite similar. However, babies are happier when in the presence of other humans.

Indiscriminate- From 2-7 months babies start to display more observable social behaviour. They show a preference for people over inanimate objects and recognise and prefer familiar adults. Babies will usually accept cuddles and comfort from any adult, they usually do not show separation or stranger anxiety.

Specific- From around 7 months the majority of babies start to display stranger anxiety and separation anxiety when separated from one particular adult (the biological mother in 65% of cases). This is a specific attachment, and is not necessarily the person the child spends most time with, but the one who offers the most interaction and responds to the babies ‘signals’ the most.

Multiple- Shortly after children show specific attachments, they usually extend this attachment behaviour to other adults whom they regularly spend time with. In Schaffer and Emerson’s study, 29% of children had multiple attachments within a month of forming a specific attachment. By the age of one year, the majority of infants have developed multiple attachments. At 18 months, 75% of infants had an attachment with their father.

Question 8

Stages of attachment identified by Schaffer/Multiple attachments AO3

Answer 8

A plausible strength of Schaffer’s research is that it has high ecological validity, this is because observations were carried out in the families’ own homes during ordinary activities by the parent such as leaving the room. This makes it easier to generalise the findings to real life examples of attachment as the children’s’ behaviour is likely to be representative of everyday interactions. Therefore increasing the external validity of the research in to stages of attachment/multiple attachments.

However the research could be prone to social desirability bias as interviews were used to gather information, therefore the mothers could have lied about their child’s behaviour to present their parenting in the best possible light, for example they may say that the child is distressed when they leave the room even if they are not, so the results may have lacked internal validity and not measure the true stages of attachment/multiple attachments.

Moreover, Schaffer’s research can also be criticised for being culture bias as the sample used were all from the same city (Glasgow). Therefore it is difficult to generalise the findings of the stages of attachment to other cultures, for example, psychologists studying non-western (Collectivist) cultures where families often work together to look after a child have found that infants can form multiple attachments from the outset without forming a specific attachment first. Limiting the external validity of the research into the stages/multiple attachments.

Question 9

Research into the role of the father: Grossman

Answer 9

Aim: carried out a longitudinal study looking at both parents’ behaviour and its relationship to the quality of children’s attachment into their teens.

Finding 1: The quality of infants’ attachment with their mothers, but not their fathers, was related to the children’s’ attachments in adolescence.

Conclusion: suggesting that the fathers attachment is less important than the mothers.

Finding 2: However, the quality of father’s play with infants was related to the quality the children’s’ adolescent attachments.

Conclusion: This suggests fathers have a different role in attachment- one that is more to do with play and stimulation, and less to do with nurturing, but is still important for the child’s wellbeing.

Question 10

Research into the role of the father: Field

Answer 10

Aim: To investigate the role of the father

Method: Controlled observation
Procedure: Field filmed 4 month old babies in face to face interactions with primary caregiver mothers, primary caregiver fathers, and secondary caregiver fathers.

Findings:
Primary caregiver fathers, like mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants than the secondary caregiver fathers. This behaviour seems to be more important in building an attachment to an infant.

Conclusion:
It seems that fathers can be the more nurturing attachment figure and take on a traditionally maternal role. The key to the attachment relationship is the level of responsiveness not the gender of the parent.

Question 11

Role of the father AO3

Answer 11

Field’s research into the role of the father in attachment has practical applications. This is because the principles of the research, by Field, that responsiveness to the child’s needs, not gender, is most important when forming attachments can be used to advise parents. Many parents make decisions about who should take on the primary caregiver role, mothers may feel pressured to stay at home because of stereotypical views of mothers’ and fathers’ roles. Equally, fathers may feel pressure to go back to work rather than focus on parenting; in some families this may not be the best option economically as the mother may earn more money. Research into the role of the father can be used to offer reassuring advice to parents; for example fathers can become a primary attachment figure. This means parental anxiety about the roles of fathers can be reduced.

However, a potential criticism is that the study by Grossman found that fathers as secondary attachment figures had an important and distinct role in their child’s development of play and stimulation. However other studies have shown that children growing up in single-mother or lesbian-parent families do not develop any differently from those in two parent heterosexual families. This would seem to suggest that the father’s role may not be distinct.

Finally, the fact that fathers tend not to become the primary attachment figure could simply be the result of traditional gender roles. On the other hand, it could be that female hormones (oestrogen) create higher levels of nurturing and therefore women are biologically predisposed to be the primary attachment figure for children. Therefore there are several explanations to consider when investigating the role of the father.

Question 12

Lorenz

Answer 12

Aim:
To investigate the effects of ‘imprinting’ on goslings

Method:
Field experiment

Procedure:
* Lorenz randomly divided the goose eggs.
* Half of the eggs were hatched with the mother goose in their natural environment (control group).
* The other half were hatched in an incubator where the first moving object they saw was Lorenz (experimental group).
* Lorenz recorded the behaviour of the goslings – who they imprinted on.

Findings:
* The incubator group that saw Lorenz first imprinted upon and followed Lorenz everywhere whereas the group who saw the mother goose first imprinted upon and followed her.
* Lorenz identified a critical period (12-17 hours after hatching) in which imprinting needs to take place. If ‘imprinting’ did not occur within that time Lorenz suggests that chicks will not attach themselves to a mother figure.
* In addition, goslings who imprinted on to humans would, as adult birds, attempt to mate with humans.

Conclusion:
Goslings imprint on the first moving object that they see, there is a specific time period in which this needs to take place, otherwise they will not imprint.

Question 13

Lorenz AO3

Answer 13

Lorenz’s research into the effects of imprinting on attachment has practical applications. This is because the principles of the research, that goslings had to imprint within 12-17 hours otherwise they would not imprint at all and the fact that goslings who imprint on to humans later show sexual behaviour towards humans when they are adult birds shows the importance of this critical period on future relationships. Psychologists can use this information in order to promote the importance of early interactions between parents and infants and hopefully reduce issues later in life, therefore Lorenz’s research is an important part of applied psychology.

However, Lorenz’s research can be criticised for animal bias because it was conducted on animals (goslings) to investigate attachment. This is potentially a problem because human attachment behaviour may be more complex than animal attachment behaviour as human emotions are more sophisticated towards their offspring (babies) than birds’. For example, attachment in humans is a two way process, so it is not just the young who become attached to their mothers but also the mammalian mothers who show an emotional attachment to their young. Therefore there are issues with extrapolating the findings of Lorenz’s research in to attachment to humans.

Moreover, Lorenz’s research may be criticised for researcher bias. Lorenz recorded his own observations of the birds so he may have chosen to only include findings that would support his theory of imprinting. Therefore this would lower the internal validity of the research as it may not be measuring the effects of imprinting on attachment.

Question 14

Harlow

Answer 14

Aim:
To investigate whether food or comfort is more important in the formation of attachments.

Method:
Lab experiment

Procedure:
16 baby rhesus monkeys were separated from their mothers at birth and brought up in cages.
The cages contained surrogate mothers – A wire mother with milk and a cloth mother

• The amount of time spent with mother was recorded
• The monkeys were frightened with a loud noise to test which mother they preferred when stressed
• The long term effects were recorded, such as sociability and relationships to their future offspring.
  Findings
• Monkeys spent more time with the cloth mother than the wire mother.
• When frightened the monkeys would go to the cloth mother.
• The monkeys later in life had emotional damage such as being much more timid, being easily bullied, difficulty mating and females being inadequate mothers when they were older.

Conclusion
Contact comfort is the most important factor when forming an attachment.

Question 15

Harlow AO3

Answer 15

A strength of Harlow’s research is that it has practical applications as it emphasises the importance of comfort in the formation of attachments. This finding can be used by social workers and clinical psychologists in understanding that a lack of bonding experience may be a risk factor in child development allowing them to intervene to prevent poor outcomes, this research is an important part of applied psychology when explaining the formations of attachment

However, some may argue the usefulness of this practical application may be limited as, Harlow’s research can be criticised for animal bias because it used animals (rhesus monkeys) to investigate attachment. This is potentially a problem because human attachment behaviour may be more complex than animal attachment behaviour as human emotions are more sophisticated towards their offspring (babies) than animals’. Therefore there are issues with extrapolating the findings of Harlow’s research in to attachment to humans.

Moreover, Harlow’s study raises ethical issues due to the harm inflicted on the monkeys. The monkeys suffered greatly as a result of Harlow’s procedures and were frightened, had emotional/social issues in later life and sometimes died, Limiting Harlow’s research into attachments in animals.

Question 16

Explanations of attachment: Learning Theory

Answer 16

The learning theory emphasises the importance of food in the formation of attachment, and is known as the ‘cupboard love’ theory, as it suggests infants learn to attach to whoever feeds them.

MILK provided is an UNCONDITIONED STIMULUS, which provides an UNCONDITIONED RESPONSE in the infant of pleasure.
This response is AUTOMATIC and does not need to be LEARNT.
The NEUTRAL STIMULUS is the FEEDER, through repetition of feeding the infant learns to associate the feeder with food and pleasure.
Therefore, the FEEDER becomes a CONDITIONED STIMULUS, this will produce the CONDITIONED RESPONSE of pleasure.
According to a learning theorist, this is the basis of attachment as the child then seeks to be near the feeder

Operant conditioning can be used to explain why babies cry for comfort.
When an infant is hungry and cries, this leads to a response from the caregiver – for example, feeding. This is positive reinforcement for the infant as the infant receives the reward of food, and the crying behaviour is reinforced.
At the same time, when the caregiver feeds the infant, the crying stops, this is negative reinforcement for the caregiver as the negative stimulus of crying has been removed, and the feeding behaviour is reinforced.
This mutual reinforcement strengthens an attachment.

Question 17

Explanations of attachment: Learning theory AO3

Answer 17

The learning theory of attachment can be criticised for environmental reductionism. This is because the theory reduces the complex human behaviour of attachment down to simple basic units of learning to attach through stimulus, response and association. This neglects a holistic approach, which would take in to account how a person’s culture and social context would influence and explain their attachment, for example in collectivist cultures where families often work together to look after children children may form multiple attachments from the outset, not just with who feeds them. Therefore, the learning theory of attachment may lack validity as it does not allow us to understand the behaviour in context.

Research to contradict the learning theory of attachment was conducted by Harlow. Harlow found that monkey’s spent more time with the surrogate mother who provided them with comfort, rather than the surrogate mother who provided them with food. The same must be true for humans – after all, learning theorists believed that non-humans and humans are equivalent. Therefore contradicting the learning theory’s assumption that we learn to attach to the person who feeds us via associations, thus limiting the learning theory of attachment.

Research to contradict the learning theory of attachment was conducted by Schaffer and Emerson, they found that babies tended to form attachments to their mother regardless of whether she was the one who usually fed them, attachment was more due to responding to babies signals and interacting with them. Furthermore, research by Field into the role of the father, has also shown that the best quality attachments are with the caregivers that are sensitive and responsive to the infants needs. Therefore evidencing that feeding the infant does not appear to be the most important factor in forming an attachment as the learning theory suggests.

Question 18

Bowlby’s Monotropic theory.

Answer 18

ADAPTIVE:
Bowlby suggests that attachment is an innate system, it is inherited in order to improve survival, therefore it is adaptive. Bowlby suggested infants are born ‘programmed’ to attach and parents are also ‘programmed’ to attach.

SOCIAL RELEASERS:
Bowlby states that infants are born with social releasers such as smiling, crying and looking ‘cute’, this triggers a response in a care giver and ensures interaction takes place to form an attachment.

CRITICAL PERIOD:
Bowlby proposed a critical period for attachment in an infant to take place, this is a biological period. If an attachment does not take place during the set developmental period of the first 2.5 years of life – THEN IT MAY NOT TAKE PLACE AT ALL.

MONOTROPY:
Bowlby’s theory is described as ‘monotropic’ because he placed great emphasis on a child’s attachment to one caregiver.
He believed this is the most important attachment in the child’s development. Bowlby called this person the mother, but said it didn’t need to be the biological mother.
He put forward two principles:
- The law of continuity suggest the quality of a child’s attachment will be better if they receive consistent and predictable care.
- The law of accumulated separation states that having substantial time apart from the monotropy risks a poor quality attachment.

INTERNAL WORKING MODEL:
The internal working model is a ‘mental representation’ that the child forms of their relationship with their primary caregiver.
This serves as a model/template for what relationships are like. A child uses their attachment relationship with their caregiver to build an expectation of what future relationships will be like.
It therefore has a POWERFUL impact on the child’s future relationships. Future relationships mirror childhood attachments.
Bowlby believes that Internal Working Models are passed on from one generation to the next , people base their parenting on their own experiences of being parented.

Question 19

Bowlby’s Monotropic theory AO3

Answer 19

Research to support Bowlby’s Monotropic theory of attachment comes from Lorenz, Lorenz studied imprinting on goslings and found a critical period of 12-17 hours in which imprinting had to take place otherwise it would not later. This supports Bowlby’s concept of a critical period, that infants must attach within the first 2.5 years of life otherwise it would be difficult to form attachments later, therefore strengthening Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment. However, critics would argue that this research to support may be limited as it was conducted on geese and therefore, as humans are more emotionally complex, the findings may not represent attachment behaviour in humans.

Research to support Bowlby’s monotropic theory and concept of an internal working model was conducted by Hazan and Shaver (1987) who created the ‘love quiz’. They found that securely attached children had happy and long lasting relationships in later life whereas insecurely attached children found it hard to form relationships and many were divorced. Therefore, this SUPPORTS the Internal Working Model as a feature of Bowlby’s monotropic theory as the first relationships acted as a template for future relationships.

Research to contradict Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory was conducted by Shaffer and Emerson who found evidence to support the view that children have multiple attachments. They found these multiple attachments may help children to develop socially, emotionally and cognitively. Therefore this CONTRADICTS the Monotropy proposed by Bowlby, and the idea that infants have one attachment, thus limiting his Monotropic Theory of attachment.

Question 20

Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’

Answer 20

Ainsworth and Bell conducted a CONTROLLED OBSERVATION of children’s attachment behaviour using the ‘Strange Situation Classification’.

Sample: 100 middle-class American infants and their mothers.

During the observations Ainsworth judge the child’s reaction to the following four variables via a two-way mirror:
1) Willingness to explore environment
2) Separation anxiety
3) Stranger anxiety
4) Reunion behaviour

Question 21

Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’ procedure

Answer 21

1. Parent enters room with child, child explores for 3 minutes.
2. A Stranger enters and joins the parent and infant and tries to interact with the child.
3. Parent leaves the infant with the stranger.
4. Parent returns and the stranger leaves. Parent settles the infant
5. Parent leaves the child alone.
6. Stranger returns.
7. Parent returns and stranger leaves.

Findings:
Secure 70%
Insecure-avoidant 20%
Insecure–resistant 10%

Question 22

Attachment types

Answer 22

Secure attachment
 Willing to explore environment – uses mother as secure base.
 Upset when mother leaves
 Avoidant of stranger but friendly when mother present
 happy when mother returns
Associated with a responsive primary caregiver

Insecure-avoidant
 Willing to explore environment
 Unconcerned by mother’s absence
 Unconcerned, often avoidant of mother and stranger
 Unresponsive when she returned
Associated with an unresponsive primary caregiver.

Insecure-resistant
 Low willingness to explore environment.
 Intensely distressed when mother left
 Extreme fear of stranger
 Clinginess mixed with rejection on return
Associated with inconsistent primary caregiver.

Question 23

Ainsworth’s ‘strange situation’ AO3

Answer 23

One potential criticism of Ainsworth’s research into attachment types, is that it lacks ecological validity. This is because the research takes place in a controlled environments. Therefore, it may not be appropriate to generalise the findings to real life attachment types as the infant may not behave how they usually do in their natural environment, for example, they may explore the room less than they usually would, or be even more scared of a stranger as they feel uncomfortable or shy in an unfamiliar environment. Therefore, lowering the external validity of the research in to attachment types.

Ainsworth’s strange situation is praised for being high in reliability, this is because it was conducted in a controlled setting (room with two-way mirror) using a standardised procedure, for example each variable was assessed for 3 minute intervals, therefore the observation can be repeated again in the same conditions in order to check for consistent results into types of attachment, and has been carried out successfully in many different cultures.

However, the strange situation tool used to measure attachment has been criticised for Imposed Etic. It is based on American child-rearing practices and ignores practices in other cultures. For example, in Germany, it is common practice for independence to be encouraged in infants, these infants may show and insecure-avoidant attachment type, but that would be desirable in this culture. Therefore, the Strange Situation may not be appropriate to measure attachments types in other cultures.

Question 24

Cultural Variations in attachment, including van Ijzendoorn

Answer 24

Aim: To investigate cross cultural variations in attachment

Sample: 32 studies of the Strange Situation, from 8 countries using around 2000 children.

Procedure/Method: Meta-analysis of the Strange Situation

Findings
*The most common attachment type in all 8 countries was SECURE attachment.

*The lowest percentage of secure attachment was in China, the highest was in Britain.
*However, they found considerable DIFFERENCES in INSECURE types. INSECURE-AVOIDANT was the most dominant insecure attachment type in WESTERN cultures.

*Where as INSECURE-RESISTANT was the most dominant insecure type in NON-WESTERN cultures, (with the exception of China.)

*One of the most significant findings was that there was 150% greater variation of attachment styles WITHIN cultures than BETWEEN cultures. For example in the USA, one study found 46% of the sample were securely attached, compared to another study in the USA that found 90% of the sample were securely attached.

Conclusion
These results show that there are CULTURAL VARIATIONS IN ATTACHMENT as insecure types were different. Although there MUST BE SIMILARITIES due to SECURE attachment being MOST COMMON IN ALL CULTURES.

Question 25

SUMMARY OF MOST/LEAST COMMON ATTACHMENT TYPES

Answer 25

Secure
1 - UK 75%
2 - Sweden 74%

1 - China 50%
2 - Germany 57%

Insecure Avoidant
1 - Germany 35%
2 - Holland 26%

1 – Japan 5%
2 - Israel 7%

Insecure Resistant
1 - Israel 29%
2 – Japan 27%

1 - UK 3%
2 - Sweden 4%

Question 26

Cultural variations in attachment AO3

Answer 26

Van Ijzendoorn’s meta-analysis of cultural variations of attachment could be argued to have high population validity as it was a meta-analysis of 32 strange situation studies, using a large sample of 2000 infants. Therefore it is easier to generalise the findings to the rest of the target population, increasing the external validity of the research investigating cultural variations in attachment types.

Moreover, the strange situation tool used in this study has been criticised for Imposed Etic. It is based on American child-rearing practices and ignores practices in other cultures (that aren’t American) for example the lack of separation anxiety indicates an insecure-avoidant attachment type, in Germany this may be seen in a positive light as independence rather than avoidance or insecurity. Therefore, the Strange Situation may not be appropriate to measure attachments types across all cultures when investigating cultural variations in attachment.

A final criticism, is that the meta-analysis research lacks ecological validity as the 32 studies of the Strange Situation were carried out in a controlled environment. Therefore, it may not be appropriate to generalise the findings to real life attachment types as the infant may not behave how they usually do in their natural environment, for example, they may explore the room less than they usually would, or be even more scared of a stranger as they feel uncomfortable or shy in an unfamiliar environment. Therefore, lowering the external validity of the research in to cultural variations in attachment types.

Question 27

Define the term maternal deprivation

Answer 27

The emotional and intellectual consequences of extended separation between a child and his/her mother or mother substitute, where a child loses an aspect of care, within the critical period.

Question 28

Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 28

Bowlby suggested the idea that continued nurture from a mother or mother substitute within the first 2.5 years of life is important for healthy psychological development. If a child has extended periods of separation from the mother within the critical period, where an element of care is lost, then psychological damage is inevitable and irreversible.

Bowlby proposed two kinds of psychological damage - intellectual damage and emotional damage.

Intellectual damage includes cognitive impairment, such as an intellectual delay, shown by abnormally low IQ.
Goldfarb found lower IQ in children who had remained in institutions compared to those who had been fostered.

Emotional damage includes affectionless psychopathy, this is the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion for others. This prevents the person developing normal relationships and is associated with criminality. Affectionless psychopaths also lack remorse.

Question 29

Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation AO3

Answer 29

Research to support Bolwby’s maternal deprivation theory was conducted by Bowlby, the 44 juvenile thieves study. Bowlby interviewed an opportunity sample of 44 juvenile thieves to see if they had signs of affectionless psychopathy, he then interviewed their parents to see if there were any long periods of separation within the critical period. He found that those who had affectionless psychopathy were more likely to have experienced long separations, therefore supporting Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation as it shows prolonged separations in early childhood can lead to negative consequences.

However, one criticism of Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory is that the findings from Bowlby’s juvenile thieves study are based on retrospective data. It relies on the memory of the juvenile’s parents to recall the periods of separations in childhood. Therefore they could have lied about this information or simply forgotten it. This reduces the internal validity of Bowlby’s 44 juvenile thieves study and weakens the support the research provides for theory of maternal deprivation.

However, a strength of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation has practical applications. The principle of the theory, that there are potential negative consequences of separation from a caregiver in early life has lead to changes in society, such as hospitals changing visiting hours and letting parents stay over night with their infants, in order to reduce the intellectual and emotional issues such as affectionless psychopathy. Therefore Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation is an important part of applied psychology. Think further: Perhaps it is appropriate to suggest that this would lead to economic implications such as; less criminal activity, which consequently saves tax payers money.

Question 30

Effects of institutionalisation: Reactive attachment disorder

Answer 30

An extreme lack of sensitive responsiveness from a parent in early life can lead to a child growing up unable to trust or love others. They become isolated and very selfish and unable to understand the needs of others. can become sociopathic without a conscience, they can have a lack of remorse.

Question 31

Effects of institutionalisation: Disinhibited attachment

Answer 31

A condition in which children select attachment figures indiscriminately and behave in an overly familiar fashion with complete strangers, for example being friendly and affectionate. This is unusual behaviour as usually, young children would show signs of stranger anxiety.

It seems to be caused by long periods of institutional care in early life, children may adapt to having multiple caregivers during the sensitive period for attachment formation.

Institutionalised children often have other behavioural disorders too including attention seeking.

Question 32

Effects of institutionalisation: Cognitive impairment

Answer 32

Cognitive impairment is a delay in intellectual development, an individual would have a low IQ and problems with concentration, moreover they may have difficulty in learning new concepts and behaviours.

Question 33

Romanian orphan studies: Effects of Institutionalisation

Answer 33

Rutter et al
Aim:
To investigate whether loving and nurturing care could overturn the effects of institutionalisation the children had suffered in Romanian orphanages.

Procedure:
Longitudinal study. Physical, emotional and cognitive development were assessed at ages 4, 6 ,11 and 15.
The age of adoption being the naturally occurring IV and the DV was the children’s development

Sample: 111 Romanian orphans who were adopted into British families.
Rutter studied three groups:
1· Adopted before the age of 6 months
2· Adopted between 6 months and 2 years
3· Adopted after the age of two (late adoptees).
The Romanian orphans were compared to a control group of 52 British adopted children.

Findings:
- At the initial assessment 50% of the Romanian children showed signs of cognitive impairment and were severely undernourished.
- By the age of 4 years the children were making very good recoveries, however, those adopted later had a much higher level of disinhibited attachment. On the other hand, orphans adopted before 6 months were doing as well as the British adopted children.
- At the age of 11, the mean IQ for those adopted later was lower than those adopted earlier, showing cognitive impairment. Those adopted before the age of 6 months had a ‘normal’ IQ level.

Conclusion:
Some negative effects of institutionalisation can be overcome by sensitive, nurturing care, more so if the adoption takes place earlier.

Question 34

Romanian orphan studies: Effects of Institutionalisation AO3

Answer 34

Research into institutionalisation has practical applications. This is because studying the Romanian orphans has led to improvements in the conditions experienced by children growing up outside their family home. For example, children’s homes now avoid having a large number of caregivers for each child and instead the children tend to have one or two ‘key workers’ who play a central role in the child’s emotional care. This helps reduce the negative effects that can stem from institutionalisation such as disinhibited attachments as children are more likely to form a bond with a carer if they are spending more time with that person. Therefore, institutionalisation research is an important part of applied psychology as it has improved psychologists’ understanding of the effect of early institutional care and how to prevent the worst of these effects.

Compared to previous research into institutionalisation, Rutter’s research has higher control over extraneous variables. In previous orphans studies, the children had often experienced trauma, neglect, abuse or bereavement before being institutionalised and it was difficult to tell if any long term effects were due to the neglect and abuse or the institutional care. However, in Rutter’s research it the majority of the Romanian orphans had been handed over by loving parents who could not afford to keep them, meaning it was possible to study the effects of institutionalisation without these confounding variables. Therefore, increasing the internal validity of the research into the effects of institutionalisation.

However, studying children from Romanian orphanages might have introduced different confounding variables. The quality of care in these institutions was extremely poor, with children receiving very little intellectual stimulation or comfort. This means that the harmful effects seen in studies of Romanian orphans may be due to the effects of poor institutional care, rather than institutional care on it’s own .

Question 35

The influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships, including the role of an internal working model. (internal working model)

Answer 35

Bowlby argues that the child forms a ‘mental representation’ (schema) of their early attachment relationship with their primary caregiver.
This acts as a model for what relationships are like and future relationships will mirror them.
If the child is raised by a loving primary caregiver who responds to their needs they are likely to have a secure attachment and view relationships as positive (positive internal working model) and have more successful later relationships.

However if their first relationship is with an caregiver who is unresponsive to their needs they are more likely to have an insecure attachment and more problems in forming relationships (negative internal working model) and may not behave appropriately when they are in them e.g. arguing more or being too controlling.

This mental representation of early attachment influences the nature of all their later childhood and adult relationships but also their relationship with their own children – attachment types are passed on through generations.

Question 36

Influence of the internal working model on childhood relationships

Answer 36

Attachment type is linked to the quality of peer relationships in later childhood. If a child has a secure attachment to their primary caregiver, they are more likely to have better quality relationships with their peers. However if they have an insecure attachment to their primary caregiver, they are more likely to have difficulties in making friends.

Smith et al (1998) found that this early attachment could predict bullying behaviour with insecure-avoidant children being most likely to be victims of bullying and insecure-resistant child being most likely to be the bully.

Question 37

Influence of the internal working model on adult romantic relationships

Answer 37

Research has shown that the internal working model can also influence adult relationships. Hazen and Shaver created a questionnaire (The Love Quiz) which was printed in newspapers to study a person’s adult attachment and their attachment in early childhood.
They found:
56% of participants were securely attached as children. They were most likely to have positive and longer lasting romantic relationships with partners they felt they could trust.
25% were seen as insecure-avoidant as children and these people reported more feelings of jealousy and feared intimacy (closeness).
Finally, 19% were classified as insecure-resistant as children and these people fear being abandoned and can put too much pressure on their partner.

They concluded that the patterns of attachment behaviour are reflected in adult romantic relationships.

Question 38

Influence of the internal working model on relationships with own children

Answer 38

An internal working model affects the ability to form a good relationship with their own children. People base their parenting style on their internal working model, so attachment tends to be passed on through family generations.

Bailey et al (2007) found that mothers tended to have the same attachment style with their child as they did with their own mother.

Question 39

The influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships, including the role of an internal working model AO3

Answer 39

Research to support the influence of early attachments on later relationships was conducted by Harlow, Harlow separated monkeys from their mothers at birth and raised them in cages, they therefore had no early attachments. Harlow found that the monkey’s found it very difficult to form relationships with other monkeys when they were older, for example they had difficulty mating and females were inadequate mothers. This supports the influence of early attachment on later relationships BECAUSE it shows that having a negative early attachment can lead to negative relationships later with partners and own children. However, critics would argue that Harlow’s research may not be representative of humans as humans are more emotionally complex than animals.

The influence of early attachment on later relationships can be criticised for being deterministic. The theory states that our behaviour is controlled and determined by early relationships, for example negative early attachments will lead to a person having negative attachments with their own children. However, this neglects the role of free will and choice an individual has. For example a person may choose to have a different type of relationship with their child to what they experienced from their parents. Therefore limiting the research in to the influence of early attachment on later relationships.

Finally, research into the relationship between early attachment and later relationships is based on retrospective data. As the participants often have to think back to their early attachments. This is a weakness because it relies on individuals accurately recalling their early attachment, however memory has been found to be inaccurate. Therefore this lowers the internal validity of research in to the influence of early attachments on later relationships.