attachment

Question 1

what does reciprocity mean

Answer 1

-babies and mother spend a lot of time in intense interactions
- babies have alert phases and signals that they are ready for the interaction
- reciprocity happens when each person responds to the other
- 3+ months on the interaction is frequent and involves close attention and facial expressions

Question 2

what is interactional sychrony

Answer 2

people are synchronised when they carry out the same action at the same time
this happens when mothers and babies mirror each other’s reactions
important for the development of mother-baby interactions
meltzoff and moore found that interaction synchrony began at two weeks

Question 3

evaluation of caregiver infant interactions

Answer 3

• difficult to know if the interactions have special meaning. A child could merely be making a hand gesture that doesn’t have a lot of meaning. lowers the validity of the theory
  + methodological strengths. Most research is done under controlled conditions increases validity also has standardised procedure
• seen as discriminating against women. makes women feel like they shouldn’t go back to work after
• cultural bias as all research is carried out in western countries

Question 4

explain Isabella research

Answer 4

AIM
see if interactional synchrony is important for the development of caregiver and infant attachment
observed 30 mothers and infants together and assessed the degree of synchrony
CONCLUSION
high levels of synchrony were seen with better quality mother- infant attachment
important for the development of mother infant interactions

Question 5

explain parent-infant attachments

Answer 5

-research shows infants form attachment earlier with mothers than they do with fathers
- schaffer and emerson found that babies attached to their mothers at around 7 months and within a few weeks or months formed a secondary attachment to people including the father
755 of the infants formed an attachment to the father at around 18 months

Question 6

explain the role of the father

Answer 6

• some people suggest the fathers role is less important than the mothers in determining adolescent attachment
  some people argue men might not be biologically the best carers
  socially however, times are changing
  9% of single parents are male
  some research shows that when a male is a single parent the take on some characteristics of a mother.
  the important factors affecting the relationship between a father and a child are:
• degree of sensitivity
  -attachment with their parents
  -marital intimacy
  -supporting co parents

Question 7

evaluation of the role of the father

Answer 7

+grossman carried out a longnitudinal study that looked into parent behaviour and its relationship to the quality of the child’s attachments. However the quality of the fathers play was associated to the child’s attachment in adolescence. suggests fathers play a different role in attachment
- weakness is pre-existing bias. researchers may have expected fathers to take on a certain role and could have biased the findings. reduced validity
- doesn’t take into account biological factors like womens levels of oestrogen that could make them more nuturing
- if fathers have a distinct role in attachment then it doesn’t explain how children who grow up without a father do not develop differently from those who do

Question 8

what are schaffers stages of attachment

Answer 8

1. asocial stage- up to six weeks
   form attachments with any human
2. indiscriminate stage- 6 weeks to six months- babies are more sociable and can tell people apart so begin to form stronger attachments with those who they see more often. Don’t progress much until the next stage. no fear of strangers
3. specific attachment- 7 months onwards- infant begins to show separation anxiety and begins to protest by crying. show fear of strangers
4. multiple attachments- 10-11 months onwards- secondary attachments

Question 9

evaluation of schaffers stages of attachment

Answer 9

• asocial stage is first few weeks of behaviour babies are too young to have control and good co-ordination so it is hard to make observations. hard to rely on evidence
• issues with measuring attachment- just because the child becomes distressed when a person leaves the room doesn’t mean they are their primary caregiver/ attachment
  -methodological issues with research. argely based on self report and observations. self report may lack in validity.
  + schaffer and emerson supports- longnitudinal study on 60 babies at monthly intervals for th first 18 months of their life. glasgow and working class. asked mothers about seperation anxiety and stranger anxiety.
  50% of the babies showed seperation anxiety between 25 and 32 weeks of age.
  40 weks. 80% had a specific attachment and almost 30% showed multiple attachments.
  however this research has low generlisability and doesnt represent target populations, mothers may not have reported negative experiences.

Question 10

name the animal studies of attachment

Answer 10

lorenz- geese
harlow- monkeys

Question 11

explain lorenz’s study

Answer 11

AIM
took a clutch of goose eggs and kept them until they were about to hatch
half the eggs were placed under the geeses mother and half of the eggs stayed by lorenz for several hours
to ensure imprinting had occured lorenz put all the chicks togther and put a box on to of them. When the bocx has removed the ducks split in half
CONCLUSION
- geese follow the first moving object they see during the 12- 17 hours after attching

Question 12

explain harlows monkey experiment

Answer 12

AIM
reared 16 monkeys and 2 fake mothers- one was wire and one had soft padding around
wire had a milk bottle padding mother did not
CONCLUSION
monkeys cuddles cloth mother when frightened regardless if the mother provided milk
‘contact comfort’ is important

Question 13

evaluation of harlows monkeys and lorenz’s geese

Answer 13

• low in generalisability as animals are different to humans- brains are less complex
• ethical issues with separating mother and child
  + good to carry out these types of experiments when not ethical on humans- enables insight into attachment
  + studies were controlled so fewer factors likely to impact results
  + real life application- how to care for animals in zoos

Question 14

what is classical conditioning

Answer 14

refers to learning through association
attachments may be learned through association
food is an unconditioned stimulus which creates a natural response of pleasure as it relives hunger- this is an unconditioned response

UCS->UCS
NS
UCS+NS->UCR
CS->CR

Question 15

what is operant conditioning

Answer 15

learning through reinforcement and punishment using positive, negatituve reinforcers and punishments

Question 16

evaluation of classical and operant conditioning

Answer 16

-food may not be the main reason off attachment- schaffer and emerson found that 39% of babies forts attachments weren’t formed to the feeder
-reductionist- ignores evolutionary basis such as bowlbys theory of attachment
-problems with the use of animals- can’t generalise and animals are different to humans as they have less complex brains
+plausible explaination- makes sense that babies will like who feeds them
+ real life application in education

Question 17

what is bowlbys monotropic theory

Answer 17

Adaptive- attachments are innate and promote survival
Social releasers- babies have social releasers which unlock the innate tendency of adults to care for them
Monotropy- infants have an innate tendency to form one special intense attachment with a primary caregiver- important for healthy development
Secure base- attachment is important for protection and acts as a secure base where the child can go and explore the world and have a safe place to return
Sensitive period- babies have to form an attachment with the primary caregiver in the sensitive period if this doesn’t happen the child will be damaged for life
Internal working model- children develop mental schemas of relationships
continued hypothesis- internal working model influences later relationships

Question 18

evaluation of bowlbys monotropic theory

Answer 18

+ lorenz showed ducklings instinctively took him as their primary care giver- suggests attachment is innate and adaptive
-social constructionist theory argues that the theory is misoginistic. By blaming mothers for attachment it encourages them to stay at home- sexist and out dated
+ helped develop day care becasue of the focus on an attachment figure. now day care centres have ‘key workers’ for each child
- doesnt distingusih between deprivation and privation. genie shows privation may be more severe as she couldnt learn language

Question 19

explain ainsworth strange situation

Answer 19

AIM
investigate individual differences in attachment style
infants ages 12-18 months were observed through video cameras in a lab play room
1. mother and infant enter room infant is free to explore
2. after 3 mins stranger enters and sits on the second chair and talks to the mother
3. stranger approaches infant and attempts to play and interact with them
4. mother leaves room
5.after 3 mins mother enters stranger leaves
6.after 3 mins mother leaves so child is alone
7.the stranger re-enters and tries to play with the child
8.mother returns stranger leaves
CONCLUSION
secure attachment- 70%
separation anxiety- distressed when mother left
reunion behaviour- happy when mother returns
stranger anxiety- avoidant when alone but friendly when mother present
other- will use mother as safe base
insecure resistant- 15%
separation anxiety- intense distress
reunion behaviour- child approaches mother but resists contact
stranger anxiety- avoidant and fearful of stranger
other- crys alot
insecure avoidant- 15%
separation anxiety-no distress
reunion behaviour- little interst when mother returns
stranger anxiety- plays normally in present not avoiding
other- mother and strager can comfort infant

indicidual differences to attachment

Question 20

evaluation of strange situation

Answer 20

• alternate explanations- type d radke-yarrow
• not measuring parent caring styles but temperment of child- not accurate
  -cross cultural differences
• ethical issues- distressing for baby
  +predicts later relationships so high validity

Question 21

who studies cultural variations of attachment

Answer 21

van ljzendoorn and kroonenberg

Question 22

explain the study that van ljzendoorn and kroonenberg carried out

Answer 22

analysed data from other studies using a method called meta analysis
studies data from 32 studies and 8 countries
15 studies from usa
all used strange situation
CONCLUSION
secure was common type in all cultures
lowest % in china and highest % in uk
individualist countries eg germany had high anxious avoidant
collectivist eg japan had high resistant

Question 23

evaluation of cultural variations of strange situations

Answer 23

• still some cultural bias- may interpret actions from different cultures differently- bais and reduced validity
• designed by an american- applying assessment ot other cultures is known as imposed
• some argue it was a comparison of countries and not culture
  -sample sizes for some countries were small- can’t generlise
  + sample used was large- 2000 children- mean we can generlise- increase internal validity

Question 24

what is bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 24

bowlby argued that the continuous prescence of a mother was important in development
maternal seperation could lead to serious problems

seperation vs deprivation: seperation is where the child is simply not in the prescence of the mother whereas deprivation is when the child loses an element of care

critical period- bowlby believed that seperation in the first 30 months of childhood lead to serious consequences. a deprevation of maternal care would lead to mental redardation and lead to affectionless psychopathy.

Question 25

evaluation of bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 25

+ 44 theives study by bowlby supports as 12/14 affectionless psychopaths had prolonged seperation in the first two year of their life
-bowlby may have interpreted his study to fit his theory- reduces validity
- bowlbys theory came from children orphaned in the war whow ere traumatised and had poor after care- sampels were not representative
-theory is misogenistic- by blaming mothers for attachment and encourages them to feel guilty and stay home- theory is out of date
+useful in real life helped develop day care and focus on the importance of a care giver- ‘key workers’ for each child

Question 26

what was bowlbys 44 theives study

Answer 26

aim was to see if teenage criminals who displayed affectionless psycopathy were more likely to have early seperation compared to those who did not
interviewd criminals to see if they were affectionless psychopaths and interviewed family to see if there was a prolonged seperation
CONCLUSION
14 children were affectionless psychopaths of these
12 had experienced prolonged seperation

Question 27

evaluation of 44 theives study

Answer 27

• the study uses retrospective and self report data which may lack validity. info reported may be innaccurate and answers may be changed to look more socially desirable
• bowlby carried out the interviews so he may have interpreted the data differently to fit his theory.
• difficult to esablish cause and effect as wasnt carried out in controlled conditions.
  + triangulation increases validity as several techniques were used to gather data.
• all pps were boys. so hard to generlise
  + application as key workers are now assigned in hospitals and daycare

Question 28

what does privatization mean
(romanian orphan)

Answer 28

refers to a failure to form an attachment due to a lack of emotional needs such as love or basic physical needs such as food or shelter. may be due to neglect, loss of parents or because of institutionalization

Question 29

what are the effects of institutionalisation

Answer 29

disinhibited attachment
mental retardation

Question 30

what is disinhibited attachment

Answer 30

children become equally friendly to a stanger and people they know well. may be the result of having multiple caregivers or living in an institution

Question 31

what is mental retardation

Answer 31

damage in intellectual development can be caused by living in institutions and can lead to abnormally low IQ’s

Question 32

Explain Ruuter et al’s Romanian orphan research

Answer 32

AIM
followed 165 Romanian orphans adopted into Britain to see if they could make up for early experiences in institutions. Physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at 4, 6, 11 and 15 years. a group of 52 British children adopted around the same time was used as a control group.
he looked at children:
-adopted before 6 months
-adopted between 6 months and 2 years
- adopted after the age of 2
FINDINGS
-when they first arrived in the UK the adoptees showed signs of mental retardation and the majority were undernourished. the mean IQ of those adopted before 6 months was 102, compared to 86 for those who were adopted between 6 months and 2 years. those adopted after 2 years had a mean IQ of 77, the differences remained at 16. children adopted after 6 months showed disinhibited attachment.
concluded that good quality substitute care can reduce the effects of institutionalisation when given at an early age.

Question 33

how do the different attachment types influence later relationships

Answer 33

-secure attachments tend to form the best quality childhood friendships
-insecurely attached children tend to have friendship difficulties
- insecure avoident children were also more likely to be bully victims
-insecure resistant are more likely to be the bullies

-adults classified as insecure are likely to have difficulty forming attachments in later life
- adults classified as insecure resistant are more likely to have problems maintaining friendships
-insecure avoidant are ore likely to have problems with intimacy in relationships

Question 34

evaluation of early attachments on later relationships

Answer 34

• most studies use questionaires and interview. relies on people self report which may be inaccurate. Could be dishonest in reporting information or may not remember info.
  -no evidence that it is the attachment type that is causing the problems with the relationship as the data is just correlational. parenting style could have an influence on relationships or it could be a result of the child temperament.
• Zimmerman found that there was little relationship between quality of the infant and adolescence attachment. shows early relationships don’t determine later relationships
  +hazen and shaver supports
  AIM
  test if attachment types affect later relationships in adulthood. analysed 620 replies to a love quiz printed in an American newspaper
  FINDINGS
  securely attached adults were likely to have better longer lasting relationships
  securely attached children were more likely to recall their childhood relationships with parents as being affectionate and careing
  the avoident responses tend to reveal jealousy and were afraid of closeness
  type c resistant constantly worried about their partners love because they were afraid they would abandon them.

Question 35

evaluate hazen and shavers love quiz research

Answer 35

-information was gathered based on self report so it relies on memories that may be inaccurate and falsely reported. they may answer to make them look better
- pps volunteered to take part so only certain types of people may have responded. not representative of target population
+ report on real life experiences so has high validity.
-casual relationship can not be established as only an association between an attachment and later relationships. however may be other factors that might influence attachment and quality of later relationships.