Attachment

Question 1

Define attachment.

Answer 1

• an enduring, two way, emotional tie to a specific other person.
• can be seen to have developed when an infant shows stranger anxiety and separation protest.

Question 2

Give examples of caregiver-infant interactions.

Answer 2

• Bodily contact - physical interactions between carer + infant help to form the attachment bond, especially in the period immediately after birth, often skin to skin
• Mimicking/imitation - infants seem to have an innate ability to imitate carers facial expressions,
• Caregiverese - adults who interact with infants use a modified form of vocal language that is high-pitched, song-like in nature, slow + repetitive. This aids communication.
• Reciprocity - interaction of similar behaviour patterns between carer and infant
• Interactional synchrony - coordinated rhythmic exchanges between carer and infant
  *Sensitive responsiveness- adult pays careful attention to infant’s communications and responds in an appropriate manner meeting child’s needs (emotional and physical)

Question 3

Define interactional synchrony

Answer 3

• coordinated rhythmic exchanges between carer and infant
• from as early as two weeks (critical period) adults and babies respond in time to sustain communication, for example when mother makes a soothing noise the baby moves gently in response. Emotional responses reflect each other (TWO WAY)

Question 4

Outline and evaluate research on interactional synchrony

Answer 4

• Condon & Sander (1974) analysed frame by frame video recordings of infants’ movements to find they co-ordinated their actions in sequence with adults’ speech to form a kind of turn-taking conservation , supporting the idea of interactional synchrony. Isabella et al strengthened this by finding that infants with secure attachments demonstrated more evidence of such behaviour during their first year of life.
  Eval:
• interactional synchrony is not found in all cultures , which weakens the idea that it is necessary for attachment formation. Le Vine et al (1994) reported that Kenyan mothers have little physical contact or interactions with their infants, but such infants do have secure attachments.

Question 5

Outline and Evaluate research on reciprocity

Answer 5

• Jaffe et al (1973) suggested that infants coordinated their actions with caregivers (like a conversation).
• Brazelton(1979) suggested that this rhythm is a precursor for later communications. This allows a caregiver to anticipate the infant’s behaviour and respond appropriately.
  eval:
  -

Question 6

Outline Shaffer’s stages of attachment

Answer 6

1. Pre-attachment phase (birth to 3 months) = prefer ppl over objects. Start to smile at ppl
2. Indiscriminate phase (3 to 7/8 months) = being to discriminate between familiar + unfamiliar people but they will still allow strangers to handle and look after them.
3. Discriminate phase (7/8 months onwards) = develop specific attachments, staying close to particular people + becoming distressed when separated from them. Display stranger anxiety + separation protest
4. Multiple attachment (9 months onwards] = form strong emotional ties with other major caregivers, like grandparents. The fear of strangers weakens, but attachment to the mother figure remains strongest.

Question 7

Outline Schaffer + Emerson’s research procedure on attachment formation.

Answer 7

• Longitudinal study was conducted on 60 newborn babies + their mothers from a working-class area of Glasgow.
• Mothers + babies were studied each month for the 1st year of their lives in their own homes + again at 18 months. Observations were conducted, as well as interviews with the mothers, with questions being asked about whom infants smiled at, whom they responded to, who caused them distress, etc.
• Attachment was measured through:
  Separation protest
  Stranger anxiety

Separation protest - this was assessed through several everyday situatio

Question 8

E

Outline and Evaluate Schaffer & Emerson’s findings

Answer 8

• Most infants went on to develop multiple attachments. At 18 months 87% had at least 2 attachments, with
  31% having 5 or more attachments.
• 39% of infants’ prime attachment was not to the mother. link to role of the father
  eval:
• Sample size too small
• Researcher may have become familiar to infant
• Data was collected by interviews + observations prone to bias + inaccuracy.
• Mundane realism, as it was conducted under everyday conditions, meaning that the conclusions drawn about the formation of attachments can be seen as having high validity.
• Large individual differences in when attachments formed, casting doubt on the process of attachment formation being exclusively biological in nature.

Question 9

Give the four factors that affect the relationship between dathers and children.

Answer 9

• Degree of sensitivity - show more sensitivity to child’s needs = more secure attachments to their children
• Type of attachment with own parents - single-parent fathers form similar attachments with their children that they had with their own parents.
• Marital intimacy - the degree of intimacy a father has within his relationship with his partner affects the type of attachment he will have with his children.
• Supportive co-parenting - the amount of support a father gives to his partner in helping to care for children affects the type of attachment he will have with his children.

Question 10

Describe the historical evolution of the tole of fathers in child growth.

Answer 10

• some argue that males are biologivallt unsuitable to reaise children and men are providers and ‘breadwinners’ of the family and the mothers are more suited to anurturing and childrearing role.
• Now , men have a more active role and some researchers have seen that males can quickly develop sensitive responsiveness when assuming the position of main care providers

Question 11

Describe the role of the father and the importance of active play

Answer 11

• fathers seen to engage more in active play than mothers
• interactions emphasis stimulation, so thought their role is to encourage risk-taking behaviours compared to more comforting style of mothers
• learning through play facilitates risk taking behaviours, communication skills, anxiety reductive lessons, learning via experience, more confident children and children who are more sociable
• language development also improved

Question 12

Outline and Evaluate research on active play and the role of the father

Answer 12

• Geiger (196) showed that fathers’ play inteeractions are more exciting and pleasurable than mothers’ while mothers are more affectionate.
• However Lamb (1987) found that children oftern prefer interacting with fathers when in a positive emotional state. Supporting th eidea that fathers are preferred as playmates but only in certain conditions.
• Children who grow up without fathers have often been seen to do less well at school + have higher levels of risk taking + aggression, especially in boys.
• This suggests fathers can help prevent – developmental outcomes. Pedersen points out that most studies have focused on female single mothers from poor socioeconomic backgrounds, so it may be social factors related to poverty that produce these outcomes, not the absence of fathers

Question 13

Define imprinting

Answer 13

• a form of attachment where offspring follow the first large moving object

Question 14

Outline Lorenz’ aim and procedure

Answer 14

Aim :
- To investigate the mechanisms of imprinting where the youngsters follow and form an attachment to the first large moving object that they meet.
Procedure:
- Lorenz ** randomly** split batch of gosling eggs into 2 batches, 1 of which was hatched naturally by the mother + the other hatched in an incubator.
- Lorenz made sure he was the first moving object the newly hatched goslings encountered to allow for imprinting.
- Following behaviour was then observed and recorded.
- Marked all of the goslings, so he could determine whether they were from the naturally hatched batch of eggs or the incubated ones, and placed them under an upturned box.
- The box was then removed and following behaviour again recorded.

Question 15

Outline the findings of Lorenz’ goslings

Answer 15

• Naturally hatched goslings went straight to their mother, while the incubated goslings went to Lorenz, showing no bond with their natural mother.
• These bonds proved to be irreversible; the naturally hatched goslings would only follow their mother and the incubated ones would only follow Lorenz.
• Imprinting would only occur within a brief, set time period of 4-25 hours after hatching.
• Goslings imprinted onto humans would, as matured adult birds, attempt to mate with humans.

Question 16

Evaluate Lorenz’ findings

Answer 16

• Imprinting is irreversible, suggesting the ability is under biological control, as learned behaviours can be modified by experience.
• Fact that imprinting only occurs within a brief, set time period influenced Bowlby’s idea of a critical period in human babies
• The fact that goslings imprinted onto humans exhibit sexual advances to humans when adult birds shows the importance of the behaviour upon future relationships, something that Bowly incorporated into his continuity hypothesis.
• Extrapolation issues = the attachment behaviour of geese is not necessarily that of humans.
  Unethical= geese imprinted on humans died, couldnt mate etc.
• WIDER SOCIETAL IMPACT- lorenz later joined nazi party, extremist view, be aware of cognitive, research bias, manipulated, dangerous to spread- do not use or praise his research- his nobel prize taken from him)

Question 17

Outline the aim of Harlow’s monkey

Answer 17

Aim : To test learning theory by comparing attachment behaviour in baby monkeys given a wire surrogate mother producing milk with those given a soft towelling mother producing no milk.

Question 18

Outline Harlow’s monkeys procedure.

Answer 18

Procedure:
- Two types of surrogate mother were constructed - a harsh ‘wire mother’ and a soft ‘towelling mother’. Sixteen baby monkeys were used, four in each of four conditions:
* a cage containing a wire mother producing milk and a towelling mother producing no milk
* a cage containing a wire mother producing no milk and a towelling mother producing milk
* a cage containing a wire mother producing milk
* a cage containing a towelling mother producing milk
- The amount of time spent with each mother, as well as feeding time, was recorded.
- The monkeys were frightened with a loud noise to test for mother preference during stress.
- A larger cage was also used to test the monkeys’ degree exploration. (activities, game room, unfamiliar objects, monkey exploring can interact)

Question 19

Outline the findings of Harlow’s monkeys

Answer 19

Findings
- Monkeys preferred contact with the towelling mother when given a choice of surrogate mothers, regardless of whether she produced milk; they even stretched across to the wire mother to feed while still clinging to the towelling mother.
- Monkeys with only a wire surrogate had diarrhoea, a sign stress. (indicator of lack of comfort in entire life, directly and physically impacted by severe contrast stress, no attachment figure)
- When frightened by a loud noise, monkeys clung to the towelling mother in conditions where she was available.
4 In the larger cage conditions, monkeys with towelling mothers explored more and visited their surrogate mother more often. (highlights importance of comfort surrogate, trusting)

Question 20

Evaluate Harlow’s monkeys

Answer 20

• There are ethical issues involving the separation of baby monkeys and the stress caused to them.
• Interestingly, over time, Harlow publicly distanced himself from the work of Bowlby and Ainsworth, as well as Lorenz’s views on imprinting. He especially did not believe that his work supported Bowlby’s belief of a child’s innate need for mother love.
• Harlow’s isolation studies influenced Bowlby in devising his maternal deprivation hypothesis, where he saw any disruption of the attachment bond as having serious, irreversible effects.
• Sackett (2002), a student of Harlows, believes that Harlow’s research was so unjustifiably unethical that the American animal liberation movement was born out of it

Question 21

Define:
- cupboard love theory
- learning theory

Answer 21

Cupboard love theory - the belief that attachments are formed with people who feed infants
Learning theory - the belief that attachments develop through conditioning processes

Question 22

Name the two types of learning theory

Answer 22

• classical conditioning
• operant conditioning

Question 23

describe classical conditioning

Answer 23

• learning by association. Before conditioning, food is an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) which produces an unconditioned response (UCR) of pleasure as a relief from hunger.
• The caregiver is a neutral stimulus (NS), who produces no conditioned response.
• the child associates the caregiver (NS) who feeds them with the food (UCS).
• Through repeated pairing, the caregiver becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) who is associated with the pleasure from feeding.
• leads to attachment formation

Question 24

describe operant conditioning

Answer 24

• OC is learning through reinforcement of behaviour thus increasing the chances of the behaviour occuring again.
• positive = receives pleasurable outcome , negative = receives negative outcomes.
• attachments thus occur thorugh caregivers becoming associated with reducing the unpleasant feeling of hunger so that the caregiver becomes a reward themself.

Question 25

AO3

outline research against learning theory.

Answer 25

Against :
- Shaffer and Emerson 1964 found THAT in 3% of caases , the mother was not the baby’s main attachment figure, suggesting that nfeeding is not the primary explanation of attachment.
- Harlow’s monkeys
- Methodological issues for example Pavlov’s research on dogs and Skinner’s research with rats and pigeons, is criticised for its over‐reliance on animals. They argue that behaviourist explanations are reductionist , not considering internal mental processses or the complex emotional nature of attachments.

Question 26

Outline research for learning theory

Answer 26

• Dollard & Miller argued that in their first year , babies are fed 2000 times , by the main carer , which creates ample oppurtunity for association. - supporting operant conditioning
• ## Bowlby argued that they do play a part in helping form attachments but are not the main reason - emotional security is.

Question 27

Outline Bowlby’s explanation of attachment

Answer 27

• Bowlby had the idea that infants have an innate tendency to make an attachment with 1 attachment figure, usually the mother, programmed by evolution
• Attachments evolved via the process of natural selection to ensure that offspring stayed close to caregivers.
• thorugh specific behaviours called social releasers such as crying , smiling following and clinnging

Question 28

Outline Bowlby’s monotropic theory

Answer 28

• Infants form one special attachment. Through the monotropic attachment, the infant forms an internal working model which is a mental template for future relationship expectations. If there’s a healthy attachment with the caregiver then the infant will develop strong relationships later in life.
• Babies must form an attachment during the critical period which is between 3-6 months. He later acknowledged that infants could form an attachment after this period (up to three years of age); however, the successful formationwould be increasingly difficult after this initial period.
• Bowlby said that if an attachment didn’t form during this time frame then the child would be damaged for life –socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically.

Question 29

Evaluate Bowlby’s monotropic theory : For

Answer 29

• Lorenz et al found that certain animals have an innate tendency to respond immediately to specific stimuli. This suggests that such innate ‘pre-programming’ provides an evolutionary advantage , as by staying close to such individuals . newborn animals are safe from predators. This supports Bowlby’s evolutionary theory.
• Although Schaffer + Emerson found that children tended to have multiple attachments . they did have a primary attachment figure.

Question 30

Evaluate Bowlby’s monotropic theory : Against

Answer 30

• Schaffer + Emerson found that multiple attachments are the norm , which goes against monotropy as does the fact that 39% of children had their main attachment to someone other than the main carer
• Bowlby’s theory has been used by right wing political figures as scientific proof that women should be at home mothering children and not at work.
• Rutter found that infants diplay a range of attachment behaviours towards attachment figures other than their mothers and there is no particular attachment behaviour used exclusiverly towards mothers.

Question 31

Describe Ainsworth’s three attachment types

Answer 31

type A : insecure -avoidant: infants are willing to exlore , low stranger anxiety, avoid contact at return of their caregiver
type B: securely attached : high exploration, high stranger anxiety, caregivers have high sensitive responsiveness, easy to calm.
type C: insecure-resistant: unwilling to explore, high stranger anxiety. upset by separation + reject contact. Caregivers are ambivalent to infants needs.

Question 32

Outline Ainsworth’s research in determining attachments.

Answer 32

• assessed types of attachment in 9-18 month old infants. The Strange Situation involves placing a child and their mother in a novel environment of mild stress, whereby they would be observed and videoed through a one-way mirror during a series of eight different situations.
• measures 4 key behaviours: stranger anxiety , seperation anxiety , exploration behvaiours and reunion behaviours.
• In her original experiment, Ainsworth found the following distribution of attachment types: securely attached – 66%, insecure– avoidant – 22%, and insecure–resistant – 12%.

Question 33

Evaluate Ainsworth’s strange situation:

weaknesses

Answer 33

• Methodological weakness of Ainsworth’s strange situation is the use of an overt observation. The parents knew that they were being observed through a one way mirror and may have displayed demand characteristics. - may have showed more sensitive responsiveness - altered children’s behaviour and thus lowers internal validity.
• culture bias - van Ijzendoorn’s research highlights the culture bias demonstrated in Ainsworth’s Strange Situation, by reporting significant differences in the distribution of
  attachment types in different cultures.
• For example, Germany has the highest rate of insecure–avoidant attachment which may be the result of different childrearing practices and not a more ‘insecure’ population. In Germany there is a general desire to keep some interpersonal distance between parents and infants; therefore, parents would generally discourage proximity‐ seeking behaviours within the Strange Situation.
• 15% were classed as Type D suggesting Ainsworth’s work to be incomplete and unable to fully explain all of the different types of attachments.

Question 34

Describe Van Ijzendoorm’s cultural variations of attachment research.

Answer 34

• van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988) conducted a meta‐ analysis of 32 studies from eight different countries that had used Ainsworth’s Strange Situation. In total, the results of over 1,990 infants were included in the analysis.
• Their research produced several key findings in relation to the distribution of attachment in different countries with secure attachment being the most common type of attachment in all cultures examined.

Question 35

Outline key findings in Van Ijzendoorm’s cultural variation research.

Answer 35

• Japan and Israel (collectivist cultures) showed higher levels of insecure–resistant attachment whereas Germany (individualistic culture) showed higher levels of insecure–avoidant attachment.
• Van Ijzendoorn’s research further highlights the culture bias demonstrated in Ainsworth’s Strange Situation, by reporting significant differences in the distribution of
  attachment types in different cultures.
• For example, Germany has the highest rate of insecure–avoidant attachment which may be the result of different childrearing practices and not a more ‘insecure’ population. - Grossman and Grossman
• In Germany there is a general desire to keep some interpersonal distance between parents and infants; therefore, parents would generally discourage proximity‐seeking behaviours within the Strange Situation which might bias the results of attachment research in Germany which therefore incorrectly categorise children as ‘insecure’.

Question 36

What is Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis?

Answer 36

• explains what happens if monotropic attachments are broken. Bowlby argues that disruption of the attachment bond , even short term disruptions , results in serious and permanent damge to a child’s emotional, social and intellectual development.

Question 37

Describe short-term separation

Answer 37

• consists of brief , temporary separations/disruption of an attachment bond.
• Bowlby described the distress caused in terms of the PDD model: protest, despair and detachment.

Question 38

outline and evaluate research on the impacts of short term separation

Answer 38

• Robertson & Robertson reported their research in films, one of which featured John, 17 months, who had experienced extreme distress while spending 9 days away from his pregnant mother in the hospital. Upon return, John was thrown into confusion and demonstrated the PDD model, suffering serious and irreversible damage.
  eval:
• Took children into their own home, providing them with an alternative attachment and a normal home routine, and found this prevented severe psychological damage, suggesting negative outcomes aren’t inevitable.
• Douglas found that separation of less than a week below ages of 4 was correlated with behavioural difficulties.
• eval:
• Much evidence is correlational and does not show causality. Kagan et al. found no direct causal link between separation and later emotional and behavioural difficulties.

Question 39

describe long term deprivation

Answer 39

• involves lengthy or permanent sepaaration from attachment figures.
• usually though divorce

Question 40

outline research on long-term deprivation

Answer 40

• Hetherington found that only about 25% of children experience long term adjustment problems, with most children able to adapt - schaffer found that nearly all children are negatively affected by divorce short term.
• Rodgers & Pryor found that children experiencing 2 or more divorces have the lowest adjustment rates and the most behavioural problems, suggesting that continual broken attachments increase the chances of negative outcomes for children.
• Kiernan found that children experiencing divorce score lower than none on measures of social development, educational attainment, and physical health.

Question 41

Evaluate research on long term deprivation

Answer 41

• richards 1987 found that attachment disruption through divorce leads to resentment and stress, while the death of an attachment figure is more likely to result in depressio than delinqunecy. Implies different causes produces different outcomes.
• Research has allowed psychologists to create strategies to help children cope with divorce. Some American states have a legal requirement for divoricing parents to attend an education program providing emotional warmth and support.

I

Question 42

Describe privation

Answer 42

• concerns children who have never formed an attachment bond.
• it is most likely to cause lasting damage

Question 43

Outline research on privation

Answer 43

• the Bulldog Bank Children
• Rymer (1993) Genie ,
• Koluchova - Czech twins

Question 44

Outline the Bulldog Bank Children Research

Answer 44

• Freud & Dann (1951) reported on the Bulldog Bank Children who were orphaned at a few months of age in a Nazi concentration Camp. They were taken at age 3-4 to a centre and were hostile to adults and did not know what to do with toys. They were attached to one another and refused to be separated They made rapid developments in physical and intellectual capabilities , and those that were traceable made good recoveries and had successful adult relationships.

Question 45

Outline the research on Genie.

Answer 45

• Rhymer (1993) reported on Genie , a girl denies human interaction beaten and strapped at a potty seat until age 13. She could not speak or stand. She received years of therapy and was tested constantly improving her language abilities and IQ. She moved to a foster home where she was further abuse and deteriorated physically and mentally.

Question 46

Outline the research on the Czech twins

Answer 46

• Koluchova reported on Czech twins who were locked in a cellar for 5 and a half years and abused physically. They were underdeveloped physically and intellectually. They were given physical therapy and were eventually adopted by 3 child centered sisters. At age 14 their intellectual social emotional and behavioral functioning were near normal and they both married and had children

Question 47

Evaluate research on privation

Answer 47

• iit may be that the close attachments the Czech twins and the bulldog bank children had to each other explain why they made lasting progress whereas genie who had no attachment made little progress. However, Moskowitz (1983) reports that the BC were all individually adopted and never saw each other again and so should have exhibited the effects of disrupted attachment from each other
• case studies are usually used to study extreme privation as it is unethical or impractical to use other methods.
• A key issue with this is that they are dependent upon retrospective memories that may be selective or even incorrect. There is no way of fully knowing what these individuals experienced. Genie’s mother often gave conflicting views on what happened to her.

Question 48

Describe institutionalisation and its effects

Answer 48

• childcare provided by orphanages and children homes
• often involves a mix of privation and deprivation effects often showing disinhibited attachment , characterise by clingy , attention-seeking behaviour and indiscriminate sociability to adults

Question 49

Outline Bowlby’s 44 Thieves Studies Research

research for institutionalisation

Answer 49

• Bowlby supported his theory with the 44 Thieves study, where he compared 44 juvenile thieves with a control group of non-thieves who had suffered emotional problems. 32% of the thieves exhibited affectionless psychopathy, lacking a social conscience. None of the control groups was classed in this way. 86% of the affectionless psychopaths had experienced maternal separation compared to 17% of the thieves who were not affectionless psychopaths. This supports Bowlby’s idea that maternal deprivation can have serious and long-lasting negative effects.

Question 50

Outline Goldfarb’s research on institutionalisation

research for institutionalisation

Answer 50

Goldfarb (1943) ) compared 15 children raised in social isolation in institutions from 6 months - 3 and a half years with 15 children who went straight from natural mothers to foster homes. At age 3 , socially isolated children lagged behind fostered on measures of abstract thinking, social maturity, rule following + sociability. 10-14 yrs continued to perform poorly, average IQ 72, fostered children’s IQ 95.

Question 51

Outline Tizard & Hodges research on institutionalisation

research for institutionalisation

Answer 51

• Tizard & Hodges studied children placed into institutional care in first 4 months of life/ Had no attachments with mothers . High staff turnover and the institutes policy prevented attachments forming with carers. Used a control group of children raised in their natural homes and found that those who remained in the institution had no strong attachments and problems relating to peers. Adopted children did however from strong attachments with their parents but not with non-family members.

Question 52

Evaluate research on institutionalisation

Answer 52

• The early studies of children raised in institutions that Bowlby based his MDH on had serious methodological flaw (e.g. Goldfarb study didn’t use random samples, so possible that fostered children naturally brighter, more sociable + healthier than socially isolated children- and that is why they were fostered rather than placed in institutional care).
• In Tizard & Hodge’s study, the more socially skilled children may have been adopted and so found it easier to form attachments within their adoptive families. Also suffered from atypical sample attrition where over time the more troubled children drops out , affecting the reliability of the results.
• the 44 thieves study, is correlational; deprivation and delinquency could be linked as a third factor. Children who experience deprivation may also experience extreme poverty, have contact with criminal relatives who act as role models or have a family history of mental health problems.
  -Tizard and Hodges found that the children who were adopted after being institutionalised, were able to develop strong attachments within their families, suggesting that through loving care, the development of close attachments is possible.

Question 53

Outline The aim and procedure Romanian Orphan Studies.

research for institutionalisation

Answer 53

• Rutter et al assessed whether loving and nurturing care could overturn the effects of privation the children had suffered in Romanian orphanages.
• 111 Romanian orphans were initially assessed for height, head circumference and cognitive functioning on arrival in Britain. all children were again assessed at age 4. A control group of 52 British adopted children were also assessed
• British adopted children (who had been separated from their mothers) didn’t suffer developmental outcomes, can be that separation from carers will not on its own cause negative developmental effects.

Question 54

Outline the findings from Romanian Orphan’s studies

research for institutionalisation

Answer 54

• Around 50% of the Romanian orphans were retarded in cognitive functioning on arrival at initial assessment and most were underweight. the control group did not show these deficits
• At age 4 years, the Romanian orphans showed great improvements in physical and cognitive development, with the orphans adopted before 6 months of age doing as well as the British adopted children.

Question 55

Evaluate Romanian Orphans Studies

research for institutionalisation

Answer 55

• children have only been assessed up to the age of 4 years, so subsequent follow-ups will be required to assess the long-term effects of institutionalisation and the effects of subsequent enriching environments
• only some of the children received detailed clinical investigations, so it is difficult to fully generalise the findings
• Because the children were not studied while in the Romanian orphanages, it is not possible to state which aspects of privation were most influential
• Morison and Elwood found similar results with a group of Romanian orphans adopted by Canadian adoptive parents . Suggesting Rutter’s findings are reliable.

Question 56

What is the continuity hypothesis?

the influence of early attachment on childhood

Answer 56

• the idea that there is consistency between early emotional experiences and later relationships.
• this idea is based upon the internal working model where an infant’s primary attachment forms a model for future relationships.

Question 57

Outline research on the influence of early attachment on childhood relationships

the influence of early attachment on childhood

Answer 57

• Youngblade & Belsky found that 3-5 year old securely attached children were more curious , competent, empathetic, resilient and self-confident , got along better with other children and were more likely to form close friendships.
• Mullis et al reported that in late childhood attachments that are made to peers reflect those made to parents in infancy. Laible (2002) backed this up by finding that in late childhood indidivuals transfer attachment behaviours learned in childhood to social situations and peer groups.
• Westermack reported that children who form close friendships in the first six years of life do not generally go on to form adult sexual relationships with each other, which suggests early attachment do affect childhood and adult relationships.

Question 58

Evaluate research on the influence of early attachment on childhood relationships

Answer 58

• early attachment types can be seen to influence the development of indidivual differences in cognitve ability, emotional responses and social skills , all of which influence the quality of later childhood relationships.
• evolutonary reasoning where those who form attachments in early life do not in later live to prevent related individuals from inbreeding.
• perceiving the quality of later relationships as being caused soley by the quality of early attachments is somewhat deterministic. It is likely that other factors are influential too , like financial pressures or age differences between partners.

Answer 59

• research indicates an intergenerational continuity between adult’s attachment types and their children including children adopting the parenting styles of their own parents.
• there also appears to be continuity between early attachment styles and the quality of later adult relationships
• However those who fail to achieve secure attachments in childhood are still able to develop secure adult realtionships

Question 60

Outline Hazan & Shaver research on attachment processes

outline aim and procedure

Answer 60

aims:
- explore whether there is a direct correlation between adult attachment style and parenting recieved
- adults with different attachment styles would have distinct mental models and social interactions.
- participants, aged 14 -82, were given a ‘love quiz’ , where they described their feelings about romantic relationships and experiences with their parents/
- sample 1 = 205 men and 415 women
- sample 2 - 108 students ( 38 men and 70 women) who answered qs on self perception and loneliness
-

Question 61

Outline Hazan & Shaver research findings on attachment processes

Answer 61

• 56% were securely attached and felt comfortable with intimacy and dependency and had trusting relationships
• 23% in sample 1 and 25% in sample 2 were insecure avoidant and tended to avoid closeness , found it difficult to trust others.
• 19% in sample 1 and 20% in sample 2 were insecure resistant and were the most vulnerable to loneliness and expressed significant self-doubt and fears regardding their partners commitment.

Question 62

Evaluate Hazan & Shaver’s research

Answer 62

• limited as it is a questionnaire and thus there are individual differences in how the questions are interpreted as participants may lie or misinterpret questions.
• results are based on retrospective data and so the validity of the findings depends on one’s ability to recall their childhood memories.
• the internal working model is unconscious, and so we are not aware of the influence our internal working model has on our relationships. This means that the results of the self-reports are limited as it can only collect what respondents are aware of.
• research showed continuity of childhoood attachment style into adulthood doesnt alwaus occur.

Question 63

Outline research on the influence of early attachment on adult relationships

Answer 63

• McCarthy (1999) assessed the quality of ault relationships of 40 women aged 25-44 with childhood insecure attachments. Women with insecure-avoidant attachments had less successful adult romantic relationships , while those with insecure-resistant attachments had problems forming non-romantic adult friendships , supporting the idea of an IWM.
• Kirkpatrick & David (1994) studied 300 dating couples for three years, finding that those identified as having secure childhood attachments were more likely to have stable and satisfying relationships, supporting the idea of continuity from an internal working model.
• Kunce & Shaver found that women classed as having childhood insecure-resistant attachments reported the highest levels of ‘compulsive caregiving’, that is, they were most likely to agree with statements such as i cant seem to stop mothering my partner too much.”

Question 64

Evaluate the influence of early attachment on adult relationships

Answer 64

• Wood et al 2003) beleives the quality of relationship results from the interaction of two people’s attachment styles. Therefore insecurely attached people can have secure relationships if they are in relationhsips with securely attached people.
• The intenral working mdoel is not fully supported. Steele et al found that onlt a small corrrelation of 0.17 between having a secure attachment type in childhood and ealry adulthood, while Zimmerman et al (2000) found that attachment style at 12-18 months of age did noot predict the quality of ealry relationshops, while life events experienced such as parental divorce had a much larger influence.
• Kagan’s temperament hypothesis suggests infant and adult relationships are linked but are due to an inherited high or low reactive temperament. He found through research, high reactivity results in distressed babies who grow into outgoing children and adults. This biological explanation explains the findings that attachment styles are linked across a lifetime but without the need for an internal working model.