Attachment Flashcards
(68 cards)
1
Q
Define attachment.
A
- 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.
2
Q
Give examples of caregiver-infant interactions.
A
- 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 use a modified form of vocal language that is high-pitched, slow + repetitive. This aids communication
- Reciprocity
- Interactional synchrony
- Sensitive responsiveness- adult pays attention to infant’s communications and responds in an appropriate manner meeting child’s needs (emotional and physical)
3
Q
Define interactional synchrony
A
- two-way coordinated rhythmic exchanges between carer and infant
- from as early as two weeks (during the critical period)
- Emotional responses reflect each other
4
Q
Outline and evaluate research on interactional synchrony
A
- ✅ Condon & Sander (1974) analysed frame by frame video recordings of infants’ movements to find they co-ordinated their actions in sequence with adults’ speech.
- ✅ Isabella et al strengthened this by finding, during a study of 30 mothers and their babies, that infants with secure attachments demonstrated more evidence of such behaviour during their first year.
- Meltzoff & Moore (1977) found through a controlled study with an independent observer, that infants as young as 2 weeks old could mirror adults’ facial expressions and gestures
Eval:
- Increases the accuracy and objectivity of the findings - used video recordings. - Inferences still being made.
- IS can be an imposed etic, as it reflects Western cultural norms that may not apply universally.
-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. shows it is not necessary for attachment formation.
5
Q
Define reciprocity
A
- when an infant and caregiver respond to each other’s signals
- It’s a turn-taking interaction, a kind of “conversation”.
- Brazelton et al. (1975) described the interaction between infants and caregivers as a ‘dance’ where each is responding to the other person’s moves
6
Q
Outline and Evaluate research on reciprocity
A
- Jaffe et al (1973) suggested that infants coordinated their actions with caregivers (like a conversation).
-
Tronick et al. (1978) – Still Face Experiment: mothers were asked to interact with their babies as usual, then suddenly adopt a neutral, expressionless face. The infants quickly became distressed showing Infants expect and rely on reciprocal responses, and mutual connection
eval: - interpreting infant behaviour can be difficult. Babies often move or vocalise randomly, so it can be hard to determine whether responses are not just coincidental.
- This lowers the internal validity of observational studies on reciprocity.
7
Q
Outline Shaffer’s stages of attachment
A
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.
8
Q
Outline Schaffer + Emerson’s research procedure on attachment formation.
A
- 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
9
Q
E
Outline and Evaluate Schaffer & Emerson’s findings
A
- Most infants went on to develop multiple attachments.At 18 months87% 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 - not representative; lacks population validity
- Data was collected by interviews + observations: prone to bias + inaccuracy.
- The study has high ecological validity, as it was conducted in participants’ homes during everyday interactions, making the findings more generalisable to real-life attachment behaviours
10
Q
Give the four factors that affect the relationship between dathers and children.
A
- 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.
11
Q
Describe the historical evolution of the role of fathers in child growth.
A
- some argue that males are biologically unsuitable to raise 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
12
Q
Describe the role of the father and the importance of active play
A
- role focused on active and stimulating play compared to the comforting style of mothers.
- encourages children to take risks, develop confidence, and learn through experience, which
- which aids in development key skills such as communication, sociability, and even language development
13
Q
Outline and Evaluate research on active play and the role of the father
A
- Geiger (1996) showed that fathers’ play interactions are more exciting and pleasurable while mothers are more affectionate.
- HoweverLamb (1987) found that children oftern prefer interacting with fathers when in a positive emotional state. Supporting that 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.
- CA: 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
14
Q
Define imprinting
A
- Imprinting is where an offspring will follow the first moving object they see once born
- a form of attachment in animals
15
Q
Outline Lorenz’ goslings research on imprinting
A
- 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 incubated goslings encountered to allow for imprinting, when born
- Following behaviour was then observed and recorded.
- marked all the goslings to identify whether they were naturally hatched or incubator-raised and placed them under a box.
- The box was then removed and following behaviour again recorded.
16
Q
Outline the findings of Lorenz’ goslings
A
- 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; would only follow the imprinted object in both groups
- Imprinting would only occur within a brief, set time period of 4 - 25 hours after hatching. ( critical period) -
- When varying the time taken to imprint he found that if no imprinting ocured the gosling would lose the ability to imprint
- Goslings imprinted onto humans would, as matured adult birds, attempt to mate with humans. ( link to continuity hypothesis / Freud)
17
Q
Evaluate Lorenz’ findings
A
- Imprinting is irreversible, suggesting the ability is under biological control, as learned behaviours can be modified by experience.
- brief, set time period for imprinting influenced Bowlby’s idea of a critical period in humans
- The fact that adult human-imprinted goslings exhibit sexual advances to humans shows the importance of early behaviour upon future relationships, something that Bowlby 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.
- WSI- lorenz joined nazi party: extremist views, be aware of cognitive and research bias,
18
Q
Outline the aim of Harlow’s monkey
A
Aim : To test learning ( cupboard love) theory by comparing attachment behaviour in baby rhesus monkeys
19
Q
Outline Harlow’s monkeys procedure.
A
- Two types of surrogate mother were constructed - a harsh ‘wire mother’ and a soft ‘towelling mother’.
- 16 baby monkeys were used, four in each four caged conditions:
- wire, milk mother + towelled no milk
- wire no milk + towelled milk
- wire and milk
- towelling and 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, interactions with peers)
20
Q
Outline the findings of Harlow’s monkeys
A
- Monkeys preferred contact with the towelling mother when given a choice , 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, an indicator of lack of comfort and severe exposure to stress caused by no attachment figure
- When frightened by a loud noise, monkeys clung to the towelling mother in conditions where she was available.
- In the larger cage conditions, monkeys with towelling mothers explored more and visited their surrogate mother more often, wire mothers were more distant and harsh.
21
Q
Evaluate Harlow’s monkeys
A
- influenced Bowlby in devising his maternal deprivation hypothesis, where he saw any disruption of the attachment bond as having serious, irreversible effects.
- Harlow did not believe that his work supported Bowlby’s belief of a child’s innate need for mother love.- believed in contact comfort as integral for attachment which can be given by any figure ( maternal or not)
- disproved learnign theory
- Extrapolation issues: Humans are more complex then monkeys.
- Highly unethical: 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.
22
Q
define learning theory
A
- the belief that attachments are formed with people who feed infants, through classical and operant conditioning.
- proposed by Dollard and Miller
23
Q
Name the two types of conditioning associated with learning theory
A
- classical conditioning
- operant conditioning
24
Q
describe classical conditioning
A
- 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) as the giver of food (UCS)
- Through repeated pairing, the caregiver becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) who is associated with the pleasure from feeding. ( conditioned response) (CR)
- According to Dollard And Miller leads to attachment formation
25
Give research on classical conditioning
- Pavlov demonstrated classical conditioning in dogs.He rang a bell (NS) before giving the dogs food (UCS), which naturally caused salivation (UCR).
- After several repetitions, the dogs began to salivate (CR) just from hearing the bell (now a CS), showing that they had learned to associate the bell with food.
26
describe operant conditioning
-learning due to patterns of reinforcement
- **Positive reinforcement**: behaviour more likely when **receiving** a **pleasurable** stimulus;
- **e.g.**when a **parent feeds** a crying baby, the baby is more **likely to repeat the crying** behaviour to get food.
- **Negative reinforcement** is when a behaviour is more likely when **removing** an **unpleasant stimulus**.
e.g. The parents' feeding behaviour is negatively reinforced by the baby stopping its crying behaviour when fed. The parents **more likely** to feed the baby again because it **stops the crying** ( unpleasant stimulus)
27
Describe research on operant conditioning
- used rats and pigeons in a "Skinner box," showing that behaviour can be learned through rewards (positive reinforcement) and removal of unpleasant stimuli (negative reinforcement).
- Dollard and Miller applied this to humans thorugh learning theory
28
Outline research for learning theory
- 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.
- behaviourist principle research ; Pavlov and Skinner
29
# AO3
outline research against learning theory.
Against :
- **Shaffer and Emerson** found THAT in 31% 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 ; showed that infant monkeys did not become attached to a the surrogate wire monkey that provided milk, but instead attached to a cloth mother
- **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.
30
Evaluate learning theory as an explanation for attachment
- **has face validity**; it makes intuitive sense that babies cry more when they learn crying gains them attention and, ultimately, food.
- The behaviourist principles used to explain attachment are backed up by a **well-controlled research**, such as that by Pavlov and Skinner. However, such highly controlled research on human babies is impossible for ethical and practical reasons.
- Learning theory applied to human attachment behaviour is seen as **environmentally reductionist**. Behaviourists argue that the complex interactions between caregivers and their infants are just the **result of simplistic stimulus associations**, learnt responses and patterns of reinforcement. - parents believe to have a connection with their kids
- alternate theories of attachment ; **Bowlby's Monotropic** theory, which **gives an evolutionary explanation** for caregiver-infant attachment. Arguing babies are innately programmed to form attachments for survival. ( CA: biological need to survive through food which the mother provides)
| could link to tronick - caregiver interactions through reciprocity
31
Outline Bowlby's evolutionary explanation of attachment
- 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, for **survival**.
- thorugh specific behaviours called **social releasers** such as crying , smiling, following and clinnging
32
Outline Bowlby's monotropic theory
- Infants **form one special attachment**.
- infants forms an **internal working model** which is a **mental template** for **future relationship expectations**. - *e.g. 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**); " the **sensitive period**" however, the successful formation would be **increasingly difficult**
- Bowlby said that if **no attachment** is formed during this time frame then the child would be **damaged for life –socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically**.
33
Evaluate Bowlby's monotropic theory : For
- **Lorenz et al** found that certain animals have an **innate tendency** to respond **immediately** to **specific stimuli**. This provides an **evolutionary advantage** , as by **staying close to caregivers**, newborn animals are **safe from predators**. supports Bowlby’s evolutionary theory. CA*
- Although **Schaffer + Emerson** found that children tended to have multiple attachments . they did have a **primary attachment figure**.
- Bowlby's work has been **impactful**; he **inspired** later researchers, such as Mary **Ainsworth**. Bowlby's ideas have been **developed and applied to early childcare**. For example, immediate physical contact between the mother and their babies in the first few hours after birth is encouraged, and social service workers actively investigate cases of infant neglect, understanding its long-term harm.
## Footnote
* extrapolation issues. R: basic mechanisms of evolution are universal - advantageous behaviour is selected for and disadvatangeous selected against - link to attachment
34
Evaluate Bowlby's monotropic theory : Against
- **Schaffer + Emerson**; (**findings**)multiple attachments - 39% of children had their main attachment to someone other than the main carer, 87% , and 31%.
- **Rutter** found that infants **display a range of attachment behaviours towards attachment figures** other than their mothers and there is **no behaviour exclusive** to mothers.
- Although the critical period is important for healthy development, it is not fixed, as recovery of attachment is possible with appropriate care. - " sensitive period"
- subject to **alpha bias**, the exaggeration of gender differences. Bowlby argues the father's role is to provide resources for the family, while the mother's monotropic role is crucial. This is likely a **reflection of a 1940s worldview** that was likely incorrect in its time but now **lacks temporal validity** due to the changing nature of the modern family, as both parents are likely to share caregiving.
- 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.
- The continuity hypothesis is **highly deterministic**; people like to think that they have **complete conscious control** over their relationships, including responsibility for their success; not that this is set in infancy.
35
Describe Ainsworth's three attachment types
**type A** : **insecure -avoidant**: infants are willing to explore , low stranger anxiety, indifferent reunion behaviour. Mother shows little sensitive responsiveness.
**type B**: **securely attached** : use mothers as a safe base - high exploration, moderate stranger anxiety, and separation but happy reunion response. 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. - inconsistent sensitive responsiveness
36
Outline Ainsworth's research in determining attachments.
- 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%.**
37
Evaluate Ainsworth's strange situation
| give strengths
- highly controlled observation with standardised procedure and clear behavioural categories, which alllows for a consistent and replicable apporach to studying attachment
- has predictive validity: children classified as securely attached tend to have better social , intellectual and emotional outcomes
- **McCarthy** studied 40 adult womemn and found those with long -lasting and secure adult friendships were securely attached in infancy.
38
Evaluate Ainsworth's strange situation:
| weaknesses
- **Methodological weaknesses** 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.** + external as lab experiment
- **culture bias** - **van Ijzendoorn’s research** reported significant differences in the distribution of attachment types in different cultures. Imposed etic; Ainsworth applied western standards to other cultures without their cultural context.
- **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.
- **Kagan's temparemental hypothesis** sees infants as having an inherited high or low temparment. High showing high distress etc. Biological explanation explains the varying infant behaviour.
39
Describe Van Ijzendoorm's cultural variations of attachment research.
- Conducted a large-scale meta-analysis of 2000 infants in 32 studies from 8 countries' use of the "strange situation",to classify attachment types.
- countires included , Japan , China, Sweden, Germany, Holland, UK and US
40
# halfway!!
Outline key findings in Van Ijzendoorm's cultural variation research.
- Japan (collectivist cultures) showed higher levels of insecure–resistant attachment (27%)
- China had the least secure infants (50%). The UK had 22% avoidant, 75% secure and 3% resistant.
- Germany ( individualistic cultures) has the highest rate of insecure–avoidant attachment (35%). Grossman believed this was due to differing child-rearing practices - parents discoruage proximity-seeking behaviour.
- Secure was the most common type in all countries, and generally, insecure resistant was the least. Avoidant was more common in individualistic Western cultures and resistant in collectivist non-western.
41
Discuss cultural variations in attachment. Give strengths.
- dominant attachment style was "secure" for all countries studied, this may be evidence for Bowlby's theory that there is a biological, instinctive drive to parent in a way that produces secure attachments.
- This meta-analysis included a very large sample;increasing our confidence in the validity of the overall findings.
42
Discuss cultural variations in attachment
| give weaknesses
- **Grossman** believed that Germany's results may be the result of different childrearing practices: desire to keep some interpersonal distance thus discourage proximity‐seeking behaviours.
- may lack temporal validity due to the changing nature of family life in the modern world. - link to **Simonelli et al (2014)** measured attachment and found that compared to historical Italian familes , there were less secure infants and more avoidant.
- example of ethnocentrism.: uses Strange Situation, developed in the Western World: This could be Ainsworth taking an emic concept (local norm) and imposing it as an etic (universal) concept to the wider world.
- Many of the countries represented only had one study included, such a small sample is not representative of the country's population,
43
What is Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis?
- 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.
44
Describe short-term separation
| and its impacts...
- 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.
45
outline and evaluate research on the impacts of short term separation
- **Robertson & Robertson** documented John, a 17-month-old during a 9-day separation from his pregnant mother who showed extreme distress and the PDD model . Upon his mother's return he rejected her and showed signs of emotional withdrawal., with lasting emotional damage
- **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.
46
describe long term deprivation and its consequences
- involves lengthy or permanent sepaaration from attachment figures.
- delinquency; behaviour outside accepted norms, petty crime
- affectionless psychopathy; unable to show care or empathy, with little guilt for their harmful actions
- low IQ: disrupted intellectual development
47
Outline Bowlby's 44 Thieves Studies Research
| research for institutionalisation
- Bowlby 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 that MD can have serious and long-lasting negative effects.
48
Evaluate Bowlby's MDH
- supporting evidence; 44 thieves, short term seperation studies , reasonable to surmise a longer speraration would have worse effects.
- CA: the 44 thieves study, is correlational, deprivation and delinquency could be linked to 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.
- led to significant positive changes to policies related to child welfare, visiting time for mothers , length of maternity leave etc.
- exaggerates the importance of the mother as a primary caregiver.(alpha bias), link to Schaffer
- Bowlby argues for a critical period and irreversible damage due to deprivation, however the findings of orphan studies suggests children have a sensitive, not critical period. Rutter, Hodges and Tizard or Goldfarb, all showed that while
deprivation can have damaging and long term effects, with suitable care many of these effects can be reversed.
49
Describe privation
- failure to form any attachment bond, often due to severe neglect or institutional care. -
- usually causes lasting damage
50
Describe institutionalisation and its effects
- 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
51
Name research on privation
- the Bulldog Bank Children
- Rymer (1993) Genie ,
- Koluchova - Czech twins
52
Outline the Bulldog Bank Children Research
- 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 **ages 3-4** to a centre and were hostile to adults .
- They were attached to one another and refused to be separated .
- With care, they made rapid developments in physical and intellectual capabilities , and those that were traceable made good recoveries and had successful adult relationships.
53
Outline the research on Genie.
- Rhymer (1993) reported on Genie , a girl denied human interaction/ beaten until age 13.
- She could not speak or stand.
- Made progress with therapy improving her language abilities and IQ, but regressed after further abuse.
54
Outline the research on the Czech twins
- **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
- At age 14 their intellectual social emotional and behavioral functioning were near normal and they both married and had children
55
Evaluate research on privation
- It 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.
- 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.
56
Outline Goldfarb's research on institutionalisation
| research for institutionalisation
- Goldfarb (1943) ) found that children who experienced institutional care from 6 months to 3.5 years performed significantly worse on social and intellectual measures compared to children fostered from birth.
- At age 3, socially isolated children lagged behind fostered on measures of abstract thinking, social maturity, rule following + sociability.
- At10-14 yrs continued to perform poorly, average IQ 72, fostered children's IQ 95.
57
Outline and evaluate Tizard & Hodges (1989) research on institutionalisation
| research for institutionalisation
- studied 65 children who were placed in institutional care before the age of 4 months, where high staff turnover prevented the formation of stable attachments.
- By age 4, some children were adopted, some returned to their biological families (restored), and some remained in the institution.
- They were followed up at ages 4, 8, and 16 and compared to a control group raised at home.
- The adopted group was more likely to form strong attachments while those who stayed in institutions showed the most social and emotional difficulties
58
Evaluate research on institutionalisation
- 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.
-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.
59
Outline The aim and procedure Romanian Orphan Studies.
| research for institutionalisation
- Rutter and colleagues studied a group of 165 Romanian orphans who had spent their early lives in severely deprived institutions (often with little physical or emotional care).
- The children were adopted into UK families at different ages:Before 6 months/ Between 6 and 24 months/After 2 years
- A control group of 52 British adopted children (not institutionalised) was also studied.
- The children were assessed at ages 4, 6, 11, and 15 on:
Cognitive development (IQ) / Emotional development (e.g., attachment behaviours)/ Social functioning
60
Outline the findings from Romanian Orphan's studies
| research for institutionalisation
- 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 11, children adopted before 6 months had higher IQs (average 102) than those adopted after 6 months (average 86) or after 2 years (average 77).
- Children adopted after 6 months were more likely to show signs of disinhibited attachment
- 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.
61
Evaluate Romanian Orphans Studies
| research for institutionalisation
- Morison and Elwood found similar results with a group of Romanian orphans adopted by Canadian adoptive parents . Suggesting Rutter's findings are reliable.
- Practical Applications: This research has changed policies around adoption and care in orphanages and other institutional settings. For example, critical workers in institution give a higher level of care to infants; there is a focus on ensuring an early age of adoption and adoptive families are
carefully screened.
- the children were not randomly assigned for adoption, but were selected by the new parents in Romania, it is possible this resulted in a bias,
with the more sociable children picked for adoption at a younger age.
- have helped to support and challenge pre-existing theories. The issues Romanian orphans adopted at a later age have with social development suggest the first few months are vital for forming aninternal working model.
- However this research challenges the idea of a critical period in childhood, Bowlby argues that if children miss this window for development, the harm is permanent, however the data showing recovery suggests a sensitive period, the damaged caused, while severe, can be addressed with later care.
- There is supporting evidence for a sensitive period, Hodges and Tizard
abusive families. Goldfarb (1947)
- long-term consequences into adulthood (e.g., employment, relationships, mental health) are still unknown.
62
What is the continuity hypothesis?
| the influence of early attachment on childhood
- the idea that there is consistency between early emotional experiences and later relationships.
- suggests an individual's future relationships will follow a pattern based on their internal working model
- Hazan and Shaver argue that it will take the form of their attachment style as infants - Ainsworth's classifications
63
what is the internal working model?
- An infant's primary attachment forms a model for future relationships.
- the infant develops a schema for how relationships work, which they then apply to future relationships.
64
Outline research on the influence of early attachment on childhood relationships
| the influence of early attachment on childhood
- **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) supported this finding that in late childhood, indidivuals transfer attachment behaviours learned in childhood to social situations and peer groups.
65
Outline Hazan & Shaver " love quiz"
| outline aim and procedure
- **620** participants responded to a newspaper love quiz.
- Questions included feelings on romance and categorised participants' adult relationship styles into **secure**, those who looked for a balance between closeness and independence.
- **avoidant**; participants who avoidided intimacy
- and resistant/anxious, those who couldn't cope well with independence. The questionnaire also assessed childhood attachment type.
**findings**:
- **56%** had **secure** adult relationships, **25**% were **avoidant**, and 19% were anxious, and there was a correlation between adult and child attachment types. - Securely attached adults believed love was long-lasting, reported happiness in theirrelationships and tended not to get divorced.
- Insecure types reported more loneliness.
66
Evaluate Hazan & Shaver's research
- 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.
67
Outline research on the influence of early attachment on adult relationships
- 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.
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Evaluate the influence of early attachment on adult relationships
- 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 internal 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 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.
