Attachment

Question 1

What is reciprocity? - caregiver and infant interactions

Answer 1

This is achieved when baby and caregiver respond to and elicit responses from eachother

Question 2

What are alert phases? - caregiver and infant interactions

Answer 2

Babies signal that they are ready for a spell of interaction which mothers pick up on 2/3s of the time. After this the reaction becomes more frequent

Question 3

Do babies have a passive or active involvement and why?

Answer 3

Active as they can both initiate and respond

Question 4

What is interactional synchrony? - caregiver and infant interactions

Answer 4

This is where caregiver and baby mirror each others behaviour

Question 5

How old are the babies when interactional synchrony begins?

Answer 5

As young as 2 weeks old where the babys expression and gestures mirrors that of caregiver

Question 6

What did Isabella et al do?

Answer 6

She observed 30 mothers and babies and assessed degrees of synchrony as well as assessing the quality of mother - baby attachment

They found high levels of synchrony were associated with better mother baby relationships

Question 7

What are the types of displays babies leave on attachment ? - caregiver infant

Answer 7

Proximity - staying physically close to attachment figure
Separation distress - being upset when figure leaves
Secure Base Behaviour - babies leaving attachment figure but regularly returning to them when playing

Question 8

A03 caregiver infant interactions

Answer 8

STRENGTH : Research on this topic is the use of filmed observations
- Mother Baby interactions are usually filmed from multiple different angles, so fine details of behaviour can be recorded and analysed later
- Babies can not show demand characteristics as they dont know they are being observed
- Means studies have good reliability and validity

LIMITATION : Difficulty in observing babies
- It is hard to observe as they are not co-ordinated and we are only observing small gestures and small changes in expression
- hard to interpret movement
- cannot be certain that any particular interactions observed between baby and caregiver are meaningful

LIMITATION : Difficulty inferring developmental importance
- Feldman points out that synchrony and reciprocity simply describe behaviours that occur at the same time
- These are robust phenomena in the sense that they can be reliably observed but it doesnt tell us purpse
- we cannot be certain that synchrony and reciprocity are important in development
HOWEVER
Isabella said They found high levels of synchrony were associated with better mother baby relationships therefore crucial for development

Question 9

What are schaffers stages of development

Answer 9

Stage 1 : Asocial (first few weeks)
- Babies behaviour towards people and inanimate objects is quite similar but happier in presence of people
Stage 2 : Indiscriminate attachment (2-7 months)
- More observable behaviour with a preference for people
- Do not show stranger or separation anxiety
- Indiscriminate as occurs for all
**Stage 3 : Specific attachment (7 months +) **
- stranger and separation anxiety
- specific attachment with primary attachment figure - the person who interacts and responds the most
Stage 4 : Multiple attachments (one year)
- secondary attachments with other adults form after
- 29% of babies had secondary multiple attachements within a month

Question 10

What was Schaffer and Emersons study for stages of attachment?

Answer 10

• 60 babies and mums from glasgow from working class families were visited for 18months
• Separation anxiety measured by asking mothers about their children’s behaviour during everyday separations when faced with unfamiliar adults
• They asked about babies protest showed in 7 separarations eg when a mum left the room
• Babies developed attachment through a sequence of stages from asocial to multiple
• The specific attachment tended to be the person who was most interactive and sensitive to babies signals and facial expressions

Question 11

A03 for schaffers stages of attachment

Answer 11

STRENGTH : External Validity
- most of the observations were made by parents during the activities and reported to researcher
- the alternative would be to have oberserves present but this could distract and make babies anxious
- highly likely that the ppts behaved naturally while being observed
HOWEVER
- mothers may have been biased in what they reported eg not reported signs of anxiety
- not accurately recorded

LIMITATION : Poor evidence for asocial stage
- because of babies stage in physical development they have poor coordination and are immobile
- this makes it difficult for mothers to accurately report signs of anxiety and attachment for this age group
- babies might be quite social but flawed methods so appear to be asocial

STRENGTH : Real world application to daycare
- In the early stages babies comforted by any adult
- If a child starts day care later during specific stages care from unfamiliar adult can cause distress and long term problems
- Schaffer and Emerson can help parents make day care decisions

LIMITATION : Only did children from glasgow

Question 12

What is the percentages for the role of the father ?

Answer 12

• 3% of cases found father was the first sole object of attachment
• 27% of cases found father was joint first sole object of attachment
• 75% of babies had an attachment formed by 18months shown by them protesting when their father walked away

Question 13

What did grossman find about the role of the father ?

Answer 13

• carried out a longitudinal study looking at parents behaviour and its relationship to the quality of children’s attachments into their teens
• quality of attachment with father was less important for adolescent attachment than quality with mother
• fathers less important for emotional development
• found that quality of fathers play with babies was related to their role of play and stimulation

Question 14

Can fathers be the primary attachment figure?

Answer 14

• fathers can adopt role more typical role of mothers
• field filmed 4 month old babies and found the primary caregiver fathers spent more time smiling and holding than secondary caregivers
• behaviours related to innteractional synchrony and formation of emotional attachment

Question 15

what is the key to the attachment relationship

Answer 15

the level of responseiveness not the gender

Question 16

a03 : role of the father

Answer 16

LIMITATION : Confusion over research questions
- some psychologists want to understand the role of the fathers as secondary attachment figures but others more concerned with primary attachment figure
- tended to see fathers as behaving differently from mothers and having a distinct role but some found he can take mothers role
psychologists cannot answer the role of the father

LIMITATION : Conflicting evidence from different methodologies
- Grossman suggested fathers have a distinctive role in childrens development involving play and stimulation
- Golombok found children without a father do not develop differently
- questions of whether fathers have a distinctive role remains unanswered
COUNTERPOINT - findings may be clear
- fathers may typically take on roles in heterosexual families but other family structures adapt to not having dads
- distinct role for fathers but families can adapt

STRENGTH : Findings in parenting advice
- mothers pressured to stay at home and fathers to work
- research on flexibility of role of father can offer reassuring advice to parents
- parental anxiety can be reduced and parenting decisions made easier

Question 17

What is the critical period ? - animal studies

Answer 17

A period of time in which imprinting needs to take place otherwise chicks can not attach to mother figure

Question 18

What is lorenz study? - animal studies of attachment

Answer 18

He looked at imprinting
PROCEDURE
- Hatched half with mother goose in their natural environment
- Other half hatched in an incubator where the first moving object they saw was Lorenz
-Mixed all goslings to see whom they would follow
-Lorenz observed birds and their courtship behaviour
FINDINGS
- Incubator group followed lorenz, control group followed mother
- Lorenz identified a critical period in whihc imprinting needs to occur
- Sexual imprinting also occurs whereby the birds acquire a template of the desirable characteristics required in a mate

Question 19

A03 - LORENZE GEESE

Answer 19

STRENGTH : Support for imprinting
- regolin exposed chicks to simple shape combinations that moved
- when shown a range of moving shapes the chicks followed these in preference to other shapes
- this suggests that young animals are born with an innate mechanism to imprint on a moving object

LIMITATION : Generalising from birds to humans
- The mammalian system is quite different from imprinting in birds
- Mammalian mothers show more emotional attachment to their young
- cannot generalise lorenz idea on imprinting in humans

Question 20

What is Harlows study?

Answer 20

Importance of contact comfort
PROCEDURE
- Harlow reared 16 rhesus monkeys with 2 wire model mothers
** Condition 1 : milk was dispensed by plain wire mother
** Condition 2 : milk was dispensed by cloth wire mother
- Harlow observed how the monkeys reacted when placed in frightening situations eg he added a noisy mechanical teddy
- Harlow and his colleagues continues to study mother depreived monkeys into adulthood
FINDINGS
- baby monkey cuddled cloth covered mother regardless which dispensed milk showing comfort was more important
- monkeys sought comfort in cloth monkey when frightened
- As adults the monkeys who had been deprived of real mothers were more agressive, less sociable, less mating
- monkeys had 90 day attachment formation

Question 21

ao3 - harlow monkeys

Answer 21

STRENGTH : real world application
- helped social workers understand risk factors in child abuse and intervention to prevent
- understand importance of attachment figures for baby monkeys in zoos and breeding programmes
- Harlow research benefits animals and humans

LIMITATION : Generalising from monkeys to humans
- Clearly more similar to humans and share some similar
- human mind and behaviour more complex
- not appropriate to generalise harlows findings to humans

LIMITATION : ETHICS
- monkeys harmed

Question 22

What is the learning theory for explanations of attachment :

Answer 22

• Importance of food : Cupboard love where children learn to love whoever feeds them

Question 23

How does classical conditioning link to the learning theory of attachment ?

Answer 23

ucs (food) –> unconditioned response (pleasure)
NS (caregiver) –> no response
NS + UC —. ucr (pleasure)
CS (caregiver) –> CR (pleasure)

Question 24

How does operant conditioning link to the learning theory of attachment ?

Answer 24

• If a behaviour is likely to be repeated the behaviour is said to be reinforced
• If a behaviour produces an unpleasant consequence it is less likely to be repeated
• Crying leads to a response from the carregiver eg feeding
• As long as the caregiver provides the correct reponse, crying is reinforced
• baby directs crying for comfort towards the caregiver who responds with comforting social suppressor
• As the baby is reinforced for crying the caregiver recieves negative reinforcement as the crying stops

Question 25

How is attachment a secondary drive ?

Answer 25

• Hunger can be thought of as a primary drive - innate, biological motivator
• As caregivers provide food the primary drive of hunger becomes generalised to them
• Attachment is a secondary drive learned by an association between the caregiver and satisfaction of primary drive

Question 26

A03 - Learning theory of attachment

Answer 26

LIMITATION : Counter evidence from animal studies
- For example geese imprinted on the first moving object they saw regardless of whether associated with food
- Harlows monkey displayed attachment behaviour towards soft surrogate in preference to wire mother even though both provided food
- factors other than association with food are important in attachment formation

LIMITATION : Lack of support from studies of human babies
- Schaffer found that babies tended to form their main attachment to their mother regardless of whether she was the one who usually fed them
- Isabelle found high levels of interactional synchrony predicting quality of attachment - factors not related to feeding
- Again suggests that food is not the main factor in the formation of human attachments

STRENGTH : Conditioning may be involved
- Unlikely that association with food plays a central role in attachment but also conditioning
- Baby may associate feeling warm and comfortable with the presence of an adult influencing their choice of attachment figure
- learning theory is useful in understanding developments of attachment
HOWEVER
- both classical and operant conditioing explanations see the baby playing a relatively passive role in attachment developmnet simply responding to assocations with comfort and reward
- in fact research shows that babies take a very active role in the interactions that produce attachment
- conditioning may not be adequet explanation

Question 27

What was bowlbys monotropic theory ?

Answer 27

He placed emphasis on a childs attachment to one particular caregiver and how this caregiver is different and more important than the others

Question 28

What was bowlbys two principles that clarified the more time we spend with our attachment figure the better?

Answer 28

• The law of continuity stated that the more constant and predictable a childs care the better the quality of their attachment
• The law of accumulated separation stated that the effects of every separation from the mother add up and the safest dose is therefore a zero dose

Question 29

What is social releasers?

Answer 29

Babies are born with a set of innate behaviours like smiling, cooing and gripping that encourage attention from adults, as it activates adult social interaction

Question 30

What is the critical period ?

Answer 30

The interplay between baby and adult attachment builds up in the early weeks of life, expecially around 6MONTHS where the infant attachment system is active

Question 31

What did bowbly say about the internal working model?

Answer 31

Child forms a mental representaion of their relationship with their primary attachment figure because it serves as a model for what relationships are like

It can also affect their childs later ability to be a parent themselve as they base their parenting behaviour on their own experiences

Question 32

a03 : BOWLBYS THEORY

Answer 32

LIMITATION : Concept of monotropy lacks validity
- relationship with primary attachment figure may be stronger than other attachments rather than different in quality
- other family members may develop attachments that have same qualities eg comfort
- bowlby may have been wrong to suggest that there is a unique quality to a Childs primary attachment
STRENGTH : Evidence supporting role of social releasers
- brazelton et al instructed primary attachment figures to ignore their babys social releasers
- baies who were normally responsive showed some distress and layed motionless
- social releasers play an important role in attachment development
STRENGTH : Support for idea internal working model
- predicts patterns of attachment will be passed from one generation to the next
- bailey studied 99 mothers and those with poor attachment to their own parents were likely to have 1yr olds poorely attached to them
- supports bowlbys idea of an internal working model of attachment as it is passed through families
COUNTERPOINT
- a babies genetically influenced personality is important in the development of social behaviour inc their later parenting style
- bowlby over emphasises the importance of the internal working model in development

Question 33

What was the point of Ainsworth and Bell the strange situation ?

Answer 33

They did a controlled procedure to assess the quality of a babys attachment to a caregiver

Question 34

What were the 5 categories used to judge attachment quality?

Answer 34

1. Proximity Seeking : Well attached babies stay close to caregiver
2. Exploration and Secure base Behaviour : Good attachment makes a baby confident to explore using the caregiver as point of safety
3. Stranger anxiety - Displayed by well attached behaviours
4. Separation anxiety - displayed by well attached babies
5. Response to reunion - well attached babies are enthusiastic

Question 35

What was Ainsworth and Bells Strange situation procedure ?

Answer 35

1. Baby is encouraged to explore by caregiver
2. Stranger enters, talks to caregiver and approaches baby
3. Caregiver leaves
4. Caregiver returns, stranger leaves
5. Caregiver leaves baby alone
6. Stranger returns
7. Caregiver returns

Question 36

What was the findings from Ainsworth and Bells Strange situation procedure ?

Answer 36

60-75% of British Toddlers showed SECURE ATTACHMENT
- happy to explore but seeks proximity to caregiver
- Shows moderate separation anxiety and stranger anxiety
-Requires and accepts comfort from caregiver on reunion
20-25% showed INSECURE AVOIDANT
- baby expolres but does not seek proxmity
- shows little separation and stranger anxiety
- avoids contact at reunion stage
3% of British Todllers show INSECURE RESISTANT
- baby explores and seeks greater proxmity
- shows considerable stranger and separation anxiety
- resists comfort when reunited with caregiver

Question 37

a03 - types of attachment (ainsworth and bell)

Answer 37

STRENGTH: Good predictive validity
- attachment type predicts later development eg secure babies have greater success at school
- insecure attachment has bullying and mental health
- explain future outcomes

STRENGTH : Good inter rater reliability
- diff observers watching the same babies generally agree on attachment type (bick found 94% agreement on one team)
- strange situation takes place under controlled conditions and because the behavioral categories are easy to observe
- confident that the attachment type of a baby identified does not just depend on who is observing them

LIMITATION : Culture bound
- not have same meaning in countries outside europe and US where it was created
- cultural differences in childrens experiences mean they respond differently eg japanes kids show anxiety because they are not used to being left with caregiver
- difficult to know what the SS is measuring in some cultures

Question 38

What is the procedure for cultural variations in attachment ?

Answer 38

• IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg looked at the prooprtions of secure, insecure avoidant and insecure resistant attachments across a range of countries as well as the differnces within the same countries to understand variations within a culture
• 32 studies of attachment where ss was used and this was conducted in 8 countries 15 in US but in total 1990 children
• data meta analysed results being combined and weighted for sample size

Question 39

What is the findings for cultural variations in attachment ?

Answer 39

• Secure attachment was most common but ranged from 50% in china to 75% in britain
• In individualist cultures rates of insecure attachment were similar to Ainsworth at 14% but in collectivist cultures eg china where it was above 25% and rates of insecure avoidant reduced
• Variations between results of studies within the same country were actually 150% greater than those between countries
• In the US one study found 46% securely attached compared to one sample as high as 90%

Question 40

What was the other studies for cultural variation in attachment

Answer 40

PROCEDURE
- Simonelli et al assessed 76 babies aged 12 months in Italy using the SS to see whether the proportion of Attachment types still matched previous studies in Italy
- Jin et Al compared the attachment types of 87 korean babies to proportions in other studies

FINDINGS
- Simonelli et Al found that 50% were secure witth 36% insecure avoidant becaise mothers work long hours and use more childcare
- Jin et al found similar patters of secure and insecure attachment to other studies. Within the insecure categories there were differences - only one baby was avoidant
- similar to Japan so they might have similar child rearing practices

Question 41

a03 : cultural Variations in attachment

Answer 41

STRENGTH : Use of indigenous researchers
- those from same cultural backgrounds as the ppts eg grossman working with german ppts
- aids communications between ppts and researchers and helps to prevent misunderstandings
- excellent chance that researchers and ppts communicate successfully increasing validity of the study

LIMITATION : Confounding variables
- studies condcuted in different countries may not be matched for sample characteristics rg ages and social class
- environmental variables may also differ eg the use of smaller rooms so babies can explore more
- studies assessing attachment typrs in diff countries may tell us little difference

LIMITATION : Imposed etic
- Using a test in a different cultural context from the one for which it was designed may be meaningless
- Ss was designed in US where lack of affection at reunion represents isecure attachment but in germany it is a sign of independence
- may be meaningless to compare attachment behaviour across countries

Question 42

What is Bowlby theory of maternal deprivation ?

Answer 42

• Continued emotional care from a mother is necessary for emotional and intellectual development

Question 43

What can separation lead to? - Bowlby theory of maternal deprivation ?

Answer 43

Maternal Deprivation

Question 44

What is the difference between deprivation and separation?

Answer 44

Separation means the child not being physically in the presence of the primary attachment figure
Deprivation means losing emotional care as a result of separation. It can be avoided if alternative emotional care is offered

Question 45

What is the critical period? - Bowlby theory of maternal deprivation ?

Answer 45

2and1/2 years
psychological damage inevitable after that and continuing risk up to age 5

Question 46

What was the link between deprivation and IQ in children?

Answer 46

If a child is deprived of mental care for too long during critical period it can lead to mental retardation so there is a lower IQ
eg kids in institution have lower iq than foster kids

Question 47

What can lack of emotional care lead to?

Answer 47

Affectionless psychopathy
- inability to experience guilt or strong emotion towards others
- prevents person developing normal relationships and associated with criminality

Question 48

What is the study for bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 48

PROCEDURE :
- 44delinquent teenagers accused of stelaing
- all thieves interviewed for signs of affectionless psychpathy characterised by lack of affection, guilt and empathy
- families were interviewed to established any prolonged separations from mothers

FINDINGS
14/44 described as affectionless psychopaths
12 had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers in the first 2 years of their lives
5 of remaining 30 had experienced separations causing affectionless psychopathy

Question 49

ao3 Bowlby theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 49

LIMITATION : Sources of evidence for maternal deprivation are flawed
- 44 thieves open to bias as bowlby assessed them himself
- goldfarbs study of wartime orphans is flawed because he used traumatised ppts who lacked good aftercare –> confounding variables
- this means that bowlby originally had no solid evidence on which to base his theory of maternal deprivation
COUNTERPOINT
- levy found separating baby rats for one day had a permanent affect on their social development

LIMITATION : Bowlby confused deprivation and privation
- Rutter made distinction between deprivation and privation (failure to form an attachment) - more serious effects
- The 44 thieves and others he based his ideas on eg Goldfarbs wartime orphans may have been prived rather than deprived
- bowlby exaggerated effects of deprivation on development

LIMITATION - critical period more of a sensitive period
- case study conducted of czech twin boys isolated from age 18moths later they were lookedafter by 2 loving adults and appeared to recover fully
- severe deprivation have have positive outcomes provided the child has some social interaction and good aftercare
- may be more sensitive rathter than critical

Question 50

What was Rutter et al English and Romanian orphan study - INSTITUTIONALISATION

Answer 50

PROCEDURE
- Followed 165 romanian orphasn who experienced poor conditions before being adopted in the uk
- Tested the extent to which good care can make up for poor ealry experiences
- Physical cognition and emotional development was assessed at 4,6,11,15,22-25
- Followed a control group of 52 adopted children from the uk

FINDINGS
- 1/2 of orphans showed delayed intellectual development when cam to uk
- at age 11 recovery rates were related to age at adoption : adopted before 6 months IQ of 102, adopted after 2 years IQ of 17 and these differences were present at age 16

• Freq of disinhibited attachment related to ago of adoption
• Apparent in children adopted after 6 months old : clingy, attention seeking, indiscriminate affection to strangers -rare before age of 6 months

SUPPORT BOWLBYS VIEW THAT THERE IS A SENSITIVE PERIOD IN DEVELOPMENT OF ATTACHMENTS

Question 51

What is Zeaneh at al Bucharast early intervention project - Institutionalisation

Answer 51

• Researchers used SS to assess attachment in 95 romanian children aged 12-31 month who had spent most of their lives in institutional care
• Compared to a control of 50 who never experienced institutional care

FINDINGS
19% of institutionalised group were securely attached (74% of control)
44% of institutionalised group had characteristics of disinhibited attachments (20% of control)

Question 52

What are the 2 effects of disinhibited institutionalisation

Answer 52

Disinhibited Attachment - children tend to be friendly and affectionate towards people they know well or total strangers - adaptation to multiple caregivers
Damage to intellectual development

Question 53

ao3 : institutionalisation

Answer 53

STRENGTH : romanian orphans real world study
- led to improvements in the way children are cared for in instinstitutions
- childrens homes now avoid having a large number of caregivers for each child and having 1/2 who have a central role
- develop normal attachments and disinhibited attachment avoided

STRENGTH : Fewer confounding variables
- Many orphan studies before romanian study but these involved children who experienced loss or trauma before institutionalised
- neglect, abuse and bereavement meant it was hard to observe effects of institutionalisation in isolation as they were affected by many factors
- we are sure that differences in institutionally cared for children are the result of this care

LIMITATION : lack of data on adult development
- too soon to say whether suffered permanent effects as data only up to ealry twenties
- time before we have some key reserach questions eg can they maintain romantic and parenting relationships
- have not yielded most important findings

Question 54

What is the influence of early attachment on later realtionships ?

Answer 54

– good attachment = good relationship expectations
– bad attachment = bad relationship expectations
– childhood
- securely attached less likely to be involved in bullying
- insecure avoidant are victims
- insecure resistant are bullies
– adulthood
- parents base parenting style on internal working model
- found majority of mothers had same attachment classification to their babies as they had to own mothers

Question 55

What was Hazen and Shaver love quiz?

Answer 55

• Analysed 620 replies to love quiz printed in an american local newspaper
• quiz assessed 3 diff aspects of relationships (1) current and most important (2) general love experiences (3) attachment type

Secure respondents were most likely yo have good and longer lasting romantic relationships
Avoidant respondents tended to be jealous and fear intimacy

Question 56

a03 - influence of early attachment on later realtionships ?

Answer 56

STRENGTH : Research support
- many sttudies showing link between infant attachment and layer development inc bullying, relationships and parenting
- roisman concluded that infant attachment influenced development eg disorganised attachment was most predictive later causing mental disorders
- insecure attachment to convey a disadvantage for childrens development

LIMITATION : low validity
- most studies assess ppt attachment type in adulthood using q’aires or interviews
- rely on honesty
- these studues assess attachment in late childhood and assumed it remainsed same since infancy
- measures of attachment not valid

LIMITATION : confounding variables
- some studies made assessments on infant attachment and follow up measuring development
- parenting style and personality may affect attachment and development
- not entirely sure it is infant attachment and not some other factor