Attachment Flashcards
(99 cards)
1
Q
What is reciprocity in caregiver-infant interactions?
A
each person responds and elicits a response from them - essential to any conversation
- eg mothers spend a lot of time in intense and highly pleasurable interactions and respond to a baby’s smile by saying something and in turn elicits a response from the baby
2
Q
What are alert phases?
A
- babies have periodic alert phases in which they signal they’re ready for interaction
- mothers pick up these signals 2/3 of the time and from around 3 months it becomes increasingly frequent
-eg eye contact , verbal signals, face expressions etc
3
Q
What is active involvement?
A
Both caregiver and baby can initiate interactions and take turns doing so.
( contrary to traditional views that portrays babies in a passive role)
4
Q
What is interactional synchrony?
A
caregiver and baby reflect both actions and emotions of the other and do this in a coordinated (synchronised) way
5
Q
What research was done into when synchrony begins? (study)
A
Andrew Meltzoff and Keith Moore (1977) observed start of interactional synchrony in babies as young as 2 weeks old.
- an adult displayed 1/3 facial expressions or 1/3 distinctive gestures
- baby’s response was filmed and labelled by independent observers
Babies expressions and gestures were more likely to mirror those of adults than predicted- there was SIGNIFICANT ASSOCIATION
6
Q
What was the research done on the importance for attachment?
A
- Russel Isabella et al observed 30 mothers and babies together and assessed the degree of synchrony
- researchers also assessed quality of mother-baby attachment…
they found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attachment (eg emotional intensity of relationship)
7
Q
How to recognise attachment?
A
Proximity- people try to stay physically close to their attachment figure
Separation distress- showing signs of anxiety when an attachment figure is absent
Secure-base behaviour - often making regular contact with attachment figures eg when babies return to their attachment figure while playing
8
Q
What is a strength for caregiver-infant interactions?
A
P- Caregiver infant interactions are usually filmed in a lab
E- This means that other activity that might distract a baby can be controlled. Also using films means that observations can be recorded and analysed later so it’s unlikely researchers will miss seeing key behaviours. Furthermore, having filmed interactions means that more than one observer can record data and establish inter-rater reliability of observations. Finally, babies don’t know they’re being observed so their behaviour doesn’t change in respond to observation.
L- Therefore the data collected in such research should have good reliability and validity.
9
Q
What is a limitation of research into caregiver infant interactions?
A
P- One limitation of research into caregiver infant interactions is that it’s hard to interpret a baby’s behaviour.
E- Young babies lack coordination and are mostly immobile. The movements being observed are just small hand movements or subtle changes in expression so it’s difficult to be sure eg whether baby’s smiling or just passing wind. It’s also difficult to determine what’s taking place from baby’s perspective eg if hand twitch is random or triggered by something caregiver has done.
L- This means we can’t be certain behaviour seen in caregiver infant interactions have a special meaning.
10
Q
Another limitation of caregiver infant interaction research?
A
P- A further limitation is that simply observing behaviour doesn’t tell us its developmental importance.
E- Ruth Feldman points out that ideas like synchrony simply give names to patterns of observable caregiver and baby behaviours. These are strong phenomena in the sense that they can be reliably observed but still may not be particularly useful in understanding child development as it doesn’t tell us purpose of these behaviours.
L- This means we can’t be certain from observational research alone that reciprocity and synchrony are important for a child’s development.
11
Q
Counterpoint to limitation that observation doesn’t tell us importance in development
A
P- There’s evidence from other lines of research to suggest that early interactions are important.
E- eg Isabella et al found that achievement of interactional synchrony predicted the development of good quality attachment.
L- This means that caregiver infant interaction is probably important in development.
12
Q
What was the procedure of Schaffer and Emerson’s study?
A
They conducted a LONGITUDINAL study on 60 Glaswegian infants over the first 18 months of their life.
- they visited the children at monthly intervals in their own homes and observed their interactions with their caregivers
-caregivers were interviewed about infants behaviour
Evidence for development of an attachment was that the baby showed separation anxiety after a carer left or distress around strangers ( stranger anxiety)
13
Q
What were the results of Schaffer and Emerson’s study?
A
- 25-32 weeks old ( 50% had separation anxiety)
- at approx 40 weeks 80% had specific attachment and 30% had other attachments
- at 33-36 weeks old they had high amount of stranger anxiety
Conclusion- data shows there are four distinct stages of development of infant attachment behaviour and this happens gradually in first 18 months of their lives.
14
Q
What is the stages of attachment?
A
- Asocial stage
- Indiscriminate attachment
3.specific attachment
4.multiple attachments
15
Q
What is the asocial stage?
A
(0-6 weeks) form basis of later attachments
-infants can form bonds with anyone and inanimate objects
-they can show signs of preference to some (familiar) people and are more easily comforted by them
-their behaviour towards humans are similar to inanimate objects
16
Q
What is the indiscriminate attachment stage?
A
(6 weeks-7 months)
- don’t show separation anxiety or stranger anxiety
- display more clear preference for other humans rather than inanimate objects
-accept cuddles/comfort from anyone
17
Q
What is the specific attachment stage?
A
(7-9 months)
- display classic signs of attachment towards one particular person (primary caregiver)eg stranger and separation anxiety
Primary caregiver- who offers most interaction and responds to signals with the most skill
18
Q
What is the multiple attachments stage?
A
(10-18 months old)
- extend attachment behaviour to other people who they regularly spend time with
- secondary attachments eg Schaffer and Emerson observed that 29% of children formed secondary attachment within a month of forming a primary attachment
-By 1 years old majority have multiple attachments
19
Q
What is a strength of the stages of attachment research?
A
P- One strength of Schaffer and Emerson’s research is that it has good external validity.
E- Most of the observations were made by parents during ordinary activities and reported to the researchers rather than the alternative which would be to have researchers present to record observations that may have distracted the baby or made them feel anxious .
L- This means that it’s highly likely that the participants behaved naturally while being observed.
20
Q
What is the counterpoint to the strength that most observations were made by parents not researchers in the home?
A
P- On the other hand,there are issues with mothers being the ‘observers’ as they were unlikely to be objective as they may have been biased in terms of what they noticed and what E- they reported eg may not have noticed when their baby was showing signs of anxiety or may have misremembered it.
L- This means that even if babies behaved naturally their behaviour may not have been accurately recorded.
21
Q
What is a limitation of Schaffer and Emerson’s stages?
A
P- One limitation of Schaffer and Emerson’s stages is the lack of generalisability.
E- They only looked at a narrow sample of people from Glasgow from the same social class, and we can’t generalise this to other cultures. For example, in collectivist cultures, multiple attachments from an early age is more than the norm
L- As they only looked at one sample, which had unique features in terms of cultural and historical context and findings can’t be applied to other cultures or in modern day.
22
Q
What is a strength of Schaffer and Emerson’s stages? ( daycare)
A
P- Another strength of Schaffer and Emerson stages is that they have real world application in daycare, (non-family adult).
E- In the asocial and indiscriminate attachment stages daycare is likely to be straightforward as babies can be comforted by any skilled adults. However, the research tells us that starting daycare may be problematic during the specific attachment stage.
L-This means that parents use of daycare can be planned, using schaffer and Emerson stages
23
Q
What is the baby’s attachment to fathers?
A
Fathers are much less likely to become babies first attachment figure compared to mothers
- Schaffer and Emerson found that in only 3% of cases the father was the first sole object of attachment
- In 27% of cases the father was the joint first object of attachment
- most fathers later go on to become important attachment figures as 75% of the babies Schaffer studied became attached to fathers by 18 months as they protested when their father walked away
24
Q
Do fathers have a distinctive role? +study
A
Grossman et al carried out a longitudinal study where babies attachment was studied until teens and looked at both parents behaviour and its relationship to the quality of attachment to other people later on.
- quality of a baby’s attachment with mothers but not fathers was related to attachments in adolescence which suggest attachment to fathers is less important than mothers.
However Grossman also found that the quality of fathers play with babies was related to the quality of adolescent attachments suggesting fathers have a different role from mothers more to do with play and stimulation and less to do with emotional development.
25
What happens when fathers become primary attachment figures? +study
There is some evidence to suggest they are able to adopt the emotional role more typically associated with mothers.
Tiffany Field filmed 4 month old babies in face to face with primary caregiver mothers,secondary caregiver fathers and primary caregiver fathers.
- primary caregiver fathers spent more time smiling,imitating and holding babies than secondary caregiver fathers ( all part of reciprocity and interactional synchrony part of process of attachment formation)
Fathers have potential to be more emotion focused primary attachment figure and can provide responsiveness required for close emotional attachment but perhaps only express this when given role of primary caregiver.
26
What is a limitation to the research into the role of the father?
P- One limit of research into the role of the father is lack of clarity over the question being asked.
E- The role of the father in context of attachment is more complicated than it sounds as some researchers are concerned with the role of fathers as secondary attachment figures and others with fathers as primary attachment figures. Some have found fathers have a distinct role and others found fathers can take on a maternal role.
L- This makes it difficult to offer a simple answer to the role of the father as it depends on what specific role is discussed.
27
What is another limitation to the role of the father research? (Methodology)
P- Findings vary according to the methodology used.
E- Longitudinal studies such as that of Grossman et Al have suggested that fathers as secondary attachment figures have an important and distinct role in children’s development, involving play and stimulation. However we would then expect single mother and lesbian parent families would turn out in some way different from those in 2 parent heterosexual families. In fact studies consistently show that these children don’t develop differently.
L- This means that the question as to whether fathers have a distinctive role remains unanswered.
28
What is a counterpoint to the limit that findings vary?
P- These different lines of research may not be in conflict
E- It could be that fathers typically take on distinctive roles in 2 parent families but that parents in single mother and lesbian parent families simply adapt to accommodate roles played by fathers.
L- This means that the question of a distinctive role for fathers is clear as when present fathers tend to adopt a distinctive role but families can adapt to not having a father.
29
What is a strength to the research for the role of fathers?
P- It can be used to offer advice to parents.
E- Parents and retrospective parents sometimes need help on decisions like who should be the primary caregiver and mothers may feel pressured to stay at home because of stereotypical views of mothers and fathers roles. Equally, fathers may feel more pressured to focus on work rather than parenting. Research and be used to offer reassuring advice to parents eg heterosexual parents can be informed that fathers are quire capable of becoming primary attachment figures and let other lesbian parent and single mother families know it doesn’t affect a child’s development if father isn’t present.
L- This means that parental anxiety about role of fathers can be reduced.
30
What was the procedure of Lorenz’s research into imprinting?
-He set up a classic experiment in which he randomly divided a large clutch of goose eggs. -Half hatched with mother in natural environment and other half in the incubator where the first moving object they saw was Lorenz.
- Lorenz also investigated the relationship between imprinting and adult mate preferences
31
What did Lorenz find when researching imprinting?
- The incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere whereas the control group followed the mother even when groups were mixed up
- Lorenz identified a critical period in which imprinting needs to take place depending on species and if it doesn’t Lorenz found that chicks didn’t attach to a mother figure
- In sexual imprinting he observed that birds that I printed on a human would often later display courtship behaviour towards humans
- In a case study, a peacock saw a giant tortoise moving first and later only displayed courtship behaviour towards them and had undergone sexual imprinting.
32
What was the procedure for Harlows research into attachment?
He tested the idea that a soft object serves some of the functions of the mother and observed that newborns kept alone in a bare cage often died but usually survived if riven something soft to cuddle.
- he reared 16 baby monkeys with 2 wire model mothers and the plain wire one dispensed milk and so did the cloth covered mother.
- also followed monkeys who had been deprived of real mothers (maternal deprivation)
33
What did Harlow find in his research into the monkeys?
- baby monkeys cuddled the cloth covered mother in preference to the plain wire mother and sought comfort when scared by noisy mechanical teddy bear regardless of which mother dispensed milk
- contact comfort was more important to them than food when it came to attachment behaviour
- monkeys with maternal deprivation were the most dysfunctional (plain wire) but those with cloth covered mother didn’t develop normal social behaviour eg unskilled at mating,more aggressive,neglected kids and sometimes killed them
- also found the critical period = within 90 days for attachment to form and effects were irreversible after
34
What is one strength of Lorenz’s research?
P- existence of support for the concept of imprinting
E- There is a study that supports Lorenz’s idea of imprinting in which chicks were exposed to simple shape combinations that moved eg triangle with rectangle in front. A range of shape combinations were then moved in front of them and they followed the original most closely.
L- This supports the view that young animals are born with an innate mechanism to imprint on a moving objects present in critical period as predicted by Lorenz.
35
What is a limitation of Lorenz’s research?
P- One limit of Lorenz’s studies is the ability to generalize findings and conclusion from birds to humans.
E- The mammalian attachment system is quite different and more complex than that in birds. For example, in mammals attachment is a two way process as mothers also show an emotional attachment to their young.
L- This means that it’s probably not appropriate to generalize Lorenz’s ideas to humans.
36
What is a strength of Harlows research into the monkeys?
P- It has important real world applications.
E- It has helped social workers and clinical psychologists understand that a lack of bonding experience may be a risk factor in child development allowing them to intervene to prevent poor outcomes. We also now understand the importance of attachment figures for baby monkeys un zoos and breeding programs in the wild.
L- This means that the value of Harlows research isn’t just theoretical but also practical.
37
What is a limitation of Harlows research?
P- The ability to generalize findings and conclusions from monkeys to humans.
E- Rhesus monkeys are much more similar humans than Lorenz’s birds and all mammals share some common attachment behaviour however the human brand and human behaviour is still more complex than that of monkeys.
L- This means that it may not be appropriate to generalize Harlows findings to humans.
38
Extra eval for Harlow and Lorenz’s research?
- Harlows research caused severe and long term distress to the monkeys but findings have important theoretical and practical applications.
- There have been some ideas that imprinting explains human behaviour eg computer users form attachment to their first computer operating system leading them to reject others,
39
What did Dollard and Miller propose as an explanation of attachment through classical conditioning?
Learning theory (cupboard love) - idea based on infants learning to attach to food and the attachment figure as the provider of food through classical conditioning ( learning to associate 2 stimuli so learn to respond to one as they do to the other)
1. UCS (food) > UCR (baby feels pleasure)
2. NS (carer) + UCS (food) > UCR ( pleasure)
3. CS (carer) > CR (pleasure)
When the caregiver provides food they become associated with the food so it builds the expectation of food when baby sees them. Once conditioning has taken place the sight of the caregiver produces a conditioned response of pleasure (considered love) attachment is formed and caregiver becomes an attachment figure.
40
How does operant conditioning result in attachment?
- If behaviour results in pleasant consequences it’s likely to be repeated and behaviour is said to be reinforced and unpleasant consequences are less likely to be repeated.
1. Baby performs action (eg cries) > baby receives reward from caregiver (eg food)
Reward reinforces the action so baby repeats it. The baby then directs crying for comfort towards caregiver who responds with comforting behaviour. The baby is REINFORCED for crying and caregiver receives negative reinforcement because the crying stops as unpleasant stimulus is gone. This mutual reinforcement strengthens an attachment.
41
Why is attachment a secondary drive?
- Hunger is thought to be a primary drive (innate,most basic reason for behaviour) and receiving food helps with drive reduction and motivation reduction,
- Robert sears et Al suggested that as caregivers provide food the primary drive of hunger becomes generalized to them so attachment is a secondary drive learned by an association between the caregiver and the satisfaction of a primary drive.
42
What is a limitation of the learning theory as an explanation of attachment?
P- Lack of support from studies conducted on animals.
E- eg Lorenz’s geese imprinted on the first moving object they saw regardless of whether this object was associated with food. Also Harlow’s research with monkeys showed no support for the importance of food as they displayed attachment behaviour towards a soft surrogate mother in preference to a wire one which provided milk.
L- Thus shows that factors other than association with food are important in the formation of attachments.
43
What is another limitation of learning theory as an explanation of attachment? (Human)
P- Lack of support from studies of human babies.
E- eg Schaffer and Emerson found that babies tend to form their main attachment to their mother regardless of whether she was the one who usually fed them. In another study it was found that high levels of interactional synchrony predicted the quality of attachment. These factors are not related to feeding.
L- This again suggests that food isn’t the main factor in the formation of human attachments.
44
What is a strength of the learning theory as an explanation of attachment?
P- Elements of conditioning could be involved in some aspects of attachment.
E- It seems unlikely that association with food plays a central role in attachment but conditioning may still play a role eg a baby may associate feeling warm and comfortable with the presence of a particular adult and this may influence the baby’s choice of their main attachment figure.
L- This means that learning theory may still be useful in understanding the development of attachments.
45
What is the counterpoint to the strength that conditioning is involved in some aspects of attachment?
P- Researchers suggested that parents teach children to love them by demonstrating (modeling) attachment behaviors eg hugging.
E- Parents also reinforce loving behaviour by showing approval when babies displayed their own attachment behaviours eg giving attentions and cuddles to their parents.
L- This social learning perspective has the furthest advantage that it’s based on 2 way interaction between baby and adult so it fits better with research into the importance of reciprocity and is a better alternative theory.
46
What are the origins of Bowlby’s monotropic theory?
- Bowlby rejected learning theory because then an infant should take readily to whoever feeds them but this isn’t the case
- proposed evolutionary explanation that attachment was an innate system that gives a survival advantage
- so attachment evolved as a mechanism to keep young animals safe by ensuring they stay close to their caregivers
47
Why is Bowlby’s theory described as monotropic?
…because he places emphasis on a child’s attachment to one particular caregiver as he thought this was different and more important that the others.
- believed that more time spent with primary attachment figure the better and put forward two principles
48
What two principles did Bowlby put forward to clarify why a child’s attachment to one particular caregiver is most important?
1. Law of continuity - more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better the quality of attachment
2. Law of accumulated separation- effects of every separation from the mother add up and ‘the safest dose is therefore a 0 dose’
49
What are social releasers?
-‘cute’ behaviours eg smiling cooing gripping etc
- purpose it to activate adult social interaction and makes both hardwired to become attached
50
What is the critical/ sensitive periods?
- Bowlby proposed critical period ( 6 months) when infant attachment system is active also viewed it as a sensitive period and possibly extends to 2 yrs old
- if attachemnt not formed in this time, a child will find it much harder to form one later
51
What is the internal working model?
- bowlby proposed child forms a mental representation of their relationship with their primary attachment figure
- a child who’s first experience of a loving and reliable caregiver will form expectation that all relationships are as loving and reliable
-if first experience is poor treatment, tend to form further poor relationships in which they expect such treatment from others/ treat others that way
- affects child’s later ability to be a parent themselves as tend to base parenting behaviour on own experiences
52
What is a strength of Bowlby’s theory?
P- supporting evidence for the role of social releasers
E- clear evidence that cute baby behaviours are designed to elicit interaction from caregivers. A researcher observed babies trigger interactions with adults using social releasers and told primary figures to ignore babies’ social releasers in the still face experiment. Babies became increasingly distressed and some eventually curled up and lay motionless.
L- This illustrates the role of social releasers in emotional development and suggests that they’re important in the process of attachment development.
53
What is a limitation of Bowlby’s theory?
P- The critical period Bowlby proposed can be challenged by the case study of the Czech twins.
E- The Czech twins were found at the age of 7, much after the critical period, and had not made an attachment due to severe neglect and abuse. The twins did go on to make a full recovery and create healthy relationships in adult life. Bowlby suggested if an attachment wasn’t made in critical period it wouldn’t be made later on.
L- Therefore the case study contradicts the validity and reliability of Bowlby’s theory that attachments need to be made in the critical period.
54
What is another limitation of Bowlby’s theory? ( monotropy…)
P- Concept of monotropy lacks validity
E- Schaffer and Emerson found that although most babies attach to the person at first, a significant minority formed multiple at the same time. The first attachment may just appear to have stronger influence later on because it’s stronger not different in quality from other attachments eg attachments to family members provide all same key qualities such as safety.
L- This means that Bowlby may be incorrect in saying that there’s a unique quality and importance to the child’s primary attachment.
55
What is another strength of Bowlby’s theory?
P- support for the internal working model
E- IWM predicts that patterns of attachment will be passed from one generation to the next. Bailey et al (2007) assessed attachment relationships in 99 mothers and their 1 year old babies. The researchers measured the mother’s attachment to their own primary attachment figures and researchers also assessed attachment quality of the babies. They found that mothers with poor attachment quality to their own parents were more likely to have poorly attached babies.
L- This supports Bowlby’s idea that mother’s ability to form attachment to their own babies is influenced by their IWM which comes from their own early attachment experiences.
56
What is the procedure for the strange situation by Ainsworth and Bell?
- to observe key attachment behaviours as a means of assessing the quality of a baby’s attachment to a caregiver
- controlled observation in room with controlled conditions ie a lab with a two way mirror and/ or cameras to observe baby’s behaviour
57
What are the behaviours used to judge attachment?
1. Proximity seeking - good quality attachment stays close
2. Exploration + secure base behaviour - enables baby to feel confident enough to explore using caregiver as secure base to feel safe
3. Stranger anxiety
4. Separation anxiety - protest at separation
5. Response to reunion - greet caregivers return with pleasure and seek comfort if securely attached
58
What is being measured at each stage of the strange situation?
1. child is encouraged to explore- tests exploration and secure base behaviour , proximity seeking
2. stranger tried to interact with child- tests stranger anxiety
3. caregiver leaves child and stranger together- tests separation and stranger anxiety
4. caregiver returns and stranger leaves - tests response to reunion
5. caregiver leaves child alone - tests separation anxiety
6. stranger returns- stranger anxiety
7. caregiver returns and is reunited with child- response to reunion
59
What are the findings of the strange situation?
Secure babies (Type B) (60-75%) - explore happily but regularly return to caregiver, moderate separation distress and moderate stranger anxiety, require and accept comfort when reunited
insecure avoidant (Type A) - explore freely but don’t seek proximity or show secure base behaviour, little or no reaction when caregiver leaves or stranger is present, little effort to make contact in reunion stage (20-25% classified)
insecure resistant ( Type C) - seek greater proximity and explore less, high levels of stranger and separation anxiety but resist comfort when reunited with caregiver (3%)
60
What is a limitation of types of attachment?
P- In opposition to Ainsworths test, Main and Solomon found that a minority of infants don’t fit within the 3 original attachment types.
E- They found a 4th attachment type with was the disorganised attachment (type D) where children show a mix of avoidant and resistant behaviours. This would suggest that Ainsworth had left a portion of children who were not fitting into an attachment type or she may have been classifying them incorrectly.
L- This means that Ainsworths test can’t be universally applied or generalised to every child and didn’t consider those who didn’t fit in or classified them incorrectly.
61
What is a strength of the types of attachment?
P- There is good reliability as if different researchers watch the same children throughout the strange situation on the whole they agree on the attachment type of that child.
E- This is known as good inter-rater reliability. A cause of this may be the controlled conditions of the lab and the fact that the behavioural categories used were fairly easy to observe. Bick et al observed the strange situation observed the strange situation and they agreed on the attachment type of 94% of infants.
L- This means that the attachment type identified is reliable and not dependent on who’s watching them.
62
What is another strength of types of attachment research? (good v…)
P- Ainsworth’s research has good validity.
E- Using attachment type shown in the strange situation we are able to make replications about how that child will be later in life. If an infant has a secure attachment in childhood, they typically go on to successful relationships with friends and romantically when they’re older. Kokkinos found that children with an insecure resistant attachment don’t have successful development and are often involved in bullying. Ward et al found that insecure resistant children are also at more risk of developing mental illness.
L- This means that Ainsworth’s research and findings can be useful in understanding development of attachment later in life and has real life applications.
63
What is a limitation of research into types of attachment? ( culture..)
P- This test of attachment doesn’t have same meaning across cultures outside of western ones so has cultural bias.
E- Different childhood experiences may cause infant to react to strange situation differently and cultural differences may also cause different reactions from the caregiver. Takahashi found that the strange situation can’t be used effectively in Japan as in this culture it would be very rare for mother to be separated from their child so child may display high levels of separation anxiety. Upon reunion, Japanese mothers run in and pick up the baby immediately which makes it difficult to observe the reaction of the child.
L- This means that Ainsworth’s findings and conclusions can’t be applied or generalised to other cultures outside western ones so doesn’t tell us anything about children’s’ behaviour in other areas.
64
What was the procedure for Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg study for cultural variations in attachment?
- carried out meta analysis about attachment typed in different cultures to find out:
- whether proportions of secure, insecure avoidant and insecure resistant children were similar across cultures
- and how much inter-cultural variation in attachment types exist
65
What did Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg find?
- secure attachment was most common classification in all countries ( 75% in UK , 50% in China)
- I’m individualist cultures, rates of insecure resistant attachment were similar to Ainsworth’s original sample but this wasn’t true for collectivist sample from China, Japan and Israel where rates were above 25% and insecure avoidant was reduced
- variations between results within same countries were 150% greater than those between countries eg in US and study found only 46% securely attached compared to a sample as high as 90%
66
Describe the Italian study by Simonelli et al (2014)
- to see whether proportions of babies of different attachment types still matches those found in previous studies
- Researchers assessed 76 babies aged 12 months using the strange situation
- found 50% = secure with 36% = insecure avoidant ( lower rate than before) due to increasing number of mothers of young children working long hours and using professional childcare
- these findings suggest that patterns of attachment types aren’t static but very in line with cultural change
67
Describe the Korean study by Jin et al
- compared proportions of attachment types in Korea to other studies using the strange situation to assess 87 babies
- overall proportions of insecure and secure babies were similar to those in most countries with most babies being secure
- more of those classified insecurely attached were resistant and only one baby was avoidant
- similar to Japan findings as have similar child rearing styles
68
What are the conclusions on the cultural variations studies?
- secure attachment = norm in wide range of cultures supporting Bowlby’s idea that attachment is universal and innate and this type is universal norm
- research also shows that cultural practices have a influence on attachment type
69
What is a limitation of the cross cultural research?
P- impact of confounding variables on findings
E- studies conducted in different countries aren’t usually matched for method,often when they’re compared in reviews or meta-analyses. Sample characteristics eg social class, age can confound results. Environmental variables may also differ between studies eg size of room and availability of interesting toys as babies may explore in small rooms with attractive toys or less visible proximity seeking due to room size may make a child more likely to be classified as avoidant.
L- This means that looking at attachment behaviour in different non matched studies conducted in different countries may not tell us anything about cross cultural patterns of attachment.
70
What is a further limit of cross cultural research?
P- Imposed etic- In trying to impose a test designed for one cultural context to another context
E- Imposed etic occurs when we assume an idea or technique that works in one cultural context will work in another. Eg use of babies response to reunion with caregiver in the strange situation. In Britain and US, lack of affection may indicate an avoidant attachment but in Germany it would be interpreted as independent rather than insecurity. Therefore that part of the strange situation may not work in Germany.
L- This means that the behaviors measured by the strange situation may not have the same meanings in different cultural contexts and comparing them across cultures is meaningless.
71
What is a strength of the cross cultural research?
P- Most of the studies were conducted by indigenous psychologists.
E- Indigenous psychologists are those from the same cultural background as the participants eg Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg included research by German team and Takahashi who is Japanese. This means that many of potential problems in cross cultural research can be avoided eg misunderstanding of language used by participants or difficulty communicating instructions and bias due to one nations stereotypes of others.
L- This means there’s an excellent chance that researchers and participants communicated successfully enhancing the validity of the data collected.
72
Difference between separation and deprivation
Separation- child not being in presence of primary attachment figure and this only becomes a problem if child becomes deprived of emotional care.
Extended separations= deprivation but brief separations particularly if child is with substitute caregiver isn’t significant for development.
Deprivation - emotional care removed
73
What did Bowlby propose was the critical period related to maternal deprivation?
-First 2.5 years of life and if child is separated from their mother in absence of substitute care and deprived of emotional care for extended duration then psychological damage was inevitable.
- also believed there was a continuing risk up to the age of 5
74
What are the effects of maternal deprivation for too long during critical period on intellectual development? + Goldfarb
Delayed intellectual development characterized by low IQ
Goldfarb found lower IQ children who had remained in institutions as opposed to those who were fostered and thus had a higher standard of emotional care
75
What is affectionless psychopathy?
-inability to experience guilt or strong emotion towards others which prevents a person developing fulfilling relationships and is associated with criminality.
-They can’t appreciate feelings of victims and lack remorse for their actions.
76
What was the aim and procedure for Bowlby’ 44 Juvenile Thieves study?
aim- to investigate the effect of longer term separation
Procedure-
- case studies were completed on the backgrounds of 44 adolescents who had been referred to the clinic where Bowlby worked because they’d been stealing.
-They were compared to a control group of 44 emotionally disturbed adolescents who didn’t steal.
77
What were the results and conclusions of Bowlby’s 44 juvenile study?
- 17 of the thieves had experienced frequent separations from their mothers before the age of 2 which is the critical period compared with 2 in the control group.
- 14 of the thieves were diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths and 12 of these 14 had experience separation from their mothers.
Bowlby concluded that prolonged early separation/deprivation caused affectionless psychopathy
78
What is a limitation of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation?
P- Poor quality of evidence it’s based on
E- Bowlby’s 44 thieves study is flawed as it was Bowlby himself who carried our both family interviews and assessments for affectionless psychopathy which left him open to bias as he knew in advance which teens he expected to show signs of psychopathy.
Bowlby was also influenced by Goldfarb’s findings on development of deprived children in wartime orphanages which has a problem of confounding variables as children had experienced early trauma and institutional care along with prolonged separation from primary caregivers.
L- Bowlby’s original sources of evidence for maternal deprivation was flawed and wouldn’t be taken seriously as evidence nowadays.
79
What is a counterpoint to the poor quality of evidence?
P- A new line of research has provided support for the idea that maternal deprivation can have long term effects.
E- Levy et al showed that departing baby rats from their mother for as little as a day gas a permanent effect on their social development though not other aspects of development.
L- This means that although Bowlby relied on flawed evidence to support his theory of maternal deprivation, there are other sources of evidence for his ideas.
80
What is another limitation to the theory of maternal deprivation?
P- Bowlby’s confusion between different types of early experience.
E- Rutter distinguished between two types of early negative experience. Deprivation strictly refers to the loss of primary attachment figure after attachment has developed. Privation is the failure to form any attachment eg when in institutional care. Rutter pointed out that severe long term damage Bowlby associated with deprivation is more likely to be the result of privation. So the children Goldfarb studies may have been ‘prived’ not deprived and the thieves Bowlby studied had disrupted early lives and may never have formed strong attachments.
L- This means that Bowlby may have overestimated the seriousness of the effects of deprivation in children’s development.
81
What are the limitations of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation?
P- A further limitation of the theory is Bowlby’s idea of critical period.
E- For Bowlby, damage was inevitable if a child had not formed on attachment in the first 2.5 years of life. However, there’s evidence to suggest that in many cases good quality aftercare can prevent most or all damage eg Kouchava reported the case of the Czech twins who experience severe physical and emotional abuse from age of 18 months until 7. They received excellent care and by their teens they had recovered fully.
L- This means that lasting harm isn’t inevitable even in cases of severe privation. The critical period is therefore better seen as a sensitive period.
82
What are the effects of institutionalization?
1. Disinhibited attachment - being clingy, attention seeking, and directing inappropriate social behaviour towards any adult (unusual as most show stranger anxiety in 2nd year)
- Rutter (2006) explained it as adaptation to living with multiple caregivers during sensitive period of attachment formation eg living with 50 carers but not spending enough time with any to form a secure attachment.
Intellectual Disability- Rutter’s study showed most children showed signs of intellectual disability when they arrived in the UK but most of those adopted before 6 months old caught up with control group by age 4.
- Damage to intellectual development can be recovered if adoption takes place before 6 months
83
What was the procedure for Rutter’s ERA study?
- followed group of 165 Romanian orphans who had been adopted by families in the UK as part of the ERA study
- aim was to investigate extent to which good care could make up for poor early experiences
- physical, cognitive and emotional development assessed at 4,6,11,15 and 22-25 years
- group of 52 UK children adopted around same time = control group
84
What did Rutter find in his ERA study?
- showed signs of delayed intellectual development when first arrived in UK
- mean IQ of children adopted before age of 6 months =102 compared with 86 for 6 months to 2 years and 77 for those after 2 years
- ADHD was more common in 15 and 22-25 yr old samples
- kids adopted after 6 months showed disinhibited attachment and social behaviour directed towards any adult
85
What did Zeanah find in the Bucharest Early Intervention project?
- assessed attachment in 95 Romanian children aged 12-31 months who spent on average 90% in institutional care
- compared to control group of 50 children who never lived in an institution
- attachment type measure using strange situation
- carers were asked about unusual social behaviour eg clingiest as a measure of disinhibited attachment
86
What did Zeanah find in the BEI?
- 74% of control group were classed as securely attached
- the description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalized children as opposed to less than 20% of control group
87
What is a strength of the Romanian orphanage studies?
P- their application to improve conditions for kids growing up outside their family home
E- Studying the Romanian orphans have improved psychologists understanding of the effects of early institutional care and how to prevent worst effects. This has led to improvements in conditions experienced by looked after children eg children’s homes now avoid having large numbers of caregivers for each child and instead have 1/2 key workers who play central role in their emotional care. Institutional care is now seen as an undesirable option and effort is made to accommodate such children in foster care or adoption.
L- Children in care have a chance to develop normal attachments and disinhibited attachment is avoided.
88
What is another strength of Romanian orphans studies? (Lack of…)
P- Lack of confounding variables
E- There were many orphan studies before eg orphans during ww2 and many of children studied had experienced varying degrees of trauma and it’s difficult to separate effects of neglect, physical abuse and bereavement from those of institutional care. However, children from Romanian orphanages had been handed over by loving parents who couldn’t afford to keep them.
L- results were much less likely to be confounded by other negative early experiences so had higher internal validity than other studies
89
What is a counterpoint to the lack of confounding variables strength?
P- studying children from Romanian orphanages might have introduced different confounding variables
E- the quality of care in these institutions were extremely poor with children receiving very little intellectual stimulation or comfort.
L- This means that the harmful effects seem in studies of Romanian orphans may represent the effects of poor institutional care rather than institutional care in general.
90
What is a limitation to Romanian orphan studies?
P- current lack of data on adult development
E- The latest data from the ERA study looked at children in early - mid 20s meaning we don’t currently have data to answer some of the most interesting research questions about long term effects of early institutional care. The question of the lifelong prevalence of mental health problems and participants success in forming and maintaining adult romantic and parental relationships remain unanswered. It will take a long time to gather due to longitudinal design of the study.
L- It will be some time before we know more about what the long term effects are for the Romanian orphans so it’s possible that late adopted children may catch up.
91
How does childhood relationships affect attachment type? ( Kerns 1994)
Attachment type associated with quality of peer relationships in childhood
- securely attached babies ten to form best quality friendships but insecurely attached later have friendship difficulties
92
How can bullying behaviour be predicted by attachment type?
Wilson and Smith assessed attachment type and bullying involvement using standard questionnaires in 196 children aged 7-11 from London
- secure children = unlikely to be involved
- insecure-avoidant= most likely to be victims
- insecure resistant= most likely to be bullies
93
What did McCarthy find in relation to adulthood relationships?
- studied 40 women who had been assessed when babies to establish early attachment type
- those assessed as securely attached had best adult friendships and romantic relationships
-those classed as insecure resistant babies had problems maintaining friendships
- insecure avoidant struggled with intimacy in romantic relationships
94
What was the procedure for Hazan and Shaver’s study?
- conducted a classic study of the association between attachment and adult relationships
- analyzed 620 replies to the love quiz printed in an American local newspaper
The quiz had 3 sections:
- assessed respondents current or mode important relationship
- assessed general love experiences eg no. Of partners
- assessed attachment type by asking respondents to choose which 3 statements best described their feelings
95
What did Hazan and Shaver find?
- very high correlation between infant attachment types and adult romantic love styles
- 56% of respondents identified as securely attached with 25% insecure avoidant and 19% insecure resistant
- securely attached most likely to have longer lasting romantic experiences
- avoidant respondents tended to reveal jealousy and fear of intimacy
96
What is a strength for influence of early attachment on relationships?
P- supporting evidence.
E- Reviews of evidence have concluded the early attachments constantly predicts later attachment, emotional well-being an attachment to own children how strong the relationship is between early attachment type and later develop development depends on the attachment type and aspects of later development so whilst insecure avoidant attachment seems to show fairly mild disadvantages for development disorganised attachment is strongly associated with later mental disorder.
L-This means that secure attachment as a baby appears to convey advantages for future development while disorganised attachment appears the severely disadvantage children.
97
What is a counterpoint to the strength that there’s supporting evidence?
P- not all evidence supports the existence of close links between early attachment and later development
E- E.g. Becker stoll longitudinal study followed 43 individuals from one year of age. At age 16 attachment was assessed using the adult attachment interview and there was no evidence of continuity.
L-This means that it’s not clear to what extent the quality of attachment really predicts later development as there may be other important factors .
98
What is a limitation of research into influence of attachment?
P- early attachment is assessed retrospectively
E- Most research on link between early attachment and later development are not longitudinal ie they don’t assess attachment in early life and then revisit the same person later in life. Instead researchers usually ask adolescents or adult participants questions about the relationships with parents and identify attachment type from this. This causes two validity problems- asking questions relies on honesty and accurate perception of participants and secondly it’s very hard to know whether what is being assessed is early attachment or in fact adult attachment.
L- This means that the measures of early attachment used in most studies may be confounded with other factors making them meaningless.
99
What is a further limitation of research into early attachment influence on relationships?
P- confounding variables
E- Studies that assess attachment in infancy such as McCarthy which is valid however even these studies may have validity problems because associations between attachment quality and later development may be affected by confounding variables. Eg parenting stlye may influence both attachment quality and later development. Alternatively, genetically influenced personality may be an influence on both factors.
L- This means we can’t be entirely sure that it is early attachment and not another factor that is influencing later development.
