Attachment Flashcards
Outline research that supports the idea that the role of the father is the same as the mother
Field (1978)
- Comapred interactions between 4 month olds and their mother, father when secondary caregiver, father when primary caregiver
- When the father was the PCG it was comparable to the mother
Outline research that supports the idea that the role of the father is less important that the mother’s
Grossman longitudinal study
- Measured the quality of attachment between a baby and mother/father
- Measured the quality of adolescent relationships years later
- Infant relationship to mother impacted peer relationships as a teenager but infant relationships with father did not
Outline research into the effects of Institutionalisation
Rutter et al (2011)
- Followed 165 Romanian orphans who were adopted in the UK at different ages and assessed their development at a verity of ages
- On arrival, all orphans were under development mentally and physically
Their rate of recovery depended on what age they were adopted - Those adopted after 6 months showed disinhibited attachment, overly clingy, attention seeking, no stranger anxiety
Age Adopted Average IQ at age 11
Before 6 months 102
6 months - 2 years 86
After 2 years 77
Outline research support of Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation
Case study
Genie Case Study
- Locked in a room til 13 years old
- She could not use grammar/pronouns and would throw very large temper tantrums
Outline research support for Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation
Main study
Bowlby’s 44 Theives Study (1944)
- Interviewed 44 adolescent theives and their families
- 14 of the theives had affectionless psychopathy
- 12 of those 14 experienced maternal deprivation
- Of the remaining 30, 5 experienced maternal deprivation
Outline Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation
- Bowlby’s believed that deprivation within the 2 1/2 year critical period would inevitably cause irreversible psychological damage
- Also suggested a 5 year sensitive period
Effects of maternal deprivation:
- Damage to IWM
- Delinquincy
- Cognitive deficit
- Affectionless psychopathy
Outline research into cultural variations in attachment
Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)
Meta analysis of The Strange Situation
- Highest rate of secure - Uk 75%
- Lowest rate of secure - China 50%
- Highest rate of avoidant - Germany 35%
- Highest rate of resistant - Israel 29%
Outline research on the effect of attachment type on adult romantic relationships
Hazan and Shaver (1987)
- Love quiz
- Almost 100 questions questions in a newspaper about childhood experiences, relationship experiences, relationship attitudes
- Found a correlation
Outline research on the effect of attachment type on peer relationships in school
Kokkinos (2007)
- Secure attachment- Good relationships
- Insecure avoidant - More likely to be a bully
- Insecure resistant - More likely to be a victim of bullying
Outline research into the types of attachment
Ainsworth et al (1971,1978)
Baby’s behaviour observed covertly in a room
Consists of 8 episodes: Separation from caregiver, reunion with caregiver, response to a stranger, the novel environment
Results: see book
Outline research support for the continuity hypothesis
Baily et al (2007)
- 99 mothers with children aged 1
- They assessed the attachment between mother and baby and the attachment between mother and grandmother
- Baily found correlation between the attachments
Outline Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory of Attachment as an explanation of attachment
- Attachment is innate and a product of natural selection
- Social releasers - innate features of babies which make them cute, adults are hardwired to find them cute
- Monotropy - babies need to form one special strong bond with caregiver
- Internal working model - cognitive framework which enables individuals to predict and control their environment
- Continuity hypothesis - The IWM is the foundation of all future relationships
- Critical period - Attachments have to form within a critical period of 2 1/2 years
Outline Learning Theory as an explanation of attachment
- Proposes that behaviour is learned rather than innate
- Children are born as blank slate
- Behaviour is learnt through classical or operant conditioning
Outline animal research on attachment
Harlow (1958)
- Separated baby monkeys from their mothers at birth
- One mother made of cloth with no food, one mother made of wire with food
Results
When put in a stressful situation, monkeys would go to the cloth mother for comfort
- The monkeys spent almost all their time with the cloth mother and only went to the wire mother when they were hungry
- When re-introduced into monkey society they were severely bullied and were extremely abusive to their own offspring
Outline animal research into attachment
Geese
Lorenz (1935)
- Divided a clutch of goose eggs in half randomly
- Half stayed with goose mother (control)
- Half were raised by Lorenz since birth
Results
- Geese imprinted on him like he was their mother
- Suggested humans have an innate mechanism which allows us to form attachments (humans do NOT imprint) and a critical period for attachment
