Attachment Flashcards
1
Q
Developmental psychology
A
Is a branch of psych concerned with the progressive behavioural changes that occur in individuals across their lifespan
2
Q
Attachment
A
Is an emotional bond between 2 people + it is a two way process that endures over time
3
Q
Reciprocity
A
- Is also referred to as turn-taking
- It is a two-way mutual process, where each party responds to the other’s signals to sustain interaction
- The behaviour of each party elicits a response from the other
- Studies have demonstrated that infants coordinate their actions with their caregiver’s actions in a kind of conversation
- The regularity of an infant’s signals allows a caregiver to anticipate the infant’s behaviour + respond appropriately
- This sensitivity to infant behaviour lays the foundation for later attachment between the caregiver + the infant
4
Q
Interactional synchrony
A
- Is when adults and babies respond in time to sustain communication
- The caregiver and the infant interact in such a way that their actions and emotions mirror each other
- Research has found that infants as young as two or three weeks old imitated specific facial + hand gestures that they saw adults do
- An adult model displayed 1 of 3 facial expressions or hand movements
- A dummy was placed in the baby’s mouth during the display to prevent any response
- Following the display the dummy was removed + the infant’s expression was filmed
- They found that there was an association between the infant’s behaviour + the adult model
5
Q
Advantage of Caregiver and Infant Interactions (1)
A
- Interactional synchrony has been demonstrated in several studies
- Meltzoff and Moore found that infants as young as 3 days old were displaying this behaviour which suggests that the imitation behaviours are not learned + are innate
6
Q
Advantage of Caregiver and Infant Interactions (2)
A
- Murray and Trevarthen (1985) got mothers to interact with their babies over a video monitor
- In the next part of the study the babies were played a tape of their mother so she was not responding to them
- The babies tried to attract their mothers attention but when this failed they gave up responding
- This shows that babies want their mothers to reciprocate
7
Q
Disadvantage of Caregiver and Infant Interactions (1)
A
- Babies cannot communicate so psychologists are relying on their inferences
- They cannot be sure that infants are actually trying to communicate
8
Q
Disadvantage of Caregiver and Infant Interactions (2)
A
The expression tested (tongue sticking, yawning and smiling) are ones that infants frequently make so they may not have been deliberately imitating what they saw
9
Q
Difficulties Investigating Caregiver-Infant Interactions (CII)
A
- Studies have found that babies’ attachment behaviours are much stronger in lab settings than they are in their home environment + therefore studies should take place in a natural setting e.g. the child’s home to increase validity
- Most studies into CII are observational so there may be bias in the observer’s interpretation of what they see (observer bias) + this can be countered by using more than 1 observer (inter-rater reliability)
- There are practical issues when investigating CII such as the infants are often asleep or feeding when psychologists want to observer them + therefore researchers need to use fewer but shorter observation periods because of babies limited waking periods
- Extra care needs to be taken in relation to ethics when investigating CII so as to not affect the child or parent in any way e.g. protection from harm, confidentiality etc
10
Q
Stages of Attachment
A
- Shaffer and Emerson (1964) investigated the development of attachment in infants using a longitudinal study where they followed 60 infants + their mothers for 2 years
- They decided that there were 4 stages in the development of attachment in infants
11
Q
4 stages of attachment
A
1 - Pre attachment
2 - Indiscriminate attachment
3 - Discriminate attachment
4 - Multiple attachments
12
Q
1 - Pre attachment (0-3 months)
A
- From 6 weeks of age infants become attracted to other humans preferring them to objects + events
- This preference is demonstrated by their smiling at people’s faces
13
Q
2 - Indiscriminate attachment (4-7 months)
A
- Infants begin to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar people, smiling more at people they know
- They will still allow strangers to handle them
14
Q
3 - Discriminate attachment (7 months onwards)
A
- Infants develop a specific attachment to their primary attachment figure (usually the mother) staying close to that person
- They show separation protest + display stranger anxiety
- Schaffer and Emerson (1964) noticed that the infant’s primary attachment figure was not always the person who spends the most time with the child
- They concluded that it is the quality of the relationship, not quantity that matters the most in the formation of an attachment
15
Q
Separation protest
A
The distress an infant shows when their primary attachment figure leaves them
16
Q
Stranger anxiety
A
The distress an infant shows when approached by someone they do not know
17
Q
4 - Multiple Attachments (7 months onwards)
A
- Very soon after developing their first attachment infants develop strong emotional ties with other major caregivers such as the father and grandparents and non caregivers such as siblings
- These are called secondary attachments
- The fear of strangers weakens but their attachment to their primary attachment figure remains the strongest
18
Q
Disadvantage of Stages of Attachment (1)
A
- The data collected by Shaffer and Emerson may be unreliable because it was based on mothers’ reports of their infants
- Some mothers might have been less sensitive to their infant’s protests + therefore been less likely to report them
19
Q
Disadvantage of Stages of Attachment (2)
A
- The sample was biased because it only included infants from a working-class population + thus the findings might not apply to other social groups
- The sample was also biased because it only included infants from individualist cultures, infants from collectivist cultures could form attachments in a different way
20
Q
Disadvantage of Stages of Attachment (3)
A
- The study does not have temporal validity as it was conducted in the 1960s + parental care of children has changed considerably since then
- More women go out to work + more men stay at home
21
Q
Disadvantage of Stages of Attachment (4)
A
- Stage theories such as this one are inflexible + don’t take account of individual differences
- Some infants might form multiple attachment first rather than starting with a single attachment
22
Q
Multiple Attachments
A
- Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found that for the majority of babies their mother is their primary attachment figure (PAF)
- At around 7 months of age babies form secondary attachments to other family members including their father
- 75% of infants studied had formed an attachment with their father by the age of 18 months
23
Q
The Role of the Father
A
- Fathers are less likely to be their child’s PAF
- This might be because they spend less time with their infants
- It is also possible that most men are not as psychologically equipped to form an intense attachment because they lack the emotional sensitivity that women have
- This could be due to biological factors e.g. the female hormone oxytocin underlies caring behaviour so women are more orientated to interpersonal goals than men
- Alternatively, it could be due to societal norms e.g. in some cultures there is also the stereotype that it is feminine to be sensitive to the needs of others
- Some researchers believe that the father fulfils a qualitatively different role from that of the mother
- Fathers provide play and stimulation to complement the role of the mother, which is to provide emotional support + the father’s role is considered just as crucial to the child’s wellbeing
24
Q
Disadvantage of the Role of the Father (1)
A
- There is inconsistency in the research as to the importance of the role of the father
- Research investigating the effects of growing up in a single female or same-sex parent family show there is no effect on development + therefore suggests the role of the father is not important
25
Disadvantage of the Role of the Father (2)
- It seems the father is less important to later development than the mother in terms of nurture
- Grossman (2002) found that the early attachment to the mother was a better predictor of what the teenage relationship was like than the early attachment with the father
- However, if the father had engaged in active play with the child when they were young, the adolescent relationship with BOTH parents was strengthened
26
Disadvantage of the Role of the Father (3)
- Research also questions whether the father plays a distinct role
- Studies show that the father in a single parent family is more likely to adopt the traditional maternal role + can be their child’s PAF
27
Disadvantage of the Role of the Father (4)
- Field (1978) conducted research which compared the behaviours of primary caregiver mothers with primary + secondary caregiver fathers
- Face-to-face interactions were analysed from video footage with infants at four months of age
- Overall, it was observed that fathers engaged more in game playing + held infants less
- However, primary caretaker fathers engaged in significantly more smiling, imitative grimaces + imitative vocalisations than secondary caregiver fathers
- The behaviour of primary caregiver fathers was comparable with that of mothers’ behaviour
- This demonstrates that there is flexibility in the role of the father + how men can respond to the different needs of their children
28
The Strange Situation
- This was the methodology used by Ainsworth (1970) to investigate differences in attachments between infants + their caregivers
- It was a controlled observation which took place in a room that had been furnished with some toys
29
The investigators observed the infants in a series of 3 minute episodes:
- Mother and baby —> stranger enters —> mother leaves —> mother returns etc
- They recorded an infants proximity seeking, stranger anxiety, separation protest and reunion joy
30
Type A - Insecure Avoidant
- 20% of babies had attachments that were classified as insecure avoidant
- Babies with this attachment style will largely ignore their caregiver + play independently while they explore the room
- They show no signs of distress when the caregiver is absent (**no separation protest**) + continue to ignore them when they return (**no reunion joy**)
- The baby is distressed when left completely alone but is comforted by the stranger as easily as their caregiver (**no stranger anxiety**)
- The caregiver + the stranger are treated in much the same way
31
Type B - Secure Attachment
- 70% of babies were described as securely attached
- Securely attached babies play happily while the caregiver is present + use them as a safe base while they explore the room and play with the toys
- The baby is clearly distressed when the caregiver leaves **(separation protest)** even if they are not left completely alone + seeks immediate contact with their caregiver when they return **(reunion joy)**
- Their caregiver easily comforts them
- The baby is wary of the stranger **(stranger anxiety)** but accepts some comfort from them when the caregiver is absent
32
Type C - Insecure Resistant
- 10% of babies were put in the insecure-resistant category
- Babies who have an insecure-resistant attachment to their caregivers are fussy + cry more than other babies
- They will not explore the room or play with the toys very much, instead they are clingy
- The baby is distressed when the caregiver leaves **(extreme separation protest)** however they resist comfort from the caregiver on reunion **(no reunion joy)**
- They strongly resist the stranger’s attempts to make contact **(extreme stranger anxiety)**
33
Advantage of the Strange Situation (1)
- The Strange Situation has been replicated many times over the years
- It is easy to replicate this study because it had a high level of control + standardised procedures
- It has been carried out successfully in many different cultures
34
Disadvantage of the Strange Situation (1)
- The methodology was developed in the US + so may be culturally biased
- Attachment behaviour that is seen as healthy in the US may not be seen as such in all cultures
- In Germany at this time very few mothers worked (less than 1 in 5) but children were encouraged to be independent + self reliant
- German parents view some of the behaviour exhibited by securely attached infants such as crying when their mothers leave the room as being spoilt + so don’t reward this behaviour
- This is why these children may have shown less anxiety when separated from their mothers + been classed as avoidant
35
Disadvantage of the Strange Situation (2)
- The Strange Situation is gender biased as it has only ever been carried out using mothers as the caregiver
- Children might be insecurely attached to their mothers but securely attached to their fathers
- The strange situation is therefore not measuring a child’s overall attachment style but their attachment to one individual
- Main and Weston (1981) found that children behave differently depending on which parent they are with
36
Disadvantage of the Strange Situation (3)
- The Strange Situation being artificial is that it may not reflect the infant’s real world behaviour (lacks ecological validity)
- Studies have found that babies attachment behaviours are much stronger in lab settings than they are in their home environment
- Also the validity of some measures have been questioned e.g. it could be argued that proximity seeking could be a measure of insecurity rather than security
37
Cross Cultural Variations in Attachment
- Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988) conducted a meta-analysis of 32 studies into attachment to see if attachment occurs in the same way across all cultures
- All of the studies they included had used the strange situation to measure attachment
- These studies looked at the relationships between mothers and their babies (all were under 24 months of age)
- The studies were conducted in 8 countries, some individualistic cultures (USA, UK, and Germany) + some collectivist cultures (Japan, China, and Israel)
38
The main findings were:
- Secure attachment was the most common attachment style in all of the 8 countries studied
- The second most common attachment style was insecure-avoidant except in Israel and Japan where avoidant was rare but resistant was common
- The lowest percentage of secure attachments was in China
- The highest percentage of secure attachments was in Great Britain
- The highest percentage of insecure-avoidant attachments was in West Germany
- Overall variations within cultures were 1.5 times greater than the variation between cultures
39
Similarities/Differences between Cultures
- The similarities between cultures suggest that caregiver + infant interactions have universal characteristics and so may be partly instinctive
- However, the variations between cultures show that the cultural differences in child rearing
practices also play an important role in attachment styles
- The variations within cultures indicate that sub-cultural differences, such as social class, play an
important role in an infant’s attachment style
- These factors are possibly more important than culture
40
Advantage of Cultural Variation in Attachment
- This study is a meta-analysis which includes a very large sample
- This increases the validity of the findings
41
Disadvantage of Cultural Variation in Attachment (1)
- The Strange Situation methodology was developed in the US + it may not be valid in other cultures
- For instance, Ainsworth assumed that a willingness to explore means a child is securely attached but this may not be the case in other cultures
- This means the methodology is culturally biased
42
Disadvantage of Cultural Variation in Attachment (2)
- The infants from Israel in this study lived in a Kibbutz (closed community) + did not come into contact with strangers
- This could be the reason why these children showed severe distress when confronted with strangers and so were classed as insecure-resistant
43
Disadvantage of Cultural Variation in Attachment (3)
- This study was not actually comparing cultures but countries
- E.g. they compared the USA with Japan
- Both of these countries have many different sub-cultures + that have different child rearing practices
- One study of attachment in Tokyo found similar attachment style distributions to the USA, whereas studies in more rural areas of Japan found many more insecure-resistant infants
44
Learning Theory of Attachment
- According to learning theory all behaviour is learned rather then being innate or inherited from parents
- People learn behaviour through 2 types of conditioning: classical conditioning + operant conditioning
45
Classical conditioning
- An infant is born with certain reflex responses, the stimulus of food is an UCS + it produces the reflex of pleasure (UCR)
- The person providing food is a NS but over time they become associated with the pleasure gained from food
- The person becomes a CS that produces pleasure as a CR
- According to classical conditioning this is how the attachment bond develops + is the reason children feel pleasure in their caregiver’s presence
46
Operant Conditioning
- Operant conditioning **strengthens attachment**
- The **baby receives positive reinforcement** (when behaviour produces a pleasant consequence) for crying when they are hungry as the caregiver feeds them
- The **caregiver receives negative reinforcement** (when behaviour removes something unpleasant) for feeding their baby when they cry as feeding the baby makes the crying stop
47
Advantage of Learning Theory
- Learning theory is plausible + scientific as it is founded in established theory
- It is likely that association between the provision of needs + the person providing those needs can lead to strong attachments
48
Disadvantage of Learning Theory (1)
- Harlow (1959) separated infant Rhesus monkeys from their mothers and put them in cages
- Milk was provided either by a wire mesh ‘surrogate mother’ or one made of comfortable soft cloth
- The monkeys clung to the soft cloth ‘mother’, especially when scared by an aversive stimulus, even if it did not provide milk
- This suggests that comfort is more important than food in determining whom a baby will attach to
49
Disadvantage of Learning Theory (2)
- Schaffer and Emerson (1964) also found that food is not necessary for attachment to form
- They discovered that babies are often attached to people who play with them, rather than people who feed them
- In 39% of cases even though the mother was the one who fed the baby the baby was more attached to someone else
50
Disadvantage of Learning Theory (3)
- Learning theory is environmentally reductionist as it explains a complex human behaviour in an overly simplistic way
- The infant and caregiver relationship is a very varied, sophisticated and complicated behaviour + there are many different types of infant and caregiver attachment
- Therefore it is very unlikely that attachment is merely the result of the caregiver providing the
infant with food
- Learning theory is environmentally deterministic because it states that early learning determines later attachment behaviours
51
Why Attachments Form?
- The fundamental principle of Bowlby’s monotropic theory is that attachment between infants + their caregivers is an instinct that has evolved because it increases the chances of both the babies’ survival + the parents’ passing on their genes
- It is therefore adaptive
- Infants who are attached to their caregiver will stay close to them + so are well protected and will survive
- Parents who are attached to their children will ensure they are well cared for and so survive meaning that they will have successfully passed on their genes
52
How Attachments Form
- Infant’s have an **innate drive** (biological programmed) to become attached to an adult
- Innate behaviours usually have a critical period in which they must occur or they never will
- The **critical period** for attachment is before a child is **2 years** of age
- Infant’s who do not have an opportunity to form an attachment during this time will have difficulty forming attachments later on
- Bowlby proposed that **attachment is determined by the caregiver’s sensitivity**
- Infants who are the most strongly attached tend to have a caregiver who is responsive, co-operative and more accessible then less closely attached infants
53
Social releasers
- Social releasers are important during this time to ensure that attachments develop between caregivers and their infants
- Social releasers include smiling and crying + they are **behaviours that elicit care giving**
- Babies display them to encourage their caregivers to look after them
54
Monotropy
- Bowlby argued that infants will have **1 special emotional bond** referred to as monotropy
- This bond is often with the biological mother but not always
- Infants also form secondary attachments that also provide an important emotional safety net + are vital for healthy psychological + social development
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Internal Working Model
- The importance of the monotropic bond is that the infant uses this relationship to form a mental view of all relationships called internal working model (IWM)
- If the monotropic bond is secure it results in a positive IWM + means that current (those with other children), future (those with the individual’s own children) + romantic adult relationships will be positive + secure
- An insecure monotropic bond is associated with fear of intimacy + lack of commitment in adult relationships
56
Bowlby’s monotropic deprivation theory
- If an infant does not have an opportunity to form a monotropic bond then they aren’t provided with an adequate internal working model for later relationships
- According to Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory, disruption to the monotropic bond before the critical period leads to later emotional problems e.g. lack of intimacy/commitment
57
The continuity hypothesis
- It proposes that individuals who are securely attached in infancy continue to be socially + emotionally competent
- This is because a secure childhood leads to a positive IWM
58
Disadvantage of Bowlby's Monotropic Theory (1)
- Schaffer and Emerson suggest that multiple attachments are more common in babies than monotropy
- They found that by 18 months only 13% of the infants had only 1 person they were attached to
59
Disadvantage of Bowlby's Monotropic Theory (2)
- Feminists like Erica Burman have pointed out that the idea of monotropy is socially sensitive
- It places a terrible burden of responsibility on mothers, setting them up to take the blame for anything that goes wrong in their child’s life
- It also puts pressure on mothers to stay at home + give up their careers
- Bowlby also underestimated the role of the father – he saw father’s role as primarily economic
- This is an outdated sexist view, many families view both parents as equally responsible for childcare + in many families the father is the primary caregiver
60
Disadvantage of Bowlby's Monotropic Theory (3)
- Tizard and Hodges (1989) found that children who had never formed any attachments by the age of 4 + were then adopted, could still form attachments to their new adopted parents
- This goes against the idea of a critical period before 2 years of age during which an attachment must form or it never will
61
Disadvantage of Bowlby's Monotropic Theory (4)
- Kegan (1984) disagreed with Bowlby about the quality of an infant’s attachment being determined by the caregiver’s sensitivity
- He explained infant’s attachments to their caregivers in terms of their innate temperament
- According to his theory some infants are better suited to forming attachments then others due to their innate characteristics
- Rovine (1987) found that infants who had been judged to have signs of behavioural instability between 1 and 3 days old were later more likely to have an insecure attachment
62
Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation
- Bowlby (1953) proposed that children who suffer from prolonged emotional deprivation caused by the absence of their PAF (usually the mother) will have long-term intellectual (lower IQ), social (delinquency) + emotional (affectionless psychopathy) difficulties + even mental health issues (such as depression)
- According to the continuity hypothesis these effects are irreversible + will continue into adulthood due to a lack of an IWM which could even lead to an inability to be a good parent
- The negative impact of maternal deprivation could occur if the separation occurs before the child is 2 and a half years old (critical period)
- Although there is a risk up to 5 years old (sensitive period) + there is no substitute mother-figure available to take over the emotional care of the child
63
Bowlby (1944)
- Bowlby analysed the case histories of a number of his patients in the Child Guidance Clinic in London where he worked
- All the children attending this clinic were emotionally maladjusted
- He studied 88 of these children, half of whom
had been caught stealing (44 thieves), the other half were a control group
- Bowlby suggested that 14 of the thieves were affectionless psychopaths as they lacked affection, shame + responsibility for their actions
- Bowlby found that those individuals who had been diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths had experienced frequent early separations from their mothers (repeated stays in foster care, time in hospital etc.)
- 12 of the affectionless psychopaths had experienced frequent separations from their mothers compared with only 5 out of 30 of the thieves who were not classed as affectionless psychopaths
- Almost none of the control group had experienced early separations from their mothers
64
Advantage of Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation (1)
- Before Bowlby's (1953) theory hospitals would not allow parents to visit their children during stays in hospital (or would only allow infrequent visits e.g. once a week)
- This often had a profound + damaging effect on the child
- Nowadays parents are actively encouraged to stay in hospital with their children
65
Advantage of Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation (2)
- Spitz (1945) examined children raised in a poor quality orphanage in South America
- Members of staff were overworked, under trained + rarely gave the children any attention or affection
- The children displayed anaclitic depression
(loss of appetite, sleeplessness and sadness)
66
Disadvantage of Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation (1)
- The effects of maternal deprivation have been shown to be reversible
- Children who had never formed attachments + were adopted after the age of 4 were still able to form attachments to their new parents (Tizard)
67
Disadvantage of Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation (2)
- Bowlby did not really distinguish between deprivation (when the attachment figure is lost) + privation (when the child has never formed an attachment)
- It could be the latter that causes the extreme negative effects observed in some studies
68
Institutional Care
- Institutional care is when a child’s living arrangements are outside of the family
- Some children are raised in institutions such as children’s homes, hostels, hospitals etc
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Deindividuation
Children raised in institutions can adopt the rules/norms of the institution which could impair functioning + lead to a loss of personal identity (deindividuation)
70
Rutter (2010) - Procedure
- A study of Romanian orphans
- This study involved 165 Romanian children who spent their early lives in Romanian orphanages before being adopted + thus suffered from the effects of institutionalisation
- The adoptees were tested at regular intervals (ages 4, 6, 11 and 15) to assess their physical, cognitive + social development
- Their progress was compared to a control group of 52 British children adopted in the UK before the age of 6 months
71
Rutter (2010) - Findings
- At the time of adoption the Romanian orphans lagged behind their British counterparts on all measures of physical, cognitive and social development
- By the age of 4, the Romanian children adopted before the age of 6 months had caught up with their British counterparts
- However, a significant number of individuals adopted after the age of 6 months still had significant deficits at age 4
72
Rutter (2010) - Conclusions
- This study suggests that the long-term consequences of institutionalisation may be less severe than was once thought if children are adopted before 6 months + receive sensitive parenting
- However, if children are not adopted by 6 months then the consequences of institutionalisation are likely to be severe
73
Effects of Institutionalisation
1. Delayed Intellectual Development
2. Disinhibited Attachment
3. Emotional Development
4. Lack of Internal Working Model
5. Quasi-Autism
6. Delayed Physical Development
74
1 - Delayed Intellectual Development
- Children raised in institutions can have a low IQ + concentration problems
- This means they may struggle at school because they cannot learn new behaviours + concepts as quickly + they can also have delayed language development
75
2 - Disinhibited Attachment
- Children raised in institutions may not know what appropriate behaviour towards strangers is
- They can be overly affectionate + attention-seeking
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3 - Emotional Development
Children raised in institutions can have difficulty managing their anger e.g. they have more temper tantrums than other children
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4 - Lack of Internal Working Model
- Children raised in institutions may have difficulty interacting with peers + forming close relationships
- As adults they will have impaired adult relationships + can struggle to parent their own children
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5 - Quasi-Autism
- Children raised in institutions have Quasi-Autism because they struggle to understand the meaning of social contexts + can have obsessional behaviours
- They can have lower frequency of pretend play + reduced empathy
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6 - Delayed Physical Development
- Children in institutional care are usually physically small
- Research has shown that a lack of emotional care rather than poor nourishment is the cause of what has been called **deprivation dwarfism**
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Advantage of the Effects of Institutionalisation (1)
Studies that have investigated the effects of institutionalisation have enhanced our understanding of the potential negative consequences of institutional care + has led to the establishment of key workers in institutions to provide emotional care for children
81
Advantage of the Effects of Institutionalisation (2)
- Studies that have investigated the effects of institutionalisation have also led to changes in the adoption process
- In the past mothers were encouraged to nurse their children for as long as possible before giving them up for adoption
- Today most babies are adopted within their first week of life (certainly before 6 months)
82
Disadvantage of the Effects of Institutionalisation (1)
- There are problems when generalising findings of studies of Romanian orphans as standards of care were particularly poor in Romanian orphanages
- The Romanian orphans were faced with much more than emotional deprivation
- The physical conditions were appalling + there was a lack of cognitive stimulation
- It is likely that long-term damage from institutional care only occurs when there are multiple risk factors
83
Disadvantage of the Effects of Institutionalisation (2)
- It is possible that the negative effects of institutional care can be reduced by **sensitive parenting**
- Le Mare and Audet (2006) conducted a longitudinal study of 36 Romanian orphans adopted to families in Canada
- The adopted orphans were physically smaller than a matched control group at age 4 but this difference had disappeared by 10
- The same was true for psychological health
84
Harlow (1959) - Procedure
- Harlow created two wire ‘mothers’
- One wire mother was wrapped in a soft cloth
- 8 infant rhesus monkeys were separated from their mother at birth + were studied for a period of 165 days
- They were placed in a cage with the 2 wire mothers
- 4 of the monkeys received milk from the cloth mother + the other 4 received milk from the exposed wire mother
- During the 165 days, the time that the monkeys spent with each of the 2 mothers was measured
- Observations were made of the monkey’s responses to being frightened by a mechanical teddy bear + how they coped with exploring a new room full of unfamiliar toys
85
Harlow (1959) - Findings
- All 8 monkeys spent most of their time on the soft cloth mother regardless of whether this mother was the one with the feeding bottle or not
- Those monkeys who were fed by the exposed wire mother only stayed on it long enough to get milk + then returned to the soft cloth mother
- When frightened by a mechanical teddy bear all monkeys clung to the soft cloth mother + when playing with new objects the monkeys kept one foot on the soft cloth mother
- When placed in a new environment they were not confident enough to explore the room unless the soft cloth mother was with them
86
Harlow (1959) - Long Term Effects
- Harlow continued to study the 8 monkeys as they grew up
- The monkeys developed abnormally + they froze or fled when approached by other monkeys
- They did not show normal mating behaviour + did not cradle their own babies
- If the monkeys spent time with other monkeys then they could recover but only if this happened before they were 3 months old
- Having more than 3 months with only a wire mother was something they could not recover from
87
Advantage of Harlow (1)
- This study has implications for theories for attachment
- Harlow’s suggestion that comfort/sensitive responsiveness is more important than food contradicts learning theory
88
Advantage of Harlow (2)
- This study highlights the implications of early neglect + the long-term consequences of poor attachment in childhood for future relationships
- This fits with Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory
- However, in humans this may be more of a sensitive period as studies have demonstrated how children have been able to recover from early deprivation e.g. Romanian orphan studies
89
Advantage of Harlow (3)
- Schaffer and Emerson (1964) also found that food is not necessary for attachment to form
- They discovered that babies are often attached to people who play with them rather than people who feed them
- In 39% of cases even though the mother was the one who fed the baby the baby was more attached to someone else
90
Disadvantage of Harlow
- This study could be considered to be unethical - the monkeys were removed from their mothers which would have been very traumatic + they were then deliberately scared to see how they would react
- This led to long-term emotional harm when these monkeys were older + encountered other monkeys they either froze or fled
- They also had difficulty caring for their own young (did not cradle them) as they had not been cared for themselves
91
Lorenz (1939) - Procedure
- Lorenz was an ethologist (they study animal behaviour in their natural environment)
- He wanted to investigate imprinting = the instinct in several species of animals to attach to the first moving thing they see after they are born
- Lorenz took a clutch of Gosling (Goose) eggs + divided them into 2 groups
- One group was left to hatch with their natural mother present, while the other eggs were placed in an incubator
- When the eggs in the incubator hatched the first moving thing they saw was Lorenz
- Lorenz marked the two groups to distinguish between them + placed them all together again
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Lorenz (1939) - Findings
- The Goslings quickly divided themselves up, one group following their natural mother + the other ones from the incubator) following Lorenz
- The Goslings that had been in the incubator showed no recognition of their natural mother
- Lorenz found that that this process of imprinting is restricted to a very definite period of a young animal’s life called a critical period
- If a young animal is not exposed to a moving object during this early critical period then the animal will not imprint
- Animals imprint on consistently moving objects during their first 2 days
- Imprinting is similar to attachment in that it binds an animal to a caregiver in a special relationship
- Lorenz (1935) had to teach the goslings how to swim + they would always return to him when he called
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Lorenz (1939) - Long Term Effects
- Lorenz noted several features of imprinting e.g. the process is irreversible + long lasting
- One of the Geese that imprinted on him called Martina used to sleep on his bed every night
- Lorenz also discovered that this early imprinting had an effect on later mate preferences called sexual imprinting
- Animals (especially birds) will choose to mate with the same kind of object upon which they were imprinted
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Advantage of Lorenz (1)
- Imprinting is similar to the idea of a critical period in Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory
- In both cases there is a ‘window of opportunity’ in which attachments must be formed otherwise there will be negative long-term consequences
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Advantage of Lorenz (2)
- Other studies support the idea that animals are born with an instinct to attach to the first moving object they see
- Gutton (1966) demonstrated that chickens exposed to yellow rubber gloves during feeding in their first few weeks of life imprinted on the gloves
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Disadvantage of Lorenz (1)
- Imprinting is more reversible than Lorenz thought
- Gutton (1966) found that he could reverse the imprinting in chickens that had initially tried to mate with the yellow rubber gloves
- After spending time with their own species they were able to engage in normal sexual behaviour with other chickens
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Disadvantage of Lorenz (2)
- It is problematic to extrapolate the findings from animal studies to attachment in human infants
- What applies to a non-human species does not
necessarily apply to human infants
- Humans are physiologically very different from monkeys/geese as well as having several other influences that monkeys/geese don't have such as culture, society, peers, upbringing etc
- The attachment bond between human infants + their attachment figures is far more complex than it is in monkeys/geese
- For instance, there are several different types of attachment styles that human infants can have e.g. secure, avoidant, resistant
- There is an argument that of the two, Harlow’s study may be more relevant to human experience as it uses a mammalian species
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The Influence of Early Attachment on Childhood Relationships - Sroufe (2005)
- This study was called Minnesota Parent-Child Project
- It began in **1975** + the mother child pairs continued to be studied today
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Sroufe (2005) - Procedure
- Since 1975 the mothers + the children’s behaviour has been assessed using questionnaires and observations
- E.g. the mothers and children were videotaped (intra-observer reliability) while playing for a period of 10-15 mins at home
- The mothers were aware that they were being videotaped (possible social desirability bias)
- 2 observers analysed the recordings
(inter-observer reliability)
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Sroufe (2005) - Findings
- As children, those who were classed as securely attached as infants were:
1. rated the highest for social competence
2. were less socially isolated
3. were more popular with their peers
4. were more empathetic
- An infant’s early attachment creates their internal working model of what relationships are, how partners in a relationship behave towards each other + what they should expect of a relationship
- Those who are securely attached will have a positive internal working model for relationships + so are better at forming + maintaing relationships with each others
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Sroufe (2005) - Long Term Effects
- If infants do not have an early attachment during the critical period this would result in a lack of an internal working model for attachment
- This could lead to attachment disorder where children have no preferred attachment figure +
an inability to interact + relate to others
- This becomes evident from the age of 5 + is usually caused by severe neglect or frequent change of caregivers
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Advantage of Sroufe (2005)
- This study is reliable
- Simpson (2007) found similar results
- They assessed infant attachment styles at 1 year of age
- Several studies have found that children who were securely attached as infants were rated as having higher social competence as children + were closer to their friends aged 16
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Disadvantage of Sroufe (2005) (1)
- This study claims that early experiences have a fixed effect on later childhood relationships + therefore children who are insecurely attached as infants are doomed to experience emotionally unsatisfactory relationships as children
- It is therefore deterministic (does not take account of people’s free will to make conscious decisions about their behaviour)
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Disadvantage of Sroufe (2005) (2)
- There are lots of studies which contradict the claim that early attachment affects later childhood relationships
- Tizard and Hodges (1989) found that children raised in care who had never formed any attachments by the age of 4 + were then adopted could still form attachments to their new adopted parents
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The Influence of Early Attachment on Adult Relationships
Explained by Bowlby’s monotropic theory and Hazan and Shaver’s study
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Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory
- Bowlby argued that infants will have 1 special emotional bond = monotropy
- This bond is usually with the biological mother
- The importance of the monotropic bond is that the infant uses this relationship to form a mental view of all relationships called an internal working model
- If the montropic bond is secure it results in a positive internal working model + means that current (those with other children), future (those with the individual's own children) and romantic adult relationships will be positive + secure
- An insecure monotropic bond is associated with fear of intimacy + lack of commitment in adult relationships
- If an infant does not have an opportunity to form a monotropic bond then they are not provided with an adequate internal working model for later relationships
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Evaluation of Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory
Look at L7 evaluation (same)
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Hazan and Shaver (1987)
Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver designed a study to test the connection between a person’s infant attachment style, their internal working model and their adult attachment style
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Hazan and Shaver (1987) - Procedure
- Hazan and Shaver placed a ‘Love Quiz’ in the Rocky Mountain News (an American small-town newspaper)
- The quiz asked questions about their relationship with their parents (to identify infant attachment style), attitudes towards love (to assess their internal working model) + their current relationship experiences (to determine their adult attachment style)
- They analysed 620 responses, 205 from men and 415 from women, from a fair crossection of the population
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Hazan and Shaver (1987) - Findings
- When analysing adult attachment style they found that the prevalence of adult attachment styles was similar to infant attachment styles
- 56% were classified secure, 25% insecure-avoidant and 19% insecure resistant
- This suggests that most people’s infant attachment styles are the same as their adult attachment style
- They also found a relationship between an individual’s internal working model + their adult attachment style – adults with a positive internal working model tended to be securely attached adults
- Finally, they found a positive correlation between adult attachment style + love experiences
- Securely attached adults described their love experiences as happy, friendly and trusting
- They emphasised being able to accept + support their partner despite faults
- These relationships were most enduring – 10 years on average compared 6 years for avoidant + 5 years for resistant
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Disadvantage of Hazan and Shaver (1987) (1)
- This study is unreliable + several other studies have failed to find the strong correlation between infant attachment style + adult attachment style
- Fraley (2002) conducted a review of 27 samples where infants were assessed in infancy + later reassessed (ranging from 1 month to 20 years later)
- He found correlations ranging from 0.5 to as low as 0.1
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Disadvantage of Hazan and Shaver (1987) (2)
- This study is correlational rather than experimental + therefore we cannot determine cause and effect
- It is impossible to say that infant attachment styles determine adult attachment styles
- It could be that there is a third variable that affects both such as a person’s innate temperament
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Disadvantage of Hazan and Shaver (1987) (3)
- This study relies on participants’ memories about their early lives in order to assess their infant attachment style
- Such recollections are likely to be flawed because our memories of the past are not always accurate, making the study not valid
