Attachment Flashcards
what is meant by institutionalisation
refers to the effects of living outside of the family/family home in an ‘institution’
-an ‘institution’ could be a hospital or orphanage etc where children live for continuous periods of time
what can institutionalisation lead to
social, mental and physical underdevelopment
Describe the aim of rutters English and Romanian Adoptee study (ERA)
to investigate to what extent a loving and nurturing care could make up for poor early expereinces in institutions
how many orphans, conditions, compared to, what was assessed
describe the procedure of Rutters ERA study
-longitudinal natural experiment which followed 165 romanian orphans adopted in britain
-three conditions :
1. adopted before the age of 6 months
2. adopted between 6 months and 2 years
3. adopted after two years
-information was gathered at ages 4,6, 11 and 15 years to asses their physical, cognitive and emotional development
-gathered via interviews with parents and teachers and progress was compared to a control group of 562 british adoptees adopted before 6 months
IQs at age 11, when they first arrived
Describe the results and findings of rutters ERA study (intellectual delay as an effect of institutionalisation)
-when the adoptees first arrived in the uk around half showed signs of intellectual delay however by age 4 most of those adopted before 6 months had caught up to british counter parts
At age 11:
IQ of those adopted before 6 months = 102
-those adopted between 6 months and two years = 86
-adopted after 2 years = 77
What did rutter conclude about intellectual delay and disinhibited attachment as an effect of institutionalisation
appears that damage to intellectual development can be recovered provided adoption takes place before the age of 6 months (the age at which attachment forms)
-children can recover from institutionalisation if they receive good quality care
-removal from institutions should occur before 6 months
explain disinhibited attachment as an effect of institutionalisation from Rutters ERA study
characteristics, why this occurs
-those adopted after 6 months showed signs of disinhibited attachment such as: attention seeking, clinginess, friendliness to any available adult, equal treatment to all adults, tendency to go off with strangers
-rutter explained this attachment style as an adaptation to living with multiple caregivers during the sensitive period, as these poor quality institutions may have had 50 caregivers
-no secure attachment formed due to inconsistency within caregivers
Describe the Bucharest early intervention project (romanion orphan studies)
type of study, aim, conditions
-longitudinal study of 36 orphans adopted to families in canada.
-aimed to investigate the physical effects of institutionalisation as previous research had sggested that lack of emotional care could cause deprivation dwarfism
-the orphans were compared to two matched control groups:
control 1. canadian born non-adopted children
control 2. early adopted romanion children without institional experience
evaluate the practical applications of romanian orphan studies
-enhanced our understanding into the effects of institutionalisation
-led to improvements within institutions e.g orphanages/childrens homes now avoid having large numbers of caregivers for each child, instead have only one or two people who play a central role to the child = ‘key worker’
-having a ‘key worker’ increases childrens chances of developing a normal attachment and help avoid disinhibited attachment
-increases the value of these studies
evaluate using longitudinal studies when studying the effects of institutionalisation
strength: research strengthens the argument that recovery is possible even after sever privation, if a loving environment is provided
-demonstrates with sufficient time and early intervention that damage is reversible
-results are real so researchers haven’t just guessed what the long term effects will be
limit; ‘subject attrition’ - where participants drop out of the study
-particular kinds of participants are more likely to drop out. such as those less well adjusted
-this can result in a bias sample being studied and findings are alot harder to generalise
evaluate the population validity of Romanian orphan studies
-limited as Romanian orphans were not typical
-orphanages had such extreme depriving environments
-had particular low standards of care, low level of intellectual stimulation
-these extreme experiences of ONLY Romanian orphans make results extremely hard to generalise due to unusual situational variables
-this questions population validity
evalauate a limitation of Rutters ERA study
-children were not randomly assigned to conditions and the researcher had no intervention in the adoption process
-those adopted earlier may have been because the individuals were more sociable - a cofounding variable
-however there would be no way to manipulate the IV (allocating children to foster care or institutional care due to the huge ethical implications, although it would be methodologically better
-highlights importance of ethical consideration
describe and explain the role of the internal working model on childhood and adult relationships
internal working model is a mental representation of a child’s first relationship with the primary attachment figure, which then acts as a template for future attachment
-resembles a schema
-provides bias for forming expectations about relationships and own success as a parent
what research has been done into the effect of early relationships on childhood relationships
(Smith) investigated the IWM and association between early attachment and participation in bullying behaviour
Procedure
-196 7-11 year olds
-assessed for attachment type and quality of relationship with parents (separation anxiety test and parenting styles questionnaire) and then separated into attachment types
-involvement in bullying assessed through ‘participant roles scale’ where child identifies peers as victim, bully or being involved in bullying
discuss the findings from research into childhood relationships
-secure = very unlikely to be involved in bullying
-insecure avoidant = most likely to be victims of bullying
-insecure resistant= most likely to be rated by their peers as bullies
findings support the continuity hypothesis (Bowlby) suggesting a link between early attachment and quality of peer relationships
-attachment types predict some of the most negative peer interactions
what research has been done into the effects of early attachment on adult relationships
Hazan investigated IWM and whether early attachment style would be reflected in adult romantic relationships
Procedure:
-analysed 620 responses from a ‘love quiz’ posted in newspaper (205 M 415F)
-questionnaire assessed current attachment type through respondents choosing one of three statements best describing there romantic relationship (relating to secure/insecure avoidant/insecure resistant)
-asked to complete checklist describing childhood relationships with parents
discuss results of research into adult relationships
prevalence of attachment types
-56% = secure
positive IWM, relationships were happy friendly and trusting, longer lasting, not divorced
-25%= insecure avoidant
more doubtful, maintained that they did not need love to be happy
-19% = insecure resistant
tend to fall in love easily, demonstrated jealousy, trust issues surrounding abandonment
found a correlation between attachment style and degree of sensitivity shown by mothers (based on memory)
Conclusion
-early patterns of attachment behaviour are reflected in adult romantic relationships supporting continuity hypothesis
evaluate supporting evidence for the IWM forming mental representation for later relationships
Simpson longitudinal study
-assessed attachment type and one years old and then continued to gather data through interviews and questionnaires up to the age of 20-23
-those more securely attached were rated as:
-higher social competence as kids
-closer to friends at 16
-more expressive and emotionally attached to romantic partners
supports view that attachment does predict childhood and adult relationships
evaluate contradictory evidence about the impact of IWM on early and later relationships
Zimmerman’s longitudinal study
-results showed that life events often altered attachment types from secure to insecure in adulthood
-life events such as loss of a parent, parental divorce, life threatening illness of parent or child
-44% of infants who had experienced a negative life event changed attachment classification from infancy to adulthood
-evidence that positive or negative environmental changes can improve/compromise attachment type so the continuity hypothesis may not always hold true
-can question validity of early attachment as a predictor for later relationships
evaluate a limitation of linking the IWM and later relationships through correlation
-can not claim or establish cause and effect
-temperament hypothesis is an alternate to the continuity and suggests that infants are born friendly and this leads to secure attachment
-suggests that later relationships are not due to early attachment rather the child’s own innate temperament
-limitation to counter Bowbly’s view
evaluate the research into the effects of IWM into later relationships as deterministic
-suggests early attachment has a fixed effect on later relationships
-those insecurely attached at age one are doomed to experience emotionally unsatisfactory relationships
-plenty of instances where this is not the case
-research shouldnt suggest past determines future but it may put them at greater risk
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what is Bowlbys theory of material deprivation
-an explanation of what will happen in the absence a ‘mother figure’
-suggested that if an infant is unable to develop a warm intimate continuous relationship with their mother they will have difficulty forming relationships
-risks of behaviour disorders
-emotional care was seen as important as physical care
what does bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation state about the critical period
-first two and a half years for psychological development
-if a child is deprived of emotional care due to prolonged or frequent separation then psychological damage is inevitable (law of accumulated separation)
-continued risk up until age 5 (sensitive period)
what did bowlby suggest the risks of maternal deprivation were
-long term effects to intellectual and emotional development
-intellectual delay characterised by abnormally low IQ
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What is affectionless psychopathy
-inability to feel guilt or other strong emotions for others
-lack of affection, guilt, empathy
-prevents development of normal relationships
-associated with criminality
-can not appreciate the feelings of victims and lack remorse for actions
explain Bowlbys 44 theives study
-aimed to investigate the link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation
-natural experiment in which he analysed the case histories of 88 patients who were all emotionally maladjusted
-44 had been accused of stealing = thieves
-44 non-criminals (control)
-all were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathology
-families interviewed to establish whether there was prolonged early separation from mothers
discuss the findings from Bowblys 44 theives study
- 14/44 theives described as affectionless psychopaths and 12/14 had experienced prolonged separation from mothers in early life
-5/remaining 30 theives had experienced prolonged separation
-control : 2/44 had experienced prolonged separation
concluded that prolonged maternal deprivation caused effectionless psychopathy and lack of continuous care may result in emotional maladjustment or psychological disorders
evaluate the real world applications of research into maternal deprivation
-led to major changes to infant care in hospitals
-before parents were discouraged from visiting and professionals were only concerned with physical needs
-robertson filmed a 2 year old during an 8 day period she was in hospital
-was frequently distressed and begged to go home
-highlights positive implications of attachment research and childcare practices
evaluate limitations of Bowlbys research and theory of maternal deprivation
-contradictory evidence, lewis replicated 44 theives study and found prolonged separation did not predict criminality/difficulty forming relationships
-researcher bias as bowlby conducted interviews and assessments himself which questions validity
-individual differences were not considered for example research has shown those securely attached coped better with separation whereas insecure become especially distressed
