attachment

Question 1

Lorenz animal study: aim (A01)

Answer 1

Lorenz wanted to investigate imprinting in attachment formation

Question 2

Lorenz animal study: findings (A01)

Answer 2

1. experimental group imprinted on Lorenz demonstrated by fact that they followed him wherever he went
2. control group hatched imprinted on their mother
3. two groups were mixed up control group continued to follow mother + experimental group followed Lorenz
4. Lorenz noted imprinting would only occur w/in critical period
5. Lorenz reported that geese who imprinted on human would later display courtship behaviour towards humans

Question 2

Lorenz animal study: procedure (A01)

Answer 2

1. Lorenz randomly split batch of grey goose eggs into two groups
2. One group were hatched by their mother in natural environment control group other group were hatched in an incubator where first moving object they saw was Lorenz -experimental group
3. behaviour of geese was then carefully observed
4. Lorenz also observed effect of imprinting on adult mate preferences

Question 3

Lorenz animal study: critical period been questioned (A03) (1)

Answer 3

P: Sluckin questions validity of critical period

E: Sluckin replicated Lorenz’s research using ducklings instead of goslings- like Lorenz he got ducklings to imprint on him

E: but, Sluckin kept 1 duck in isolation beyond ducklings to imprint him-he found it was possible to imprint this youngsters

L: concluded that critical period was actually sensitive period but attachments could still be formed

Question 3

Lorenz animal study: printing can be reserved (A03) (2)

Answer 3

P: printing can be reversed

E + E: Guiton found that chickens who imprinted on yellow washing up gloves would try to mate w/ them as adults but that w/ experience they eventually learned to prefer mating w/other chickens

L: suggests that impact of imprinting on mating behaviour is not as permanent as Lorenz believed

Question 4

Harlow animal study: aim (A01)

Answer 4

wanted to find whether contact comfort was more important in attachment than food cupboard love theory

Question 5

Harlow animal study: procedure (A01)

Answer 5

1. Harlow reared 16 baby rhesus monkeys with two surrogate mothers
   1 of “mothers” was made of wire + other was covered in soft material wire mother produced milk whereas the cloth-covered mother did not
2. amount of time spent w/ each mother as well as feeding time was recorded
3. monkeys were deliberately frightened w/loud noise to test for mother preference during stress
4. long-term effects were recorded eg. monkey’s behaviour in adulthood in terms of sociability + their relationship to their own offspring

Question 6

Harlow animal study: findings (A01)

Answer 6

1. monkeys spent most of their time on their cloth mother even though she did not supply milk- cloth mother provided “contact comfort” which was clearly preferable monkeys even stretched across to wire mother to feed while still clinging to cloth mother
2. When frightened by loud noise monkeys clung to cloth mother
3. As adults monkeys were abusive to their offspring even killing them in some cases- monkeys were also more aggressive + less sociable than other monkeys

Question 7

Harlow animal study: conclusion (A01)

Answer 7

study shows that “contact comfort” is of more importance to monkey than food when it comes to attachment

Question 8

Harlow animal study: highly valued research (A03) (1)

Answer 8

P: findings had profound effect on psychologists’ understanding of mother-infant attachment

E: showed that attachment doesn’t develop as result of being fed by mother figure but as result of contact comfort

E: also showed importance of quality of early relationships for later social development

L: this research has led to important developments in area of attachment

Question 8

Harlow animal study: practical application (A03) (2)

Answer 8

P: insight to attachment from Harlow’s research has had important practical applications in range of contexts

E + E: helped social workers understand risks factors in child neglect + abuse + so intervene to prevent it

L: able to apply our knowledge of animal research to real life situations

Question 9

Harlow animal study: ethical issues (A03) (3)

Answer 9

P: faced severe criticism for ethics of this research-monkeys suffered greatly as result of Harlow’s procedures

E: eg. they were deliberately stressed + frightened

E: Rhesus monkeys are closely related to humans suggesting that these animals suffered more greatly than less developed animals such as geese

L: unethical practices seriously undermine credibility of psychology as science

but Harlow’s research is sufficiently important to justify these negative effects eg. they have highlighted importance of contact comfort in child development

Question 10

Harlow animal study: can’t be generalised to humans (A03) (4)

Answer 10

P: Psychologists disagree on extent to which studies of animals such as geese + monkeys can be generalised to humans

E + E: eg. Rhesus monkeys much similar to humans than Lorenz geese-all mammals share some common attachment behaviours
but human brain + behaviours is much more complex than monkeys

L: limitation-might not be appropriate to generalise findings on animals studies on humans

Question 11

learning theory: operant conditioning (OC) (A01)

Answer 11

Reinforcement produces an attachment eg. crying leads to response from caregiver eg. feeding

caregiver provides a pleasant
response crying is positively reinforced- means behaviour is likely to be repeated to illicit response

reinforcement is two-way process same time as baby is reinforced for crying caregiver receives negative reinforcement because crying stops – escaping from something unpleasant is reinforcing attachment is reinforced for both infant + caregiver

Question 11

learning theory: classical conditioning (CC) (A01)

Answer 11

infant learns to associate primary caregiver w/food

1. before conditioning= (UCS) food–> happy baby (UCR)
2. during conditioning= mother (NS) + food (UCS) –> happy baby (UCR)
3. after conditioning= (CS) mother–> happy baby (CR)

Question 12

learning theory: valuable insight gained (A03) (1)

Answer 12

P: learning theory provides valuable insight to how an infant becomes attached to its main caregiver + key role food plays in this interaction

E +E: Understanding of role of food can lead to practical applications eg. providing advice that if feeding is important in attachment process then anyone who wants to create an attachment eg. father should be involved where possible

L: strength as learning theory has helped to increase attachment between babies + their caregivers-learning theory studies observable + testable behaviours allowing for its theories to be scientifically measured + assessed

Question 13

learning theory: attachment formed w/x feeding (A03) (2)

Answer 13

P: Many infants form attachments w/people who DO NOT feed them

E: eg. research by Schaffer + Emerson found that in 39% of cases- primary attachment figure was not person who fed them

E: many infants attach to parents who neglect or abuse them

L: clearly suggests that attachment is not due to regular feeding but contact comfort contradicting learning theory

Question 14

learning theory: contradictory research (A03) (3)

Answer 14

P: heavily criticised by Harlow’s research on rhesus monkeys

E +E: eg. found that monkeys formed an attachment w/cloth mother that provided comfort rather than wire mother that provided food

L: suggests that attachment is not due to regular feeding but contact comfort contradicting learning theory

Question 15

learning theory: alternative explanation (A03) (4)

Answer 15

P: there are alternative explanation for the learning theory

E+ E: learning Bowlby’s Monotropic theory of attachment could use this as an alternative explanation for WHY attachments form rather than only looking at HOW attachments form

L: theory focuses on attachment as an evolutionary mechanism for survival purposes + may be seen as more complete explanation of attachment compared to learning theory

Question 16

Bowlby’s Monotropic theory: monotropic bond (A01)

Answer 16

attachment is to 1 specific caregiver usually to biological mother monotropic bond is more important than any other attachments that child may form

Question 17

Bowlby’s Monotropic theory: internal working model (IWM) (A01)

Answer 17

monotropic bond acts as template for all later relationships template known as internal working model has powerful effect on nature of child’s future relationships

internal working model affects child’s later ability to be parent themselves as it appears to be passed on through families eg. if child is insecurely attached to its parents they are likely to have similar attachment to their own children

Question 18

Bowlby’s Monotropic theory: critical period (CP) (A01)

Answer 18

Bowlby first 2 years of life are critical period for attachment to develop

If attachment does not develop it might seriously damage child’s social + emotional development

Question 19

Bowlby’s Monotropic theory: evolutionary principle (EP) (A01)

Answer 19

Bowlby’s explanation of attachment is based on evolutionary principles + argues that humans have evolved biological need to attach to caregiver to increase their survival chances

Infants show innate behaviours eg. smiling + crying which make attachment to maternal figure possible

Bowlby called these behaviours social releasers because they bring out care giving behaviours from adults

Question 20

Bowlby’s Monotropic theory: support for IWM (A03) (1)

Answer 20

P: idea of IWM is supported by evidence

E: Bailey et al assessed attachment of 99 mothers to their babies + their own mothers

E: found majority had same attachment classification both to their babies + their own mothers

L: supports Bowlby’s view that an IWM of attachment is passed through families

Question 21

Bowlby’s Monotropic theory: sensitive rather than CP (A03) (2)

Answer 21

P: Critics argue that the idea of CP is not supported by evidence

E: psychologists instead suggest that there is sensitive period where attachments are most likely to be developed but argue that they could be formed at other times

E: Research has demonstrated even children raised in isolation can go on to form attachments w/ caregivers after CP

but Lorenz study SUPPORTS idea of CP- found that if imprinting didnt occur w/in few hours of geese being hatched it did not occur at all

L: increasing validity of Bowlby’s claim

Question 22

Bowlby’s Monotropic theory: multiple attachment rather than monotropic bond (A03) (3)

Answer 22

P: Bowlby’s claim that children form single specific attachment is not supported by research

E: eg. Schaffer and Emerson found that by 10 months of age most babies had formed multiple attachments w/parents, grandparents, siblings

E: Bowlby also believed that monotropic bond is in some way different to other attachments but it may be that this attachment is just stronger than other attachments not necessarily of greater importance

L: matters bc monotropic bond is very important to Bowlby’s theory yet research suggests it lacks validity

Question 23

Bowlby’s Monotropic theory: research from animal studies (A03) (4)

Answer 23

P: Research from animal studies

E: flaw as generalisation from human to animals is very difficult if not impossible due to evolutionary dissociating

E: Humans have quantitative differences on all animals + they’re likely to affect attachment processes-eg. Child social releasers more advanced

L: limitation bc questions extent to which we can use research to support Bowlby’s monotropic theory

Question 24

caregiver infant interactions: reciprocity (A01)

Answer 24

interactions involve both parties producing responses from each other

take turns as people do in conversation

eg. an infant cries + caregiver responds by feeding or cuddling baby- baby babbles words + caregiver talks back

Question 25

caregiver infant interactions: interactional synchrony (IS) (A01)

Answer 25

Two people are said to be ‘synchronised’ when they carry out same action at same time

IS takes place when mother + infant interact in way that their actions and emotions mirror each other

Isabella observed 30 mother + infants + found that high levels of interactional synchrony were associated w/better quality mother-infant attachment.

Question 26

caregiver infant interactions: supporting evidence (A03) (1)

Answer 26

P: supporting evidence

E: Evans + Porter studied reciprocity, synchrony + attachment quality in 101 infants + their mothers for first year after birth

E: Mothers + babies were invited into the lab on three occasions- 12 months quality of mother–infant attachment was assessed

Babies judged to be securely attached tended to be those that had most reciprocal interactions + most synchrony

L: suggests that care-giver interactions play vital part in forming attachments

Question 27

caregiver infant interactions: evidence of innate interactions (A03) (12

Answer 27

P: evidence of innate interactions

E: Meltzoff + Moore found that infants aged 2-3 weeks tended to mimic adults’ specific facial expressions + hand movements

E: mimicking of behaviour has also been observed in babies as young as 3 days old

L: study suggests that caregiver interactions are an innate ability used to aid in formation of attachment

Question 28

caregiver infant interactions: cultural variations (A03) (3)

Answer 28

P: Caregiver-infant interactions are not found in all cultures

E: Le Vine et al reported Kenyan mothers have little interaction or physical contact w/their infants but high proportion of secure attachments

E: majority of research into this area may be criticised for being ethnocentric + ignoring how attachments may be formed w/in other cultures

L: study weakens support for idea that caregiver interactions are necessary for attachment formation

Question 29

caregiver infant interactions: difficult to interpret baby’s behaviour (A03) (4)

Answer 29

P: difficult to interpret baby’s behaviour

E: eg. baby may be laughing after letting wind out or baby may be crying bc they’re hungry or tired

E: it is harder to giver fair + unbiased interpret on behaviour being shown on baby

L: limitation-observational research alone can’t be certain that reciprocity + synchrony are important for childs development

Question 30

stages of attachment SCHAFFER+EMERSON: procedure (A01)

Answer 30

1. 60 babies from skilled working class Glasgow homes were studied
2. babies were visited at home every month for first year + again at 18 months
3. mothers were questioned about how child behaved when they were separated + how they behaved w/ unfamiliar adults

Question 31

stages of attachment SCHAFFER+EMERSON: findings (A01)

Answer 31

1. Between 25- 32 weeks of age about 50% of babies showed signs of separation anxiety towards particular adult usually mother
2. 40 weeks 80% of babies had specific attachment + almost 30% displayed multiple attachments

Question 32

stages of attachment age + key features: asocial phase (A01)

Answer 32

birth-3 months

Infants become attracted to other humans from six weeks old- smile more at faces than objects

Question 33

stages of attachment age + key features: indiscriminate attachment (A01)

Answer 33

3 -7 months

Infants begin to recognise + prefer familiar faces- however they will accept comfort from any adult

their attachment behaviour is said to be indiscriminate because all adults are treated same

Question 34

stages of attachment age + key features: specific attachment (A01)

Answer 34

7-8 months

around 7 months infants start to develop anxiety around strangers + become distressed if separated from 1 specific adult- known as primary attachment figure

Question 35

stages of attachment age + key features: multiple attachment (A01)

Answer 35

9 months onwards

form multiple attachments w/other people who they spend lot of time w/like their grandparents + other children- relationships are called secondary attachments

Question 36

stages of attachment: cultural variation (A03) (1)

Answer 36

P: Many researchers believe that infants must establish 1 primary attachment before they develop further multiple attachments

E: but there is evidence from cross cultural research to show that babies are capable of developing multiple attachments from birth

E: Cultures where this is more likely to occur are called collectivist cultures bc families work together jointly in everything

L: there is no agreement w/in psychology about when multiple attachments are formed

Question 37

stages of attachment: good external validity (A03) (3)

Answer 37

P: good external validity

E: Schaffer + Emerson’s study was carried out in families’ own homes + most of observations were done by parents during ordinary activities + reported to researchers later

E: behaviour of babies was unlikely to be affected by presence of observers-an excellent chance that Ps behaviour naturally while being observed

L: increases external validity of Schaffer + Emerson’s study

Question 37

stages of attachment: problems measuring attachment (A03) (2)

Answer 37

P: limitation of research into this area is that it is very difficult to measure behaviour of very young children

E: particularly problematic during the asocial stage as babies aren’t very mobile which means there is very little behaviour to observe-even when child does become mobile their behaviour could be incorrectly interpreted

E: eg. baby cries when mother leaves room we presume that they are crying because they are attached to her but they make be crying because they are tired or hungry

L: problem- Schaffer + Emerson’s stages because it is difficult to determine from an observation alone whether behaviour shown is due to attachment figure or some other reasons

Question 38

stages of attachment: limited sample (A03) (4)

Answer 38

P: there is small sample used

E +E: they used sample of 60 babies showing that there is lack of population validity

L: limitation bc can’t be generalised to all babies

Question 38

role of the father (A01)

Answer 38

Traditionally fathers have been seen to have played minor role in the parenting of their children eg. Bowlby believed that children have 1 specific bond + this is usually to the mother

but society has changed lot + researchers have begun to investigate importance of fathers in child’s development

eg. Karen Grossman carried out longitudinal study + found that quality of adolescent attachment to father is related to father’s play with infants

suggests that fathers have different role in attachment - 1 that is more to do w/play + stimulation + less to do with nurturing

Question 39

role of the father: father a primary carers (A01)

Answer 39

evidence to suggest when fathers do take on role of being main caregiver they adopt behaviours more typical of mothers

Field filmed 4-month babies in face-to-face interactions w/their fathers-found difference in interactions when father was primary rather than secondary caregiver they spent more time smiling, imitating + holding their babies than secondary caregivers

So it seems that fathers can be more nurturing attachment figure + key to attachment is level of responsiveness not gender of caregiver

Question 39

role of the father: children w/x fathers (A03) (1)

Answer 39

P: evidence about children w/x father

E + E: Many studies have found that children growing up w/x father do not develop any differently than those who grow up with both father + mother

L: suggests that fathers do not have significant impact on children’s development

Question 40

role of the father: why fathers don’t fathers become primary caregivers (A03) (2)

Answer 40

P: evolutionary psychologists would argue that females-rather than males are biologically pre-disposed to be more nurturing

E+ E : eg. female hormone oestrogen leads to caring behaviours seen more frequently in females rather than males

L: study supports view that women are biologically predisposed to be primary caregiver + that men have lesser role to play in their children’s’ lives

Question 40

role of the father: fathers support role of the mother (A03) (3)

Answer 40

P: fathers support role of mothers

E+ E: Fathers are important not just for children but mothers too Supportive fathers provide mothers w/much needed time away from childcare

L: strength bc help reduce stress in mothers, improve self-esteem + ultimately, improve mother’s relationship w/her children

Question 41

Ainsworth strange situation: procedure (A01)

Answer 41

study took place in an unfamiliar room w/1 way glass so behaviour of infants could be observed covertly

Infants were aged between 12 + 18 months- sample comprised of 100 middle-class American families

Question 42

Ainsworth strange situation: behaviours recorded in study (A01)

Answer 42

1. Proximity seeking: an infant w/ secure attachment will stay fairly close to caregiver
2. Exploration: secure attachment enables child to feel confident to explore room using caregiver as secure base
3. Separation anxiety: does child protest when separated from caregiver?
4. Stranger anxiety: if attachment is secure you would expect child to display anxiety when approached by stranger
5. Reunion Response: this measures how child reacts when finally reunited w/caregiver

Question 43

Ainsworth strange situation: procedure steps (A01)

Answer 43

children + caregiver enter an unfamiliar playroom

1. child encouraged to explore= tests exploration + secure base
2. stranger comes in + ties to interact w/child=test stranger anxiety
3. caregiver leaves child + stranger together=test separation + stranger anxiety
4. caregiver returns + stranger leaves=test reunion behaviour + secure base
5. caregiver leaves child alone= test separation anxiety
6. stranger returns=test stranger anxiety
7. caregiver returns + returned w/child=test reunion behaviour

Question 44

Ainsworth strange situation: findings INSECURE AVOIDANT (A01)

Answer 44

20-25% of infants

child does not seek contact from mother

child seems unconcerned when mother leaves

child shows few signs of distress + ignored or avoided stranger

child ignores mother on her return

Question 45

Ainsworth strange situation: findings SECURE (A01)

Answer 45

60-75% of infants

Mother is seen as safe base from which child can explore

child cries shortly after mother leaves

child is wary of stranger + maintains closeness to its mother

child seeks contact when mother returns + is easy to comfort

Question 45

Ainsworth strange situation: findings INSECURE RESISTANT (A01)

Answer 45

less than 10% of infants

child is wary of their mother + they don’t explore their environment

child shows intense distress when mother has left

child is extremely distressed when left w/stranger

child is AMBIVALENT- seeking + rejecting mother

Question 46

Ainsworth strange situation: reliable measures (A03) (1)

Answer 46

P: Strange Situation is reliable measure of attachment it takes place under controlled conditions + behavioural categories are easy to observe

E + E: Bick looked at inter-rater reliability in team of trained Strange Situation observers + found agreement on attachment type of 94% of tested babies

L: means we can be confident that attachment type of an infant identified in Strange Situation does not just depend on who is observing them

Question 47

Ainsworth strange situation: lacks ecological validity (A03) (2)

Answer 47

P: Critics argue findings are inaccurate as Strange Situation is an unrealistic situation for both infant + caregiver

E: researchers suggests attachment types tend to be stronger in this controlled setting rather than in child’s own home

E: eg. they may cry less when in familiar environment

L: reduces ecological validity of procedure + limits its applicability

Question 48

Ainsworth strange situation: culturally bias (A03) (3)

Answer 48

P: Strange Situation is based on American attachment behaviours + ignores how child rearing practices in other cultures may affect behaviour in strange situation

E: eg. Japanese infants are rarely separated from their parents

E: can result in child being wrongly classified as being insecure resistant

L: reduces external validity of procedure + limits its applicability

Question 49

Van Ijzendoorn + Kroonenberg cultural variation: procedure (A01)

Answer 49

1. Results from 32 studies on attachment that had used Strange Situation were examined-18 of these were from USA
2. These studies were conducted in 8 countries w/total sample size of 1,990 infants
3. Data for these studies were meta-analysed

Question 50

Van Ijzendoorn + Kroonenberg cultural variation: findings (A01)

Answer 50

all countries secure attachment was the most common but proportion varied from 75% in Britain to 50% in China

Insecure-resistant was overall least common type although proportions ranged from 3% in Britain to around 30% in Israel

Insecure-avoidant was observed most commonly in Germany + least commonly in Japan

interesting finding was that variations between results of studies w/in same country were actually 150% greater than those between countries

USA 1 study found only 46% securely attached compared to 1 sample as high as 90%

Question 51

Simonella et al cultural variation: findings (A01)

Answer 51

76 12-month olds using Strange Situation- in Italy

found 50% secure 36% insecure-avoidant lower rate of secure attachment than found in many studies

researchers suggest this is because increasing numbers of mothers of very young children work long hours + use professional childcare

Question 52

Simonella et al cultural variation: conclusion (A01)

Answer 52

Secure attachment seems to be norm in wide range of cultures

but research also clearly shows that cultural practices have an influence on attachment type

Question 53

cultural variation: large sample (A03) (1)

Answer 53

P: strength of Van Ijzendoorn’ meta-analysis is large sample that was generated

E: Nearly 2000 mothers + babies were used in this study

E: sample size is strength as it reduces impact of poor methodology

L: being able to generalise findings to larger population

but criticism of Van Ijzendoorn’s study is limited no. of studies in some countries eg. only 1 study was conducted in China whereas 18 studies were conducted in USA- problem because we are unable to generalise from such limited sample to entire country

Question 53

Takahashi cultural variation: findings (A01)

Answer 53

0% insecure avoidant
32% insecure resistant
68% secure

Question 54

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation: effects on intellectual development (A01)

Answer 54

Cognitive Delays + Low IQ - Goldfarb 1947 found maternally deprived children in orphanages had lower IQ than those who were fostered

Question 55

cultural variation: culturally biased (A03) (2)

Answer 55

P: Strange Situation was designed by Ainsworth + is based on British theory- test has been used worldwide to judge infants in other cultures eg. of imposed ethic

E: eg. strange situation lack of separation anxiety indicates an insecure avoidant attachment but Germany independent behaviour is encouraged + therefore lack of separation anxiety is not sign of insecurity

E: greater frequency of insecure resistant in Japan may result from fact that Japanese infants are rarely separated from their mothers so would find situation more distressing than children from other cultures

L: problem as it suggests that cross cultural comparisons using ‘strange situation’ may lack validity

Question 56

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation: effects on emotional development (A01)

Answer 56

Affectionless Psychopathy - Bowlby suggested these children would develop an inability to show affection or concern for others acting on impulse w/ittle regard for consequence of their actions

Question 57

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation: aim (A01)

Answer 57

links between affectionless psychopathy + maternal deprivation

Question 58

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation: procedure (A01)

Answer 58

sample consisted of 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing ‘thieves’ were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy

Their families were also interviewed in order to establish whether ‘thieves’ had suffered prolonged early separation from their mothers

control group of 44 non-criminal but emotionally disturbed teenagers was set up to see how often maternal deprivation occurred in children who were not delinquent

Question 59

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation: findings (A01)

Answer 59

Thieves: 14/44 were described as affectionless psychopaths- this 14, 12 had experienced prolonged separation in first 2 years of life

Control group: 2/44 had suffered maternal separation but 0/44 were categorised as affectionless psychopaths

Question 60

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation: supporting evidence (A03) (1)

Answer 60

P: supporting evidence

E: Harlow’s study on rhesus monkeys could also be used to support Bowlby’s theory

E: monkeys suffered maternal deprivation as they were removed from their real mothers-adults these monkeys were abusive to their offspring even killing them in some cases

L: monkeys were also more aggressive + less sociable than other monkeys supporting view that maternal deprivation has detrimental effect on development

Question 61

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation: conclusion (A01)

Answer 61

Prolonged separation caused affectionless psychopathy

Question 62

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation: contradictory evidence (A03) (2)

Answer 62

P: Critics argue that findings from cross-cultural research clearly contradict maternal deprivation hypothesis

E + E: Kagan studied Guatemalan Indians + found that although children experienced deprivation due to being kept in windowless hut w/little contact w/their primary caregiver they did not experience any social + intellectual impairment demonstrating that maternal deprivation does not produce irreversible negative consequences

L: suggests that other factors may influence outcomes for children who suffer early deprivation

Question 63

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation: sensitive rather than critical period (A03) (3)

Answer 63

P: Bowlby used term ‘critical period’ because he believed prolonged separation inevitably caused damage if it took place w/in that period

E: but later research has shown some cases of very severe deprivation have had good outcomes eg. Koluchova 1976 did a case study of Czech twin boys isolated from 18 months by being locked in cupboard- later looked after by 2 loving adults + appeared to fully recover

E: shows severe deprivation can have positive outcomes provided child has some social interaction + good aftercare

L: Cases like this demonstrate that period identified by Bowlby may be ‘sensitive’ 1 but cannot be critical

Question 64

Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation: unreliable data (A03) (4)

Answer 64

P: research has been criticised because it uses retrospective data

E: eg. family members were asked to recall events from early life of young teenagers in order to determine whether they had suffered prolonged separation

E: problem because family members may deliberately exclude certain events or may simply just forget some minor details

L: matters bc it casts doubt on interval validity of Bowlby’s findings

Question 65

Romanian Orphan Studies: effects of institutionalisation (A01)

Answer 65

institute is place where someone lives outside family home eg. children’s home

institutionalisation causes harmful effects such as apathy loss of personal identity + independence

tragic opportunity to look at effects of institutionalisation arose in Romania in 1990s- due to government requirements for women to have large families many Romanian parents could not afford to keep their children + many ended up in huge orphanages in very poor conditions

in 1989 government was overthrown + world became aware of poor state of these orphanages-children from these institutions were eventually adopted by British parents

Question 66

effects of institutionalisation RUTTER ET AL: aim (A01)

Answer 66

investigate if good care could make up for poor early experiences in an institution

Question 67

effects of institutionalisation RUTTER ET AL: procedure (A01)

Answer 67

Michael Rutter + colleagues followed group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain

Physical, cognitive + emotional development was assessed at ages 4,6,11 + 15 years

group of 52 British children adopted around same served as control group

Question 68

effects of institutionalisation RUTTER ET AL: findings (A01)

Answer 68

When they first arrived in UK half adoptees lagged behind their British counterparts on all 3 measures of development

age 11 recovery depended on child’s age when adopted:
Impaired social skills: Those adopted after 6 months showed signs of disinhibited attachment

when child shows equal affection to strangers as they do people they know well

Attention seeking + clinginess were also more common in late adopted group

mean IQ score decrease longer it took for child to get adopted

Question 69

effects of institutionalisation Bucharest Early Intervention Project: findings (A01)

Answer 69

found 74% of control group were identified as being securely attached compared to only 19% of institutionalised group

institutionalised group 65% were classed as having disorganised attachment

children were also more likely to have been described as having disinhibited attachment style

Question 70

effects of institutionalisation Bucharest Early Intervention Project: procedure (A01)

Answer 70

Zeanah et al assessed 95 children aged 12-31 months old who had spent on average 90% of their lives in Romanian orphanages

children were compared to control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution

used strange situation to measure their attachment type + also asked their caregivers to describe any unusual behaviours

Question 71

effects of institutionalisation: real life applications (A03) (1)

Answer 71

P: important practical applications which have arisen as result of research conducted on Romanian orphans

E + E: orphanages + children’s care homes now avoid having large numbers of caregivers + try to ensure that each child is assigned key worker

L: means that children have chance to develop normal attachments + helps avoid disinhibited attachment

Question 72

effects of institutionalisation: fewer extraneous variables (A03) (2)

Answer 72

P: research in Romanian orphans allowed psychologists to have unique opportunity to study effects of institutionalisation

E: Due to it having less extraneous variables than previous orphan studies which had used samples of children who were neglected
abused or suffered loss of their parents

E: therefore hard to identify which specific factors were affecting their emotional + intellectual development

L: Romanian orphanages there weren’t as many confounding variables so research has higher internal validity

Question 73

effects of institutionalisation: Romanian orphanages weren’t typical (A03) (3)

Answer 73

P: Although data gained from Romanian orphanages has been useful it is possible that conditions were so bad that results cannot be applied to children in other types of institutional care

E + E: Romanian orphanages had particularly poor standards of care + extremely low levels of intellectual stimulation

L: limitation of Romanian orphanage studies bc unusual situational variables that exist in these studies may prevent this research from being generalised to other groups of adopted children

Question 74

effects of institutionalisation: long term effects not known (A03) (4)

Answer 74

P: Although research on institutionalisation followed up adopted orphans throughout childhood it may be that children who spent longer in institutions + currently lag behind or display attachment difficulties will eventually ‘catch-up’ as adults

E+ E: Equally early-adopted children who appear to have no issues may experience emotional problems as adults

L: Suggesting that long term effects of early institutionalisation are unknown

Question 75

adult relationships: IWM (A01)

Answer 75

Bowlby suggested that monotropic bond acts as template for all later relationships

template known as IWM has powerful effect on nature of child’s future relationships

child whose first experience is of loving relationship w/reliable caregiver will assume that this is how relationships are meant to be + will thus seek out fulfilling relationships in future

but if first experience of loving relationship is of an unreliable insensitive caregiver then child may seek out dysfunctional relationships

Question 76

adult relationships: insecure avoidant ADULT BEHAVIOURS (A01)

Answer 76

somewhat uncomfortable being close to others

nervous when anyone gets too close

Romantic partners want me to be more intimate

Question 77

adult relationships: securely attached ADULT BEHAVIOURS (A01)

Answer 77

find it relatively easy to get close to others

comfortable depending on them + having them depend on me

Question 78

adult relationships: insecure resistant ADULT BEHAVIOURS (A01)

Answer 78

Others are reluctant to get as close as I like

want to merge completely w/ another person + this can scare them away

worry my partner does not really love me

Question 79

adult relationships YOUNGBLADE + BELSKY: supporting evidence (A03) (4)

Answer 79

Attachment type is associated w/ quality of peer relationships in childhood

found that 3-5 year-old securely attached children were more self-confident got along better w/other children + were more likely to form close friendships

Myron-Wilson + Smith assessed attachment type + bullying using questionnaires in 196 children aged 7-11 from London

Secure children were unlikely to be involved in bullying

Insecure avoidant children were more likely to be victims

insecure resistant children were more likely to be bullies

Securely attached babies tend to go on to form best quality childhood friendships whereas insecurely attached babies later have friendship difficulties

Question 80

adult relationships HAZEN+ SHAVER: Relationships in adulthood w/Romantic Partners aim (A01)

Answer 80

find out if type of attachment that person had in infancy has an effect on type of romantic relationships they would form in future

Question 81

adult relationships HAZEN+ SHAVER: Relationships in adulthood w/Romantic Partners procedure (A01)

Answer 81

analysed 620 replies to ‘love quiz’ printed in an American local newspaper

quiz had three sections:
Section 1: Assessment of their current or most significant relationship

Section 2: Assessment of their love life e.g. number of partners

Section 3: Assessment of their attachment type

Question 82

adult relationships HAZEN+ SHAVER: Relationships in adulthood w/Romantic Partners findings (A01)

Answer 82

Secure (56%) Happy, friendly + trusting relationship experience Happy being close to others
average length 10 years

Avoidant (25%) Jealousy + fear of intimacy relationship experience uncomfortable depending on or being close to others average length 6 years

Resistant (19%) Obsessive in romantic relationships desire for intense closeness average length 5 years

Question 83

adult relationships: Relationships in adulthood w/as a parent (A01)

Answer 83

IWM also affects child’s ability to parent their own children

Research shows that attachment types tend to be passed on through generations of family eg. Bailey assessed the attachments of 99 mothers to their babies and their own mothers

majority of women had same attachment classification both to their babies + their own mothers support importance of early relationships in one’s ability to parent successfully

Question 84

adult relationships: link decreases w/age (A03) (1)

Answer 84

P: link decreases w/age

E: Insecurely attached children do not always become insecurely attached adults- link tends to decrease w/ age seems to be because average person will participate in several different relationships which may alter their IWM- other words successful relationships may alter IWM of an adult who had been previously insecurely attached to their parents

E: further limitation is that most of research is purely correlational means that there has no control over extraneous variables such as negative life events which may influence future relationships

L: means that it cannot be concluded from this research alone that early attachment types form adult attachment styles

Question 85

adult relationships: methodological issues (A03) (2)

Answer 85

P: limitation of research into early attachment types + adult relationships is that it is often based on self-report measures

E: interviews or surveys which assess attachment styles + relationships w/parents

E: retrospective so rely on memory of P which we know from studying ‘Memory’ unit can be unreliable due to forgetting or other factors eg. social desirability bias when people report themselves in favourable light to look like they have better relationships w/their parents

L: this lowers internal validity of results

Question 86

adult relationships: free will vs determinism (A03) (3)

Answer 86

P: fair to say that all children who experience poor attachments w/ their parents are ‘doomed’ to experience unhealthy relationships as adults

E: Although relationship has been found this has never been 100% determined so there must be other factors which contribute to formation of our adult relationships

E: theory is suggesting that the effects of poor attachments as children will be long-lasting but as adults we have cognitive ability to reflect on our past + recognise what unhealthy relationships look like can choose to avoid these in future

L: Suggesting we have free will w/ forming adult relationships