Attachment

Question 1

Caregiver-infant interactions: Define Reciprocity

Answer 1

A description of how two people interact. Caregiver-infant interaction is reciprocal in that both caregiver and baby respond to each other’s signals and each elicits a response from the other.

For example, a caregiver might respond to his baby’s smile by saying something and then this in turn elicits a response from his baby.

Question 2

Caregiver-infant interactions: Define Interactional Synchrony

Answer 2

Caregiver and baby reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a
co-ordinated (synchronised) way.

Question 3

Caregiver-infant interactions: Define Attachment

Answer 3

A close two-way emotional bond between two individuals in which each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security.

Attachment in humans takes a few months to develop. We can recognise an attachment when people display the following behaviours:

-Proximity: people try to stay physically close to their attachment figure.

-Separation distress: people show signs of anxiety when an attachment figure leaves their presence.

-Secure-base behaviour: even when we are independent of our attachment figures we tend to make regular contact with them. Babies display secure-base behaviour when they regularly return to their attachment figure while playing.

Question 4

Caregiver-infant interactions: Reciprocity (Alert phases)

Answer 4

Babies have periodic ‘alert phases’ in which they signal (e.g. making eye contact) that they are ready for a spell of interaction. Research shows that mothers typically pick on and respond to their baby’s alertness around 2/3 of the time (Feldman and Eidelman 2007), although this varies according to the skills of the mother and external factors such as stress (Finegood et al.2016).
From around 3 months this interaction tends to become increasingly frequent and involves both mother and baby paying close attention to each other’s verbal signals and facial expressions (Feldman 2007).

Question 5

Caregiver-infant interactions: reciprocity (what are the two features of reciprocity)

Answer 5

Turn-Taking: Reciprocity involves a two-way interaction where both the infant and caregiver take turns to respond to each other’s signals. For example, when a baby smiles, the caregiver might smile back, showing mutual responsiveness.

Active Contribution: Both the infant and caregiver are active participants in the interaction. The infant is not passive but actively signals (e.g., through vocalisations or gestures), and the caregiver responds in an appropriate and meaningful way, fostering a sense of connection.

Question 6

Caregiver-infant interactions: Interactional synchrony (what are the two features of interactional synchrony)

Answer 6

Mirroring of Actions: This involves infants imitating the facial expressions, gestures, and movements of their caregivers. Such mirroring facilitates emotional bonding and communication between the infant and caregiver.

Coordinated Interactions: Interactional synchrony encompasses the seamless, rhythmic exchanges between caregiver and infant, where both parties respond to each other’s cues in a synchronised manner. This coordination is fundamental in developing effective communication and attachment.

Question 7

Caregiver-infant interactions: Interactional synchrony (Synchrony begins)

Answer 7

Meltzoff and Moore (1977) observed the beginnings of international synchrony in babies as young as 2 weeks old. An adult displayed 1 of 3 facial expressions or one of three distinctive gestures. The baby’s response was filmed and labelled by independent observers. Babies’ expression and gestures were more likely to mirror those of the adults more than chance would predict i.e. there was a significant association.

Question 8

Caregiver-infant interactions: (Evaluation: Difficulty observing babies)

Answer 8

One limitation of research into caregiver-infant interaction is that it is hard to interpret a baby’s behaviour.
Young babies lack co-ordination and much of their bodies are almost immobile. The movements being observed are just small hand movements or subtle changes in expression. It is difficult to be sure, for example, whether a baby is smiling or just passing wind. It is also difficult to determine what is taking place from the baby’s perspective. For example, we cannot know whether a movement such as hand twitch is random or triggered by something the caregiver has done.
This means we cannot be certain that the behaviours seen in caregiver-infant interactions have a special meaning.

Question 9

Caregiver-infant interactions: (Evaluation: Developmental importance)

Answer 9

A limitation is that simply observing a behaviour does not tell us its developmental importance.
Feldman (2012) points out that ideas like synchrony simply give names to patterns of observable caregiver and baby behaviours. These are robust phenomena in the sense that they can be reliably observed, but they still may not be particularly useful in understanding child development as it does not tell is the purpose of these behaviours.
This means that we cannot be certain from observational research alone that reciprocity and synchrony are important for a child’s development.

Question 10

Caregiver-infant interactions: (Evaluation: Counterpoint for Developmental importance)

Answer 10

There is evidence from other lines of research to suggest that early interactions are important. For example, Isabella et al. (1989) found that the achievement of interactional synchrony predicted the development of a good quality attachment.
This means that, on balance, caregiver-infant interaction is probably important in development.

Question 11

Schaffer’s stages of attachment: Define stages of attachment

Answer 11

Many developmental theories identify a sequence of qualitatively different behaviour linked to specific ages. In the case of ‘stages of attachment’ qualitatively different infant (baby) behaviours are linked to specific ages, and all babies go through them in the same order.

Question 12

Schaffer’s stages of attachment: Define Multiple attachments

Answer 12

Attachments to 2 or more people. Most babies appear to develop multiple attachments once they have formed one strong attachments to one of their carers.

Question 13

Schaffer’s stages of attachment: Research

Answer 13

Schaffer and Emerson (1964) based their stage theory on an observational study of the formation of early infant-adult attachments.

Procedure:
The study involved 60 babies- 31 boys and 29 girls. All were from Glasgow and the majority were from skilled working-class families. Researchers visited babies and mothers in their own homes every month for the first year and again at 18 months.
The researchers asked the mothers questions about the kind of protest their babies showed in seven everyday separations, e.g. adult leaving the room ( a measure of separation anxiety). This was designed to measure the babies’ attachment. The researchers also assessed stranger anxiety- the babies’ anxiety response to unfamiliar people.

Findings:
Schaffer and Emerson identified 4 distinct stages in the development of infant attachment behaviour.

Question 14

Schaffer’s stages of attachment: Stages of attachment (1) Asocial stage

Answer 14

(0–6 weeks): In the earliest stage, infants show similar responses to both human and non-human objects. However, they start to show a preference for familiar people, particularly those who comfort and care for them. During this stage, babies are also happier in the presence of other humans.

Question 15

Schaffer’s stages of attachment: Stages of attachment (2) Indiscriminate attachment

Answer 15

(6 weeks–7 months): Infants begin to show a preference for human interaction over inanimate objects and are more sociable. They can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people but are generally comforted by anyone. At this stage, they do not show separation anxiety or stranger anxiety.

Question 16

Schaffer’s stages of attachment: Stages of attachment (3) Specific attachment

Answer 16

(7–12 months): Infants begin to form a strong attachment to one particular individual, usually their primary caregiver. They show clear signs of separation anxiety when this person leaves and display stranger anxiety when approached by unfamiliar individuals. This stage marks the formation of a primary attachment figure.

Question 17

Schaffer’s stages of attachment: Stages of attachment (4) Multiple attachments

Answer 17

(12 months+): After forming a primary attachment, infants begin to form attachments to others, such as siblings, grandparents, and other regular caregivers. These secondary attachments are important for the infant’s social development, and separation anxiety may be shown towards these figures as well.

Question 18

Schaffer’s stages of attachment: (Evaluation: Good external validity)

Answer 18

One strength of Schaffer and Emerson’s research is that it has good external validity.
Most of the observations were made by parents during ordinary activities and reported to the researchers. The alternative would have been to have researchers present to record observations. This might have distracted the babies or made them feel more anxious.
This means it is highly likely that the participants behaved naturally while being observed.

Question 19

Schaffer’s stages of attachment: (Evaluation: Counterpoint for Good external validity)

Answer 19

On the other hand there are issues with asking the mothers to be the ‘observers’. They were unlikely to be objective observers. They might have been biased in terms of what they noticed and what they reported, for example they might not have noticed when their baby was showing signs of anxiety or they may have misremembered it.
This means that even if babies behaved naturally their behaviour may not have been accurately recorded.

Question 20

Schaffer’s stages of attachment: (Evaluation: Poor evidence for the asocial stage)

Answer 20

One limitation is the validity of the measures they used to assess attachment in the asocial stage.
Young babies have poor co-ordination and are fairly immobile. If babies less than 2 months old felt anxiety in everyday situations they might have displayed this in quite subtle, hard-to-observe ways. This made it difficult for mothers to observe and report back to researchers on signs of anxiety and attachment in this age group.
This means that the babies may actually be quite social but, because of flawed methods, they appear to be asocial.

Question 21

The role of the father: Define father

Answer 21

In attachment research the father is anyone who takes on the role of the main male caregiver. This can be but is not necessarily the biological father.

Question 22

The role of the father: Distinctive role for fathers

Answer 22

Grossmann et al. (2002) carried out a longitudinal study where babies’ attachments were studied until they were into their teens. The researchers looked at both parents’ behaviour and its relationship to the quality of their baby’s later attachments to other people.Quality of a baby’s attachment with mothers but not fathers was related to attachments in adolescence.
This suggests that attachment to fathers is less important than attachment to mothers.
However, Grossmann et al. also found that the quality of fathers’ play with babies was related to the quality of adolescent attachments. This suggests that fathers have a different role from mothers- one that is more to do with play and simulation, and less to do with emotional development.

Question 23

The role of the father: Attachment to fathers

Answer 23

Schaffer and Emerson (1964). They found that the majority of babies first became attached to their mother at around 7 months. In only 3% of cases the father was the first sole object of attachment. In 27% of cases the father was the joint first object of attachment with the mother.
However, it appears that most fathers go on to become important attachment figures. 75% of the babies studied by Schaffer and Emerson formed an attachment with their father by the age of 18 months. This was determined by the fact that the babies protested when their father walked away- a sign of attachment.

Question 24

The role of the father: (Evaluation: Confusion over research questions)

Answer 24

One limitation of research into the role of fathers is lack of clarity over the question being asked.
The question, “what is the role of the father?” in the context of attachment is much more complicated than it sounds. Some researchers attempting to answer this question actually want to understand and the role of fathers as secondary attachment figure. The former have tended to see fathers as behaving differently from mothers and having a distinct role. The latter found that fathers can take on a ‘maternal’ role.
This makes it difficult to offer a simple answer as to the ‘role of the father’. It really depends what specific role is being discussed.

Question 25

The role of the father: (Evaluation: Conflicting evidence)

Answer 25

A further limitation of research into the role of fathers is that findings vary according to the methodology used.
Longitudinal studies such as that of Grossmann et al. have suggested that fathers as secondary attachment figures have an important and distinct role in their children’s development, involving play and stimulation.
However, if fathers have a distinctive and important role we would expect that children growing up single-mother and lesbian-parent families would turn out in some way different from those in two-parent heterosexual families. In fact studies (e.g. McCallum and Golombock 2004) consistently show that these children do not develop differently from children in two-parent heterosexual families.
This means that the question as to whether fathers have a distinctive role remains unanswered.

Question 26

The role of the father: (Evaluation: Counterpoint to Conflicting evidence)

Answer 26

These lines of research may not in fact be in conflict. It could be that fathers typically take on distinctive roles in two-parent heterosexual families, but that parents in single-mother and lesbian-parent families simply adapt to accommodate the role played by fathers.
This means that the question of a distinctive role for fathers is clear after all. When present, fathers tend to adopt a distinctive role, but families can adapt to not having a father.

Question 27

Animal studies of attachment: Define Animal studies

Answer 27

Studies carried out on non-human animal species rather than on humans, either for ethical or practical reasons.

Question 28

Animal studies of attachment: Lorenz’s research

Answer 28

Procedure:
Lorenz set up a classic experiment in which he randomly divided a large clutch of goose eggs. Half the eggs were hatched with the mother goose in their natural environment. The other half hatched in an incubator where the first moving object they saw was Lorenz.

Findings:
The incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere whereas the control group, hatched in the presence of their mother, followed her. When the 2 groups were mixed up the control group continued to follow the mother and the experimental group followed Lorenz.

This phenomenon is called imprinting- whereby bird species that are mobile from birth (like geese and ducks) attach to and follow the first moving object they see. Lorenz identified a critical period in which imprinting needs to take place. Depending on the species this can be as brief as a few hours after hatching. If imprinting does not occur within that time Lorenz found that Chicks did not attach themselves to a mother figure.

Question 29

Animal studies of attachment: Lorenz’s research (Evaluation: Research support)

Answer 29

One strength of Lorenz’s research is the existence of support for the concept of imprinting.
A study by Regolin and Vallortigara (1995) supports Lorenz’s idea of imprinting. Chicks were exposed to simple shape combinations that moved, such as a triangle with a rectangle in front . A range of shape combinations were then moved in front of them and they followed the original most closely.
This supports the view that young animals are born with an innate mechanism to imprint on a moving object present in the critical window of development, as predicted by Lorenz.

Question 30

Animal studies of attachment: Lorenz’s research (Evaluation: Generalisability to humans)

Answer 30

One limitation of Lorenz’s studies is the ability to generalise findings and conclusions from birds to humans.
The mammalian attachment system is quite different and more complex than that in birds. For example, in mammals attachment is a two-way process, so it is not just the young who become attached to their mothers but also the mammalian mothers show an emotional attachment to their young.
This means that it is probably not appropriate to generalise Lorenz’s ideas to humans.

Question 31

Animal studies of attachment: Harlow’s research

Answer 31

Harlow (1958) tested the idea that a soft object serves some of the functions of a mother. In one experiment he reared 16 baby monkeys with two wire model ‘mothers’. In one condition, milk was dispensed by the plain-wire mother whereas in a second condition the milk was deispensed by the cloth-covered mother.

The baby monkeys cuddled the cloth-covered mother in preference to the plain-wire mother and sought comfort from the cloth one when frightened (e.g. by a noisy mechanical teddy bear) rgardless of which mother (cloth-covered or plain-wire) dispensed milk. This showed that ‘contact comform’ was of more importance to the monkeys than food when it came to attachment behaviour.

Question 32

Animal studies of attachment: Harlow’s research (Evaluation: Real-world value)

Answer 32

One strength of Harlow’s research is its important real-world application.
For example, it has helped social workers and clinical psychologists understand that a lack of bonding experience may be a risk factor in child development allowing them to intervene to prevent poor outcomes (Howe 1998). We also now understand the importance of attachment figures for baby monkeys in zoos and breeding grogrammes in the wild.
This means that the value of Harlow’s research is not just theoretical but also practical.

Question 33

Animal studies of attachment: Harlow’s research (Evaluation: Generalisability to humans)

Answer 33

One limitation of Harlow’s research is the ability to generalise findings and conclusions from monkeys to humans.
Rhesus monkeys are much more similar to humans than Lorenz’s birds, and all mammals share some common attachment behaviours. however, the human brain and human behaviour is still more complex than that of monkeys.
This means that it may not be appropriate to generalise Harlow’s findins to humans.

Question 34

Explanation of attahcment- Learning theory : Define Learning theory

Answer 34

A set of theories from the behaviourist approach to psychology, that emphasises the role of learning in the acquisition of behaviour. Explanations for learning of behaviour include classical and operant conditioning.

Question 35

Explanation of attahcment- Learning theory : intro

Answer 35

Dollar and Miller (1950) proposed that caregiver-infant attachment can be explained by learning theory. Their approach is sometimes called a ‘cupboard love’ approach because it emphasises the importance of the ttachment figure as a provider of food. Put simply they proposed that children learn to love whoever feeds them.

Question 36

Explanation of attahcment- Learning theory : Classical conditioning

Answer 36

It involves learning to associate two stimuli together so that we begin to respond to one in the same way as we already respond to the other.
Food serves as an unconditioned stimuli. Being fed gives us pleasure- we don’t have to learn that , it is a unconditioned response.

A caregiver starts as a neural stimuls, i.e. something that produces no response. However, when the caregiver provides food over time they become asociated with food. When the baby then sees this person there is an expectation of food. The neutral stimulus has become a conditioned stimulus. Once conditioning has taken place the sight of the caregiver produces a conditioned response of pleasure. To a learning theorist this conditioned pleasure response is love, i.e. an attachment is formed and the caregiver becomes an attachment figure.

Question 37

Explanation of attahcment- Learning theory : Operant conditioning

Answer 37

Involves learning from the consequences f behaviour. If a behaviour produces a pleasant consequence, that behaviour islikely to be repeated again. The behaviour is said to be reinforced. If a behaviour produces an unpleasant consequence (punishment) it is less likely to be repeated.

Operant conditioning can explain why babies cry for comfort- an important behaviour in building attachment. Crying leads to a response from the cargiver, for example feeding. As long as the caregiver provides the correct response, crying is reinforced. The baby then directs crying for comfort towards the caregiver who responds with comforting ‘social suppressor’ behavior.

This reinforcement is a two-way process. At the same time as the baby is reinforced for crying, the caregiver recieves negative reinforcement because the crying stops- escaping from something unpleasant is reinforcing. This interplay of mutual reinforcement strengthens an attachment.

Question 38

Explanation of attahcment- Learning theory : (Evaluation: counter edivence from animal studies)

Answer 38

One limitation of learning theory explanations for attahcment is lack of support from studies condcted on animals.
For example, Lorenz’s greese imprinted on the first moving object they saw regardless of whether this object was associated with food. Also, if we consider Harlow’s research with monkeys, there is no support for the importance of food. When given a choice, Harlow’s monkeys displayed attachment behaviour towards a soft surrogate ‘mother’ in preference to a wire one which provided milk.
This shows that factors other than association with food are mpotant in the formation of attachments.

Question 39

Explanation of attahcment- Learning theory : (Evaluation: counter-evidence from studies on humans)

Answer 39

A further limitation of learning theory explanations is lack of support from studies of human babies.
For example, Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found that babies tended to form their main attachment to their mother regardless of whether she was the one who usually fed them. In another study, Isabella et al. (1989) found that high levels of interactional synchrony pedicted the quality of attachment. These factors are not related to feeding.
This again suggests that food is not the main factor in the formation of human attachments.

Question 40

Explanation of attachment- Learning theory : (Evaluation: Some conditioning may be involved)

Answer 40

One strength of learning theory is that elements of conditioning could be involved in some aspects of attachment.
It seems unlikely that association eih food pays a central role in attachment, but conditioning may still play a role. For example, a baby may associate feeling warm and comfortable with the presence of a particular adult, and this may influence the baby’s choice of their main attahcment figure. This means that learning theory may still be useful in understanding the development of attachments.

Question 41

Explanations of attachment- Bowlby’s monotropic theory : Define Monotropic

Answer 41

A terms sometimes used to describe Bowlby’s theory. Mono means ‘one’ and tropic means ‘leaning towards’. This indicates that one particular attachment is differnt from all others and of central importance to a child’s development.

Question 42

Explanations of attachment- Bowlby’s monotropic theory : Define Critical period

Answer 42

The time within which an attachment must form if it is to form at all. Lorenz and Harlow noted that attachment in birds and monkeys had critical periods. Bowlby extended the idea to humans, proposing that human babies have a sensitive period after which it will be much more difficult to form an attachment.

Question 43

Explanations of attachment- Bowlby’s monotropic theory : Define Internal working model

Answer 43

Our mental representations of the world, e.g. the representation we have of our relationship to our primary attachment figure. This model affects our future relationships because it carries our perception of what relationships are like.

Question 44

Explanations of attachment- Bowlby’s monotropic theory : (Monotropy)

Answer 44

Bowlb’s theory (1958, 196) is described as monotropic because he placed great emphasis on a child’s attachment to one particular caregiver. He believed that the child’s attachment to this one caregiver is different and more important than oters. Bowlby called this person the ‘mother’ but it was clear that it need not be the biological mother. Bowlby believed that the more time a baby pent with this mother figure- or primary attachment figure as we usually call them now- the better. He put two principles to clarify this:

• The law of continuity stated that the more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better the quality of their attachment.
• The law of accumulated separation stated that the effects of every separation from the mother add up ‘and the safest dose is therefore a zero dose’ (Bowlby 1975).

Question 45

Explanations of attachment- Bowlby’s monotropic theory : ( Social releasers and the critical period)

Answer 45

bowlby suggested that bebies are born with a set of innate ‘cute’ behaviours like smiling, cooing and gripping that encourage attention from adults. He called these social relasers because their purpose is to activate adult social interaction and so make an adult attach to the baby. Bowlby recognised that attachment was areciprocal process. Both mother and baby are ‘hard-wired’ to become attached.

The interplay between baby and adult attachment systems gradually builds the relationship between baby and caregiver, beginning in the early weeks of life. bowlby proposed that there is a critical period around 6 months when the infant attachment system is active. In fact Bowlby viewed this as more of a sensitive period. A child is maximally sensitive at 6 months and this possibly extends up to the age of two. If an attachment is not formed in this time, a child will find it much harder to form one later.

Question 46

Explanations of attachment- Bowlby’s monotropic theory : ( Internal working model)

Answer 46

Bowlby proposed that a child forms a menal representation of their relationship with their primary attachment figure. This is called internal working model because it serves as a model for what relationships are like.

A child whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver will tend to form an expectation that all elationships are as loving and reliable, and they will bring these qualities to future relationships. However, a chid whose first relationship invlves poor treatment will tend to form further poor relationships in which they expect such treatment from others and/or treat others in that way.

Mostly importantly the internal working model affects the child’s later ability to be a parent themselves. People tend to base their parenting behaviour on their own experiences of being parented. This explains why children from functional familis tend to have similar families themselves.

Question 47

Explanations of attachment- Bowlby’s monotropic theory : (Evaluation: validity of monotropy challenged)

Answer 47

Bowlby’s concept of monotropy is challenged by Schaffer and Emerson (1964), who found that while most babies formed one main attachment, many developed multiple attachments at the same time. Additionally, the first attachment, while influential, is not necessarily stronger or unique in quality compared to other attachments, which can also provide emotional support and a safe base. This means Bowlby may be incorrect in suggesting there is a unique importance to the child’s primary attachment.

Question 48

Explanations of attachment- Bowlby’s monotropic theory : (Evaluation: Support for social releasers)

Answer 48

One strength of Bowlby’s theory is the evidence supporting th role of social releasers.
There is clear evidence that cute baby behaviours are desiged to elicit interaction from caregivers. Brazelton et al. (1975) observed babies trigger interactions with adults using social releasers. The researchers then instructed the babies’ primary attachment figures to ignore their babies’ social releasers. Babies became increasingly distressed and some eventuallly curled up and lay motionless.
This illustrates the role of social releasers in emtional development and suggests that they are important in the process of attachment development.

Question 49

Explanations of attachment- Bowlby’s theory : (Evaluation: support for internal working model)

Answer 49

Bailey et al. (2007) studied 99 mothers and their one-year-old babies, assessing both the mothers’ attachment to their own parents and the attachment quality of their babies. They found that mothers with poor attachment to their parents were more likely to have poorly attached babies. This supports Bowlby’s idea of the internal working model, which suggests that early attachment experiences influence future attachments. This means attachment patterns can be passed down from one generation to the next.

Question 50

Explanations of attachment- Bowlby’s theory : (Evaluation: Counterpoint for Support for internal working model)

Answer 50

There are probably other important influences on social development. For example, some psychologists believe that genetic differences in anxiety and sociability affect social behaviour in both babies and adults. These differences could also impact on their parenting ability (Kornienko 2016).
This means that Bowlby may have overstate the importance of the internal working model in social behaviour and parenting at the expense of other factors.

Question 51

Types of attachment- Ainsowrth’s ‘Strange Situation’ : Define Strange Situation

Answer 51

A controlled observation designed to test attachment securiy. Babies are assessed on their response to playing in an unfamiliar rom, being left alone, left with a stranger and being reunited with a caregiver.

Question 52

Types of attachment- Ainsowrth’s ‘Strange Situation’ : Define Secure Attachment

Answer 52

Generally thought of as the most desirable attachment type, associated with psychologically ealthy outcomes. In the Strange Situation this is shown by moderate stranger and separation anxiety and ease of comfort at reunion.

Question 53

Types of attachment- Ainsowrth’s ‘Strange Situation’ : Define Insecure-avoidant attachment

Answer 53

An attachment type characterised by low anxiety but weak attachment. In the Strange Situation this is shown by low stranger and separation anxiety and little response to reunion, maybe even an avoidance of the caregiver.

Question 54

Types of attachment- Ainsowrth’s ‘Strange Situation’ : Define Insecure-resistant attachment

Answer 54

An attachment type characterised by strong attachment and high anxiety. In the Strange Situation this is shown by high levels of stranger and separation anxiety and by resistance to being comforted at reunion.

Question 55

Types of attachment- Ainsowrth’s ‘Strange Situation’ : intro

Answer 55

The Strange Situation was deeloped by Aisnsworth and Bell (190). The aim was to be able to observe ket attachment behaviours as a means of assessing the quality of a baby’s atachment to a caregiver.

Question 56

Types of attachment- Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’ : Procedure

Answer 56

The Strange situation is a controlled observation procedure designed to measure the security of attachment a baby displays towards a caregiver. It takes place in a room with quite controlledconditions (i.e. a laboratory) with a two-way mirror and/or cameras through which psychologists can observe the baby’s behaviour.

The behaviours used to judge attachment included:

-Proximity-seeking- a baby with a good quality attachment will stay fairly close to a caregiver.

-Exploration and secure-base behaviour- good attachment enables a baby to feel confident to explore, using their caregiver as a secure base, i.e. a point of contact that will make them feel safe.

-Stranger anxiety- one of the signs of becoming closely attached is a display of anxiety when a stranger approaches.

-Separation anxiety- another sign of becoming attached is to protest at separation from the caregiver.

-Response to reunion- babies who are securely attached geet the caregiver’s return with pleasure and seek comfort.

The procedure has seven episodes, each od which lasts 3 minutes.

Question 57

Types of attachment- Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’ : Findings

Answer 57

Secure attachment (Type B)- these babies explore happily but regularly go back to their caregiver. They usually show moderate separation distress and moderate stranger anxiety. Securely attached babies requireand accept comfort from the caregiver in the reunion stage. About 60-75%of British babies are classified as secure.

Insecure-avoidant attchment (Type A)- these babies explore freely but do not seek proximity or show secure-base behaviour. They show little to no reaction when their caregiver leaves and little stranger anxiety. They make little effort to make eye contact when the caregiver returns and may even avoid such contact. About 20-25% of British babies are classified as insecure-avoidant.

Insecure-resistant attachment (Type C)- these babies sseek greater proximity than others and so explore less. They show high levels stranger and separation distress but they resist comfort when reunited with their caregiver. Around 3% of British babies are classified as insecure-resistant.

Question 58

Types of attachment- Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’ : (Evaluation: Good predictive validity)

Answer 58

The Strange Situation has good predictive validity. Research shows securely attached babies (Type B) tend to have better outcomes, like school achievement and menta health, and are less involved in bullying (McCormick et al. 20016, Kokkinos 2007). In contrast insecure-resistant babies (Type C) often have worse outcomes, including mental health issues (Ward et al. 2006). This means the Strange Situation measures something real and meaningful in a child’s development.

Question 59

Types of attachment- Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’ : (Evaluation: Good reliability)

Answer 59

The Strange Situation is good inter-rater reliability.
Bick et al. (2012) tested inter-rater reliability for the Strange Situation for a team of trained observers and found agreement on attachment type in 94% of cases. This high level of reliablility may be because the procedure takes place under controlled conditions and because behaviours( such as proximity-seeking and stranger anxiety) involve large movements and are therefore easy to observe. For example, anxius babies cry and crawl away frm strangers.
This means that we can be confident the attachment type as assessed by the Strange Situation does not depend on subjective judgements.

Question 60

Types of attachment- Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’ : (Evaluation: The test may be culture-bound)

Answer 60

One limitation of the Strange Situation is that it may not b a valid measure of attachment in different cultural contexts.
The Strange Situation was developed in Britain and the US. It may be culture-bound, i.e. only valid for use in certain cultures. One reason for this is that babies have different experiences in differen cultures and these experiences may affect their rsponses to the Strange Situation. For example, in one japanese study by Takahashi (1986), babies displayed very high levels od separation anxiety and so a disproportionate number were classified as insecure-resistant. Takahashi (1990) suggests that this anxiety response was not due to high rates of attachment insecuiry but to the unusual nature of the experience in Japan where mother-baby separation is very rare.
his mans that is it very difficult to know what the Strange Situation is measuring when used outside Europe and the us.

Question 61

Cultural variations in attachment: Define Cultural variations

Answer 61

‘Culture’ refers to the norms and values that exist within any group of people.
Cultural variations then are the differences in norms and values that exist between people in different groups. In attachment research we are concerned with the differences in the proportion of children of different attachment types.

Question 62

Cultural variations in attachment: Studies of cultural variations : (Van IJzendoorn Kroonenberg’s research)

Answer 62

Van IJzendoorn Kroonenberg (1988) conducted a study to look at the proportions of secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant attachments across a range of countries to assess cultural variation.

Procedure:
The researchers located 32 studiesof attachment where the Strange Situation has been used to investigate the proportions of babies with different attachment types. These were conducted in 8 countries- 15 were in the US. Overall the studies yielded results for 1,990 children. The data for these 32 studies was meta-analysed. This means that the results of the studies were combined and analysed together, weighting each study forits sample size.

Findings:
There was wide variation between the proportions of attachment types in different studies. In all countries secure attachment was the most common classification. however the proportion varied from 75% in Britain to 50% in China.

In individualist cutures rates of nsecure-resistant attachment were similar to Ainsworth’s original sample (all under 14%) but this was not true for the collectivist samples from China, Japan and Isreal where rates were above 25% (and where rates of insecure-avoidant attachment were reduced).

An interesting finding was that variations between results of studies within the same country were actually 150% greater than those between countries. In the US, for example, one study found only 46% securely attached compared to one sample as high as 90%.

Question 63

Cultural variations in attachment: Studies of cultural variations ( Other studies of cultural variations)

Answer 63

Mi Kyoung et al. (2012) conducted a study to compare the proportions of attachment types in Korea to other studies. The Strange Situation was used to assess 87 babies.
The overall proportions of insecure and secure babies were similar to those in most countries, with most babies being secure. However, more of those classified as insecurely attached were resistant and only one baby was avoidant. This distribution is similar to the distribution of attachment types found in Japan (Van IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg 1988). Since Japan and Korea have quite similar child-rearing styles this similarity might be explained in terms of child-rearing syle.

Conclusions:
Secure attachment seems to be norm in a wide range of cultures, supporting Bowlby’s idea that attachment is innate and universal and this type is the universal norm. However, the research also clearly shows that cultural practices have an influence on attachment type.

Question 64

Cultural variations in attachment: Studies of cultural variations :(Evaluation: Indigenous researchers)

Answer 64

One strength of the research is that most of the studies were conducted by indigenous psychologists.
Indigenous psychologists ae those from the same cultural background as the participants. For example, Van IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg included research by a German team (Grossmann et al. 1981) and Takahashi (1986) who is Japanese. This kind of research means that many of the potential probelms in cross-cultural research can be avoided, such as researchers’ misunderstandings of the language used by participants or having difficulty communicating instructions to them. Difficulties can also include bias because of one nation’s stereotypes of another.
This means there is an excellent chance that researchers and participants communicated successfully-enhancing the validity of the datacollected.

Question 64

Cultural variations in attachment: Studies of cultural variations :(Evaluation: Counterpoint for Indigenous researchers)

Answer 64

However, this has not been true of all cross-cultural attachment research. For example Morelli and Tronick (191) were outsiders from America when they studied child-rearing and patterns of attachment in the Efe of Zaire. Their data might have been affected b difficluties in gathering data from participants outside their own culture.
This means that the data from some countries might have been affected by bias and difficulty in cross-cultural communication.

Question 65

Cultural variations in attachment: Studies of cultural variations :(Evaluation: Imposed etic)

Answer 65

A limitation of cross-cultural research is in trying to impose a test designed for one cultural context to another context.
Cross-cultural psychology includes the ideasof emic (cultural uniqueness) and etic (cross-cultural universality). Imposed etic occurs when we assume an idea or technique that works in one cultural context will work in another. An example of this in attachment researrch is in the use of babies’ response to reunion with the caregiver in the Strange Situation. In Britain and US, the lack of affection on reunion may indicate an avoidant attachment. But in Germany such behaviour would be more likely interpreted as independence rather than insecurity. Therefore that part of the Strange Situation may not work in Germany.
This means that the behaviours measured by the Stranger Situation may not have the same meanings in different cultural contexts, and comparing them across cultures is meaningless.

Question 66

Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation: Define Maternal deprivation

Answer 66

The emotional and intellectual consequences of separation between a child and his/her mother or mother-substitute.

Question 67

Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation: Bowlby’s research

Answer 67

Bowlby’s (1944) 44 thieves study xamined the link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation.

Procedure:
The sample in this study consisted of 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing. All ‘thieves’ were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopahy: characterised as a lack of affection, lack of guilt about their actions and lack of empathy for their victims. Their families were also interviewed in order to establish whether the ‘thieves’ had prolonged early separations early separations from their mothers. The sample was compared to a control group of 44 non-criminal but emotionally-disturbed young people.

Findings:
Bowlby (1944) found that 14 of the 44 thieves could be described as affectionless psychopaths and 12 of these had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers in the first 2 years of their lives. In contrast, only 5 of the remaining 30 ‘thieves’ had experienced separations. Only 2 participants in the control group 44 had experienced long separations. Bowlby concluded that prolonged early separation/deprvation caused affectionless psychopathy.

Question 67

Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation: (Separation versus deprivation)

Answer 67

Separation simply means the child not being in the presence of the primary attachment figue. This only becomes a problem if the child becomes deprived of emotional care (which can happen even if a mother is present andsay, depressed). Brief sepaations, particulary where the child is with a substitute caregiver who can provide emotional care, are not significant for development but extended separations can lead to deprivation, which by definition causes harm.

Question 68

Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation: (critical period)

Answer 68

bowlby saw the first 2 and a half years of life as a critical period for psychological development. If a child is separated from their mother in the absence of suitable substitute care and so deprived of her emotional care for an extended duration during this critical period then (Bowlby believed) psychological damage was inevitable. He also believed there was a continuing risk up to the age of 5.

Question 69

Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation: (effects on development)

Answer 69

Intellectual development:
One way in which maternal deprivation affects children’s development is their intellectual development. Bowlby believed that if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period they would experience delayed intellectual development, characterised by abnormally low IQ. Thi has been demonstrated in studies of adoption. Fo example, Goldfarb (1947) found lower IQ in children who had remained in institutions as opposed to those who were fostered and thus had a higher standard of emotional care.

Emotional development:
A second major way in which being deprived of a mother figure’s emotional care affects children is in their emotional development. Bowlby identified affectionless psychopathy as the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion towards others. This prevents a person developing fulfilling relationships and is associated with criminality. Affectionless psychopathscannot appreciate the feelings of victims and so lack remorse for their actions.

Question 69

Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation: (Evaluation: Flawed evidence)

Answer 69

One limitation of the theory of maternal deprivation is the poor quality of the evidence it is based on.
Bowlby’s 44 thieves study is flawed because it was Bowlby himself who carried out both the family interviews and the assessments for affectionless psychopathy. This left him open to bias because he knew in advance which teenagers he expected to show signs of psychopathy. Other sources of evidence were equally flawed. For example, Bowlby was also influenced by the findings of Goldfarb’s study had experienced early trauma and institutional care as well as prolonged separation from their primary caregivers.
This means that Bowlby’s original sources of evidence for maternal deprivation had serius flaws and would not e taken seriously as evidence nowadays.

Question 70

Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation: (Evaluation: Counterpoint for Flawed evidence)

Answer 70

A new line of research has provided some modest support for the idea that maternal deprivation can have long-term effects. Levy et al. (2003) showed that separating baby rats from their mother for as little as a day had a permanent effect on their social development throughtnot oter aspects of development.
This means that, although Bowlb relied on flawed evidence to support the theory of maternal deprivation, there are other sources of evidence for his ideas.

Question 71

Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation: (Evaluation: Critical versus sensitive periods)

Answer 71

A further limitation of the theory is bowlby’s idea of a critical period.
For bowlby, damage was inevitable if a child had not formed an attachment in the first 2 and a half years of life. Hence this is a critical period. However, there is evidence to suggest that in many cases good quality aftercare can prevent most or all of this damage. For example, Koluchova (1976) reported the case of the Czech Twins. The twins experienced very severe physical and emotional abuse from the age of 18 months up until they were 7 years old. Although they were severely damaged emotionally by their experience they recieved excellent care and by their teens they had recovered fully.
This means that lasting harm is not inevitable even in cases of severe privation. The ‘critical period’ is therefore better seen as a ‘sensitive period’.

Question 71

Romanian orphan studies-Institutionalisation : Define orphan studies

Answer 71

These concern children placed in care because theirparents cannot look after them. An orphan is a child whose parents either died or have abandoned them permanently.

Question 72

Romanian orphan studies-Institutionalisation : Rutter et al.’s research

Answer 72

Rutter and clleagues (2011) have followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans for many years as part of the English and Romanian adoptee (ERA) study. The orphan s had been adopted by failies in the UK. The aim of the ERA has been to investigate the extent to which good care could make up for poorl early experiences in institutions. Physical, cognitive and emotional development has been assessed at ages 4, 6, 11, 15 and 22-25 years . A group of 52 children from the UK adopted around the same time have served as a control group.

Findings:
When the children first arrived in the UK, half the adoptees sowed signs of delayed intelectual development and the majority were severely undernourished. At age 11 the adopted children showed differential rates of recovery that were related to their age of adoption. The mean IQ of those children adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared with 86 for those adopted between 6 months and 2 years and 77 for those adopted after 2 years. These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al. 2016).

In terms of attachment, there appeared to be a difference in outcome related to whether adoption took place before and after six months. Those children adopted after they were six months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment. Symptoms include attention-seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
In contrast those children adopted before the age of 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.

Question 72

Romanian orphan studies-Institutionalisation : Define Institutionalisation

Answer 72

A terms for the effects of living in an institutional setting. The term ‘institution’ refers to a place like a hspital or an orphanage where people live for long, continuous periods of time. In such places there is often very little emotional care provided.

Question 73

Romanian orphan studies-Institutionalisation : Effects of institutionalisation (Disinhibited attachment)

Answer 73

Children who have spent their early lives in an institution often showsigns of disinhibited attachment, being equally friendly and affectionate towards familiar people and strangers. This is highly ususual behaviour- remember that most children in their second year show stanger anxiety.
Rutter (2006) has explained disinhibited attachment as an adaptation to living with multple caregiversduring the sensitive period for attachment formation. In poor quality institutions, like those in Romania, a child might have 50 carers but doesn’t spend enouh time with anyone of them to be able to form a secure attachment.

Question 74

Romanian orphan studies-Institutionalisation : (Evaluation: Fewer confounding variables)

Answer 74

One strength of the Romanian studies is the lack of confounding variables.
There were many orphan studies before the Romanian orphans became available to study (e.g. orphans studied during the Second World War). Many of the children studied in orphanages had experienced varying degrees of trauma, and it is difficult to disentangle the effects of neglect, physical abuse and bereavement from those of institutional care . However the children from Romanian orphanages had, in the main, have been handed over by loving parents who could not afford to keep them.
This means that results were much less likely to be confounded by other negative early experiences (higher internal validity).

Question 74

Romanian orphan studies-Institutionalisation : effects of institutinalisation (Intellectual disability)

Answer 74

In Rutter’s study most children showed signs of intellectual dsability when they arrived in Britain. However, most of those adopted before they were 6 months old caught up with the control group by age 4.
It appears tha, like emotional development, damage to intellectual development as a result of institutionalisation can be recovered provided adoption takes place before the age of 6 months- the age at which attachments form.

Question 75

Romanian orphan studies-Institutionalisation : (Evaluation: Counterpoint for Fewer confounding variables)

Answer 75

On the other hand, studying children from Romanian orphanages might have intoduced different confounding variables. The quality o care in these institutions was remarkably poor, with children receiving very little intellectual stimultion or comfort).
This means that the harmful effects seen in studies of Romanian orphans may represent the effects of poor institutuional care rather than institutional care per se.

Question 75

Romanian orphan studies-Institutionalisation : (Evaluation: Lack of adult data)

Answer 75

One limitation of the Romanian orphanage studiesis the current lack of data on adult development.
The lastest data from the ERA Study looked at the children in their early- to mid- 20s. This means that we do not currently have data to answer some of the most interesting research questions about the long-term effects of early institutional care. These research questions include the lifetime prevalence of mental health problems and participants’ success in forming and maintaining adult romantic and parental relationships. It will take a long time to gather this data because of the longitudinal esign of the study, i.e. the same participants are followed over a long period.
This means it will be some time before we know more completely what the long-term effects are for the Romanian orphans. It is possible that late-adopted children may ‘catch up’.

Question 76

Influence of early attachment on later relationships: Define Childhood relationships

Answer 76

Affiliations with other people in childhood, including friends and classmates, and with adlts such as teachers.

Question 77

Influence of early attachment on later relationships: Define Adult relationships

Answer 77

Those relationships the child goes on to have later in life as an adult. These include friendships and working relationships but most critically relationships with romantic partners and the person’s own children.

Question 78

Influence of early attachment on later relationships: Define Internal Working Model

Answer 78

Our mental representations of the world e.g. the representation we have of our relationship to our primary attachment figure. This model affects our future relationships because it carries our perception of what relationships are like.

Question 79

Influence of early attachment on later relationships: (Internal Working Model)

Answer 79

Bowlby (1969) suggested that a baby’s first relationship with their primary attachment figure leads o a mental representation of this relationship. This internal working model acts as a template for future hilhood and adult relationships.
The quality of a baby’s first attachment is crucial because this template will powerfully affect the nature of their future relationships. A baby whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable attachmnt figure will tend to assume this is how relationships are meant to be. They will then seek out functional relationships and behave functionally within them, i.e. without being too uninvolved or emotionally close. (which would typify insecure-avoidant attachment) or being controlling and argumentative (insecure-resistant attachment).

A child with bad experiences of their first attachment will bring these bad experiences to bear on later relationships . This may mean they struggle to form relationships in the first place or they may not behave appropriately within relationships, displaying insecure-avoidant or insecure-resistant behaviour towards friends and partners.

Question 79

Influence of early attachment on later relationships: (Relationships in childhood)

Answer 79

Attachment type is associated with the quality of peer relationships in childhood. Securely attached babies tend to go on to form the best childhood frienships whereas insecurely attached babies later have frienship difficulties (Kerns 1994).

In partcular, bullyng behaviour can be predicted by attachment type. Wilson and Smith (1998) assessed attachment type and byullying involvement using standard questionnaires in 196 children aged 7-11 from London. Secure children were very unlikely to be involved in bullying. Insecure-avoidant children were most likely to be victims and insecure-resistant children were most likely to be bullies.

Question 80

Influence of early attachment on later relationships: (Relationships in adulthood-Internal working model)

Answer 80

Internal woring model also affect the child’s ability to parent their own children. People tend to base their parenting style on their interval working model so attachment type tends to be passed on through geneations of a family.

Question 80

Influence of early attachment on later relationships: (Relationships in adulthood- The love quiz)

Answer 80

Hazan and Shaver (1987) conducted a study of the association between attachment and adult relationships.

Procedure:
They analysed 620 replies to a ‘love quiz’ printed in an American local nwspaper. The quiz had 3 sections. The first assessed respondents’ current or most important relationship. The second part assessed general love experiences such as number of partners. The third section assessed attachment type by asking respondents to choose which of these 3 statements best described their feelings.

Findings and conclusion:
56% of respondents were identified as securely attached, with 25% insecure-avoidant and 19% insecure-resistant. Those reporting secure attachments were the most likely to have good and longer-lasting rontic experiences. The avoidant respondents tended to reveal jealousy and fear of intimacy. These findings suggest that patterns of attachment behaviour are reflected in romantic relationships.

Question 81

Influence of early attachment on later relationships: (Evaluation: Research support)

Answer 81

Reviews of such evidence (Fearon and Roisman 2017) have concluded that early attachment consistently predicts later attachment, emotional well-being and attachment to own children. How strong the relationship is between early attachment type andlater development depends both on the attachment seems to convey fairly mild disadvantages for any aspect of development, disorganised attachment is strongly associated with later mental disorder.
This means that secure attachment as a baby appears to convey advantages for future development while disorganised attachment appears to seriously disadvantage children.

Question 82

Influence of early attachment on later relationships: (Evaluation: Counterpoint for Rsearch support)

Answer 82

Not all evidence supports the existence of close links between early attachment an later development. For example, the Regensburg longitudinal study (Becker-Stoll et al. 2008) followed 43 individuals from one year of age. At age 16 attachment was assessed using the adult attachment interview and there was no evidence of continuity.
This means that it is not clear to what extent the quality of early attachment really predicts later development. There may be other important factors.

Question 82

Influence of early attachment on later relationships: (Evaluation: Confounding variables)

Answer 82

A limitation is the existence of confounding variables.
Some studies do assess atachment in infancy (e.g McCarthy) which means that the assessment of early attachment is valid. However, even these studies may have validity problems because associations between attachment quality and later development may be affected by confoundin variables. For example parenting style may influence both attachment quality and later development. Alternatively genetically-influenced personality may be an influence on both factors.
Thi means that we can never be entirely sure that it is earl attachment and notsome other factor that is influencing later development.