Attachment Flashcards
What is infancy?
The period of a child’s life before speech begins
Define reciprocity
- Responding to the action with another similar action, where the action of one partner elicit a response from the other partner
- the regularity of an infants signals allows a caregiver to anticipate the infants behaviour and respond appropriately
What is an attachment?
-An emotional bond between two people
A
- two way be that endures over time
-serves the function of protecting the infant
- leads to certain behaviours such as proximity seeking
What is interactional synchrony?
- mirroring that occurs during the interaction between infant and caregiver in terms of facial and body movements
Who studied interactional synchrony?
Meltzoff and Moore (1977)
How did Meltzoff and Moore study interactional synchrony?
1) adult model displayed 1 of 3 facial expressions or hand movements
2) a dummy was placed in the infants mouth to prevent any response
3) following the display the dummy was removed and the child’s expression was filmed on a video
What were Meltzoff and Moore able to conclude?
Young infants were displaying this behaviour showed that those behavioural responses must be innate
Evaluation: what are some problems with testing infant behaviour?
- infants mouths are in constant motion
- the expressions that were tested occur frequently
- difficult to distinguish between general activity and specific behaviours
•problems with internal reliability
How did Meltzoff and Moore overcome problems with testing infant behaviour?
They measured infants responses by filming infants and then asking an observer to judge the infants behaviour from the video.
The person judging the behaviour had no Idea what behaviour was being imitated.
This increases the validity of the data
Evaluation: failure to replicate
- other studies have failed to replicate the study
- Koepke failed to replicate the study but Meltzoff and Moore counter argued as it was less carefully controlled
- Marian found that infants couldn’t distinguish between videotaped interactions with their mother (not actually responding to the adult)
- problems with lie within the procedure not he infants ability to imitate their caregivers
Evaluation: the value of the research
- imitative behaviour forms the basis for social development
- Meltzoff developed a ‘like me hypothesis’ based on research on interactional synchrony:
1) connection between what the infant sees and their imitation
2) infants association of their own actions and their own underlying mental states
3) infants project their own internal experiences onto others
4) acquire an understanding of what other people are thinking and feeling, fundamental for conducting social relationships - explains how others think and feel
Define multiple attachment
Having more than one attachment figure e.g. Siblings, grandparents etc
Define primary attachment figure
Person who has formed the closest bond with the child (usually the child’s mother)
What is separation anxiety?
Distress shown by an infant when separated from their caregiver
What is stranger anxiety?
The distress shown by an infant when approached or picked up by someone who is unfamiliar
What are the stages of attachment?
Stage 1: indiscriminate attachments
Stage 2: the beginnings of attachment
Stage 3: discriminate attachment
Stage 4: multiple attachment
Outline Schaffer and Emerson’s study on the development of attachments
- sixty infants from working class families in Glasgow were studied
- initial ages from 5-23 weeks of age studied until the age of 1 year
- visited every 4 weeks
- at each visit each mother reported reported their infants to separation in seven everyday situations
- mother asked to describe the intensity of protests
- 4 point scale
Evaluation: Schaffer and Emerson’s study (based on unreliable data)
- based on mothers report of their infants behaviour -> social desirability bias
- some mothers may have been less sensitive to their infants protests therefore less likely to report them
- creating systematic bias which challenges the validity of the data
Evaluation: Schaffer and Emerson’s study (biased sample)
- working class population-> finding may apply so some social groups but not others
- sample was fro the 1960s -> parental care haschanged (more women go out to work and fathers stay at home)
- number of fathers staying at home has quadrupled over past 25 years
- if a similar study was conducted today the findings would be very different
•low historical validity
Evaluation: Schaffer and Emerson’s study (cultural variations)
- two different types of culture ( individualist and collectivist)
- Individualist-> Britain and USA needs of the individual focused upon
- collectivist-> people focus on the needs of the group
- sagi compared attachments in infants raised in communal environments with infants raised in fairy based sleeping arrangements
- closeness of attachments in family based arrangements twice as common than in communal environments
•stage model focuses primarily on individualist cultures
Define imprinting
An innate readinesses to develop a strong bond with the mother (takes place during a specific time of development)
Describe the procedure Lorenz carried out to investigate attachment
1) clutch of goslings divided into two groups
2) one group left with natural mother and the other eggs placed in an incubator; when hatched the first thing they saw was Lorenz
3) Lorenz marked the two groups and placed them together with their natural mother
Describe the findings of Lorenz’ study of attachment
- goslings divided themselves up into groups one following their natural Mother and the other following Lorenz
- imprinting restricted to a very definite period of the young animals life (critical period)
- process that binds a young animal to a caregiver in a social relationship
What are some of the long lasting effects that Lorenz discovered?
- imprinting is irreversible and long lasting
- early imprinting had an effect on later mate preferences
- animals will usually choose to mate with the same kind if object of which they were imprinted on
Describe the procedure Harlow carried out to investigate attachment
1) two wore monkeys were created, each with a different head
2) 8 rhesus monkeys studied for 165 days
3) 4 monkeys fed but cloth covered mother, other 4 fed by plain wire mother
4) amount of time the monkeys spent with each mother was measured
5) observations made when monkeys frightened by mechanical Teddy bear
Harlow’s findings
- all 8 monkeys spent most of their time with the cloth covered mother
- when frightened the monkeys clung to the cloth covered mother
- when playing with new objects the monkeys kept one food on the cloth covered monkey for reassurance
What did Harlow conclude from his findings?
Infants do not always develop attachments to the person who feeds them but to the person offering contact comfort
What long lasting effects did Harlow discover?
- the motherless monkeys developed abnormally
- socially abnormal (froze or fledwhen near other monkeys)
- sexually abnormal ( did not show normal mating behaviour or cuddle their young)
What did Harlow conclude was the critical period for these effects?
- If the motherless monkeys spent time with the own species the seemed to recover but only if this happened before they were 3 months old.
- more than 6 months with a wire mother was something they were not able to recover from
Evaluation: animal studies of attachment (support for imprinting)
- number of studies with similar findings about imprinting
- (guiton 1966) -> leghorn chicks who were fed by yellow rubber gloves became imprinted on the gloves
- supports the idea that young animals are not born with a predisposition to imprint on a specific object (anything present during a critical window of development )
- Guiton found that male chickens tried to mate with the gloves-> early imprinting is linked to later reproductive behaviour
Evaluation: Harlow’s research (extraneous variable)
- two wire mothers not only differed in terms of cloth or bare wire but they also had two different heads
- extraneous variable that varied systematically with the IV
- monkeys preference for one mother could be because it had a more attractive head
- study lacks internal validity
Evaluation: animal studies of attachment (generalising animal studies to human behaviour)
- humans and animals differ in important ways
- more of their behaviour determined by conscious decisions
- many studies show that observation s of animal attachment behaviour are very similar to humans
- Harlow’s research is supported by Schaffer and Emerson
- animal studies can offer important insights in attachment behaviour but should be used with caution
Evaluation: animal studies of attachment (ethic of Harlow’s study)
- study could not be done with humans
- long lasting emotional harm
- monkeys abnormal social/sexual development
- justified in terms of significant benefit to our understanding of attachment behaviours
- argued that the benefits outweigh the costs
What is classical conditioning?
Learning through association. A neutral stimulus is consistently paired with an unconditioned stimulus. It eventually takes on the properties of this stimulus and it is able to produce a conditioned response
What is operant conditioning?
Learning through reinforcement (positive and negative)
What is learning theory?
The name given to a group of explanations (classical and operant conditioning) which explain behaviour in terms of learning rather than innate tendencies
Explain the learning theory
- leading theory proposes that all behaviour is learned rather than inborn
- children are born as blank slates and everything they become can be explained in terms of experiences they have
- put forward by behaviourists who suggest that all behaviour is learned through classical and operant conditioning
Who first investigated classical conditioning?
Ivan Pavlov
Describe classical conditioning
- US is food which produces an UCR of pleasure
- certain things become associated with food e.g the infants mother (neutral stimuli)
- NS is regularly associated with UCS it takes on the properties of the UCS to produce the same response (pleasure)
How do attachment form through the Process of classical conditioning
An attachment forms when the infant seeks the person (neutral stimulus) who is associated with the CR of pleasure
Who first investigated operant conditioning?
B.F Skinner
Describe operant conditioning
- when an animal is uncomfortable a drive is created to reduce the discomfort
- e.g a hungry infant wanting to eat
- when the infant is fed the drive is reduced and this produces a feeling of pleasure which is rewarding
- the Behaviour that led to being fed is likely to be repeated as it is rewarding
- food is a primary reinforcer because if supplies the reward
How does an attachment form through the process of operant conditioning?
- The person who supplies the food becomes a secondary reinforcer
- they help to avoid the discomfort
- child begins to seek the person who can supply the reward
What is social learning theory?
- development of learning theory
- Albert Bandura
- Dale Hay and Jo Vespa proposed that children observe their parents affectionate behaviour and imitate this
- parents also deliberately instruct their children about how to behave in relationships and reward appropriate attachment behaviours
Evaluation: learning theory (based on research with animals)
- based on research with non human animals e.g Lorenz and Harlow
- behaviourists believe that are behaviour is no different from animals (how they learn)
- stimulus and response
- complex behaviours like attachment may not be able to be explained by conditioning
- non-behaviourist argue that attachment involve innate predispositions
- behaviourist explanations may provide an oversimplified version of human behaviour
Evaluation: Learning theory (contact comfort more important than food)
- learning theory suggests that food forms the basis for attachment
- strong evidence that it doesn’t
- Harlow + Schaffer and Emerson
- although Harlow’s research is with animals it is supported by Schaffer and Emerson
Evaluation: learning theory (has some explanatory power)
- may not provide a complete explanation but has some value
- infants do learn through association and reinforcement
- food may not be the main reinforcer
- attention and responsiveness from caregiver
- that could be what infants inmate therefore how they learn to conduct relationships
Evaluation: learning theory (alternative explanation-> bowlbys theory)
- Bowlbys theory has many advantages over learning theory
- can explain why attachments form
- learning theory only explains how
- explains the advantages of attachment
- protection from harm
Define continuity hypothesis
The idea that emotionally secure infants go on to be emotionally secure, trusting and socially confident adults
Define critical period
A biologically determined period of time during which certain characteristics can develop. Outside this window such development is highly unlikely
What is monotropy:
The idea that one relationship the infant has with his/her primary caregiver is of specialty significance in emotional development
What is a social releaser
A social behaviour or characteristic that elicits caregiving and leads to attachment
What is the evolutionary perspective?
- based on Darwins theory of evolution:
- genetically determined behaviour enhances an individuals survival (reproduction)
- strong attachment and the consequence of such attachment are adaptive
What is Bowlbys theory on how attachments form?
1) babies have an innate drive to become attached and this occurs during a critical period
2) social releases are importing in ensuring that attachments develop
3) Bowlby proposed that infant have one special bond- primary attachment relationship-(monotropy)
What are the consequences of attachment?
- monotropy helps the infant to form a mental representation of this relationship
•internal working model
-short term: enables child to anticipate and influence caregivers behaviour
-Long term: template for all future relationships
•continuity hypothesis
Evaluation: Bowlby’s theory (is attachment adaptive)
- important for emotional development but less for survival
- bowlby-> attachment develop when infant older than 3 months
- late mechanism to protect infants
- vital for distant ancestors to become attached as soon as possible
How did Bowlby counter argue the view that attachment is not adaptive
-Young moneys cling to their mothers fur
-age of attachment linked to features of a species life
- human infants don’t need to cling on they can be carried by their mother
- when humans start crawling, around 6 months, this is when attachments develop
•supporting the view that attachment is adaptive
Evaluation: Bowlbys theory (sensitive rather than critical period)
- psychologists study children who fail to form attachments between 3 and 6 months
- according to Bowlby it is not possible to form attachments beyond this time
- Rutters evidence -> less likely not impossible
- term sensitive period more appropriate
- developmental window when children are maximally receptive to the formation of certain behavioural characteristics but development can still take place outside this window
Evaluation: Bowlby’s theory (continuity hypothesis)
- according to Bowlby one outcome of attachment is the effect it has on future relationships
- supported by Minnesota parent child study (followed participants from infancy to late adolescence and found continuity between early attachments and later emotional behaviour)
- supports continuity hypothesis
Strange situation procedure:
- research room-> novel environment, 9x9 foot space often marked off into 16 squares
- 8 episodes designed to highlight behaviours
- separation anxiety, reunion behaviour, stranger anxiety and safe base concept
How is data collected in the strange situation?
- collected by a group of observers using a video recorder
Or one way mirror - time sampling (record behaviour ever 15 seconds)
1) proximity/contact seeking behaviours
2) contact maintaining behaviours
3)proximity and interaction avoiding behaviours
4) contact and interaction resisting behaviours
5)search behaviours
•each item is scored for intensity on a scale of 1 to 7
Findings of the strange situation
- Ainsworth combined the data from several studies to make a total of 106 middle class infants observed in the strange situations
•similarities: exploratory behaviours declined in all infants from episode 2 onwards; crying increased
•differences: 3 main patterns of behaviour
Characteristics of secure attachment (type B)
- harmonious and cooperative interactions with their caregivers
- not likely to cry if caregiver leaves the room, shows distress when left with a stranger
- when feeling anxious they seek close contact and are easily soothed
-reluctant to leave caregivers side permanently - seek/comfortable with interaction and intimacy
•uses a caregiver as a safe base from which to explore
Characteristics of insecure avoidant (type A)
•avoid social interaction and intimacy
- show little response to separation
- do not seek the proximity of their caregiver on reunion
- if picked up, shows little tendency to cling nor do they resist being put down
- high levels of anxiousness
Characteristics of insecure resistant (type C)
•both seeks and resists infancy and social interaction
- respond to separation-> immediate and intense distress
- behave similarly toward strangers
- on reunion children display conflicting desires for and against contact
- may angrily resist contact while trying other means to maintain proximity
Evaluation: strange situation (observations have high reliability)
- reliability is important
- measurements are confirmed as meaningful amongst observers (inter observer reliability)
- comparing ratings between a panel of experienced judges
- 94% agreement -> reliable
Evaluation: strange situation (real word application)
- disordered patterns of attachment develop between infant and caregiver
- circle of security project (cooper 2005)
- teaches caregivers to better understand their infants signals
- decrease in caregivers classified as disordered / increase in infants classed as securely attached
•used to improve children’s lives
Evaluation: strange situation (low internal validity)
- strange situation aims to measure attachment type
- could be measuring the quality of a particular relationship
- main and Weston-> children behave differently depending on which parent they are with
- classification may not be valid
- Bowlby -> monotropy (attachment type largely related to one special relationship)
Define cultural variations:
They ways that different groups of people vary in terms of social practices and the effects these practices have on development and behaviour
What are the two types of culture?
Individualist
Collectivist
Van Izendoorn and Kroonenberg’s procedure
- conducted a meta analysis of the findings from 32 studies of attachment behaviour
- altogether examined over 2000 strange situations in 8 different countries
- looked for evidence of intercultural/ intracultural differences
Van Izendoorn and Kroonenberg’s findings
- small variations between cultures (intercultural differences)
- secure attachment most common in most countries
- next is insecure avoidant then insecure resistant
- differences with cultures are 1.5 times greater than between
•Secure attachment is the norm-> supports the idea that it is best for healthy social and emotional development
•supports the view that attachment is an innate biological process
Support for Cultural similarities
other studies support Van Izendoorn and Kroonenbergs main findings
- Tronic studied an African tribe who live in extended family groups
- infants looked after and even breastfed by different women but ussually slept with their own mother at night
•despite differences in childrearing practices the infants, at 6 months had one primary attachment
Support for cultural differences (German infants) Grossman and Grossman
Grossman and Grossman found that German infants tend to be classified as insecurely attached
- german culture involves keeping interpersonal difference between parents and infants and they value independence
Support for cultural differences: (Japanese infants) Takahashi
Takahasi used the strange situation to study 60 middle class Japanese infants and their mothers
- found similar rates of secure attachment as ainsworth
- no insecure avoidant attachment
- high rates of insecure resistant attachment
- Infants particularly distressed when left alone and their response was so extreme that for 90% of infants the study was stopped
•cultural variation accounted for in terms of different childcare practices
Conclusions of studies on cultural variations
- strongest attachment formed with the mother
- differences in attachment pattern may be due to differences cultural attitudes and practices
Evaluation: cultural variations (similarities may not be innately determined)
- according to Bowlbys theory the reason for universal similarities In the formation of attachment is because it is an innate mechanism therefore unmodified by culture
- van Izendoorn and Kroonenberg-> cultural similarities may be explained by mass media (TV and books) which spread ideas about parenting
- may not be due to innate biological influences but to global culture
Evaluation: cultural variations (cross cultural research)
- a particular issue of cross cultural research are the tools that are used
- strange situation for example is related to cultural assumptions of the technique designer
- in the case of the strange situation the Willingness to explore is a sign of secure attachment
- in Japanese culture dependence rather than I dependence is a sign of secure attachment
•result of using an imposed Etic-> some children may appear to be insecurely attached according to western criteria -> lack of validity
Evaluation: cultural variations (indigenous theories of attachment)
- Rothbaum->due to cultural variations research psychologists should be able to produce a set of indigenous theories
- set of universal principals e.g need for protection
- posada and Jacobs-> lot of evidence to support universality of attachment from many different countries e.g China, Columbia and Germany
- prior and Glaser-> expression of maternal sensitivity may vary but core concepts are universal
Evaluation: cultural variations (culture bias)
- Rothbaum-> isn’t just method but also theory used in attachment research that are not relevant
- Rothbaum looks at particular contrast between American and Japanese culture
- e.g continuity hypothesis does not have the same meaning in both cultures
- securely attached->emotionally secure/competent
- competence defined in terms of individuation
- Japan is the opposite, competence represented by inhibition of emotional expression and being group orientated rather than self orientated
Define deprivation
The loss of emotional care that is normally provided by a primary caregiver
Briefly describe Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation
Prolonged emotional deprivation would have long term consequences in terms of emotional development
The value of maternal care
- if children were separated from their caregivers then all that that was necessary is:
- it was assumed that a good standard of food and physical care was the key importance of good car
- Bowlby proposed that children need a warm intimate and continuous relationship with a mother/mother substitute to ensure continuing normal mental health
- he compared the importance of mother love to the importance of ‘vitamins and proteins’ to physical health’
Maternal care: critical period
- Bowlbys believed that a young child who is denied such care because of frequent/prolonged separation may become emotionally disturbed
- only applies to a critical period in development-> separation will only have this effect if this happens between the age of 2 and a half years
- and if there is no mother substitute available
- continuing risk up to the age of 5 years
•if suitable substitute emotional care provided
Separation may not necessarily result in deprivation, deprIvation has the potential to cause long term harm
What are long term consequences of maternal deprivation
Long term consequence of deprivation is emotional maladjustment or even mental health problems such as depression
Bowlby’s 44 juvenile thieves: procedure
- Bowlby analyses the case histories of a number of his patients in the child guidance clinic in London
- all the children attending the clinic were emotionally maladjusted
- studied 88 children have caught stealing (44 theives) other half were a control group
- Bowlbys suggested some of the theives were affection-less psychopaths (lacked Normal signs of affection shame or sense of responsibility
- had characteristics that enabled them to be thieves
Bowlby’s 44 juvenile thrives: findings
- those individuals diagnosed as affection-less thieves had experienced frequent early separation from their mothers
What percentage of the affection less thieves had experiences frequent separations?
What percentage of the other thieves?
Percentage of control participants?
Percentage of all thieves?
86% affection-less thieves
17% of other thieves
0% control participants
39% all thieves
What did the findings of Bowlby’s 44 thieves suggest?
Early separations are linked to affection less psychopathy.
A lack of continuous care may cause emotional maladjustment or even mental disorder
Evaluation: maternal deprivation (support for long term effects)
- Continuity hypothesis
- early maternal deprivation does not always result in negative outcomes, increased likelihood
- e.g Antonia Bifulco study of some women who had experienced maternal deprivation (either maternal death or temporary deprivation for more than a year)
- 25% later experienced depression or an anxiety disorder compared with 15% with no separation
- mental health problems were much greater in women whose loss occurred before the age of 6 supporting Bowlby’s notion of a critical period
Evaluation: Maternal deprivation (real-world) application
- Bowlby’s study and theory had an enormous impact on post war thinking about child rearing and also how children were looked after in hospitals
- before Bowlby’s research children were separated from parents when they spent time in hospital
- visiting discouraged or even forbidden
Laura
- James Robertson filmed a two year old girl called Laura during the eight day period she was in hospital
- she was frequently distressed and begs to go home
•study led to a major social change in the way that children are cared for in hospital
Evaluation: deprivation versus privation
Rutter in his book (maternal deprivation reassess) criticised Bowlby’s view of deprivation
- not clear whether the child’s,attachment bond had formed but been broken or never formed in the first place
- rutter though that lack was more serious than loss
- suggested the term privation to refer to situations where bond does develop
Deprivation-> but through prolonged traumatic separations is disrupted or lost
Evaluation: Maternal deprivation (Individual differences)
Research has shown that not all children are effected by emotional disruption in the same way
- Barret reviewed studies on separation
- securely attached-> cope reasonably well
- insecurely attached-> especially distressed
- support from Bowlby’s other study involving 60 children under the age of 4 who had tuberculosis and has a prolonged stay in hospital
- concluded those who coped better may have been more securely attached thus more resilient
Effects of institutionalisation (Romanian Orphan studies)- Rutter and Sonia-Barke: procedure
- Rutter and Barke have led the study of a group of Romanian Orphans since the early 1990’s called ERA (English and Romanian adoptees
- the study includes 165 Romanian children who spent their early lives in Romanian i situations thus suffered from the effects of institutionalisation
- of this group 111 were adopted before the age of two years and a further 54 by the age of 4
- adoptees tested at regular intervals (ages 4
,6,11 and 15 to asses their physical, cognitive and social development
Information has also been gathered in interviews with parents and teachers. - their progress has been compared to a control group of 52 British children adopted in the U.K. before the age of 6 months
Effects of institutionalisation (Romanian orphan studies) Ritter and Barke: Findings
- at the time of adoption the Romanian orphans lagged behind their British counterparts on all measures of physical, cogntitive and social development
- they were smaller, weighed less and classified s mentally retarded
- by the age of 4 some of the children had caught up with their British counterparts
- this is true for almost all of the Romanian children adopted before the age of 6 months
- subsequent follow ups have confirmed that significant deficits remain in a substantial minority of individuals who had experienced institution care to the age of 6 months
- many of those orphans adopted before the age of 6 months showed disinhibited attachments and had problems with peer relationships
- this suggests that long term consequences may be less severe than was once thought of children had the opportunity to form attachments
- however when children do not form attachments then the consequences are likely to be severe
Effects of institutionalisation (Other studies of Romanian orphans) let Mare and Audet
- reported the findings from a longitudinal study of 36 Romanian orphans adopted to families in Canada
- the dependent variables have been physical growth and health
- adopted orphans physically smaller than a matched control group at age 4 and a half years but the difference had disappeared by the age of 10 and a half years
•suggests that recovery is possible from the effects of institutionalisation
Effects of institutionalisation: psychical underdevelopment
•Children in institutional care are usually physically small; research has shown (e.g Gardner 1972) that lack of emotional care rather than poor nourishment is the cause of what is being called deprivation dwarfism
Effects of institutionalisation: intellectual under-functioning
•cognitive development is also affected by emotional deprivation
-Skodak & Skeels
Effects of institutionalisation: disinhibited attachment
•a form of insecure attachment where children do not discriminate between people they choose as attachment figures
- such children will treat near strangers with inappropriate familiarity
(Over-friendliness) and may be attention seeking
Effects of institutionalisation: poor parenting
•Harlow showed that monkeys raised with a surrogate mother went on to become poor parents
- Quinton compared a group of 50 women who had been reared in institutions with a control group of 50 women reared at home
- when the women were in their 20’s it was found that the ex institutional women were extreme difficulties as parents
What evidence is there that ex institutionalised women experienced more difficulty as parents?
More of them had children who had spent time in care
Evaluation: effects of institutionalisation (individual differences)
- Some research suggests that individuals who do not form a primary attachment within that sensitive period are unable to recover
- this is not true of all children who experience institutionalisation
- in all studies some children are not as strongly affected as others
- Rutter suggested that it might be that some of the children did receive special attention in the institution perhaps because they smiled more-> some early attachment experiences
- supported by Bowlbys study with children with TB
Evaluation : Effects of institutionalisation (real-life application)
- outcome of the research into institutionalisation is to apply our understanding to improving the lives of children placed in such care
- the early research by Bowlby and Robertson on the effects of hospital care changed the way that children were looked after so that more focus was given to children that were hospitalised
- research with Romanian orphans show the import ace of early adoption
- past-> mothers nursed babies for a significant period of time, when baby adopted the sensitive period for adoption may have passed making it difficult to form secure attachments
- today-> most babies are adopted within the first week of birth and research shows that adoptive mothers and children are just as securely attached as non adoptive families
Evaluation: Effects of institutionalisation (deprivation is only one factor)
- The Romanian orphans were faced with much more than emotional deprivation
- the psychical conditions were appalling which impacted their health
- more likely that damage occurs when there are multiple risk factors
- also the case that for many institutionalised children poor care in infancy followed by poor subsequent care e.g. Difficulty living in poverty, experiencing parental disharmony etc
Evaluation: Effects of institutionalisation (Institutionalisation may be slow development)
- one of the findings from the Romanian study was that at the last assessment at the age of 11, a lower number of children had disinhibited attachment
- it may be that the effects of institutionalisation do disappear over time if children have good quality emotional care
- it may be that ex institutional children need more time than normal to mature sufficiently and learn how to cope with relationships
- a criticism the research implies that the effects might be reversible but this might not be true
- supported by le Mare and Audet-> psychical underdevelopment had improved by age 11 thus suggesting that development does continue in these children so they simply may not have reached their full potential in the studies so far
Define ‘internal working model’ with regards to the influence of early attachment
- The internal working model is how is how an infant learns about a relationship from experience
- the infant learns what relationships are and how partners in a relationship behave toward each other
- it’s operable because it is used to predict the behaviour of other people in the future
The influence of early attachment: (Hazan and Shaver) procedure
- Hazan and Shaver placed a ‘Love Quiz’ in the Rocky Mountain news
-The quiz asked questions ab ur current childhood attachment types - the questionnaire also asked questions about attitudes toward love, an assessment of the internal working model
•analysed 620 responses, 205 from men, 415 from women from a far crooks section of the population
The influence of early attachment: (Hazan and Shaver) Findings
- when Analysing self report of attachment history they found similar attachment styles to that found infancy
- positive correlation between attachment type and love experiences
- found a relationship between then concept of love (IWM) and attachment type securely attached infants tend to have a positive internal working model
Hazard & Shaver: findings
•percentage of people securely attached
•percentage of people insecure avoidant
•percentage of people insecure resistant
Briefly describe their likely relationship types
- 56% secure- these relationships are more enduring (10 years on average)
- 25% insecure avoidant- (6 years on average )
- 19% insecure resistant (6 years on average)
Behaviours influenced by the internal working model: childhood friendships
•the Minnesota parent child study found continuity between early attachment and later emotional/social behaviour
- individuals classified as securely attached in infancy were highest rated for social competence later in childhood, were less isolated, more popular and empathetic
- can be explained in terms of the internal working model because securely attached infants have higher expectations that others are friendly and trusting and this would enable easier relationships with others
Behaviours influenced by the internal working model: poor parenting
•Harlow’s research with monkeys also demonstrated a link between poor attachment and later difficulties with parenting
- Quinton showed the same is true in humans
- the lack of internal working model means individuals lack a reference point to subsequently form relationships with their own children
Behaviours influenced by the internal working model: romantic relationships
•the study by Hazan and Shaver demonstrated a link between early attachment type and later relationships
- individuals who were securely attached had longer lasting romantic relationships
Evaluation: the influence of early attachment (retrospective classification)
• most studies e.g Hazan and Shaver rely on retrospective classification
- asking adults questions about their early lives in order to assess infant attachment
- such recollections are likely to be flawed because our memories of the past are not always accurate
Longitudinal study to counteract criticisms retrospective classification
•Simpson assessed infant attachment type at one year of age
- researchers also found that participants who were securely attached as infants were rated as having higher social competence as children, more expressive and were emotionally attached to their romantic partners in early adulthood
• this supports the view that attachment does predict relationships in adult life
Evaluation: the influence of early attachment (overly determinist)
• research suggests test very early experiences have a fixed effect on later adult relationships
- therefore children who are insecurely attached are doomed to experience emotionally unsatisfactory relationships as adults
-this is not the case as researchers have found plenty of instances where participants were experiencing happy relationships as adults despite not being insecurely attached as infants
• an infants past does not unalterably determine types of future relationships
