Attachment

Question 1

what is reciprocity

Answer 1

infant and mother respond to each others signals and elicit a response from each other

Question 2

what is interactional synchrony

Answer 2

mother and infant reflect each others actions in a synchronised and coordianted way

Question 3

evaluation of caregiver-infant interactions

Answer 3

hard to know when behaviours are happening
controlled observations capture fine detail
observations don’t tell us the purpose of synchrony and reciprocity
research into carer - infant interactions is socially sensitive as it may pressure mothers into staying at home to care for children

Question 4

outline parent infant attachments

Answer 4

majority of infants become attached with the mother first - primary attachment - at about 7 months and then with others a few weeks after - secondary attachments
75% of infants were attache to father at 18 months

Question 5

outline the role of the father

Answer 5

quality of fathers play in childhood was related to quality of adolescent relations
role is more to with play and stimulation than with nurturing.

Question 6

fathers as primary carers

Answer 6

they adopt behaviours more typical of women
like mums they spend more time smiling, imitating and holding hands
key to parenting is level of responsiveness not gender

Question 7

evaluation on role of the father

Answer 7

inconsistent findings
if they have a distinct role why aren’t kids without fathers different
why don’t fathers generally become primary attachments

Question 8

describe Schaffer and Emerson’s stages of attachment research

Answer 8

procedure:
60 babies from Glasgow were visited at home everyday for a year and again at 18 months. researchers asked mothers about separation and stranger anxiety.
findings:
between 25 and 32 weeks of age 50% of babies showed separation anxiety.
by 40 weeks 80% of babies had a specific attachment

Question 9

outline the stages of attachment identified by Schaffer

Answer 9

asocial stage:
first few weeks, no preference between objects or people - likes both
indiscriminate stage:
2 - 7 months, prefer humans over objects. recognise and prefer familiar adults. usually do not show separation or stranger anxiety
specific attachment:
from around 7 months babies show separation anxiety. babies have formed specific attachments - 65% to mother
multiple attachments:shortly after forming primary attachments, babies form multiple attachments. 29% of children in study had a multiple attachment within a month of forming a primary one.

Question 10

evaluate research into stages of attachment

Answer 10

good external validity due to natural environment

the longitudinal design has more validity as it focuses on the same children throughout 18 months and not different children in different age groups

limited sample means there is little variation and no emphasis on cross cultural differences

Question 11

evaluate Schaffer’s stages of attachment

Answer 11

problem studying the asocial stage as babies may not be interacting purposefully or even showing such behaviour

conflicting evidence on multiple attachments from other cultures EG collectivist

problems measuring multiple attachment, are friends attachments ?

they used limited behavioural measures

Question 12

outline Lorenz’s research on imprinting

Answer 12

Lorenz took a clutch of goose eggs, placing half with mother and other with him where he was first thing they saw.
the ducklings immediately imprinted on him and began following him.
Lorenz identified a critical period of 12 - 17 hours whereby they had to form an attachment or they would likely die.

Question 13

what is sexual imprinting

Answer 13

Lorenz found that birds which imprinted on humans also showed courtship behaviour towards humans.

Question 14

outline Harlow’s research

Answer 14

Harlow wanted to test the theory that comfort was important than food to baby monkeys. in one condition the wire mother dispensed milk, in the other a cloth one did.
it was found that the babies always sought comfort over food and would go to wire mother but only for food and would quickly return to the safe base

Question 15

evaluate Lorenz’s study

Answer 15

there is little generalisability from birds to humans as we are innately different

some of Lorenz’s research has been questioned, specifically, sexual imprinting - the yellow glove experiment

Question 16

outline Harlows study

Answer 16

He reared monkeys with either a bare wire mother or a cloth covered wire.
He found that the monkeys preferred the cloth mother for comfort even if they did not provide milk
This tells us that attachment is based on contact comfort and not food
As adults the monkeys were viscous, anti social, and sometimes attacked their own children

Question 17

evaluate harlows monkey study

Answer 17

It can be helpful understanding human attachment as monkeys have similar biological makeup. We now know that comfort is more important than food

its practical value helps social workers understand risk value of child neglect

ethical issues because Some monkeys died, They killed their children, They could not socialise normally

even though monkey are similar to us, they are not human. this means we may not be able to generalise them to us

Question 18

outline learning theory of attachment: classical conditioning

Answer 18

Learning to associate two stimuli together so we develop a response
In attachment food is an unconditioned stimulus and evokes a unconditioned response
A care giver starts as a neutral stimulus but then becomes associated with food and becomes a conditioned stimulus producing a conditioned response

Question 19

what is operant conditioning

Answer 19

This is where we learn to repeat a behaviour or not depending on its consequences
In attachment if a baby cries a caregiver responds by giving food. Through this a baby learns that crying = food and so repeats the behaviour
The baby receives positive reinforcement because it was rewarded with food for crying
The carer is negatively reinforced for avoiding a negative situation - crying - by feeding the child

Question 20

explain attachment as a secondary drive

Answer 20

Learning theory draws on the idea of drive reduction
Hunger is a primary drive - innate biological motivator
Sears et al suggested that as food is provided by carer food becomes generalised to them and so attachment becomes secondary drive learned through an association between carer and and satisfaction of primary drive

Question 21

evaluate learning theory of attachment

Answer 21

This idea of attachment by feeding is contradicted by animal studies

Schaffer and Emerson also disprove this because in their study where majority of babies attachments were with their mothers even though the mothers did very little of their feeds

Learning theory also ignored other factors involved in forming attachments: Reciprocity and Interactions synchrony

Baby associates mum with comfort instead of food is still conditioning

social learning theory is a better explanation. the babies behaviour is encouraged through adults praising behaviour and babies mimicking them

Question 22

outline what monotropy is

Answer 22

The idea that infants only form attachments to one specific caregiver
He believed that this sole attachment attachment to the caregiver is different and more important than any others
He put forward two principles to clarify his point:
Law of continuity - relation/interactions must be consistent
Law of accumulated separation - any amount of time away from the care giver is detrimental and so the best amount of separation is 0

Question 23

what are social releasers

Answer 23

innate cute behaviours - cooing, smiling and giggling - which encourage carers to form attachments with babies. attachment is an innate drive in humans spurred on social releasers

Question 24

what is the critical period, according to bowlby

Answer 24

roughly two years
it is more of a sensitive period though.
forming attachment after two years is hard but not impossible

Question 25

what is the internal working model

Answer 25

The idea that the infants attachments affect attachments in later life and serve as a role model for later relationships
It also affects the infants themselves as parents in later life

Question 26

evaluation of bowlbys monotropic theory

Answer 26

mixed evidence for monotropy because schaffer and emmerson state that we can form multiple attachments at the same time as primary

support for social releasers because of interactions between carer and child

Some argue that a child’s genetically influenced temperament can explain the child’s later social behaviour.

controversial to suggest that the quality of attachment and child development is based on the law of accumulated separation as it puts pressure on mothers to sacrifice their careers

99 mothers were assessed on their quality of attachment with their own mothers; the babies attachment to the mothers was also tested.
Mothers with poor attachments to their mothers were more likely to report poor attachments to their kids

Question 27

what were the behaviours being observed in ainsworth strange situation

Answer 27

Proximity seeking
Exploration and secure base behaviour
Stranger anxiety
Separation anxiety
Response to reunion

Question 28

what were the different stages in ainsworth strange situation

Answer 28

Child’s encouraged to explore
Stranger comes in - tries to interact with child
Caregiver leaves
Caregiver returns and stranger leaves 
Caregiver leaves, leaving child alone
Stranger returns
Caregiver returns

Question 29

describe a secure attachment, according to ainsworth

Answer 29

will explore freely using mother as a secure base
moderate stranger and separation anxiety
requires comfort on reunion with carer

Question 30

describe an insecure resistant attachment, according to ainsworth

Answer 30

overly attached to carer, will not explore
high stranger and separation anxiety
resists comfort on carers return

Question 31

describe an insecure avoidant attachment, according to ainsworth

Answer 31

Explore freely with no seeking of proximity or secure base behaviour
Little stranger or separation anxiety
No comfort requirement upon reunion

Question 32

evaluate ainsworths strange situation

Answer 32

cultural differences as it is more suited to western cultures

Main and Solomon observed a fourth attachment type in which the children display a combination of avoidant and resistant behaviour. This is commonly known as disorganised attachment

it has good reliability because all researchers usually agree on the attachment type of children

It is argued that the main influence on the anxiety produced is not type of attachment but temperament. Temperament may be a confounding variable

There is validity as it can explain subsequent outcomes. Securely attached kids tend to achieve high in both relationships and life while insecure resistant have poor relationships and poor social life often getting bullied.

Question 33

outline Van Ijzendoorn’s cross cultural study of attachment

Answer 33

32 studies researching attachment in children using Ainsworth’s strange situation across 8 countries and 1,990 children were analysed
FINDINGS
In all countries secure attachment was most common
Insecure - resistant was the least common
Variations within countries was 150% greater than across countries

Question 34

the italian study on attachment

Answer 34

Simonella et al conducted a study researching whether attachment was still the same compared to previous studies.
50% were securely attached (lower than before)
36% were insecure - avoidant
suggests that cultural changes can affect attachment

Question 35

the korean study on attachment

Answer 35

Strange situation used to asses 87 children
Proportions of secure and insecure attachments were similar to other countries
Most were resistant.
Only one was avoidant
Similar to distribution on Japan - maybe because of similar child rearing styles

Question 36

evaluations of cross cultural variations of attachment

Answer 36

A strength of cross cultural studies is that you end up with large sample sizes which increases internal validity - ijzendoorn had nearly 2000 children

The samples are unrepresentative of cultures as research was between countries not within cultures.

A weakness is that the method of assessment is biased as it is a British theory with an American made study.
Etic and emic are to be included. Etic = cultural universals Emic = cultural uniqueness
Applying an American study in other countries is imposed etic

Strange situation lacks validity as it could be measuring anxiety rather than attachment

Question 37

describe bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 37

the idea that prolonged separation from the mother figure, now known as primary attachment figure, can be detrimental to a child’s mental health.

Question 38

outline separation VS deprivation

Answer 38

Separation is the brief absence of a caregiver

Deprivation is prolonged separation from a caregiver which in the long run can cause harm

Question 39

what is the critical period for maternal deprivation

Answer 39

According to Bowlby, the critical period is 30 months. After this psychological damage is inevitable.

Question 40

what are the intellectual effects on development due to maternal deprivation

Answer 40

If children are deprived too long after the critical period of 30 months they would suffer delayed intellectual development.
Mental retardation would occur which is characterised by abnormally low IQ
One psychologist found lower IQ in kids placed in institutions as opposed to those who had been adopted

Question 41

what are the emotional effects on development due to maternal deprivation

Answer 41

Affectionless psychopathy is an emotional side effect of deprivation. This is where a person suffers an absence of guilt or strong emotion for others

Question 42

outline bowlby’s 44 thieves study

Answer 42

44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing were interviewed by Bowlby for signs of affectionless psychopathy.
A control group of emotionally disturbed young people were also interviewed for signs
FINDINGS
14 of 44 thieves were described as affectionless psychopaths
12 of these were deprived as kids
2 of 44 in the control group experienced long separations

Question 43

evaluations for bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 43

evidence may be poor due to the trauma the kids faced in younger years. Bowlby used war orphans who had suffered significant trauma as a kid and that could act as a confounding variable. also, the 44 thieves is biased because bowlby knew what he was looking for and did the interviews himself

A larger recreation of 44 thieves, with 500 young kids, showed that a history of separation does not predict criminality

Psychological damage can be reversed after the critical period if there is adequate after care
The 2 twins from czechoslovakia who were locked in a cupboard fully recovered once helped

Baby rats separated for a day showed a permanent effect on social development

bowlby was confusing two concepts: deprivation and privation
Privation is the failure to form an attachment at all
Deprivation is the loss of an attachment figure

Question 44

outline Rutter’s english romanian orphan study

Answer 44

Rutter followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted into Britain to see whether good aftercare could make up for previous traumatic events as a child
A control group of 52 British orphans adopted at the same time were also watched
FINDINGS
The children’s IQ was different dependent on their age of adoption:
Before 6 months = 102
Between 6 months and 2 years = 86
Some also showed disinhibited attachment if adopted after 6 months. This is clinginess, attention seeking and social behaviour directed at adults

Question 45

outline the Bucharest early intervention project

Answer 45

Attachment was assessed in 95 children aged 12 - 31 months whereby 90% had spent majority of their lives in care. There was a control group of 50 kids who had never been institutionalised
FINDINGS
74% of control group were securely attached but only 19% of the institutionalised group were
65% of institutionalised group had disorganised attachment

Question 46

what are the effects of institutionalisation

Answer 46

disinhibited attachment. this has been explained by the fact that in institutions children could have up to 50 carers and so cannot form a proper attachment

Question 47

evaluation of the romanian orphan studies - effects of institutionalisation

Answer 47

Led to improvements in institutionalisation
Care homes now avoid having multiple care givers - they have a keyworker

In previous orphan studies orphans were given up because of war or other confounding variables however romanian orphans did not suffer any trauma before hand and therefore effects of institutionalisation can be studies in isolation

conditions in these orphanages were so bad that it may be that we cannot generalise the findings to english care homes with better standard of living

The orphans were only followed up till their mid teens. They could catch up as adults

Question 48

outline the role of the internal working model in later relationships

Answer 48

attachments in infancy detect our understanding of what is a healthy relationship for the future. therefore having a healthy early attachment will form the basis for good relationships in the future

Question 49

attachment type and their effect on later relationships

Answer 49

Securely attached infants tend to form the best quality relations. insecurely attached have friendship difficulties
Avoidant children are most likely to be bullied
Resistant children are most likely to be bullies

Question 50

attachment type and its effect on romantic relations

Answer 50

psychologists studied 40 adult woman who had previously been studied for infant attachment types.

Securely attached had the best adult relationships
Resistant had problems maintaining relationships
Avoidant had problems with intimacy

Question 51

the love quiz study - attachment on romantic relationship

Answer 51

the quiz had three sections:
1) assessing current or most important romantic relations
2) general love experiences
3) attachment type
620 replies were sent into the love quiz
56% of respondents were securely attached
25% avoidant
19% resistant
Avoidant respondents were likely to have feelings of jealousy and fear of intimacy
those reporting secure were most likely to have a good relationship

Question 52

internal working models effect on being a parent

Answer 52

if you had a positive parental role model growing up you are also likely to mimic how your parent raised you and will turn out to be a good parental figure.

Question 53

evaluations on influence of early attachment on later relationships

Answer 53

In one study conducted by Zimmerman on infant and adolescent attachment type there was very little relationship between quality of infant attachment and adolescent attachment

Most studies do not use strange situation to assess attachment, instead they use questionnaires. This relies on self report in which we have to trust that carers have an honest and realistic view of their relationship.

Most studies focus on the link between infant attachment and later attachments however this two may not be so tightly linked. Parenting style or temperament may explain the continuity between infancy and later life.

While there is evidence to suggest strong links between infant attachment and later relationships it is not a definitive relationship. This suggests that some researchers have exaggerated the link and that poor infant attachments does not mean you are doomed to have bad relationships later.

Because internal working model is something we are not consciously aware of and we can only report what we are consciously aware of self report techniques only give us indirect evidence at best.