Attachment

Question 1

What is reciprocity?

Answer 1

2 people interacting, both responding to one another and both eliciting a response from the other

Question 2

What is an alert phase?

Answer 2

A baby’s signal that they are ready for interaction
Mothers pick up on this 2/3 times (Feldman)
Increases in frequency from 3 months onwards
Done through verbal signs and facial expression

Question 3

What did Feldman find about the alert phase?

Answer 3

That mothers pick up on the alert phase 2/3 times

Question 4

What did Brezelton et al compare caregiver-infant interactions to?

Answer 4

A dance because they’re both responding to each other and both the caregiver and the baby are playing an active role

Question 5

What is interactional synchrony?

Answer 5

Mother and infant reflecting the actions and emotions of each other in a synchronised way

Question 6

Describe the Metzoff and Moore study

Answer 6

An adult showed one of three facial expressions to an infant. They found that there was an association between the baby’s reaction and the adults expression.

Question 7

Describe the study done by Isabella et al

Answer 7

They observed 30 mothers and infants and assessed their synchrony. It was found that high synchrony levels were associated with better quality attachment this shows that interaction synchrony is important in attachment.

Question 8

Name the two studies done on the role of the father.

Answer 8

Grossman (2002)
Tiffany Field (1978)

Question 9

Describe the study of Grossman (2002) in investigating the role of the father.

Answer 9

It was a longitudinal study
They studied the relationship between parents behaviour and the quality of their children’s attachments later on in life.
They found that the quality of the attachment with the mother affects future relationships but that with the father does not.
The quality of the fathers play was related to future attachments. This suggests that fathers have a different role in attachment, stimulation rather than nurturing.

Question 10

Describe the study of Tiffany Field (1978) into the role of the father.

Answer 10

She observed 4 month old babies and found that when the primary caregiver was the father, he took over the role of the mother. This shows that the level of responsiveness matters over gender.

Primary caregiver fathers spend more time smiling, imitating and holding infants than secondary caregiver fathers do.

Question 11

Evaluate caregiver-infant interaction.

Answer 11

That we cannot determine the purpose of interactional synchrony and reciprocity (Feldman). However there is evidence that reciprocal interaction and synchrony are helpful in attachment and stress responses, empathy and moral development.

studies of caregiver infant interaction have good validity. They have good control, the procedures are often filmed so fine details can be observed . The baby also acts naturally so demand characteristics do not interfere.

what is really happening? For caregiver infant interactions we cannot tell if the baby’s imitation of the adult is conscious and deliberate and whether or not is studies of caregiver infant interaction have good validity any special meaning.

Question 12

Evaluate the role of the father.

Answer 12

Fathers are usually not the primary attachment figure. Why is this? Is it because of traditional gender roles or is it because female hormones make mums more nurturing than fathers, giving them a biological predisposition to be the primary attachment figure?

Children in same sex families develop the same, suggesting that the role of a father has no impact in a child’s development (MacCallum and Golombok 2004)

Inconsistent findings: some studies look at the father as being the secondary attachment figure while some look at him as being the primary attachment figure leading to contradictory conclusions.

Question 13

What was the aim of the study by Schaffer and Emerson (1964)?

Answer 13

To investigate the formation of early attachments including the age they formed, the emotional intensity of them and who they were directed to.

Question 14

What was the procedure of Schaffer and Emerson’s study?

Answer 14

They took 60 babies from Glasgow. 31 were male and 29 were female. They were visited on a monthly basis up to the age of 18 months. Their mothers recorded their baby’s reactions to 7 daily separations. Stranger anxiety and separation anxiety were measured.

Question 15

What were the findings of Schaffer and Emerson’s study?

Answer 15

50 % of babies displayed separation anxiety, meaning they had formed a specific attachment, between the ages of 25 and 32 weeks old. They found that the specific attachment was formed with the adult who displayed the best reciprocity rather than the adult who spent the most time with them.
By the age of 49 weeks, 80 percent of babies had formed specific attachments and 30 percent had formed multiple attachments.

Question 16

Describe the first stage of attachment according to S&E

Answer 16

Asocial stage
Formed in the first few weeks
Isn’t really asocial as interactions between cg and infant are still important
The baby treats humans and inanimate objects with similar behaviour.
The baby’s showed a preference for familiar adults.

Question 17

Describe the second stage of attachment according to S&E

Answer 17

Indiscriminant stage
2-7 months
The baby shows more observable social behaviour
The baby prefers people to inanimate objects
The baby recognises and prefers families adults
The baby accepts comfort from all adults
The baby does not display any stranger or separation anxiety.

Question 18

Describe the third stage of attachment according to S&E

Answer 18

Specific attachment stage
From 7 months onwards
The baby forms a specific attachment, which S and E found to be the mother 65 percent of the time.
The baby displays separation and stranger anxiety.
It was found that the primary attachment figure was the adult who had the best reciprocity.

Question 19

Describe the fourth stage of attachment according to S&E

Answer 19

Multiple attachment stage
Baby forms secondary attachments with other adults they see regularly
29% or babies form multiple attachments within a month of forming a specific attachment
Most babies had multiple attachments by the age of 1

Question 20

Evaluate the study of Schaffer and Emerson.

Answer 20

How multiple attachments are measured:
Distress on someone leaving does not necessarily mean that an attachment has been formed. Bowlby found that babies show distress when a playmate leaves but has no attachment to them. This lowers the validity of the study.

Asocial stage: It is hard to measure as the baby has poor coordination and is immobile. This means there is little observable behaviour and so the evidence is unreliable.

Limited sample characteristics: Families all came from the same district and the same city and the same social class
The study was also done 50 years ago. 
This means that the study has low temporal validity as the findings can’t be generalised to today. 

Longitudinal study: The same children were studied regularly rather than different children of different ages
The study also had a cross-sectional design meaning that if observed different children at different ages
The study has more internal validity because there is no compounding variable (which would be individual differences)

Good external validity: the study was carried out at the babys’ homes by their mums, and so the baby’s behaviour was unaffected by its surroundings and natural.

Question 21

What was the aim of Lorenz’s study on ducklings?

Answer 21

To investigate imprinting after Lorenz found that a baby duckling he had been given followed him around

Question 22

What was the procedure of Lorenz’s study?

Answer 22

He divided a clutch of goose eggs. Half hatched with the mum (this was the control group) and half hatched with Lorenz in an incubator (this was the experimental group). These were the first moving objects they saw.

Question 23

What were the findings of Lorenz’s study?

Answer 23

The control group followed the mum while the experimental group followed Lorenz. Even when the two groups were mixed, the ducklings separated to follow the first person they saw when they were born. Lorenz called the phenomenon of birds following the first thing they saw imprinting and found that the critical period for these goslings was 32 hours, after which no attachment could be formed.

Question 24

What is sexual imprinting?

Answer 24

When mating preferences of a bird are affected by imprinting. Ie Lorenz found that a peacock that imprinted in a giant tortoise would only try and mate with other giant tortoises

Question 25

Evaluate Lorenz’s study.

Answer 25

Low ecological validity: Mammalian attachment is different to that of birds. For example, mammal mothers act more emotionally towards their young and mammals have a different critical period

Conflicting evidence: Guiton et al (1966) found that sexual imprinting can be reversed in ducks which had imprinted on gloves

Question 26

What was the aim of Harlow’s study?

Answer 26

To investigate the impact of contact comfort

Question 27

What was the procedure of Harlows study?

Answer 27

He studied 16 baby rhesus monkey’s and put them in a cage with two ‘mothers’. One was made from cloth and the other from wire. The cloth one had no food while the wire one did.

Question 28

What are the findings of Harlows study?

Answer 28

Harlow found that the monkeys sought comfort from the soft mum when scared, despite which one had milk, and spent up to 22 hours in the cloth mother and only one hour on the wire one

Question 29

Explain the maternal deprivation findings from Harlow’s study.

Answer 29

(AUBC)The most maternally deprived monkeys were the ones that were only in contact with the wire mother, however the presence of the cloth mother was not enough to lead to the development of normal social behaviour. The monkeys were aggressive, unsociable, bred less as they were unskilled at mating, and often neglected and attacked their children. The critical period was found to be 90 days, after which maternal deprivation is irreversible.

Question 30

What was the aim of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study?

Answer 30

The aim was to examine the link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation.

Question 31

What was the procedure of Bowlby’s study of 44 thieves?

Answer 31

Sample of 44 teenagers who had been accused of theft
Bowlby interviewed them and their families to look for signs of affectionless psychopathy and to establish whether or not the teenagers had experienced maternal deprivation.
He looked for signs of lack of guilt, lack of affection and lack of empathy.
Control group- teens who were emotionally disturbed but not criminals

Question 32

What were the findings of Bowlby’s study of 44 thieves

Answer 32

14/44 teens were affectionless psychopaths of which 12 had experienced maternal deprivation

From the control group only 2/44 participants had experienced prolonged separation

Question 33

What was the conclusion of Bowlby’s study of 44 thieves?

Answer 33

He concluded that maternal deprivation causes permanent emotional damage (makes the child an affectionless psychopath)

Claimed this was irreversible

Question 34

What are the criticisms of Bowlby’s study of 44 thieves?

Answer 34

• Bowlby carried out the experiment himself, knowing what he wanted to find. This gives way for experimenter bias
• Bowlby neglected to acknowledge that spending most of their lives in a residential home could have led to a lot of other trauma and psychological problems which were not caused by maternal deprivation
• Hilda Lewis conducted a similar study but on a larger scale with 500 young people and found that maternal deprivation was not a predictor of criminality or difficulty forming close relationships.

Question 35

Evaluate Harlow’s study.

Answer 35

Low external validity: Because humans are not monkeys, the findings cannot be accurately applied to human situations.

Good practical value: The findings are applicable to practical contexts such as helping social workers and those caring for captive monkeys.

Ethical problems: The monkeys suffered and this suffering was likely human-like. The wire monkey was even named an iron maiden after a torture device. The counter argument to this, however, is that the research was important enough to justify the suffering of the monkeys.

Good theoretical value: His study helps us to understand human attachment.
It shows us the impact of contact comfort and demonstrated maternal deprivation.

Question 36

What does Learning theory propose?

Answer 36

It proposes that children learn to love whoever feeds them and that attachment is formed through both classical and operant conditioning. It is sometimes referred to as the ‘cupboard love’ theory of attachment.

Question 37

Explain how learning theory explains attachment through classical conditioning.

Answer 37

Learning theory states that babies have an innate, unconditioned response to food which is pleasure. They originally have no response to their mother when the mother is a neutral stimulus. The baby learns to associate the mother with food as the mother feeds it, and the mother becomes a conditioned stimulus as the baby feels pleasure around the mother without being in the presence of food.

Question 38

Explain operant conditioning and how learning theory proposes that it helps in forming attachment.

Answer 38

Operant conditioning consists of learning to repeat or avoid a behaviour based on its consequences. If the consequence of a behaviour is positive then the behaviour is more likely to be repeated. This behaviour has been positively reinforced. If a behaviour has a negative consequence, it is less likely to be repeated and so has been negatively reinforced. In attachment, a baby cries and so the caregiver responds with social suppressor behaviour. This positively reinforces crying for the baby and at the same time negatively reinforces the mum from doing whatever made the baby cry again. They are negatively reinforced because when the crying stops they can escape from an unpleasant situation.

Question 39

What is drive reduction as described by learning theory?

Answer 39

Hunger is a primary drive of a baby as it is biologically motivated. Sears et al claimed that attachment becomes a secondary drive as the caregiver gives the baby food and so becomes associated with the satisfaction of the primary drive.

Question 40

Evaluate learning theory.

Answer 40

The animal studies by Lorenz and Harlow are a limitation of learning theory as they show that young do not necessarily attach to who feeds them.

The study by Schaffer and Emerson shows that children do not formed primary attachments to the adult who feeds them but the adult who displays the best reciprocity. This study suggests that there is no unconditioned stimulus or primary drive involved in forming attachment.

Learning theory ignores other factors such as reciprocity and interaction synchrony as found by Isabella et al. If attachment was simply a result of feeding, there would be no purpose for complex interactions between the infant and the caregiver.

Question 41

Name the different aspects of Bowlby’s theory of monotropic attachment.

Answer 41

(ASSSCCMMI)Adaptive advantage
Social releasers
Sensitive period
Secure base
Critical period 
Continuity hypothesis 
Maternal deprivation 
Monotropy 
Internal working model

Question 42

Describe the adaptive advantage as described in Bowlby’s theory of monotropic attachment.

Answer 42

Forming an attachment is innate as it increases the infants likelihood of survival seeing as forming an attachment with an adult makes it more likely that they will receive food and shelter.

Question 43

Explain social releasers as explained in Bowlby’s monotropic theory.

Answer 43

Social releases could be physical, such as baby face features and the body proportions of a baby, or behavioural such as coping or crying. These social releases unlock the innate tendency of adults to care for them

Question 44

Explain what a secure base is as described by Bowlby’s monotropic theory.

Answer 44

A secure base is a sense of security from which the child can feel comfortable to leave the explore and then return to

Question 45

Explain the sensitive period as according to Bowlby’s theory of monotropic attachment.

Answer 45

Bowlby’s theory states that the sensitive period is the best time to form an attachment at and that this is at 7-8 months of age.

Question 46

Explain monotropy as according to Bowlby’s theory of monotropic attachment.

Answer 46

A baby forms one monotropic attachment which is different and special and the most important of all attachments.

Question 47

Explain maternal deprivation as according to Bowlby’s theory of monotropic attachment.

Answer 47

Maternal deprivation states that having no or a broken bond with the primary caregiver will lead to developmental problems and cause the child to become an affectionless psychopath.

Question 48

Explain the critical period as according to Bowlby’s theory of monotropic attachment.

Answer 48

Bowlby claimed that the critical period is around 2- 2.5 years of age and if a child has not formed an attachment by then they face cognitive, social and emotional difficulties. These include delinquency, reduced intelligence, depression and increased aggression.

Question 49

Explain the continuity hypothesis as according to Bowlby’s theory of monotropic attachment.

Answer 49

The continuity hypothesis states that the first attachment a child makes carried on to other relationships later on in life and that good early attachments= good attachments later on in life.

Question 50

Explain the internal working model as according to Bowlby’s theory of monotropic attachment.

Answer 50

The internal working model is a mental schema of script for relationships. It affects self worth and future relationships and tells the individual what to expect from relationships.

Question 51

Evaluate Bowlby’s monotropic theory.

Answer 51

Brazelton et al found that when a baby’s social releases are ignored they show distress and some curl up and lay still. Their strong response to being ignored shows the significance of infant social behaviour in eliciting caregiving. This supports Bowlby’s concept of social releasers.

Harlow found that the critical period of monkeys is 90 days, after which maternal deprivation is irreversible. He also found that maternally deprived monkeys were aggressive, less sociable, bred less as they were unskilled at mating, and neglected +attacked their children. This supports the internal working model, the critical period and the maternal deprivation hypothesis.

Lorenz found that ducklings imprint on the first thing they see no matter what it is. This supports Bowlby’s idea that attachment is innate.

Schaffer and Emerson found that some (although very few) babies form multiple attachments at the same at which they from primary attachments. This contradicts the idea of monotropy.

Question 52

Who designed the strange situation and when?

Answer 52

Mary Ainsworth in 1969

Question 53

What was the aim of the Strange situation experiment

Answer 53

To observe key attachment behaviour and use it to assess quality of child caregiver attachment.

Question 54

Describe the features of the strange situation

Answer 54

It was a controlled observation with controlled conditions and had a 2 way mirror.

Question 55

Explain the procedure of the strange situation.

Answer 55

• Child and caregiver enter an unfamiliar playroom.
• The child is encouraged to explore
• The stranger arrives and interacts with the child
• the caregiver leaves
• the caregiver returns and the stranger leaves
• the stranger returns
• the caregiver returns.

Question 56

Explain what the strange situation tests stage by stage.

Answer 56

ESCCCSC
Exploration tests secure base
Stranger arriving tests stranger anxiety
Caregiver leaving tests stranger anxiety and separation anxiety
Caregiver returning tests reunion behaviour and secure base
Caregiver leaving tests separation anxiety
Stranger returning tests stranger anxiety
Caregiver returning tests reunion behaviour.

Question 57

What were the findings of the strange situation study?

Answer 57

That there are 3 main types of attachment:

• Secure (type B): result of good and responsive parenting, 60-75% of babies
• insecure avoidant (Type A): result of emotionally unresponsive parenting, 20-35% of babies
• insecure resistant (Type C): result of ambivalent parenting, 3% of babies

Question 58

Describe the characteristics of a secure baby.

Answer 58

High proximity seeking
Strong secure base/exploration
Moderate stranger anxiety
Moderate separation anxiety 
Accept comfort on reunion

Question 59

Describe the characteristics of an insecure avoidant baby.

Answer 59

Low proximity seeing 
No secure base and high exploration 
Low stranger anxiety 
Low separation anxiety 
No need for comfort on reunion

Question 60

Describe the characteristics of an insecure resistant baby.

Answer 60

Highest levels of proximity seeking
Low secure base and exploration 
High stranger anxiety
High separation anxiety 
resist comfort on reunion but will reach up to be picked up

Question 61

Evaluate the strange situation.

Answer 61

It has high validity because the attachment type has been found to predict later development.
ie. secure= better outcomes in school, romance…)
Resistant= worst outcomes
- bullying found by Kokkinos
- adult mental health problems found by Ward

Replicable/ high inter-observer reliability

As the research is highly operationalised, observers have a clear view of how a securely attached infant should behave, due to the 4 specific criteria that Ainsworth used. For this reason, the research should have high inter-observer reliability & it is also replicable so its reliability can be checked.

Reliability of classifications

Waters (1978) assessed 50 infants at 12 and at 18 months of age using the SS procedure. Waters found clear evidence for stable individual differences using Ainsworth’s behaviour category data. The greatest consistency was seen in reunion behaviours after brief separations. 48 of the 50 infants observed were independently rated as being classified in the same category at 18 months.

Low Population Validity
A major methodological criticism of Ainsworth’s research is that the sample was restricted to 100 middle class Americans & their infants, so it is unlikely that findings would be representative of the wider population.

Question 62

What was the aim of the Van Ijzendoorn study?

Answer 62

To look at proportions of attachment types across and within different countries.

Question 63

What was the procedure of the Van Ijzendoorn study?

Answer 63

They meta-analysed data from 32 strange situation studies from 8 different countries. This gave them a large sample space of 1990 children.

Question 64

What were the findings of the Van Ijzendoorn study?

Answer 64

UGJCV
Secure was the most common attachment type in all countries
UK had the most secure babies (75%)
Germany had the most avoidant babies (35%)
Japan and Israel had less avoidant babies than other countries (5% and 7%)
China had the evenest distribution as 25% were avoidant and another 25% were resistant)
There is more variation within a country than within different countries

Question 65

What was the aim of the Simona et al study?

Answer 65

To see if the proportions of attachment type in Italy have changed by 2010

Question 66

What was the procedure of the Simona et al study?

Answer 66

They performed the strange situation on 76 12 month olds.

Question 67

What were the findings of the Simona et al study?

Answer 67

It was found that 50% of the babies were secure and 36% were avoidant. This might have been because mothers now work longer hours and use child care instead, which suggests that cultural changes cause changes in attachment patterns.

Question 68

What were the conclusions of the studies?

Answer 68

It was concluded that secure attachment is the norm and that cultural practices influence attachment.

Question 69

Evaluate studies on cultural variation of attachment type.

Answer 69

The strange situation has low validity. Kagan et al found that it only measures anxiety, and that attachment is related to temperament rather than the relationship with the primary attachment figure.

The samples were unrepresentative. Van Ijzendoorn claimed to be studying cultural variation however the comparison was actually between countries rather than between cultures as one country can have many different cultures in it. a study in 2001 found that in urban Tokyo attachment proportions are similar to those in the West while in rural Tokyo there are more resistant babies.

The meta-analysis gave the study a large sample space, this applies to all three studies. It increases the internal validity of the studies and reduces the impact of anomalous results.

The method of assessment was biased as it had an imposed etic. The SS was designed by an American and based on a British theory.

Question 70

what is meant by the term maternal deprivation?

Answer 70

The term maternal deprivation is used to describe the emotional and intellectual consequences of separation between a child and their mother/ mother substitute. Bowlby proposed that the continuous care from a mother is essential for the normal psychological development of a child and that prolonged separation can cause serious damage to emotional and intellectual development.

Question 71

what is the difference between separation and deprivation?

Answer 71

Separation is simply not being in the presence of the caregiver and is not a problem unless the child becomes deprived of an element of care. Brief separations, especially when the child is with a mother-substitute, are not significant for development but prolonged separation for an extended period of time can lead to deprivation.

Question 72

Explain the critical period in Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation.

Answer 72

Bowlby believed that the first 30 months of a child’s life were the critical period and if the child is deprived of the emotional care of a mother for an extended period of time during this period then psychological damage is inevitable.

Question 73

Describe how maternal deprivation affects a child’s intellectual development.

Answer 73

Bowlby believed that if children experience maternal deprivation during the critical period then they experience delayed intellectual development, characterized by abnormally low IQ.

Question 74

Describe how maternal deprivation affects a child’s emotional development.

Answer 74

Bowlby suggested that affectionless psychopathy, the inability to feel guilt or strong emotion for others, was a consequence of maternal deprivation. This prevents the person from developing normal relationships and is associated with criminality. Affectionless psychopaths cannot appreciate the feelings of victims and so lack remorse for their actions.

Question 75

What are the evaluation points for Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation?

Answer 75

The evidence may be poor. The war orphans were traumatised and received poor aftercare which may have caused their developmental difficulties rather than maternal deprivation. The study of 44 thieves may have had experimenter bias as Bowlby conducted the assessments himself, knowing what he was hoping to find.

There is counter-evidence against the theory. Hilda Lewis partially replicated the study of 44 thieves on a larger scale, looking at 500 young people. She found that a history of prolonged separation from a mother did not predict criminality or difficulty forming close relationships.

Bowlby’s critical period may actually be a sensitive period. Later research has shown that the damage caused in the critical period is not necessarily irreversible. Some cases of very severe deprivation have had good outcomes provided the child has some social interaction and good aftercare. A study of two twin boys who were isolated from the age of 18 months to 7 years as their stepmother kept them locked in a cupboard found that the children recovered fully after being adopted by two loving parents- however, they did have each other which possibly prevented the worst effects of privation.

Rutter claimed that Bowlby muddled the concepts of privation and deprivation together. Deprivation is the loss of a caregiver after the attachment has already been formed while privation is the failure to form any attachment in the first place. Rutter claimed that the damage Bowlby associated with deprivation was more likely to be the result of privation. This gives the theory low validity.

Question 76

Why was there such a big opportunity to conduct orphan and adoption studies in 1989?

Answer 76

Because the Romanian government outlawed abortion and contraception aside from for women in specific categories, many children were put into institutions and received very bad care. After the end of the revolution, the institutions were discovered and many children were adopted.

Question 77

Describe Rutter’s English and Romanian adoptee study.

Answer 77

Aim: To test the extent to which good after care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions.

Procedure: They followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted into Britain and assessed their physical, cognitive and emotional development at the ages of 4, 6, 11 and 15. They were compared to a group of 52 British adoptees.

Findings: It was found that when they first arrived in Britain, half of the adoptees showed signs of delayed intellectual development and most of them were severely malnourished. The mean IQ of the children adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared to 86 for those adopted between 6 months and 2 years and 77 for those adopted after the age of 2 years. The differences remained at the age of 16. Children adopted after the age of 6 months also displayed signs of having an attachment style called disinhibited attachment. This was rare in children adopted before the age of 6 months.

Question 78

Describe the Bucharest Early intervention project.

Answer 78

Aim: To investigate how institutionalisation affects attachment type.

Procedure: Zeanah et al assessed attachment in 95 children aged 12-31 months who had spent an average of 90 percent of their lives in institutional care. They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never been in institutional care. Their attachment type was measured using the Strange situation and carers were asked about unusual social behaviour.

Findings: It was found that 74 percent of the control group was securely attached while only 19 percent of the institutional group were. 65 percent of the institutional group were classified as having disorganised attachment while 44 percent of them displayed signs of having disinhibited attachment as opposed to less than 20 percent of the control group.

Question 79

What are the two key effects of institutionalisation?

Answer 79

Mental retardation and disinhibited attachment.

Question 80

What is disinhibited attachment?

Answer 80

When children are equally friendly and affectionate to familiar adults as they are to strangers and often seek attention from adults. Rutter suggested that disinhibited attachment might be an adaptation to living in an institution as the children very likely had many caregivers of whom none they saw frequently enough to form an attachment with.

Question 81

What is mental retardation?

Answer 81

In rutter’s study, most children displayed signs of mental retardation before they arrived in Britain. Most of these children who were adopted by the age of 6 months had caught up to the control group by the age of 4. Both emotional and intellectual damage can be recovered provided adoption takes place before the age of 6 months.

Question 82

What are the evaluation points for the research into Romanian orphans?

Answer 82

The study has real life application as they have enhanced our understanding of the effects of institutionalisation. It has imporved the way that children are cared for in institutions. Orphanages and children homes now avoid having large numbers of caregivers for each child and instead ensure that a smaller number of people (a key worker) play a central role for the child. This shows that the research is valuable in practical terms.

There were fewer extraneous variables than in most orphan studies as most orphans have experienced loss or trauma before being institutionalised. In the romanian orphan studies there are less confouding participant variables which increases the internal validity.

The romanian orphanages were not typical and had particularly poor standares of care when it came to forming any relationship with the children and low levels of intellectual stimulation. These unusual situational variables make the findings hard to generalise to other situations.

The long term effects are still unlear as it is to soon to saw with certainty wheter the children suffered long term or short term effects. There is still a chance of the children who spent longer in institutions will catch up to the others. These means that the conclusions are not final yet.

Question 83

Describe how attachment type effects relationships in later childhood.

Answer 83

Securely attached children have the best childhood friendships while insecurely attached children have friendship difficulties. A study assessed attachment type and bullying involvement in children aged 7-11 using a standard questionnaire. It was found that secure children were very unlikely to be involved in bullying while resistant ones were the most likely to be bullies and avoidant ones were most likely to be the victims of bullying.

Question 84

Describe how attachment type effects relationships in adulthood with romantic partners.

Answer 84

A study of attachment and both romantic relationships and friendships in 40 adult women whose attachment type was assessed when they were infants was conducted.

Those assessed as securely attached had the best adult friendships and romantic relationships

Those assessed as insecure resistant had problems maintaining friendships and those assessed as avoidant struggled with intimacy in romantic relationships.

Question 85

How are later relationships impacted by early attachment

Answer 85

The internal working model is formed based on the first relationship a child has with their primary attachment figure. This acts as a template for future relationships.
A child who experiences a loving first relationship with a reliable caregiver will expect that from other relationships and so seek out functional relationships and behave functionally within them ie without being too uninvolved or too emotionally close or being controlling and argumentative.

Question 86

Explain the study by Hazan and Shaver into the impact of early attachment on later relationships.

Answer 86

They analysed 620 replies to a love quiz printed in an American local newspaper. The quiz had three sections, the first assessed the current or most important friendship, the second assessed general love experiences and in the third they assessed attachment type.

They found that 56 percent of respondents were securely attached, 25 were avoidant and 19 were resistant. Those reporting secure attachments were the most likely to have good and longer lasting romantic experiences while those reporting avoidant attachments feared intimacy. They concluded that patterns of attachment behaviour are reflected in romantic relationships.

Question 87

Explain the impact of early attachment on relationships in adulthood as a parent.

Answer 87

Internal working models also affect the child’s ability to parent their own children. People tend to base their parenting style on their internal working model so attachment type tends to be passed on through generations of a family. A study considered the attachments of 99 mothers to their babies and their own mothers using the strange situation and an adult attachment interview, respectively. The majority of women had the same attachment type to their babies as they did to their mothers.

Question 88

Evaluate the influence of early attachment on later relationships.

Answer 88

Mixed evidence of continuity of attachment type- internal working models predict that attachment type in infancy is the same as that characterising later relationships however Zimmerman assessed infant attachment type and adolescent attachment to parents and found little relationship between quality of infant and adolescent attachment.

Most studies have validity issues: most studies use interviews or questionnaires to assess attachment type in adults. This means it relies on self report and so is dependent on participants having an honest and realistic view of their own relationships and remembering correctly.

Association does not mean causality- there are alternative explanations for the continuity that often exists between infant and later relationships. A third environmental factor such as parenting style or temperament might impact both attachment and the child’s ability to form relationships with others.

The internal working model is not conscious and we are not directly aware of it and so cannot report accurately about it as people can only report what they are aware of. At best, self-report gives us indirect evidence about internal working models.