Attachment

Question 1

bowllby theory of monotropism

Answer 1

attachment is an evolutionary trait and his inherited as it gives better chance for survival. Biological factors such as the hormone oestrogen help form a relationship between the child and parent.

Question 2

lorenz

Answer 2

Lorenz divided goslings into two different conditions one where they were kept with their mother the other one he incubated artificially and made sure he was the first moving object they saw so they would imprint on him

Question 3

harlow

Answer 3

Harlow did an experiment on monkeys to find out the relationship between comfort and food on attachment. the monkeys were separated from their mothers and were put in cages with a wire monkey mum which was either covered in a blanket or had a feed bottle.

Question 4

Ainsworths strange situation

Answer 4

working class mums and babies were tested to determine the type of attachment formed between them. Ainsworth identified 3 main types secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure resistant. The mum would leave the room leaving the child with a stranger. the behaviour of the child was observed.

(1) Mother, baby, and experimenter (lasts less than one minute).
(2) Mother and baby alone.
(3) A stranger joins the mother and infant.
(4) Mother leaves baby and stranger alone.
(5) Mother returns and stranger leaves.
(6) Mother leaves; infant left completely alone.
(7) Stranger returns.
(8) Mother returns and stranger leaves.

Question 5

evaluation of Ainsworths strange situation

Answer 5

pros
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 behavior 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.

cons-
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.

Categories are not always applicable

A further classification group (disorganised) was subsequently identified by Main & Cassidy (1988), which would suggest that infants do not all fit into the three categories introduced by Ainsworth.

Procedure is culturally biased

The SS was designed by an American according to observations of US children. Consequently, the criteria used to classify infants are based on US values, relating to child-parent behaviour. It could be argued that this is Eurocentric, so observations of non-Americans will judged according to American standards. E.g. Japanese infants were judged as being resistant due to high levels of distress that were observed but this reflects their lack of experience during the “infant alone” part of the research, rather than an resistant attachment type.