Attachment Key Studies Flashcards
What did Meltzoff and Moore’s research study?
Studied whether infants copied facial expressions.
Studying Interactional Synchrony
What did Meltzoff and Moore’s study find?
They found infants as young as 3 days old imitated facial expressions
When was Schaffer and Emerson’s Study?
1964
What did Schaffer and Emerson Study?
A longitudinal study of attachment, studying the stages of attachment in infants.
How many babies were there in Schaffer and Emerson’s study?
60 babies assessed up until 18 months old
What did Schaffer and Emerson find?
For 95% of babies, mother was a key attachment figure
85% of babies attached to multiple people by 18 months old
39% of babies not attached to primary caregiver
What theories does Schaffer and Emerson’s study support and challenge?
learning theory of attachment
Bowlbys monotropic theory of attachment
What year was Geiger’s Study?
1996
What did Geiger’s study find?
Fathers tend to engage in more exciting, physical games with their children than their mothers.
Who created the “Strange Situation?”
Mary Ainsworth
What experiment assessed the security of infants relationships in a lab situation?
Ainsworth and Bell (1970)
How many children were in the Ainsworth and Bell experiment?
100 children
What is the most important phase of the strange situation?
The reunion phases
How many children were classed as secure in Ainsworth and Bell’s experiment?
66%
How many children were classed as insecure-resistant in Ainsworth and Bell’s experiment?
12%
How many children were classed as insecure-avoidant in Ainsworth and Bell’s experiment?
22%
How does a securely attached child react to first entering the strange situation?
They explore the room using their career as a base
How does a securely attached child react to being left alone?
They are moderately distressed, and may try to follow their carer
How does a securely attached child react to their career returning in the Strange Situation?
They are relatively easy to calm, and can continue to explore the room
How does an insecure avoidant child react to first entering the strange situation?
They will explore the room, often without acknowledging the carer.
How does an insecure avoidant child react to their carer leaving the room on the strange situation?
The child may not even notice the carer leaving
How would an insecure avoidant child react to their carer returning in the Strange Situation?
They might not notice the carer return, and will continue to avoid them.
How would an insecure resistant child react to first entering the Strange Situation?
They might cling to their carer, and would not explore the room
How might an insecure resistant child react to being left by their carer in the Strange situation?
They would be severely distressed, eg Sobbing
What study aimed to compare the attachment of Japanese infants to Ainsworth and Bell’s experiment?
Takahashi (1990)
How many children were in Takahashi’s Study?
60 middle class babies under 1 year old
How many children were assessed to be securely attached in Takahashi’s study?
68%
How many children were assessed to be insecure-avoidant in Takahashi’s study?
0%
How many children were assessed to be insecure-resistant in Takahashi’s study?
32%
Why did the strange situation often have to be stopped in Takahashi’s study?
The children were often severely distressed by being left alone, and it was considered unethical.
What type of study was Vanljendoorn and Kroonenberg’s Study?
A Meta-analysis
How many studies were part of Vanljendoorn and Kroonenberg’s Study?
32 studies
How many countries were in Vanljendoorn and Kroonenberg’s Study?
8 countries
Eg. China, U.K., USA, Israel,Japan,Germany.
What did Vanljendoorn and Kroonenberg’s study find?
Secure was the largest category of attachment in all of the countries.
The levels of insecure attachment varied from culture to culture, eg. More children in Japan were insecure resistant, and more children in Germany were insecure avoidant.
A problem with the samples in Vanljendoorn and Kroonenberg’s Study?
Some countries, such as China, only included small studies with few children (China only had one study of 25 children) so the results could be overgeneralising a country.
What is good about the population validity of Vanljendoorn and Kroonenberg’s Study?
There was a high sample population, nearly 2000 children.
What year was Vanljendoorn and Kroonenberg’s study?
1988
What year was Hazan and Shaver’s study?
1987
Which study was the “love quiz study?”
Hazan and Shaver (1987)
How many people were in Hazan and Shaver’s study?
200 men
400 women
How was the “love quiz” study conducted?
Questionnaires in a newspaper.
What was the results of Hazan and Shaver’s study?
A strong correlation between secure childhood attachment and secure adult relationships was found.
What hypothesis does Hazan and Shaver’s study support?
Bowlby’s continuity hypothesis
What animals were used in Lorenz’s study of animal attachment?
Goslings (baby Geese)
When was Lorenz’s study done?
1935
What was the methodology of Lorenz’s study?
Half the goslings were hatched with the mother
The other half hatched near Lorenz
The first moving thing the goslings saw was Lorenz.
He then put all the goslings together with the mother and assessed their behaviour.
What happened in Lorenz’s (1935) study?
The goslings hatched with the mother followed the mother, having imprinted on her.
Those hatched with Lorenz followed him, having imprinted on him.
What did Lorenz find?
There is a critical period ( 4 to 25 hours) where goslings form their attachments. After this time forming attachments is a lot harder.
What hypothesis could Lorenz’s study support?
Bowlby’s theory of attachment.
What year was Meltzoff and Moore’s Study?
1977
Which study used monkeys to test theories of attachment?
Harlow and Zimmerman (1959)
In Harlow and Zimmerman’s study, which mother did the monkeys prefer?
The cloth mother.
According to the learning theory of attachment, which mother should the monkeys be attached to.
The food mother
What is an ethical issue with Harlow and Zimmerman’s study?
Raises monkeys in isolation - psychological harm
Which theory of attachment does Harlow and Zimmerman’s study CHALLENGE
The Learning theory of attachment
Which theory of attachment does Harlow and Zimmerman’s study support?
Bowlbys monotropic theory
What was an ethical issue with Harlow and Zimmerman’s study?
The monkeys were deliberately scared to see their reaction, which deliberately caused psychological harm
When was Harlow and Zimmerman’s Study?
1959
Which study tested the Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis?
Robertson and Robertson (1971)
How did the children in foster care react to maternal deprivation?
They did not have any significant problems after maternal deprivation
Which child showed the symptoms of maternal deprivation in Robertson and Robertson’s study?
John - who was in institutional care.
What was the conclusion of Robertson and Robertson’s (1971) study?
If children are well cared for during separation, maternal deprivation doesn’t necessary lead to significant problems.
Which study looked at children from divorced families?
Hetherington (1979)
What was the variable in Hetherington’s (1979) study?
Whether children were from divorced or intact families.
What effects were immediately seen in children with divorced parents?
Aggression
Less mature play
What were the long term effects of separation from the father in Hetherington’s study?
Girls - they recovered. No negative effects
Boys - higher average rates of aggression and poorer social skills
What does Hetherington’s (1979) study suggest?
Separation from the father can have negative effects, challenging Bowlby’s belief that the maternal attachment is the most important
Which study looked at institutionalisation in Romania?
Rutter (2007)
When was Rutter’s study?
2007
How many children were studied in Rutter’s (2007) study?
165
What type of disrupted attachment was studied in Rutter’s study?
Privation. Never having the opportunity to form strong attachments
What type of study was Rutter’s study?
A longitudinal study
What experimental method was used in Rutter’s Study
It was a natural experiment, Rutter’s used a natural event as an opportunity to study.
He did not manipulate the variables himself
What were the findings of Rutter’s study?
Negative effects on physical development
Those adopted before 6 months recovered well
26% of those adopted after 6 months showed disinhibited attachment.
What were the negative physical effects of institutionalisation in Rutter’s study?
Stunted growth
Smaller head circumference
