Attachment - Maternal deprivation

Question 1

What is separation?

Answer 1

Not being in the presence of the primary attachment figure.

Question 2

What is deprivation?

Answer 2

The emotional and intellectual consequence resulting from prolonged separation from the main attachment figure.

Question 3

What is privation?

Answer 3

The failure to develop any attachments during early life.

Question 4

What is the critical period of infants believed to be?

Answer 4

2 and a half years.

Question 5

Describe Bowlby’s 44 thieves study.

Answer 5

An opportunity sample of 44 thieves and 44 controls of children aged 5-16 and a mix of boys and girls were selected from the clinic where Bowlby worked at.
Their IQ was tested and they and their parents were interviewed to record details of separation.
They were also rated for affectionless psychopathy - having no affection for others or guilt of actions.

Question 6

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

Answer 6

19 children had experienced maternal deprivation.
17/19 were thieves.
12/19 were found to be affectionless psychopaths.
Only 2/19 were neither affectionless psychopaths nor thieves.

Question 7

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

Answer 7

Bowlby concluded that maternal deprivation in the child’s early life caused affectionless psychopathy, delinquency and low IQ.

Question 8

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

Answer 8

The IV was having maternal deprivation or not, which wasn’t manipulated by the researchers. Therefore, Bowlby cannot show that it is maternal deprivation itself which causes poor outcomes, it could be another factor. (Can’t show cause and effect)

Mothers may lie or show social desirability bias and not accurately report that their child was left alone at one point.

Researcher bias - Bowlby may have picked specific participants or researchers discussed and shared information.

May be testing privation and not deprivation

Question 9

How does Spitz’s study support Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory?

Answer 9

37% of children without their mother died within two years, whereas all children with their mother in prison stayed alive. It suggests separation from mother causes poor outcomes for the children.

Question 10

What counter-evidence is there against Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory?

Answer 10

Lewis carried out a partial replication and found in her study prolonged early separation was not associated with criminality or social difficulties.

Koluchova’s case of study of brothers who were kept in a cupboard from age 1.5 to 7. After age 7 they were looked after by two adults and appeared to recover fully.

Rutter claimed Bowlby was muddling ‘deprivation’ and ‘privation’.

Question 11

Who were the participants of Rutter’s study of English Romanian Adoptees?

Answer 11

165 Romanian children who were adopted in the UK before the age of 3 1/2 years who all spent time in institutions.

Control group of 52 British children who had not lived in institutions who were adopted before 6 months of age.

Question 12

What were the children assessed for in Rutter’s ERA study?

Answer 12

Physical development - (height, weight, size of head, brain structure)
Cognitive development - (attention, language, IQ)
Attachment type

Question 13

What were the findings at adoption in Rutter’s ERA study?

Answer 13

Romanian orphans were smaller, weighed less and lagged behind British orphans on all measures.

Question 14

What were the findings at age 4 in Rutter’s ERA study?

Answer 14

Nearly all Romanian orphans who were adopted before 6 months caught up by age 4.

Question 15

What were the findings at age 11 in Rutter’s ERA study?

Answer 15

Romanian children showed better intellectual recovery the younger they were adopted.
IQ:
> 6 months: 102
6 months - 2 years: 86
After 2 years: 77

Question 16

What were the overall findings of Rutter’s ERA study?

Answer 16

Those adopted after 6 months were much more likely to show disinhibited attachment, autistic-like qualities and poor mental functions.
For some children, deprivation can be made up for to some extent by later good quality care whereas others will persist with difficulties.
In conclusion, no children over 6 months should be left in an institution.

Question 17

What were the findings of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project?

Answer 17

The study supported Rutter’s study
They found that children who stayed in institutions were severely impaired in IQ and showed a variety of social and emotional disorders.
The earlier an institutionalised child was placed into foster care, the better the recovery.

Question 18

How was the Bucharest Early Intervention Project carried out?

Answer 18

136 abandoned children were either assigned to foster care or stayed in the institution.
A control group of 72 children raised by birth family was collected for comparison.
Over a 12 year span, the groups were assessed for physical growth, cognitive functioning, brain development and social behaviour.

Question 19

What were the attachment type findings of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project?

Answer 19

75% of the control group were securely attached.
19% of the institutionalised children were securely attached.
65% of the institutionalised children were disinhibitory attached.

Question 20

What were the strengths of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project?

Answer 20

It was randomised so it controlled for the appeal of the child; IQ, emotional development, agreeableness, social skills. Therefore it’s being in an institution that causes the poor outcomes.

Question 21

What are the confounding variables in Rutter’s ERA study?

Answer 21

Lack of nutrition

The ‘appeal of the child’

Question 22

What are the real life applications of Rutter’s ERA study?

Answer 22

Improvements have been made in the way children are cared for in the institutions.
EG. orphanages now have smaller numbers of caregivers for each child so an attachment can be made. This gives the chance for the child to develop normal attachments and help avoid disinhibited attachments.