Attachment - maternal deprivation

Question 1

what happened in 1945 that meant insecure attachments were more common?

Answer 1

end of WW2.
children were homeless, orphaned or evacuated, meaning they were away from their mothers and so missing the critical period

Question 2

what does deprivation from a caregiver during critical period cause

Answer 2

harmful effects on child’s development

Question 3

why did Bowlby look into health of homeless children in post-war Europe?

Answer 3

he was commissioned by the WHO (world health organisation) to write a report

Question 4

consequences of deprivation

Answer 4

low IQ
affectionless psychopathy
criminality (delinquency)

Question 5

separation

Answer 5

only becomes a problem if child is not given any care, brief separations aren’t significant

Question 6

what causes psychological damage

Answer 6

extended separation (deprivation) with no caregiver substitute within the first 30 months

Question 7

Robertson and Bowlby PDD model (1952)

Answer 7

short term separation and deprivation both cause this model.
Protest - crying panic, angry and fearful
Despair - acceptance. loss of hope, self-comfort
Detachment - indifference/anger towards caregiver, less distress

Question 8

affectionless psychopathy

Answer 8

no guilt or strong emotions for others

Question 9

Bowlby’s 44 thieves study (1944)

Answer 9

natural experiment, independent groups study where he interviewed children and parents, IQ tests and observed attitudes.
88 emotionally maladjusted children (44 thieves and 44 not thieves)

Question 10

findings of 44 thieves study

Answer 10

• 86% affectionless thieves experienced deprivation
• 17% not affectionless thieves experienced deprivation
• 5% non-thieves experienced deprivation
• more than 50% separated from mother for 6+ months during critical period.
• maternal deprivation leads to affectionless psychopathy and delinquency

Question 11

privation

Answer 11

no attachments formed with anyone at all

Question 12

evidence of privation

Answer 12

brain scans look difference in those that experienced privation and those who didn’t
case studies used as its so rare

Question 13

example of case study in privation

Answer 13

Genie. 13 years old but cognitively 13 months old. treated people like objects, irreparable damage

Question 14

AO3 of case studies

Answer 14

+ high ecological validity
+ more ethical than creating these situations
- no control so low internal validity and can’t reproduce
- can’t generalise

Question 15

long term developmental effects

Answer 15

lower IQ
affectionless psychopathy
dwarfism (shorter, sleep problems, larger appetite)
anaclitic depression

Question 16

Koluchova (1976) czech twins case study

Answer 16

adopted at 7, formed attachment then after being abused and privation for years.
shows effects of privation are reversible? at 11 their speech was normal and at 15 their IQ was normal.
they always had eachother so did they form attachments to eachother?

Question 17

strengths of research on maternal deprivation?

Answer 17

+ real world applications , substitute emotional care can reduce impacts of separation and deprivation
+ evidence - Robertson filmed infant in care home when mum was in hospital for 9 days. distressed.
Robertson filmed 2 year old in hospital for 8 days, distressed and begged to go home

Question 18

limitations of research on maternal deprivation?

Answer 18

• individual differences
• unclear if deprivation or privation has been studied in some cases
• retrospective recall from 44 thieves may be inaccurate
• investigator effects
• conclusions are correlational
• evidence - Lewis repeated 44 thieves with 500 children, deprivation did not predict criminality or future relationships

Question 19

Robertson and Robertson (1967-73)

Answer 19

• 2 yr old hospital for 8 days
• visited occasionally by parents and begs to go home
• eventually tries to cope with disappointment of staying (PDD model)
• real life applications