Attachment (Paper 1) Flashcards
What is Reciprocity?
Page 74
Talk about Feldman and Eidelman and their findings on it:
How two people interact, e.g caregiver and infant interactions.
From birth, babies and their caregiver spend a lot of time in intense and pleasurable interaction.
Findings:
* Babies have periodic ‘alert phases’ which signal that they are ready for interaction.
* Feldman and Eidelman (2007) found that Mothers typically pick up on and respond to infant alertness around 2/3’s of the time.
* From around 3 months this interaction tends to be increasingly frequent and involves close attention to each other’s verbal signals and facial expressions (Feldman 2007).
It appears that both the caregiver and child can initiate interactions and take turns in doing so.
A01
Brazleton et al. (1975) described this interaction as a ‘dance’ because it is like a couple’s dance - where each partner responds to each other’s moves.
What is Interactional synchrony?
Page 74
Talk about Meltzoff and Moore study on it (procedure + findings)
caregiver and Infant respond to eachothers actions and emotions in a synchronised way (carrying out the same action simultaneously).
Happens when caregiver and infant interact in such a way that their actions and emotions mirror the other.
Meltzoff and Moore (1977) observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in infants as young as two weeks old.
Procedure:
An adult displayed one of 3 facial expressions or one of 3 distinctive gestures. The child’s response was filmed and identified by independent observers.
Findings:
An association was found between the expression or gesture the adult had displayed - and the actions of the babies.
It is believed that interactional synchrony is important for the development of mother(caregiver)-infant attachment.
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Also defined as ‘the temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behaviour’ by Feldman 2007, (page 340).
procedure + findings
Talk about Isabella et al’s study on interactional synchrony
Page 74
(There are two studies for interactional synchrony - the other study is by Meltzoff and Moore)
Procedure:
Isabella et al. (1989) observed 30 mothers and infants together and assessed the degree of synchrony and the quality of mother-infant attachment (how strong and secure the emotional bond between the mother and the infant is.).
Findings:
found that when mothers and infants have more synchronized interactions (e.g., responding to each other’s cues in a harmonious way), it leads to a stronger emotional bond and better attachment between them.
A01
Name 3 attachment figures
Page 74
- Parent-infant attachment
- The role of the father
- Fathers as primary carers
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Parent-infant attachment: when are signs of attachment from the infant typically displayed towards mothers, and fathers?
Page 74
relates to Schaffer and Emerson’s study
Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found:
The majority of babies become attached to their mother first (around 7 months) and within a few weeks or months form a secondary attachments to other family members, including the father.
In 75% of the infant studies, an attachment was formed with the father by the age of 18 months. This was determined by the fact that the infants protested when their father walked away - a sign of attachment.
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Attachment Topic - attachment figures: The role of the father.
Grossman’s (2002) Study on Maternal and Paternal Roles in Attachment Development-
Page 74
Talk about Grossman’s study
Grossman (2002) conducted a longitudinal study examining the influence of both parents’ behaviors on the quality of children’s attachments into their teenage years.
The study found that the quality of attachment between infants and their mothers, but not their fathers, was linked to the quality of adolescent (teenage) attachments, suggesting that maternal attachment plays a more significant role (motherhood).
However, the study also found that the way fathers interacted with their infants during play was associated with the quality of attachment in adolescence. This indicates that fathers may too have a role in attachment but one that is more focused on play and stimulation rather than nurturing.
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longitudinal study= data collected over time
Explain Fathers as primary carers
Page 74
Talk about Tiffany Feild’s study
There is some evidence to suggest that when fathers take on the role of being the main caregiver they adopt behaviours that have in the past been associated with mothers.
Tiffany Field (1978) filmed 4-month-old babies in face-to-face interaction with:
* Primary caregiver mothers,
* Secondary caregiver fathers and,
* Primary caregiver fathers.
Primary caregiver fathers, like mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants than the secondary caregiver fathers. This behaviour appears to be important in building an attachment with the infant. So it seems that fathers can be the more nurturing attachment figure - and that the attachment relationship is due from the level of responsiveness and not the gender of the parent.
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Evaluation
Why when observing infants (infant-mother interactional synchrony) it is hard to know what is actually happening?
Page 75
Interactional synchrony: Caregiver and Infant respond to eachothers actions and emotions in a synchronised way (carrying out the same action simultaneously).
Many studies observing interactions between mothers and infants have shown the same patterns of interaction (Gratier 2003).
However, what is being observed is merely hand movements and changes in expression. It’s extremely difficult to be certain, based on these observations, to know what is taking place in the infant’s perspective. E.g, is the infant’s imitation of adult signals on purpose or were they just expressing their own feelings?
This means that we cannot really know for certain that behaviours seen in mother-infant interaction have a special meaning.
A03
positive evaluation
Why are observations of mother-infant interactions generally well-controlled procedures?
Page 75
These controlled observations are often captured in fine detail so are generally well-controlled procedures, with both mother and infant being filmed, often from multiple angles. This ensures that very fine details of behaviour can be recorded and later analysed. Furthermore babies don’t know or care that they are being observed so their behaviour does not change in response to controlled observation - which is generally a problem for observational research.
This is a strength of this line of research because it means the research has good validity.
A03
positive and negative evaluation
What is Feldman’s evaluation on synchrony and reciprocity in infant-mother interactions? And is he right?
Page 75
Feldman (2012) points out that synchrony (and by implication reciprocity) simply describe behaviours that occur at the same time.
These can be reliably observed, but is not particularly useful as it does not tell us its purpose.
………………
However, there is some evidence that reciprocal interaction and synchrony are helpful in the development of mother-infant attachment, as well as helpful in stress responses, empathy, language and moral development.
A03
Why can’t psychologists easily explain what the role of the father is? (therefore inconsistant findings)
Page 75
Research into the role of fathers in attachment is confusing because different researchers are interested in different research questions.
Some psychologists are interested in understanding the role fathers have as secondary attachment figures whereas others are more concerned with the father as primary attachment figure.
The former have tended to see fathers behaving differently from mothers and having a distinct role. The latter have tended to find that fathers can take on a ‘maternal’ role.
This is a problem because it means psychologists cannot easily answer a simple question: what is the role of the father?
A03
Evaluation
If fathers have a distinct role, Does the father’s role as a secondary attachment figure impact child development?
Page 75
The study by Grossman (page 74) found that fathers as secondary attachment figures had an important role in their children’s development. However, other studies (e.g. MacCallum and Golombok 2004) found that children growing up in single or same-sex parent family do not develop any differently than those in two-parent heterosexual families.
suggesting that the father’s role as a secondary attachment figure is not important.
A03
Why don’t fathers generally become primary attachments?
Page 75
Could simply be the result of traditional gender roles, in which women are expected to be more caring and nurturing than men. Therefore fathers simply don’t feel they should act like that.
On the other hand, it could be that female hormones (such as ostrogen) create higher levels of nurturing and therefore women are biologically pre-disposed to be the primary attachment figure (Taylor et al. 2000).
A03
Extra evaluation
Working Mothers
Page 75
Research into mother-infant interaction is a socially sensitive topic because it suggests that children may be disadvantaged by particular child-rearing practices.
In particular, mothers who return to work shortly after a child is born restrict the opportunities for achieving interactional synchrony, which Isabella et al. (page 74) showed to be important in the developing infant-caregiver attachment.
This could be taken to suggest that mothers should not return to work so soon but other research shows that working mothers have plenty of time for such interactions after working hours (Fox 1977).
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Stages of attachment definition
Page 76
A sequence of different behaviours linked to specific ages.
In stages of attachment; some characteristics of an infants behaviour; towards others; will change as the infant gets older.
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Multiple attachments definition
Attachments to, two or more people. Most babies appear to develop multiple attachments once they have formed one true attachment to a main carer.
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Schaffer and Emerson- investigating the formation of early attachment:
Name the methods + findings
Rudolf Schaffer and Peggy Emerson (1964) aimed to investigate the formation of early attachments; in particular the age at which they developed, their emotional intensity and to whom they were directed.
Method:
The study involved 60 babies;
31 male, 29 female. All were from Glasgow -
majority were from skilled working-class families.
The babies and their mothers were visited at home every month for the first year (12 months) and again at 18 months.
The researchers asked the mothers questions about the kind of protest their babies showed in seven everyday separations, e.g. adult leaving the room - a measure of separation anxiety (This was designed to measure the infant’s attachment).
The researchers also assessed stranger anxiety - the infant’s anxiety response to unfamiliar adults.
Findings:
Between 25 to 32 weeks of age (6 to 7 months old) about 50% of the babies showed signs of separation anxiety towards a particular adult, usually the mother (this is called specific attachment).
Attachment tended to be to the caregiver who was most interactive and sensitive to infant signals and facial expressions (i.e. reciprocity). This was not necessarily the person with whom the infant spent most time.
By 40 weeks (around 9 months) of age 80% of the babies had a specific attachment and almost 30% displayed multiple attachments.
A01
Name the 4 stages of attachment
Page 76
You dont need to expand on it- (on this flashcard anyways ;)
- Stage l: Asocial stage (first few weeks)
- Stage 2: Indiscriminate attachment
- Stage 3: Specific attachment
- Stage 4: Multiple attachments
A01
SCHAFFER’S STAGES OF ATTACHMENT
Explain what the 4 stages of attachment are:
Page 76
Told to only name them on another flashcard. now explain the 4:
* Stage l: Asocial stage (first few weeks)
* Stage 2: Indiscriminate attachment
* Stage 3: Specific attachment
* Stage 4: Multiple attachments
Schaffer and Emerson proposed that attachments develop in four stages:
Stage I: Asocial stage (first few weeks)
The baby is recognising and forming bonds with its carers. The baby’s behaviour towards objects and humans is quite similar. but they show some preference for familiar adults since those individuals find it easier to calm them. Babies are also happier when in the presence of other humans. (This is not really an asocial stage even though Schaffer and Emerson used that term).
Stage 2: Indiscriminate attachment
From 2-7 months babies display more observable social behaviour. They show a preference for people rather than inanimate objects, and recognise and prefer familiar adults. At this stage babies usually accept cuddles and comfort from any adult, and they do not usually show separation anxiety or stranger anxiety. Their attachment behaviour is therefore said to be indiscriminate because it is not different towards any one person.
Stage 3: Specific attachment
From around 7 months the majority of babies start to display anxiety towards strangers and to become anxious when separated from one particular adult (their biological mother in 65% of cases). At this point the baby is said to have formed a specific attachment. This adult is termed the primary attachment figure. This person is not necessarily the person the child spends most time with but the one who offers the most interaction and responds to the baby’s ‘signals’ with the most skill.
Stage 4: Multiple attachments
Babies shorty after start to show attachment behaviour towards one adult. They usually extend this attachment behaviour to multiple attachments with other adults with whom they regularly spend time with. These relationships are called secondary attachments.
In Schaffer and Emerson’s study, 29% of the children had secondary attachments within a month of forming a primary (specific) attachment. By the age of about one years old the majority of infants had developed multiple attachments.
A01
positive
Positive evaluation for Schaffer and Emerson’s study
Page 77
Aimed to investigate the formation of early attachments; in particular the age at which they developed; Their emotional intensity, and to whom they were directed.
Carried out in the families’ own homes and most of the observation (other than the stranger anxiety observation) was done by the parents during ordinary activities and reported to researchers later.
- This means that the behaviour of the babies was unlikely to be affected by the presence of observers.
There is an excellent chance that participants behaved naturally while being observed.
We can therefore say the study has good external validity.
A03
Positive evaluation
What is Longitudinal design? How is this a positive evaluation for Schaffer and Emerson’s study?
Page 77
- It was carried out longitudinally - This means that the same children were followed-up and observed regularly.
Longitudinal designs have better internal validity than e.g cross-sectional designs (where they would observe different children at each age within the same time.) because they do not have the confounding variable of individual differences between Pp’s.
A03
confounding variable: a variable that influences both the DV and IV
negative evaluation
Why was the limited sample characteristics a negative evaluation for Schaffer and Emerson’s study?
Page 77
Limited sample characteristics:
The sample size of 60 babies and their carers was good considering the large volume of data that was gathered on each Pp’s.
However, the fact that all the families involved were from the:
* same district
* social class
* the same city
* at a time over 50 years ago
Is a limitation.
Child-rearing practices vary from one culture to another and one historical period to another.
These results do not necessarily generalise well to other social and historical contexts.
A03
negative
What are the problems studying the asocial stage from Schaffer and Emerson stages of attachment.
Page 77
Schaffer and Emerson described the first few weeks of life as the ‘asocial’ stage, although important interactions take place in those weeks. The problem here is that babies that are young have poor co-ordination and are generally pretty much immobile. It is therefore very difficult to make any judgments about them based on observations of their behaviour since there just isn’t much observable behaviour!
This does not mean the child’s feelings and cognitions are not highly social but the evidence cannot be relied on.
A03
Negative evaluation
What is the conflicting evidence for Schaffer and Emerson’s Stage 4 ‘multiple attachments’ (for the stages of attachment) ?
Page 77
Although there is no doubt that children become capable of multiple attachments at some point, it is still not entirely clear when.
Some research seems to indicate that most, if not all babies form attachments to a single main carer before they become capable of developing multiple attachments (Bowlby, 1969).
Other psychologists, in particular those who work in those cultural contexts where multiple caregivers are the norm, believe babies form multiple attachments from the beginning (van Izendoorn et al. 1993).
Such cultures are called collectivist because families work together jointly in everything - such as producing food and child rearing.
A03
negative
What is the problem with how Schaffer and Emerson assessed/measured multiple attachments?
Page 77
Investigating the formation of early attachments study:
- tested attachment using seperation anxiety with these ‘attachment’ figures.
Just because a baby gets distressed when an individual leaves the room does not necessarily mean that the individual is a ‘true’ attachment figure.
Bowlby (1969) pointed out that children have playmates as well as attachment figures and may get distressed when a playmate leaves the room but this does not signify attachment.
This is a problem for Schaffer and Emerson’s stages because their observation does not leave us a way to distinguish between behaviour shown towards secondary attachment figures and shown towards playmates.
A03
Extra evaluation - negative + positive
Schaffer and Emerson used limited behavioural measures of attachment
Page 77
Schaffer and Emerson used simple behaviours - stranger anxiety and separation anxiety - to define attachment. Some critics believe these are too narrow as measurements of attachment. That attachment is more complex than just two behaviours and that therefore these measures are not valid.
However, It is a strength that Schaffer and Emerson used the measures of attachment they did. Stranger anxiety and separation anxiety are easy to observe.
This makes it possible to be objective about judgements of attachment.
It also means that there should be good inter-rater reliability – two or more observers will probably agree on the attachment status of any child they observe.
A03
SCHAFFER’S STAGES OF ATTACHMENT
Recap: Attachement stage 1
Page 76
Stage I: Asocial stage (first few weeks)
The baby is recognising and forming bonds with its carers. The baby’s behaviour towards objects and humans is quite similar. but they show some preference for familiar adults since those individuals find it easier to calm them. Babies are also happier when in the presence of other humans. (This is not really an asocial stage even though Schaffer and Emerson used that term).
A01
SCHAFFER’S STAGES OF ATTACHMENT
Recap attachment stage 2
Page 76
Stage 2: Indiscriminate attachment
From 2-7 months babies display more observable social behaviour. They show a preference for people rather than inanimate objects, and recognise and prefer familiar adults. At this stage babies usually accept cuddles and comfort from any adult, and they do not usually show separation anxiety or stranger anxiety. Their attachment behaviour is therefore said to be indiscriminate because it is not different towards any one person.
A01
SCHAFFER’S STAGES OF ATTACHMENT
Recap: attachment stage 3
Page 76
Stage 3: Specific attachment
From around 7 months the majority of babies start to display anxiety towards strangers and to become anxious when separated from one particular adult (their biological mother in 65% of cases). At this point the baby is said to have formed a specific attachment. This adult is termed the primary attachment figure. This person is not necessarily the person the child spends most time with but the one who offers the most interaction and responds to the baby’s ‘signals’ with the most skill.
A01
SCHAFFER’S STAGES OF ATTACHMENT
Recap Attachment: stage 4
Page 76
mention schaffer and emerson
Stage 4: Multiple attachments
Babies shorty after start to show attachment behaviour towards one adult. They usually extend this attachment behaviour to multiple attachments with other adults with whom they regularly spend time with. These relationships are called secondary attachments.
In Schaffer and Emerson’s study, 29% of the children had secondary attachments within a month of forming a primary (specific) attachment. By the age of about one years old the majority of infants had developed multiple attachments.
A01
What are animal studies?
Page 78
Studies carried out on non-human animal species rather than on humans, either for ethical or practical reasons.
A01
- practical because animals breed faster and researchers are interested in seeing results across more than one generation of animals.
What is imprinting?
Page 78
Talk about Lorenz methods + findings
Imprinting - whereby bird species that are mobile from birth (like geese and ducks) attach to and follow the first moving object they see. Lorenz identified a critical period in which imprinting needs to take place. Depending on the species this can be as brief as a few hours after hatching (or birth). If imprinting does not occur within that time Lorenz found that chicks did not attach themselves to a mother figure.
Procedure:
Lorenz set up a classic experiment in which he randomly divided a clutch of goose eggs. Half the eggs were hatched with the mother goose in their natural environment. The other half hatched in an incubator where the first moving object they saw was Lorenz.
Findings: The incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere whereas the control group (hatched in the presence of their mother) followed her. When the two groups were mixed up the control group continued to follow the mother and the experimental group followed Lorenz.
A01
What is sexual imprinting?
Page 78
Talk about a case study showing an example of this
Lorenz also investigated the relationship between imprinting and adult mate preferences. He observed that birds that imprinted on a human would often later display courtship behaviour towards humans.
In a case study Lorenz (1952) described a peacock that had been reared in the reptile house of a zoo where the first moving objects the peacock saw after hatching were giant tortoises. As an adult this bird would only direct courtship behaviour towards giant tortoises (like show its feathers to them rather then other peacocks). Lorenz concluded that this meant he had undergone sexual imprinting.
A01
(contact comfort)
What was Harry Harlow’s animal study?
Page 78
talk about the procedure + findings
Harlow worked with rhesus monkeys, which are much more similar to humans than Lorenz’s birds. Harlow observed that newborns kept alone in a bare cage usually died but that they usually survived if given something soft like a cloth to cuddle.
Procedure:
Harlow (1958) tested the idea that a soft object serves some of the functions of a mother. In one experiment he reared 16 baby monkeys with two wire model ‘mothers’.
In one condition milk was dispensed by the plain wire mother whereas in a second condition the milk was dispensed by the cloth-covered mother.
Findings:
It was found that the baby monkeys cuddled the soft object in preference to the wire one and sought comfort from the cloth one when frightened regardless of which dispensed milk. This showed that ‘contact comfort’ was of more importance to the monkeys than food when it came to attachment behaviour.
A01
Talk through Harlows findings into maternal deprivation.
Page 78
Harlow et al followed the monkeys who had been deprived of a ‘real’ mother into adulthood - to see if early maternal deprivation had a permanent effect. They found severe consequences.
The monkeys reared with wire mothers only were the most dysfunctional; however, even those reared with a soft toy as a substitute did not develop normal social behaviour. They were more aggressive and less sociable than other monkeys and they bred less often than is typical for monkeys, being unskilled at mating.
As mothers some of the deprived monkeys neglected their young and others attacked their children, even killing them in some cases.
A01
What did Harlow conclude the critical period for development was?
Page 78
(In which after this time attachment becomes impossible)
Harlow concluded that there was a critical period for this behaviour - a mother figure had to be introduced to an infant monkey within 90 days for an attachment to form.
After this time attachment was impossible and the damage done by early deprivation becomes irreversible.
A01
negative evaluation
What is the problem with generalising Lorenz’s research of bird imprinting to human attachment?
Page 79
Although some of his findings have influenced our understanding of human development, there is a problem in generalising from findings on birds to humans.
The mammalian attachment system is quite different from that in birds. e.g, mammalian mothers show more emotional attachment to their young than birds do.
This means that it is not appropriate to try to generalise any of Lorenz’s ideas to humans.
A03
negative evaluation
What of Lorenz’s research has been questioned by other late researchers?
Page 79
The idea that imprinting has a permanent effect on mating behaviour.
Guiton et al. (1966) found that chickens imprinted on yellow washing up gloves would try to mate with them as adults (as Lorenz would have predicted), but that with experience they eventually learned to prefer mating with other chickens.
This suggests that the impact of imprinting on mating behaviour is not as permanent as Lorenz believed.
A03
Positive evaluation
What importance has Harlow had on attachment theories?
Page 79
Harlow showed that attachment does not develop as the result of being fed by a mother figure but as a result of contact comfort.
He also showed the importance of the quality of early relationships for later social development, e.g the ability to have adult relationships and successfully raise children.
A03
Positive evaluation
What is the practical value to understanding attachment?
Page 79
due to Harlow’s research
The insight into attachment from Harlow’s research has had important applications in a range of practical contexts. e.g, it has helped social workers understand risk factors in child neglect and abuse and so intervene to prevent it (Howe 1998).
Of course these findings are also important in the care of captive monkeys; we now understand the importance of proper attachment figures for baby monkeys in zoos and also in breeding programmes in the wild.
A03
negative evaluation (add a positive counterpoint too)
What are some of the ethical issues with Harlow’s research?
Page 79
(mother-infant attachment using baby monkeys)
Harlow faced severe criticism for the ethics of his research. The monkeys suffered greatly as a result of Harlow’s procedures. This species is considered similar enough to humans to be able to generalise the findings, which also means that their suffering was presumably quite human-like. Harlow himself was well aware of the suffering he caused - Harlow referred to the wire mothers as ‘iron maidens’ after a medieval torture device.
A03
The counter-argument is that Harlow’s research was sufficiently important to justify the effects.
Evaluation extra- positive + negative
Can Harlow’s findings really be applied to humans?
Page 79
Monkeys are similar in some ways to humans. They are primates, and it is likely that attachment works in a similar way in all primates.
On the other hand, there are also key differences between humans and monkeys. Humans have much larger brains and are psychologically more complex. Humans can make conscious decisions about social interactions to a much greater extent than monkeys.
The major argument against applying animal studies of attachment to humans is one of generalisability; we simply don’t know how similar attachment is in humans and monkeys.
The major argument for applying animal studies is that we can have tight control over the conditions in animal studies; in humans we can only study existing cases of deprivation, not create those conditions for an experiment.
A03
Although monkeys are clearly much more similar to humans than Lorenz’s geese, they are not human. Psychologists disagree on the extent to which studies of non-human primates can be generalised to humans.
What is learning theory?
Page 80
A group of explanations for how people learn and apply that knowledge. (including Classical conditioning and Operant conditioning)
A01
What is the ‘cupboard love’ approach?
Page 80
Learning theorists John Dollard and Neal Miller (1950) proposed that caregiver-infant attachment can be explained by learning theory.
Their approach is sometimes called a ‘cupboard love’ approach because it emphasises the importance of the caregiver as a provider of food. Put simply they proposed that children learn to love whoever feeds them.
A01
What is classical conditioning?
Page 80
Involves learning to associate two stimuli together so that we begin to respond to one in the same way we already respond to the other.
For attachment:
Food serves as an unconditioned stimulus. It is an unconditioned response (because it gives us pleasure).
A caregiver starts as a neutral stimulus (something that produces a neutral response). But when the same person provides the food over time they become associated with ‘food’
(when the baby sees this person again there is an immediate expectation for food.)
The neutral stimulus has become a conditioned stimulus. So that once conditioning has taken place the sight of the caregiver will keep producing a conditioned response of pleasure.
A01
What is operant conditioning?
Page 80
Involves learning from the consequences of behaviour.
There are 3 types of consequences for behaviour :
- Positive Reinforcement
- Negative Reinforcement
- Punishment
If behaviour produces a pleasant consequence , the behaviour is likely to be repeated again. The behaviour is said to be reinforced. If a behaviour produces an unpleasant consequence (punishment) it is less likely to be repeated.
In the context of attachment, this means that an infant learns to repeat behaviours which lead to positive outcomes.
A01
Attachment
Give a case study which portrays operant conditioning
Skinner (then talk about it)
An example of operant conditioning is the research of Skinner (1938). Skinner’s experiments involved putting animals, such as rats and pigeons, in cages.
In one variation of the experiment, pressing the response lever caused food to come out of the food dispenser. The rat quickly learned this consequence and so would repeat the behaviour to get more food. This is an example of positive reinforcement.
Another variation of the experiment demonstrated learning through negative reinforcement. In this set up, an electrified grid would cause pain to the rat but pressing the response lever would turn the grid off. Similar to the other experiment, the rats quickly learned to go straight to the response lever when placed in the box.
These experiments demonstrated how learning through positive and negative reinforcement increases the chances of a behaviour being repeated.
A01
What is attachment as a secondary drive?
Page 80
Talk about Robert Sears et al (1957), for how this effects infant attachment
Drive Reduction - an animal is motivated to act in order to satisfy biological needs; once satisfied, the result is drive reduction.
Primary Drive - innate drives such as for food and water.
Secondary Drive- learned drives (motivators) acquired through association with a primary drive, such as money that enables primary drives to be satisfied.
Robert Sears et al. (1957):
When caregivers provide food, the primary drive of hunger becomes generalised to the baby
Attachment is a secondary drive, learned by association
As the caregiver satisfies their primary drives, the baby will become attached
A01
Conter-evidence from the animal studies on the cupboard love ideology
Page 81
Lorenz’s and Harlows
A range of animal studies has shown that actually young animals do not necessarily attach to (or imprint on) those who feed them.
Lorenz’s geese (page 78) imprinted before they were fed and maintained these attachments regardless of who fed them. Harlow’s monkeys attached to a soft surrogate in preference to a wire one that dispensed milk.
In both these animal studies it is clear that attachment does not develop as a result of feeding. The same must be true for humans, after all, learning theorists believed that non-human animals and humans were equivalent (the same in this aspect).
A03
Attachment- negative evaluation
Human Counter evidence from John Dollard and Neal Miller propersition of the learning theory, cupboard love.
Page 81
proposing that children learn to love whoever feeds them!
Research with babies shows that feeding does not appear to be an important factor in humans. e.g, Schaffer and Emerson’s study (page 78) Where many of the babies developed a primary attachment to their biological mother even though other carers did most of the feeding.
These findings are a problem for learning theory as they show that feeding is not the key element to attachment and so there is no unconditioned stimulus or primary drive involved.
A03
unconditioned stimulus= naturally and automatically triggers a response without prior learning or conditioning. e.g a loud sound might cause a startled response.
Primary drive= basic biological need for things such as food and water, sex and sleep.
Negative evaluation- mention Isabella et al’s study
Develop on how the learning theory of ‘cupboard love’ fails to acknowledge other factors associated with attachment
Page 81
Research into early infant-caregiver interaction suggests that the quality of attachment is associated with factors like developing reciprocity and good levels of interactional synchrony (e.g. Isabella et al. 1989 - see page 74).
In addition, studies have shown that the best quality attachments are with sensitive carers that pick up infant signals and respond appropriately.
These findings don’t fit with the idea of ‘cupboard love’. If attachment developes purely as a result of feeding, there would be no purpose for complex interactions.
A03
cupboard love= children learn to love whoever feeds them.
Isabella et al’s study: observed 30 mothers and infants together and assessed the degree of synchrony. found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better emotional intensity in the relationship of the mother-infant attachment.
Evaluation Extra (positive+negative) critisism of Learning Theory
What element of learning theory could be still valuable for infant-caregiver attachment explanation?
Page 81
Some elements of conditioning could still be involved.
As a whole, learning theory is not a good explanation for infant-caregiver attachment. However, we do believe that many aspects of human development are affected by conditioning.
The problem with Learning theory is the idea that feeding provides the unconditioned stimulus, reinforcement or primary drive.
But classical conditioning is still credible. Comfort and social interaction is part of what builds the attachment.
e.g, early in the development of attachment, the primary attachment figure could be chosen by reinforcement – they are the one that provides the most comfort (negative reinforcement) and engages most with pleasurable interaction (positive reinforcement).
We could also see attachment as a primary drive rather than a secondary one; then drive reduction doesn’t seem so silly.
A03 edit this info
primary: fundemental need/want for things like food or water
secondary: things that enables the primary drive to be satisfied e.g money
Evaluation Extra
What is Dale Hay and Jo Vespo’s newer learning theory explanation? ‘social learning theory’
Page 81
For infant and care-giver attachment
Dale Hay and Jo Vespo (1988) proposed a newer explanation for infant-caregiver attachment based on social learning theory.
The idea that social behaviour is acquired largely as a result of modelling and imitation of behaviour.
They suggest that parents teach children to love them by modelling attachment behaviour, e.g. hugging them, and instructing and rewarding them with approval when they display attachment behaviour of their own; e.g ‘that’s a lovely smile’.
Social learning theory is more credible than earlier learning theories as explanations of attachment because the processes of modelling, instruction and reward can all be observed taking place in families.
However, social learning theory still cannot explain the importance & complexity of early interactions involving synchrony and reciprocity. Therefore social learning theory is not the dominant theory of attachment.
A03
Monotropic definition:
Page 82
Monotropic - That one specific attachment is different from the others, and of central importance to that child’s development.
A01
A term sometimes used to describe Bowlby’s theory
Internal working models definition:
Page 82
The mental representations we carry of our attachment to our primary caregiver. They are important in affecting our future relationships because they carry our perception of what relationships are like.
A01
critical period definition:
Page 82
Critical period - This refers to the time within which an attachment must form if it is to form at all.
A01
Lorenz and Harlow noted that attachment in birds and monkeys had critical periods. Bowlby extended the idea to humans, proposing that human infants also have a sensitive period after which it will be much more difficult to form an attachment.
What was Bowlby’s monotropic theory?
Page 82
How did it stem from his rejection of ‘cupboard love’?
John Bowlby rejected learning theory as an explanation for attachment because, ‘were it true, an infant of a year or two should take readily to whomever feeds him and this is clearly not the case’.
He looked into the work of Lorenz and Harlow for ideas and proposed an evolutionary explanation:
That attachment was an innate system that gave a survival advantages. Imprinting and attachment evolved because they ensure that young animals stay close to their caregivers and this protects them from hazards. Millions of years ago this might have been wild animals, today it is traffic and electricity.
A01
Innate system= a defence system you are born with
Attachment: (monotropic). explanation of attachment, Bowlby’s theory.
Expand on Monotopy
Page 82
Bowlby’s theory, what were his 2 principles?
Bowlby’s theory (1958 - 1969) is described as monotropic because he emphasied on a child’s attachment to one particular caregiver.
He believed that the child’s attachment to this one caregiver is different and more important than others.
Bowlby called this person the ‘mother’ but was clear that it need not be the biological mother. Bowly believed that the more time a baby spent with this mother-figure/ primary attachment figure - the better their attachment.
He put forward two principles to clarify this:
* The law of continuity: The more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better the quality of their attachment.
* The law of accumulated separation: The effects of every separation from the mother add up and the safest dose is therefore a zero dose’. (page 255).
A01
Expand on Bowlby’s explanation for social releasers and the critical period.
Page 82
Bowlby suggested that babies are born with a set of innate ‘cute’ behaviours like smiling, cooing and gripping that encourage attention from adults. He called these social releasers because their purpose is to activate the adult attachment system, i.e. make an adult feel love towards the baby.
Bowlby recognised that attachment was a reciprocal process. Both mother and baby have an innate predisposition to become attached and social releasers trigger that response in caregivers.
The interplay between infant and adult attachment systems gradually builds the relationship between infant and caregiver.
Beginning in the early weeks of life (page 88). Bowlby proposed that there is a critical period around two years when the infant attachment system is active. In fact Bowlby viewed this as more of a sensitive period. A child is maximally sensitive at the age of two but, if an attachment is not formed in this time, a child will find it much harder to form one later.
A01
predisposition= If you’re predisposed to something, you’re heading in that direction already - you already have a tendency to develop it.
interplay= the way in which two or more things have an effect on each other.
Attachment
Expand on the Internal working model
Page 82
Bowlby’s theory
Bowlby proposed that a child forms a mental representation of their relationship with their primary caregiver.
This is called an internal working model because it serves as a model for what relationships are like.
It therefore has a powerful effect on the nature of the child’s future relationships.
e.g A child whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver will tend to form an expectation that all relationships are as loving and reliable, and they will bring these qualities to future relationships.
However, a child whose first relationship involves poor treatment will tend to form further poor relationships in which they expect such treatment from others or treat others in that way.
Most importantly the internal working model affects the child’s later ability to be a parent themselves. People tend to base their parenting behaviour on their own experiences of being parented. (This explains why children from functional families tend to have similar families themselves.)
A01
negative evaluation
What counters Bowlby’s monotropy theory?
Page 83
Bowlby believed that babies generally formed one attachment to their primary caregiver, and that this attachment was special, in some way different from later attachments. Only after this attachment was established could a child form multiple attachments.
This is not supported by Schaffer and Emerson- ‘investigating the formation of early attachments’ study (1964). (page 76) who found that most babies did attach to one person first. but also a significant minority appeared able to form multiple attachments at the same time.
Studies of mother & father attachment tend to show that attachment to the mother is more important in predicting later behaviour (e.g. Suess et al. 1992). (However, this could simply mean that attachment to the primary attachment figure is just stronger than other attachments, not necessarily that it is different in quality.)
A03
positive evaluation
What evidence supports social releasers?
Page 83
Bowlby’s theory
There is clear evidence to show that cute infant behaviours are intended to initiate social interaction and that doing so is important to the baby.
Brazleton et al. (1975) observed mothers and babies during their interactions, reporting the existence of interactional synchrony. They then extended the study from an observation to an experiment.
Primary attachment figures were instructed to ignore their babies’ signals - in Bowly’s terms, to ignore their social releasers. The babies initially showed some distress but, when the attachment figures continued to ignore the baby, some responded by curling up and lying motionless.
The fact that the children responded so strongly supports Bowlby’s ideas about the significance of infant social behaviour in evoking caregiving.
A03
Attachment ‘Bowlby’s theory’ positive evaluation
What evidence supports the Internal working models?
Page 83
The idea of internal working models is testable because it predicts that patterns of attachment will be passed on from one generation to the next.
Bailey et al. (2007) tested this idea. They assessed 99 mothers with one-year-old babies on the quality of their attachment to their own mothers using a standard interview procedure. The researchers also assessed the attachment of the babies to the mothers by observation.
It was found that the mothers who reported poor attachments to their own parents in the interviews were much more likely to have children classified as poor according to the observations.
This supports the idea that, as Bowly said, an internal working model of attachment was being passed through the families.
A03
Extra evaluation
Why is Monotropy a controversial idea?
Page 83
Because it has major implications for the lifestyle choices mothers make when their children are young. The law of accumulated separation states that having substantial time apart from a primary attachment figure risks a poor quality attachment that will disadvantage the child in a range of ways later.
Feminists like Erica Burman
(1994) have pointed out that this places a terrible burden of responsibility on mothers, setting them up to take the blame for anything that goes wrong in the rest of the child’s life. It also pushes mothers into particular lifestyle choices like not returning to work when a child is born. This was not Bowlby’s intention - he saw himself as boosting the status of mothers by emphasising the importance of their role.
A03
Before Bowlby’s time people didn’t think the mother’s role was important and, in fact, many divorces were settled in favour of the father because mothers were not regarded as necessary.
There is an interesting debate about whether this is a limitation of the theory. The inconvenience of an idea does not make it wrong! However, researchers do need to be very careful about promoting an idea that is likely to have negative social consequences.
Extra evaluation Attachment. bowlby’s theory evaluation
Why might temperament be just as important as the role of attachment?
Page 83
positive + negative
Temperament is a child’s genetically influenced personality.
e.g, temperament researchers suggest that some babies are more anxious than others and some more sociable than others as a result of their genetic makeup (Kagan 1982).
These temperamental differences explain later social behaviour rather than attachment experiences.
Temperament researchers often accuse Bowlby of over-emphasising the importance of a child’s early experiences + quality of their attachment.
Temperament research is a problem for attachment researchers because it provides a credible alternative explanation for many of their observations. e.g, temperament can explain why some babies show much more stranger anxiety and separation anxiety than others.
However, temperament cannot explain the importance of responding to early interactions (reciprocity) in developing good quality attachments so there is clearly a place for both attachment and temperament in developmental psychology.
A03
Stranger situation definition:
Page 84
A controlled observation designed to test attachment security.
Infants are assessed on their response while playing in an unfamiliar room, being left alone, left with a stranger and being reunited with a caregiver.
A01
Secure attachment definition:
Page 84
Generally thought of as the most desirable attachment type, associated with psychologically healthy outcomes.
A01
In the Strange Situation procedure, this is shown by moderate stranger and separation anxiety and ease of comfort at reunion.
Insecure-avoidant attachment definition:
Page 84
Low anxiety but weak attachment.
A01
In the Strange Situation procedure this is shown by low stranger + separation anxiety + little response to reunion (an avoidance by the caregiver).
Insecure-resistant attachment definition
Page 84
Strong attachment and high anxiety.
A01
In the Strange Situation this is shown by high levels of stranger + separation anxiety + resistance to be comforted at reunion.
Attachment
Talk through The Strange Situation Procedure
Page 84
The Strange Situation was developed by Mary Ainsworth (1969): The aim was to be able to observe key attachment behaviours as a means of assessing the quality of a child’s attachment to a caregiver.
Procedure:
The Strange Situation is a controlled observation procedure designed to measure the security of attachment a child displays towards a caregiver. It takes place in a room with rather controlled conditions (i.e. a laboratory) with a two-way mirror through which psychologists can observe the infant’s behaviour.
The behaviours used to judge attachment included:
* Proximity seeking: an infant with a good attachment will stay fairly close to the caregiver.
* Exploration and secure-base behaviour: good attachment enables a child to feel confident to explore, using their caregiver as a secure base, i.e. a point of contact that will make them feel safe.
* Stranger anxiety: one of the signs of becoming closely attached is a display of anxiety when a stranger approaches.
* Separation anxiety: another sign of becoming attached is to protest at separation from the caregiver.
* Response to reunion: with the caregiver after separation for a short period of time under controlled conditions.
(The procedure has seven episodes, each of which last three minutes.)
Beginning: Child and caregiver enter an unfamiliar playroom.
- The child is encouraged to explore. (Tests exploration and secure base.)
- A stranger comes in and tries to interact with the child. (Tests stranger anxiety.)
- The caregiver leaves the child and stranger together. (Tests separation and stranger anxiety.)
- The caregiver returns and the stranger leaves. (Tests reunion behaviour and exploration/ secure base.)
- The caregiver leaves the child alone. (Tests separation anxiety.)
- The stranger returns. (Tests stranger anxiety.)
- The caregiver returns and is reunited with the child. (Tests reunion behaviour.)
A01
Talk through The Strange Situation Findings.
Page 84
Ainsworth et al. (1978) found that there were distinct patterns in the way that infants behaved. She identified three main types of attachment:
* Secure attachment (Type B). These children explore happily but regularly go back to their caregiver (proximity seeking and secure base behaviour). They usually show moderate separation distress and moderate stranger anxiety. Securely attached children require and accept comfort from the caregiver in the reunion stage (when they see eachother again after the attachment figure had left the room). (About 60-75% of British toddlers are classified as secure)
* Insecure-avoidant attachment (Type A). These children explore freely but do not seek proximity or show secure base behaviour. They show little or no reaction when their caregiver leaves and they make little effort to make contact when the caregiver returns.
* They also show little stranger anxiety. They do not require comfort at the reunion stage.
(About 20-25% of toddlers are classified as insecure-avoidant.)
* Insecure-resistant attachment (Type C). These children seek greater proximity than others and so explore less. They show huge stranger and separation distress but they resist comfort when reunited with their carer. (Around 3% of British toddlers are classified as insecure-resistant.)
A01
Attachment
Clarify in little detail needed the aim, procedure and findings of The Stranger Situation experiment.
Page 84
Aim- observe key attachment behaviours as a means of assessing the quality of a child’s attachment to a caregiver.
procedure: Controlled observation, labatory.
The behaviours used to judge attachment included:
* Proximity seeking
* Exploration and secure-base behaviour
* stranger anxiety
* seperation anxiety
* response to reunion
The procedure had 7 episodes all of which lasted 3 minutes.
Findings:
Secure attachment (Type B)
Insecure-avoidant attachment (Type A)
Insecure-resistant attachment (Type C)
A01
Positive Evaluation- validating the ‘Strange Situation’ experiment
How do the attachment types help predict later development? (give examples for Type B and C ).
Page 85
real-life evidence for the attachment types
Attachment type - defined by the ‘Strange Situation’ (the study) is strongly predictive of later development. Babies assessed as secure typically go on to have better outcomes in many areas, ranging from success at school to romantic relationships and friendships in adulthood.
Insecure-resistant attachment is associated with the worst outcomes including bullying in later childhood (Kokkinos 2007) and adult mental health problems (Ward et al. 2006).
This is evidence for the validity of the concept because it can explain the following outcomes.
A03
Positive evaluation
Why does ‘The Stranger Situation’ study have good reliability?
Page 85
The Strange Situation shows very good inter-rater reliability, In other words different observers watching the same children in the Strange Situation generally agree on what attachment type to classify them with.
This may be because the Strange Situation takes place under controlled conditions and because the behavioural categories are easy to observe.
In a recent study Bick et al. (2012) looked at inter-rater reliability in a team of trained Strange Situation observers and found agreement on attachment type for 94% of tested babies.
This means we can be confident that the attachment type of an infant identified in the Strange Situation does not just depend on who is observing them.
A03
Inter-rater reliability refers to the degree of agreement or consistency between two or more raters or evaluators who are assessing the same phenomenon, behavior, or event.
Negative evaluation
Why might The Stranger Situation test be culture-bound? What did Takahashi note?
Page 85
Culture-bound: Something that is strongly influenced or shaped by the particular culture in which it exists
Cultural differences in childhood experiences are likely to mean that children respond differently to the Strange Situation. Second, caregivers from different cultures behave differently in the Strange Situation.
e.g Takahashi (1990) has noted that the test does not really work in Japan because Japanese mothers are so rarely separated from their babies that, as we would expect, there are very high levels of separation anxiety. Also in the reunion stage Japanese mothers rushed to the baby and scooped them up, meaning the child’s response was hard to observe.
A03
extra evaluation- negative evaluation
Why might The Strange Situation not be valid due to measuring the wrong thing?
Page 85
There is no doubt that the Strange Situation measures a child’s responses to the anxiety produced by being in an unfamiliar environment.
However, what is more controversial is whether the main influence on this anxiety is attachment, as Ainsworth assumed. or temperament as Jerome Kagan says.
The temperment of the child, is more important as an influence on behaviour in the Strange Situation than attachment. It means that temperament may be a confounding variable.
The Strange Situation is meant to assess attachment behaviour. If, however, the behaviour it measures is also affected by temperament then it does not purely measure attachment, and so its validity is not good.
(How much of a problem this would be depends on how big an effect temperament has on behaviour in the Strange Situation.)
A03
confounding variable= An external factor or variable that influences both the IV and DV that is not accounted for.
Extra evaluation- negative evaluation
What is the 4th attachment type which Ainsworth did not realize?
Page 85
Ainsworth conceived of 3 attachment types: insecure-avoidant, secure and insecure-resistant.
However Main and Solomon (1986) pointed out that a minority of children display atypical attachments that do not fall within types A, B or C behaviour.
This atypical attachment is commonly known as disorganised attachment.
Disorganised children display an odd mix of resistant and avoidant behaviours.
The existence of other attachment types does not necessarily challenge the Strange Situation as long as it can still assess those types. However, it is a problem for Ainsworth’s theory of attachment types as she only identified three types. It is now widely accepted amongst attachment researchers that there are at least four attachment types.
A03
These four can be identified using the Strange Situation.
Cultural variations definition:
Page 86
Cultural variations are the differences in norms and values that exist between people in different groups.
A01
In attachment research, we focus on the differences in the percentages of children who exhibit different attachment styles
Talk about Marinus van Izendoorn’s cultural variation study
Page 86
Findings + procedure
Marinus van Izendoorn and Pieter Kroonenberg (1988) conducted a study to look at the proportions of secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant attachments across a range of countries. They also looked at the differences within the same countries to get an idea of variations within a culture.
Procedures: The researchers located 32 studies of attachment where the Strange Situation had been used to investigate the proportions of infants with different attachment types. These 32 studies were conducted in eight countries; 15 were in the USA.
Overall the 32 studies yielded results for 1,990 children. The data for these 32 studies were meta-analysed, results being combined and weighted for sample size.
Findings: There was wide variation between the proportions of attachment types in different studies. In all countries secure attachment was the most common classification. (However the proportion varied from 75% in Britain to 50% in China.) Insecure-resistant was overall the least common type (although the proportions ranged from 3% in Britain to around 30% in Israel.) Insecure-avoidant attachments were observed most commonly in Germany and least commonly in Japan.
(The USA was found to have the biggest difference in studies. One study found that only 46% of children were securely attached, while another study found that 90% were securely attached. This is quite a gap compared to other studies done in other countries testing this. )
A01
Meta-analysed= to combine the results of multiple studies on the same topic to get a more comprehensive understanding of a particular research question
Talk about the Italian cultural variation study
Page 86
Simonella et al. (2014) conducted a study in Italy to see whether the proportions of babies of different attachment types still matches those found in previous studies.
The researchers assessed 76, 12-month olds using the Strange Situation.
They found 50% were secure, with 36% insecure-avoidant. This is a lower rate of secure attachment than has been found in many other studies. The researchers suggest this is because increasing numbers of mothers of very young children work long hours and use professional childcare.
These findings suggest that cultural changes can make a dramatic difference to patterns of secure and insecure attachment.
A01
Talk about the korean cultural variation study
Page 86
Jin et al. (2012) conducted a study to compare the proportions of attachment types in Korea to other studies. The Strange Situation was used to assess 87 children.
The overall proportions of insecure and secure babies were similar to those in most countries, with most infants being secure.
(Out of all the children who were classified as insecurely attached, only one of them displayed the avoidant attachment style.)
This distribution is similar to the distribution of attachment types found in Japan (van Izendoorn and Kroonenberg 1988).
The explanation could be that Japan and Korea have quite similar child-rearing styles.
A01
What can be concluded from looking at different cultural variational studies?
Page 86
Secure attachment seems to be the norm in a wide range of cultures, supporting Bowlby’s idea that attachment is innate (given to you since birth/ biological) and is the universal norm.
However, the research also clearly shows that cultural practices have an influence on attachment type.
A01
Attachment- cultural variations. positive evaluation.
Why is large samples a strength of Attachment studies carried out in different countries?
Page 87
A strength of combining the results of attachment studies carried out in different countries is that you can end up with a very large sample.
e.g, in the van lizendoorn meta-analysis there was a total of nearly 2000 babies and their primary attachment figures. Even studies like those of Simonella et al. and Jin et al. had large comparison groups from previous research, although their own samples were smaller.
This overall sample size is a strength because large samples increase internal validity by reducing the impact of anomalous results caused by bad methodology or very unusual participants.
A03
methodology= the procedures and designs used
Attachment- cultural variations. Negative evaluation
Why were the samples unrepresentative of culture?
Page 87
(for the cultural variations in attachment types study, done in e.g USA, Japan, Italy, Korea ect)
The meta-analysis by van lizendoorn and Kroonenberg claimed to study cultural variation whereas, in fact, the comparisons were between countries not cultures.
Within any country there are many different cultures each with different child-rearing practices.
[An analysis by van Uzendoorn and Sagi (2001) found that distributions of attachment type in Tokyo (an urban setting) were similar to the Western studies,
whereas a more rural sample had an over-representation of insecure-resistant individuals.]
This means that comparisons between countries (such as Italy or Korea) may have little meaning; the particular cultural characteristics (and thus the caregiving styles) of the sample need to be specified.
A03
Why might the methods of assesment be biased?
Page 87
(for the cultural variations in attachment types study, done in e.g USA, Japan, Italy, Korea, Germany ect)
Cross cultural psychology includes the ideas of etic and emic. Etic means cultural universals whilst emic means cultural uniqueness.
The Strange Situation was designed by an American researcher (Ainsworth) based on a British theory (Bowly’s). There is a question over whether Anglo-American theories and assessments can be applied to other cultures.
Trying to apply a theory or technique designed for one culture to another culture is known as imposed etic.
e.g In Germany this behaviour might be seen more as independence than avoidance and hence not a sign of insecurity within that cultural context (Grossmann and Grossmann 1990).
A03
Extra evaluation
What is an alternative explanation for cultural similarity?
Page 87
Bowlby’s explanation for cultural similarities is that attachment is innate and universal and thus produces the same kind of behaviours all over the world.
van Izendoorn and Kroonenberg proposed an alternative possibility:
That small cross-cultural differences may reflect the effects of the mass media, where a large number of books and TV programmes that advocate similar notions of parenting are spread across countries.
A03
There is broad similarity in attachment patterns in a range of cultural contexts suggests that attachment is universal, as Bowlby said.
There is also some variation, and Bowlby believed that the quality of attachment is influenced by the behaviour of the primary attachment figure towards the baby. So is also accounted for in his theory.
Extra Evaluation
Why does the Strange Situation lack validity?
Page 87
Since Kagan et al. (1986) suggested that attachment type is more related to temperament than to the relationship with the primary attachment figure. In which case would meam the Strange Situation is not assessing attachment it is simply measuring anxiety.
If the Strange Situation is affected by factors other than attachment then it lacks validity as a measurement tool.
A03
If the heart of this research into cultural variations has used the Strange Situation and it lacks validity, then all the findings of this research are called into question and we may actually know very little about cultural variation in attachment.
Maternal deprivation definition:
Page 88
The emotional + intellectual consequences of separation between a child and their mother (/mother substitute).
A01
Bowlby proposed that continuous care from a mother is essential for normal psychological development, and that prolonged separation from this adult causes serious damage to emotional and intellectual development.
What is John Bowbly’s theory of maternal deprivation?
Page 88
He focused on the idea that the continual presence of nurture from a mother (/mother-substitute) is essential for normal psychological development of babies and toddlers, both emotionally and intellectually.
Being separated from a mother in early childhood has serious consequences (maternal deprivation).
A01
Bowlby famously said that ‘mother-love in infancy and childhood is as important for mental health as are vitamins and proteins for physical health’ (Bowlby, 1953 p. 240).
What does separation, that can then turn into deprivation, have as an affect on attachment?
Page 88
Separation simply means the child not being in the presence of the primary attachment figure. This only becomes an issue for development if the child is deprived, i.e. they lose an element of her care. Brief separations, particularly where the child is with a substitute caregiver, are not significant for development but extended separations can lead to deprivation, which by definition causes harm.
A01
What did Bowlby say the critical period for psychological development is?
Page 88
first 30 months of life
A01
If a child is separated from their mother in the absence of suitable substitute care and so deprived of her emotional care for an extended period during this critical period then (Bowlby believed) psychological damage was inevitable.
What 2 types of effects on development did Bowlby suggest happens when a child is maternally deprived?
Page 88
Intellectual development: Bowly believed that if children were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period they would suffer delayed intellectual development, meaning abnormally low IQ. (This has been demonstrated in studies of adoption. e.g, Goldfarb (1947) found lower IQ in children who had remained in institutions as opposed to those who were fostered and thus had a higher standard of emotional care).
Emotional development: Bowlby identified affectionless psychopathy as the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion for others. This prevents the person developing normal relationships and is associated with criminality. Affectionless psychopaths cannot appreciate the feelings of victims and so lack remorse for their actions. - He believed this could happen if you’re deprived of a mother figures emotional care (making them emotionally deprived) .
A01
Talk about Bowlby’s 44 thieves study
Page 88
procedure + findings
This study examined the link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation.
Procedure: The sample in this study consisted of 44 criminal teenagers accused of stealing. All ‘thieves’ were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy: characterised as a lack of affection, lack of guilt about their actions and lack of empathy for their victims.
Their families were also interviewed in order to establish whether the ‘thieves’ had prolonged early separations from their mothers.
[A control group of non-criminal but emotionally disturbed young people was set up to see how often maternal separation/deprivation occurred in the children who were not thieves.]
=—————————–=
Findings: Bowlby (1944) found that 14 of the 44 thieves could be described as affectionless psychopaths. Of this 12/14 had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers in the first two years of their lives. In contrast only 5 of the remaining 30 ‘thieves’ had experienced separations.
[Of the control group, only 2 out of 44 had experienced long separations.]
It was concluded that prolonged early separation/ deprivation, caused affectionless psychopathy.
A01
Edit to make it make sense
Negative evaluation
Why may Bowlby’s evidence on maternal deprivation be poor?
Page 89
Bowlby drew on a number of sources of evidence for maternal deprivation including studies of children orphaned during WW2 who grew up in poor quality orphanages, and of course his 44 thieves study.
However, these are all flawed as evidence. War-orphans were traumatised and often had poor after-care, therefore these factors might have been the causes of later developmental difficulties rather than separation.
Similarly, children growing up from birth in poor quality institutions were deprived of many aspects of care, not just maternal care.
Furthermore the 44 thieves study had some major design flaws, most importantly bias; Bowly himself carried out the assessments for affectionless psychopathy and the family interviews, knowing what he hoped to find.
A03
negative evaluation- for the 44 thieves study
Counter-evidence for Bowlby’s theory on maternal deprivation:
Page 89
Hilda Lewis (1954):
partially replicated the 44 thieves study on a larger scale, looking at 500 young people. In her sample a history of early prolonged separation from the mother did not predict criminality or difficulty forming close relationships.
This is a problem for the theory of maternal deprivation because it suggests that other factors may affect the outcome of early maternal deprivation.
A03
Why is the ‘critical period’ actually more sensitive then Bowlby suggested?
Page 89
Bowlby used the term ‘critical period’ because he believed that prolonged separation inevitably caused damage if it took place within that period.
However, later research has shown that damage is not inevitable. Some cases of very severe deprivation have had good outcomes provided the child has some social interaction and good aftercare.
e.g, Jarmila Koluchová (1976) reported the case of twin boys from Czechoslovakia who were isolated from the age of 18 months until they were seven years old (their step-mother kept them locked in a cupboard).
Subsequently they were looked after by two loving adults and appeared to recover fully.
Cases like this show that the period identified by Bowly may be a ‘sensitive’ one but it cannot be critical.
A03
Extra Evaluation - positive evaluation.
Talk about an animal study which shows the effects of maternal deprivation (positive evaluation that it exists)
Page 89
Although most psychologists are very critical of the theory of maternal deprivation, an interesting line of research has provided some support for the idea that maternal deprivation can have long-term effects.
Levy et al. (2003) showed that separating baby rats from their mother for as little as a day had a permanent effect on their social development though not other aspects of development.
A03
Consistent with Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation, and suggests that separations from the primary attachment figure can have a significant effect on development.
(However, these results are not supported by human research into separation from the primary attachment figure, suggesting that this type of animal study is not generalisable. e.g Lewis (1954,) did not find that separation led to relationship difficulties.)
Extra Evaluation
What did Bowlby fail to distinguish between in his maternal deprivation theory?
Page 89
Michael Rutter (1981) claimed that, when Bowly talked of ‘deprivation’, he was muddling two concepts together. Rutter drew a distinction between deprivation, which really means the loss of the primary attachment figure after attachment has developed whereas,
privation is the failure to form any attachment in the first place.
Rutter claimed that the severe long-term damage Bowlby associated with deprivation is actually more likely to be the result of privation.
A03
Bowlby’s theory would be improved by making this distinction between deprivation and privation clear. He should have identified whether the children he studied were simply ‘deprived’ of emotional care in early childhood or whether they had not formed early attachments. Then he could see whether the consequences were different and reflect this in his theory.
Institutionalisation definition:
Page 90
A term for the effects of living in an institutional setting. The term ‘institution’ refers to a place like a hospital or an orphanage where children live for long, continuous periods of time.
A01
In such places there is often very little emotional care provided.
In attachment research - we are interested in the effects it has on children’s attachment and development.
What was Michael Rutter et al’s Romanian Orphan study?
Page 90
context + Procedure + findings
Context: In Romania in the 1990s.
Former President Nicolai Ceauçescu required Romanian women to have five children. Many Romanian parents could not afford to keep their children and the children ended up in huge orphanages in very poor conditions. After the 1989 revolution many of the children were adopted, some by British parents.
Rutter’s ERA (English and Romanian Adoptee) study.
=————=
Procedure: Michael Rutter and colleagues (2011) have followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain to test to what extent good care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions. Physical, cognitive and emotional development has been assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 years.
A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time have served as a control group.
=—————–=
Findings: When they first arrived in the UK half the adoptees showed signs of delayed intellectual development and the majority were severely undernourished. At age 11 the adopted children showed differential rates of recovery that were related to their age of adoption. The mean IQ of those children adopted before the age of six months was 102, compared with 86 for those adopted between six months and two years and 77 for those adopted after two years. These differences remained at age 16 (Beckett et al. 2010).
In terms of attachment, there appeared to be a difference in outcome related to whether adoption took place before or after six months. Those children adopted after they were six months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment.
Symptoms include attention seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults, both familiar and unfamiliar.
In contrast those children adopted before the age of six months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment.
A01
edit this
In conclusion, what are the effects of institutionalisation?
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Talk about Rutter’s explanation for disinhibited attachment
Disinhibited attachment is normal when you have spent most of your time in an institution. They are equally friendly and affectionate towards people they know well or who are strangers that they have just met. (This is highly unusual behaviour; when you remember that most children by the age of 2 show stranger anxiety.)
Rutter (2006) has explained disinhibited attachment as an adaptation to living with multiple caregivers during the sensitive period for attachment formation. In poor quality institutions like those in Romania a child might have 50 carers none of whom they see enough to form a secure attachment.
Mental retardation (suffering IQ): In Rutter’s study most children showed signs of retardation when they arrived in Britain. However, most of those adopted before they were six months old caught up with the control group by age four.
It appears that, like emotional development, damage to intellectual development as a result of institutionalisation can be recovered provided adoption takes place before the age of six months - the age at which attachments form (see Shaffer’s stages of attachment, page 76).
A01 EDITTT
disinhibited attachment: where children don’t discriminate between people they choose as attachment figures
retardation= incomplete development of the mind which contributes to the overall level of intelligence
Talk about The Bucharest Early Intervention project
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Procedure + findings
Procedure: Zeanah et al. (2005) assessed attachment in 95 children aged 12-31 months who had spent most of their lives in institutional care (90% on average).
They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution.
Their attachment type was measured using the Strange Situation. In addition carers were asked about unusual social behaviour including clingy, attention-seeking behaviour directed inappropriately at all adults (i.e. disinhibited attachment).
Findings: They found that 74% of the control group came out as securely attached in the Strange Situation. However, only 19% of the institutional group were securely attached, with 65% being classified with disorganised attachment.
The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of institutionalised children as opposed to less than 20% of the controls.
A01
Disinhibited attachment: where children don’t discriminate between people they choose as attachment figures
positive evaluation
What real-life application can be applied to help avoid disinhibited attachment with the knowledge from Michael Rutter et al’s Romanian Orphan study?
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Studying the Romanian orphans has enhanced our understanding of the effects of institutionalisation.
Such results have led to improvements in the way children are cared for in institutions (Langton 2006).
e.g, orphanages and children’s homes now avoid having large numbers of caregivers for each child and instead ensure that a much smaller number of people, perhaps only one or two people, play a central role for the child. This person is called a key worker. Having a key worker means that children have the chance to develop normal attachments and helps avoid disinhibited attachment.
This shows that such research has been immensely valuable in practical terms.
A03
negative evaluation- negative
Why may the Romanian orphanages study not be generalizable?
Page 91
Although much useful data about institutionalisation has come out of Romanian orphan studies, it is possible that conditions were so bad that results cannot be applied to understanding the impact of better quality institutional care or indeed any situation where children experience deprivation.
e.g, Romanian orphanages had particularly poor standards of care, especially when it came to forming any relationship with the children, and extremely low levels of intellectual stimulation.
This is a limitation of the Romanian orphan studies because the unusual situational variables means that the studies may after all lack generalisability.
A03
positive evaluation
Why was there Fewer extraneous variables in Michael Rutter’s et al Romanian Orphan study than other orphan studies?
Page 91
There were many orphan studies before the Romanian orphans became available to study but often these studies involved children who had experienced loss or trauma before they were institutionalised.
E.g, they may have experienced neglect, abuse or bereavement. These children were often traumatised by their experiences and suffered bereavement.
It was very hard to observe the effects of institutionalisation in isolation because the children were dealing with multiple factors which functioned as confounding participant variables.
In the case of Romanian orphans it has been possible to study institutionalisation without these confounding variables, which means the findings have increased internal validity.
A03
bereavement= the period of grief and mourning that follows the death of a loved one or other important person.
Extra evaluation- negative
What was the methological and ethical issues with Michael Rutter et al’s Romanian Orphan study?
Page 91
study: followed a group of 165
Romanian orphans adopted in Britain to test to what extent good care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions.
[A methological issue in the English and Romanian Adoptee project is that the researchers did not interfere with the adoption process, which means that children who were adopted adopted earlier may have been the more sociable, which is a confounding variable.]
To control these variables, another major investigation of fostering versus institutional care, used random allocation. In the Bucharest Early Intervention project, Romanian orphans were randomly allocated to institutional care or fostering. This is methodologically better because it removes the confounding variable of which children are chosen by parents.
Random allocation is a methodological strength as it increases the validity of results by eliminating the confounding variable of which children are chosen for fostering or adoption.
However, it raises an ethical issue because some children who would have been fostered had they been available had this opportunity removed. Harm to those children would have been the inevitable result. It is not ethical to allocate participants to experimental conditions which you know are likely to cause harm.
A03 EDITTTT
Such criticism does not challenge the findings of this study but are a criticism of the researcher for treating the humans in this study as if they were ‘lab rats’.
Extra evaluation- negative
Why are the long-term effects not yet clear for studies done on the effects of institutionalisation?
Page 91
After Rutter’s study and others learning about the effects of institutionalisation, they followed up these orphans into their mid-teens and found some lasting effects from their early experiences, in particular those who were adopted late. However, it is too soon to say with certainty whether children suffered short- or long-term effects.
It may be that the children who spent longer in institutions and currently lag behind in intellectual development or display attachment difficulties may still ‘catch up’ as adults. Equally, early-adopted/ fostered children who appear to have no issues now may experience emotional problems as adults.
Only when participants have been followed up for their entire lives will we have a good idea what the very long-term effects might be. So for the moment any conclusions have to be tentative because these children may well catch up and lead fairly ‘normal’ lives.
A03
Childhood relationships definition:
Page 92
Affiliations with other people in childhood, including friends and classmates, and adults such as teachers.
A01
Adult relationships definition:
Page 92
the relationships the child goes on to have later in life as an adult. These include friendships and working relationships but most critically relationships with romantic partners and that person’s own children.
A01
Internal working models definition:
Page 92
The mental representations we all carry of our attachment to our primary caregiver. They are important in affecting our future relationships because they carry our perception of what relationships are like.
A01
How does The Internal Working model influence later relationships?
Page 92
(On page 82 we discussed the formation of the internal working model)
John Bowlby (1969) suggested that a child having their first relationship with their primary attachment figure forms a mental representation of this relationship.
This internal working model acts as a template for future relationships.
The quality of the child’s first attachment is crucial because this template will powerfully affect the nature of their future relationships.
A child whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver will tend to assume that this is how relationships are meant to be.
They will then seek out functional relationships and behave functionally within them, i.e. without either being too uninvolved or being too emotionally close (which would be type A behaviour) or being controlling and argumentative (type C behaviour).
A child with bad experiences of their first attachment will bring these bad experiences to bear on later relationships. This may mean they struggle to form relationships in the first place or they may not behave appropriately when they have them, displaying type A or C behaviour towards friends and partners.
A01
type A= Insecure-attachment
type B= secure
Type C= Insecure-resistant
Explain Relationships in later childhood from the influence of early attachment
Page 92
Attachment type is associated with the quality of peer relationships in childhood. Securely attached infants tend to go on to form the best quality childhood friendships whereas insecurely attached infants later have friendship difficulties (Kerns 1994).
In particular, bullying behaviour can be predicted by attachment type. Rowan Myron-Wilson and Peter Smith (1998) assessed attachment type and bullying involvement using standard questionnaires in 196 children aged 7-11 from London.
* Secure children were very unlikely to be involved in bullying.
* Insecure-avoidant children were the most likely to be victims
* insecure-resistant children were most likely to be bullies.
A01
Talk about a study on friendships and romantic relationships in adulthood
Page 92
In a study of attachment for both romantic relationships and friendships Gerard McCarthy (1999):
studied 40 adult women who had been assessed when they were infants to establish their early attachment type.
Those assessed as securely attached infants had the best adult friendships and romantic relationships. Adults classed as insecure-resistant as infants had particular problems maintaining friendships whilst those classed as insecure-avoidant struggled with intimacy in romantic relationships.
A01
Talk about Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver study on the association between attachment and adult relationships
Page 92
procedure + Findings
They conducted a classic study in (1987):
Procedure: They analysed 620 replies to a ‘love quiz’ printed in an American local newspaper.
The quiz had three sections. The first assessed respondents’ current or most important relationship. The second part assessed general love experiences such as number of partners.
The third section assessed attachment type by asking respondents to choose which of three statements best described their feelings.
Findings: 56% of respondents were identified as securely attached with 25% insecure-avoidant and 19% insecure-resistant.
Those reporting secure attachments were the most likely to have good and longer lasting romantic experiences. The avoidant respondents tended to reveal jealousy and fear of intimacy.
These findings suggest that patterns of attachment behaviour are reflected in romantic relationships.
A01
Explain how Relationships in adulthood as a parent can be influenced from their internal workings models:
Page 92
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.
Recall the study by Bailey et al. (2007, see page 83- monotropy meta-analysis). The majority of women had the same attachment classification both to their babies and their own mothers.
A01
Negative evaluation
What are the mixed evidence on continuity for attachment type?
Page 93
continuity (in this context)= the ongoing progressive nature of psychological functions e.g relationships over time.
Internal working models predict continuity between the security of an infant’s attachment and that of its later relationships, i.e. attachment type in infancy is usually the same as that characterising the person’s later relationships.
Evidence for this continuity is mixed. Some studies, like that by McCarthy (page 92), do appear to support continuity and so provide evidence to support internal working models.
Not all studies, however, support internal working models. e.g,
Zimmerman (2000) assessed infant attachment type and teenager (adolescent) attachment to parents. There was very little relationship between quality of infant and adolescent attachment.
A03
This is a problem because it is not what we would expect to find if internal working models were important in development.
internal working model= A mental framework that shapes how we view ourselves, others, and relationships based on our early attachment experiences.
negative evaluation
Why do most studies on ‘influence on early attachment on later relationships’ have issues of validity?
Page 93
e.g Gerald McCarthy’s study= ‘ Relationships in adulthood with romantic partners’
Most studies of attachment to primary caregivers and other important people don’t use the Strange Situation. Instead, they assess infant-parent attachment later in childhood or even adulthood, using interviews or questionnaires.
This creates validity problems. First, assessment relies on self-report techniques (the interviews/questionnaires) to assess the quality of their own relationships. Which therefore means we are relying on respondents to be honest and have a realistic view of their own relationships.
And second, Looking back from adulthood to one’s early relationship to a primary attachment figure probably lacks validity because it relies on accurate recollections.
A03
negative evaluation
How does alternative explanations for ‘the continuity between infant attachment to later relationships’ show it may have been evidences for association and not causation; And how does it challenge Bowlby’s view?
Page 93
In studies linking infant attachment type to later relationships, it’s often assumed that early attachment directly causes later relationship quality.
However, alternative explanations exist. e.g, a third factor, like parenting style, could influence both attachment and the ability to form relationships.
Similarly, a child’s temperament (page 87) might affect both their early attachment and later relationships.
This challenges Bowlby’s view that the internal working model is the primary cause of these outcomes.
A03
Extra Evaluation- negative
What are the potential risks of emphasizing the influence of infant attachment on later relationships, and how might this affect individuals’ futures?
Page 93
+ name a small positive too
While it’s likely that the quality of infant attachment influences later relationships, some researchers, including Bowlby, may have overstated its significance.
Ann Clarke and Alan Clarke (1998) argue that the impact of early attachment is ‘probabilistic’
— meaning that those with attachment issues are at greater risk of relationship problems, but they are not doomed to failure.
Overemphasizing this risk can create overly pessimistic expectations about people’s futures.
Socially sensitive research like this needs careful consideration. It could lead to harmful expectations that children or adults with early attachment issues are incapable of recovery, potentially making these expectations self-fulfilling. Some argue that it’s better to foster hope for recovery, regardless of the evidence.
A03
On the other hand, understanding these risks might allow for interventions, such as providing extra emotional support, which could help individuals overcome challenges.
Extra Evaluation
What is the theoretical problem with using self-report methods to study internal working models?
Page 93
what is the benefit of these methods despite this issue?
There is a theoretical problem with most research related to internal working models. Internal working models are unconscious; we are not directly aware of their influence on us.
We would not really expect to get direct evidence about them by means of interviews or questionnaires because people can only self-report what they are aware of.
When Pps self-report on their relationships they are relying on their conscious understanding of those relationships. At best the self-report gives us indirect evidence about internal working models.
This is a potential limitation of most research involving the concept of internal working models.
A03
On the positive side self-report allows us to assess people’s experiences of early relationships and their functioning in later ones.
We can infer from this what sort of internal working models they have and how this affects them. So there is some value in using these self-report methods.
