Attachment part 2 Flashcards
what was the procedure of Rutter and Sonuga - Barke (2010)
ERA
led a study on Romanian orphans since early 1990s called ERA, this study included orphans who spent time in an institution and therefore suffered from the effects of institutionalisation
of the group 111 were adopted before the age of 2 and 54 before the age of 4
the adopetes were tested at the ages of 4,6,11,15 to assess their physical cognitive and social development they also got information form teachers and parents
this information was compared with 52 children adopted in UK before the age of 6 months
What was the findings of Rutter and Sonuga-Barke (2010)
at the time of adoption the Romanian orphans lagged behind in everything - they were smaller,weighed less and some were categorised as mentally retarded
by the age of 4 some had caught up to the british adoptees but this mainly happened if they were adopted before the age of 6 months
beyond the age of 6 months significant deficits remained - they had disinhibited attachment, peer relationship problems
this showed that the long term consequences were less serve if the children had a chance to form an attachment (adopted before 6 months) but were more serve if they did not form an attachment
What were the other studies of Romanian orphans
- Le Mare and Audet - 36 orphan studies to adopted families in Canada, the dependent variable was health and physical growth, by 4.5 years they were still smaller but by 10.5 they were the same size
- Zeanan et al - 136 Romanian children who spent 90% of lives in an institution and control group who had never been in one, 12-31 months and assessed by strange situation - disinhibited attachment shown in instituitionised orphans
What are the effects of institutionalism?
- physical underdevelopment - smaller, Gardner 1972 stated that lack of emotional care rather than poor nourishment is the cause of what has been called deprivation dwarfism
- intellectual under functioning - cognitive development is also effected by emotional deprivation
- disinhibited attachment - a form of insecure attachment, children do not discriminate between people and attachment figures - over friendly and attention seeking
- poor parenting - quiton et al - 50 women raised in an institution compared with 50 reared at home - institutionalised found it hard being at home
evaluation of Romanian orphans : individual differences
some studys say that individulas who do not form a primary attachment within a sensitive period are unable to recover
- in all studies some children are not as affected as others and there are differences for example Rutter said that some children received special attention maybe because they smiled more therefore they had some attachemnts this meant that individual differences could cause the difference in institutionalised children having normal attachments rather than disinhibited attachment
- Bowlby showed that there were individual differences in the way that children coped
evaluation of Romanian orphans : Real-life application
improved how children were cared for in hospitals
- in romanain orphan studies mothers were previously told to hold on to their infants for a while therefore the period of attachment may have passed making it harder for the infants to form secure attachments
- singer et al - children are just attached to adoptive families
evaluation of Romanian orphans : value of longitudinal study
- follow children for many years, takes a lot of time and planning and waiting for results but it shows how the effects of institutionalism disappear over time with high quality care
- the effects may still be disappearing when they do there last result so may not cover the whole picture
evaluation of Romanian orphan studies : deprivation is only one factor
- physical conditions were as bad as emotional care
- lack of cognitive stimulation would also effect there development
- Turner and Lloyd suggested that damage only occurs when there are multiple risk factors such as poor care in infancy then more poor care living in poverty and parental disharmony
Evaluation of Romanian orphan studies: institutionalisation may cause slow development
- at the last assessment at age 11 a lower number of children had disinhibited attachment
- proved the effects disappear over time with good care
- need to mature sufficiently and learn how to cope with relationships
- criticism as it implies that effects may be reversible which is not true
- Le Mare and Audet - by age 11 may not have improved but ,at have not reached their full potential
What was Ainsworth interested in
Ainsworth was more interested with the different types of attachment that infants form with their care givers these types of style were seen as patterns of thinking and feeling
What was the aim of strange situation
the aim was to see how infants behaved under conditions of mild stress and novelty
What are the different types of attachment
secure attachment (type B) insecure resistant (type C), insecure resistant(Type A)
Describe what happens in strange situation
- research room was a 9x9 foot space marked off into 16 squarews to record the infants movement, desgined by using 8 epsidoes to highlight certain behaviours
1. separation from caregiver
2. reunion with caregiver
3. response to a stranger
4. the novel environment which aims to encourage exploration and test the secure base concept
5. the data is collected by a group of observers using a video recorder or a two way mirror they would record every 15 seconds then use behavioural categories scaling them 1-7
What were the findings of strange situations
combined data from 106 different studies using middle class families, they noted the similarities and differences and found different attachment types
describe secure attachment (Type B)
- calm interaction with the caregiver
- wont cry if caregiver leaves the room
- cry if left with a stranger
- soothed by bodily contact
- uses caregiver as a secure base to function independently
- seek and are comfortable with social interaction
Describe insecure - avoidant (Type A)
- avoid social interaction intimacy
- show little response to separation
- do not seek proximity when reunited
- show no tendency to cling or resist to be put down
- high level of anxiousness
- happy to explore without caregiver
Describe insecure-resistant (Type C)
- seek and resist intimacy and social interaction
- respond to separation immediately and with intense distress
- act similarly towards strangers
- display conflicting desires for contact on reunion
What percentage of infects are
A, secure attached
B, insecure-avoidant
C, insecure-resistant
A 66%
B 22%
C 12%
Evaluation of Ainsworth Strange Situation: other types of attachment
Ainsworth overlooked a 4th attachment type,
Main and Soloman (1986) - analysed over 200 strange situation video tapes and proposed insecure-disorganised (Type D) this is a lack of consistent patterns of social behaviour
- they lack a convenient strategy for dealing with the stress pf separation for example they show strong attachment behaviours followed by avoidance of caregiver - Van Ijzendoorm supported this
Evaluation of Ainsworth Strange Situation: High reliability
measurement’s confirmed if agreeable if agreement among obsevers called interobserver reliability determined by comparing ratings 94% agreement therefore it was highly reliable
Evaluation of Ainsworth Strange Situation: Can types of attachment be applied to real life
in situations where disordered attachments happen interventions are put into place,
- security project taught better care to mothers and saw a 60-15% decrease in caregivers categorised as disordered
Evaluation of Ainsworth Strange Situation: Does it have low internal validity
Main and Weston - behave differently depending on what parent they are with therefore it was not measuring the aim as only one relationship measured but Bowlby’s theory of monotropy suggested than infant behaved differently with anyone other than the caregiver. Main (1999) supported him, tested children and re-assessed them at the age of 9 using the AAI interview they found that the attachment was influenced by the mother
Evaluation of Ainsworth Strange Situation: maternal reflective functioning
this suggested that secure attachment was linked to maternal sensitivity
- reval et al (2001) found law correlation between maternal sensitivity and secure attachment
- Slade et al (2005) greater role for maternal reflective functioning - ability to understand what someone else is feeling and thinking more important in establishing an attachment type
What did Van Ijzenfoorm and Kroonenburg do? (cultural variations of attachment)
Conducted a meta-anaylsis of the findings from 32 studies of attachment behaviour they examined over 2,000 strange situations classifications in 8 different countries
What were Van Ijzenfoorm and Kroonenburg interested in?
if inter-cultural differences existed (differences between different cultures and countries)
if there were intra-cultural differences (differences in findings within the same culture
What did Van Ijzenfoorm and Kroonenburg find?
differences were small - secure attachment was the most common then insecure avoidant was the second except in Israel and Japan these were collectivist counties
- secure attachment was the best for social and emotional development as well as innate and biological processes
What were the cultural similarities
- Tronicket et al supported all the findings - studied African tribe, the eje they lived in extended family groups infant were looked after and breast feed by different women, but they slept with there own mother therefore they still only had one primary attachment
What were the cultural differences
- Grossman and Grossman - found infants in Germany which were classed as being insecurely attached rather than securely this might be due to different child rearing practices in German culture which involved more interpersonal distance between parents and children
- Takakshi - 60 middle class Japanese infants found similar rates of secure attachment found by Ainsworth no evidence of insecure-avoidant attachment by high rates of insecure resistant attachment - they were distressed by being left alone so much of the studies were stopped - Japense infants were rarely separated from their mothers so developed a strong bond
What did Van Ijzenfoorm and Kroonenburg conclude
can be related to differences in cultural attitudes and practises
Cultural variations in attachment evaluation: Similarities may not be innately determined
Bowlby - reasons for universal similarities is due to attachment being innate mechanisms unmodified by culture
Van and Kroonenburg - some cultural similarities are explained by affects of mass media which spreads ideas about parenting so all children are exposed to similar influences
Cultural variations in attachment evaluation: nation rather than culture
comparing countries not culture countries have many sub-cultures these are created on over or under representation
Cultural variations in attachment evaluation: cross cultural research
techniques such as strange situation made by an American designer who has been influenced by their own culture so may not be affected by other cultures or match them for example Japan
Cultural variations in attachment evaluation: culture bias
Rothbaumetal - isn’t just the methods used in attachment which are not relevant to other culutres but rooted in its culture
Cultural variations in attachment evaluation: Indigenous theories of attachment
- rothebaum et al - psychologists should be able to produce a use of indigenous theories - explanation of attachment rooted in individual cultures
- Posada and Jacobs - evidence that supports universality attachment
- Prior and Glasser - maternal sensitivity and secure base behaviour may vary but concepts are universal
What is the value of maternal care
findings from Bowlby’s 44 thieves study as well as findings from Spitz and Wold and Skodal and Skeels shows that infants need a warm intimate and continually relationship with a mother to ensure normal mental health
What at the factors in the critical period
when a child is frequently separated it can become emotionally disrupted this will only occur if it happens before the age of 2.5 years, if there is no substitute mother, still at risk until the age of 5, if there is a substitute then this may not result in deprivation
What are the long term consequences of a deprivation of maternal care
emotional maladjustment
mental health issues such as depression
Describe the 44 thieves study
analysed the case histories of a number of patients in the child guidance clinic in London all of the children were emotionally maladjusted
studied 88 children half of which had been caught stealing and the other half were a control group, Bowlby suggested that the thieves were affectionless psychopaths as they lacked normal signs of affection shame or sense of responsibility
What did Bowlby find from the 44 thieves study
The ones diagnosed as affectionless had experienced separation, 86% experienced frequent separation, compared with 17% of the other thieves, none of the control group had experienced separations whereas 39% of all thieves had
What was Spitz and Wolfs procedure
100 normal children placed in an institution became depressed within a few months
What was Skodak and Skeels procedure
Children in an institution scored poorly on IQ tests some children were transferred and more emotional support was given then their IQ test score rose by 30 points
Evaluation of Maternal deprivation: Physical and emotional separation
deprivation may be related to psychological separation for example being depressed would mean even though the caregiver is around they may not be able to give the care it needs for deprivation to happen
- Marian Radke - Yarrow et al studied depressed mothers and found that 55% of children were insecurely attached compared with 29% of non-depressed mothers
Evaluation of Maternal deprivation: support for long term effects
maternal deprivation does not always produce negative outcomes but just increases the likelihood,
- Antonia Bifulco et al - studied women that had experienced maternal deprivation 25% later experienced depression compared with 15% who had not been separated this supported the critical period
Evaluation of Maternal deprivation: real world application
- impact post war
- how children were treated in hospitals Kames Robertson followed and filmed 2 year old Laura during an 8 day period at hospital she was frequently depressed
Evaluation of Maternal deprivation: Individual differences
not all children are effected be emotional disruption in the same way
- Barrett - viewed various cases of separation and concluded securely attached coped better than insecurely
- Bowlby et al - 60 children under 4 who had Tb nurses could not supply sufficient enough care and children were only visited once a week therefore they suffered deprivation, 63% were maladjusted but there was not a difference in intellectual tests, securely coped better
Evaluation of Maternal deprivation: What was Rutters problem with Bowlby - maternal deprivation (Reassessed)
did not make clear whether attachment bond had not been formed or had been broken or had never formed
- never forming was a greater problem
- privation - never had a bond
- deprivation - lost a bond
