Attachment Predicted Questions

Question 1

Describe and evaluate Schaffer’s stages of attachment (16 marks) - AO1

Answer 1

• Schaffer and Emerson (1964) studied 60 Glasgow babies from working class backgrounds.
• They visited them every month for the first year and then again at 18 months.
• They measured the babies’ attachment by asking the mother questions about separation and stranger anxiety. From this they developed the four stages of attachment.
• The first stage is during the first few weeks of life and is called the Asocial stage. In this stage, the baby is recognising and bonding with its caregiver. It responds to objects and humans in a similar manner. There is some preference for familiar adults, in that those individuals find it easier to calm them. Babies seem to be happierin the presence of these individuals.
• Stage 2 is the indiscriminate attachment stage at around age 2- months. Babies will display a preference towards people compared to inanimate objects. They recognise and prefer familiar humans and usually accept cuddles and comfort from any adult. They do not usually show separation anxiety or stranger anxiety.
• Around 7 months is stage 3 and is called the specific attachment stage, where the majority of infants start to display stranger anxiety and separation anxiety. They have formed a specific attachment to the person who best responds to the infants needs and signals.
• Finally, the last stage is the multiple attachments stage. This is when infants start to have secondary attachments with people they see on a regular basis. 29% of infants had a secondary attachment within a month of forming a specific attachment. By the age of one year the majority of infants have formed multiple attachments.

Question 2

Describe and evaluate Schaffer’s stages of attachment (16 marks) - AO3

Answer 2

• A weakness of Schaffer’s stages is that they may not happen at the ages he suggested. For example, Carpenter (1975) found that two week old infants looked at faces for longer when it was accompanied with the mother’s voice rather than an unfamiliar one. This suggests that infants are attached to their mothers at an earlier age than Schaffer and Emerson suggested and so the stages are not a completely valid explanation of attachment.
• Another weakness of Schaffer’s stages is that they could be culture bias. Van ljzendoorn found that culture plays a part in how and when we form attachments and with whom. In many non western societies, babies have multiple carers, as this is the norm and so multiple attachments are formed earlier. Again, this suggests his stages may not be a valid explanation of attachment across different societies and so lacks generalisability.

+ Despite these weaknesses, strengths can be found in Schaffer and Emerson’s methodology. Most of their data came from observations by the parents rather than the researchers themselves.
This avoided the risk of the researcher affecting the participants behaviour and so increases the validity of the study. However, the parents could have missed some behaviours or be subjective in how they interpreted their babies behaviour as they are not trained researchers. Either way, young babies have poor coordination and are pretty much immobile in the first few weeks.
Therefore, it can be difficult to make any judgements about the purpose of behaviour, even as a researcher.

Question 3

Outline and evaluate the role of the father in attachment 16 marks) - AO1

Answer 3

• There is disagreement about the role of the father in attachment.
• Some psychologists would suggest that their role is not important and that biological differences between men and women mean that women are more suited to the primary caregiving role e.g. the release of oxytocin after birth helps mothers create a primary attachment to their baby.
• Grossman (2000) found the quality of attachment with the mother was important when examining adolescent attachments, but the quality of the fathers was not.
• Other research suggests that fathers may have a different role to the mother.
• Schaffer & Emerson (1964) found that 75% of babies have attached to their fathers by the age of 18 months, becoming an important secondary attachment to the mother.
• Additionally, Grossman et al. (2002) found that the quality of father’s play with their babies was linked to the quality of attachment in adolescence, suggesting a play role rather than an emotional role.
• However, some research suggests that fathers can actually take the role of the primary caregiver.
• Field (1978) filmed reactions of infants to fathers and found that primary caregiving fathers spent more time interacting, smiling, imitating and holding infants, similar to mothers.

Question 4

Outline and evaluate the role of the father in attachment 16 marks) - AO3

Answer 4

+ A strength of the research by Field is that it has real world application. Parents can be reassured that fathers can be effective primary caregivers if the mother wants to work and so this prevents the stereotype of each sex being suited to one role only. Mothers will feel less anxious and pressured about returning to work and this will have implications for the economy. Additionally, fathers can be assured that they can effectively play the role of primary caregiver if they wish to do so. Therefore, this research has important implications for society as a whole.

• A weakness of the research into the role of the father is that there is conflicting evidence. Some research suggests that a father has an important secondary role, such as a play role. This suggests that single mothers or lesbian couples would not be able to fulfil this role for their children. However, MacCullum & Golombok (2004) found children in single mother or lesbian parent families do not develop any differently to children of two opposite sex parents. However, it could be that in single/lesbian parent families the mother/s take on both roles when required to do so and so adapt to their being no father figure.
• However, a weakness of the research into the role of the father is that it is conflicting. Some researchers examine fathers as a primary figure and some as secondary. Meaning we cannot simply answer ‘what is the role of the father?’ This undermines the value and validity of any research into the fathers’ role and so limits its generalisability to father figures as a whole. We cannot answer the question ‘what is the role of the father?’ at this time.

Question 5

Describe and evaluate the Strange Situation as a method of assessing types of attachment (16 marks) - AO1

Answer 5

• Ainsworth aimed to observe 106 infants aged between 9-18 months and assess them for their quality of attachment to their primary caregiver.
• She explored 4 behaviours; Exploration behaviour, proximity seeking behaviour, stranger anxiety, separation anxiety and reunion behaviour.
• There were 8 stages: Stage 1 - Mother and child enter, Stage 2 - The child is encouraged to explore by the mother, Stage 3 - Stranger enters and attempts to interact with child, Stage 4 - Mothers leaves leaving stranger and child, Stage 5 - Mother enters and the stranger leaves, Stage 6 - Mothers leaves, Stage 7 - Stranger returns and Stage 8 - Mother returns and interacts with child.
• She found that children could classified as secure (Type B), insecure-avoidant (Type A) or insecure-resistant Type C).
• Type B children used their mother as safe base and showed moderate distress when she left, welcoming her back on her return. They had moderate stranger anxiety and treated them very differently to their mother. The mother was sensitive to the child’s needs.
• Type A children showed a willingness to explore, indifference to mother’s departure and did not seek comfort from her when she returned. They also rejected the stranger’s attempts to comfort them but had little stranger anxiety. The mother was uninterested in the infant, not caring for their needs. - Type C children explored less than the others and were very upset at separation. They were not easily comforted when the mother returned as they were angry at her. They alternated between seeking closeness and wanting distance and had high stranger anxiety. The mother interested in the child but misunderstood it’s needs.
• Around 70% were classified as secure, 15% insecure-avoidant and 15% insecure-resistant.
• She concluded that the way the mother acts towards the child and the child’s needs will have an impact on the child’s behaviour. This is called the Maternal Sensitivity Hypothesis.

Question 6

Describe and evaluate the Strange Situation as a method of assessing types of attachment (16 marks) - AO3

Answer 6

• One weakness of Ainsworth’s strange situation is that it could be considered ethnocentric. Cross cultural research suggests that the Strange Situation uses Western values to judge attachment types, which is an imposed etic. For example, Takahashi (1990) found that Japanese babies had a high percentage of insecure-resistant types but this could be because it is very rare for mothers to be separated from their babies there. Ainsworth would suggest that these children are insecure in their attachment but this does not take into account that in Japanese culture it is desirable to show this type of attachment. Therefore, Ainsworth’s study is not useful in understanding attachment across cultures.
• Another weakness of the Strange Situation is that it lacks validity. The laboratory setting was unfamiliar to the participants and so the mothers may have behaved differently than when they were at home. They were also aware they were being watched so they may have acted more attentive towards their children than they do normally due to fear of being judged. This could result in a higher percentage of securely attached children being recorded and so distorts the results. Therefore, the methodology lacks internal validity.
• A final weakness of the Strange Situation method is that the classification system could be considered reductionist. Soloman & Main (1986) argue that simply putting infants into 3 categories is too simple and actually they found a 4th attachment type (type D disorganised). Also, Kagan (1984) suggested the temperament hypothesis could explain differences in attachment type. This is that some children naturally seek out more intimate attachments than others and those born with more difficult personalities find it harder to form attachments.
  Therefore, Ainsworth’s Strange Situation fails to measure these innate tendencies, only assuming the mothers’ behaviourto be important In determining types of attachment.

Question 7

Outline and evaluate Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation (16 marks) - AO1

Answer 7

• Bowlby proposed that continuous care from a mother is essential for normal psychological development, and that prolonged separation and deprivation of emotional care from this adult causes serious damage to emotional and intellectual development.
• If this deprivation of emotional care is for an extended period of time during the critical period then the damage is inevitable.
• Bowlby suggested that this critical period as the first 2 and a half years of life but there was a risk up to the age of 5.
• If there is maternal deprivation at a young age then the child could suffer delayed intellectual development and low IQ in later life.
• Goldfarb (1947) found children who stayed in an orphanage had lower average IQ scores than those fostered before the age of 4 months, when he assessed them at age 12.
• Children can also be impacted emotionally from maternal deprivation by develop affectionless psychopathy. This is the inability to experience emotions towards others and is associated with criminality. They also lack the ability to form close long lasting relationships and lack remorse for their actions.
• Bowlby (1944) studied 44 teenage thieves and found that 14 of them could be described as ‘affectionless psychopaths’. Of these, 12 had experienced prolonged separation from their mothers in the first two years of life. This was compared to only 5 of the other thieves who were no classified ‘affectionless psychopaths’ suggesting that early deprivation had caused their lack of emotional development.

Question 8

Outline and evaluate Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation (16 marks) - AO3

Answer 8

• However, may have argued that Bowly confused different types of early separation. Rutter
  (1976) argues that Bowlby muddled deprivation with privation. Privation is when an attachment has never been formed, whereas deprivation happens after an attachment has been formed. He suggested that the delays in development that Bowlby examined was due to privation rather than deprivation. Therefore, Bowlby overestimated the impact deprivation could have on children in their development.
• Another weakness of Bowlby’s theory is that some effects of early deprivation can be prevented or reversed. For example, the case of the Czech twins, who were locked in a cupboard by their stepmother from the ages of 18 months to 7 years. Despite their early abuse they were able to form a close attachment with two new loving parents after being discovered and were judged to have fully recovered by the time they were teenagers. Therefore, Bowlby’s critical period should be considered more as a ‘sensitive period’ as harm is not inevitable in the long term.
• A final weakness is that Bowlby’s study of 44 thieves has failed to be replicated. Lewis (1954) examined 500 young people and found no relationship between separation and psychopathy.
  Additionally, Bowlby could have been open to bias in his study as he knew before hand which teenagers he expected to be affectionless psychopaths as he carried out the family interviews prior to the psychopathy assessment. This means that Bowlby’s theory lacks reliability and validity and so cannot be considered a full explanation of the development of psychopathy.

Question 9

Discuss the effects of institutionalisation. Refer to the studies of Romanian orphans in your answer (16 marks) - AO1

Answer 9

• One way to examine the effect of maternal deprivation and the effects of institutionalisation is to look at Romanian orphan studies.
• The English and Romanian Adoptee Study (Rutter et al., 2011) has followed 165 Romanian orphans adopted in the UK for many years.
• Their physical, emotional and cognitive development has been assessed at a variety of ages. Initially, all showed delayed intellectual development. - At 11, the mean IQ score for those adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared with those adopted between 6 months and 2 years, who had a mean IQ score of 86, those adopted after 2 years had a mean score of 77.
• Those adopted after the age of 6 months showed signs of a particular attachment style called disinhibited attachment.
• Symptoms include; being clingy and attention seeking directed to all adults even strangers. Those adopted after 6 months did not show disinhibited attachment.
• The Bucharest Early Intervention project (Zeanah et al., 2005) assessed 95 Romanian orphans aged 12-31 months.
• Only 19% were classified as securely attached and 44% were classified as disinhibited. This was in comparison to a control group where 74% were securely attached and only 20% classed as disinhibited.
• Both of these studies demonstrate the impact of institutionalisation on development and attachment. - Rutter suggested this could be due to children having multiple carers and not being able to form one primary attachment which would have enabled a secure attachment.
• It seems that delays in intellectual and emotional development can be overcome but only if children were adopted before the age of six months.

Question 10

Discuss the effects of institutionalisation. Refer to the studies of Romanian orphans in your answer (16 marks) - AO3

Answer 10

+ A strength of the research into institutionalisation is that it has real world application. For example, the research has led to improvements in how we care for looked after children. I.E assigning key workers to those in children’s’ homes and a preference for children to be placed in foster care rather than institutions. Therefore, this research has given some children the opportunity to develop a secure attachmenttype who otherwise may have developed a disinhibited attachment.

+ A strength of Romanian orphan studies is that there were few confoundingvariables that may have affected the research. Many studies previous to the Romanian orphan studies were of children who had suffered trauma or abuse before entering the institute and so it was impossible to separate the effects of this from just being institutionalised. However, most Romanian orphans came form loving families who could not afford to keep them therefore the results would not have been confounded by those other variables, increasing the internal validity of the studies.

• A weakness of the Romanian orphan studies is that latest data only assess the orphans in their 20s. We do not know yet the long term effects of institutionalisation orwhether the children adopted after 6 months may catch up with those who were adopted before 6 months for example, mental health issues in adulthood. Therefore, we will need to revisit this in the future to see the true impact of their early institutionalisation and so this will take time.