Attachment- section C Flashcards
1
Q
Definition of Reciprocity:
A
Reciprocity is achieved when infant and caregiver respond to and produce responses from each other (two-way process).
For example, a caregiver responds to a baby’s smile by saying something, and then the baby responds by making some sounds of pleasure.
eg. a conversation
2
Q
Definition of interactional
synchrony:
A
When a caregiver (mother) and infant mirror both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a co-ordinated (synchronized way)
eg. more like a dance
3
Q
Definition of attatchment:
A
A strong, emotional bond between two people, especially an infant and a caregiver. It is a two-way process that endures overtime.
4
Q
Whats 1 piece of evidence to back this up?
A
Meltzoff and Moore (1977)
- An adult displayed one of three facial expressions or one of three hand movements to infants aged 2-3 weeks.
- The child’s response was filmed and identified by independent observers.
- They found strong association between adult behaviour and infant expressions.
5
Q
What is the second piece of evidence to back this up?
A
Isabella et al. (1989)
- Observed 30 mothers and infants together and assesed the degree of synchrony. Researcher also assesed quality of mother - infant attachment.
-Found high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-infant attachment.
6
Q
What are 3 limitations to these experiements?
A
- babies cant communicate so we must take inferences about their thoughts, emotions and motivations.
- practically can be difficult - babies oftern asleep or being fed.
-babies cannot give their consent to be involved in resaerch.
7
Q
What are 3 strengths of these experiments?
A
- there is research to support reciprocity. Tronick et al. (1975) - The still face experiment. Infanct sat face to face with caregiver. Caregiver interacts with baby. Caregiver instructed not to interact with infant/respond to them for 2 minutes- show still face. - showed they were distressed when saw still face.
- controlled observations capture fine detail
- potential value to society - practical applications eg. if mother = struggling post natal depression - it can do interactional synchrony to help with baby.
8
Q
Defintion of seperation anxiety:
A
The distress shown by an infant when seperated from his/her caregiver. This is not necessarily the childs biological mother.
9
Q
Defintion of stranger anxiety:
A
The distress shown by an infant when approached or picked up by someone who is unfamiliar.
10
Q
Complete Schaffers stages of attachment, with the stage name, time period and description:
A
- Asocial - birth to 2 months - Infants produce similar responses to all objects. Reciprocity and interactional synchrony play role in establishing relationships with others.
- Indiscriminate attachment - 2-7 months - show preference for people rather than inaminate objects. No signs of stranger/seperation anxiety.
- Specific attachment - 7-12 months - Infants start to display stranger and seperation anxiety for 1 particular adult. baby formed a specific attachment - primary attachment figure - mother.
- Multiple attachments - 1yr onwards - move from specific attachment to multiple attachments with adults they regularly spend time with - secondary attachments.
11
Q
What was the aim of Schaffer and Emmersons (1964) research into stages of attachment?
A
To investigate the the formation of early attachments.
12
Q
What was the procedure of Shaffer and Emmersons study?
A
- 60 babies from glasgow, the majority from skilled working-class families.
- Babies and mothers were visited every month for 1st year and again at 18 months
- Mothers were asked questions about the types of protest shown by their infants: Seperation anxiety - a measure of distress shown when the adult leaves the room
stranger anxiety - a measure of the infants distress response to unfamiliar adult.
13
Q
What were the findings to Schaffer and Emmersons study?
A
-Between 25 and 32 weeks of age about 50% of the babies showed signs of seperation anxiety towards a particular adult, indicating a specific attachment.
- In most cases the specific attachment the infants formed was with their mother.
- Attachment tended to be to the caregiver who was most interactive and sensitive to infant signals and facial expressions (ie. reciprocity)
- This was not necessarily the person whom the infant spent most time.
- By age 40 weeks, 80% of the babies had specific attachment and almost 30% displayed multiple attachment.
- Findings were used to propose four different stages of attachment.
14
Q
What are 2 strengths to Schaffer and Emmersons research?
A
- The study was carried out longitudinally. So the same children were followed up and observed regulary. This means it has good internal validity as there are no confounding variables that you would find if you studied different babies and compared them.
- A practical application of research such as Schaffer and Emerson looking into the importance of attachment, resulted in hospitals placing mothers and babies in the same room in the days following birth. The previous practice was to room mother and child apart. This was altered after understanding the importance of attachment from birth and to encourage the formation of attachments.
15
Q
What are 2 limitations to Schaffer and Emmersons research?
A
- Cultural variations - in individualist cultures such as the UK and USA, each society is concerned with their own needs or needs of the immediate family. However, collectivist cultures are more focused on the group rather than individual people sharing childcare, so multiple attachments would be more common. Sagi et al (1994) compared attachments in infants raised in communal environments and family-based homes. They found infant closeness of attachment with the mother almost twice as common in family-based homes than in communal environments. So perhaps Schaffer and Emmersons research only applies to individualist cultures.
- Unreliable data - The data collected by Schaffer and Emmerson may be unreliable. This is because it was because it was based on mothers reports of their infants. Some mothers might have been less sensitive to their infants protests and therefore less likely to report them. There are also social issues with social desirability.
16
Q
What are the 3 arguments related to the role of the father?
A
- Argument 1 - Males are not equipped to form attachments, both psychologically and socially
- Argument 2- Fathers are not primary caregivers, but are important as secondary attachment figures.
- Argument 3 - Fathers can be primary caregivers, they can demonstrate sensitive responsiveness.
17
Q
What are the factors involved in argument 1:
A
- Biological factors - males = high levels of testosterone (associated with aggression). Females have high levels of oestrogen (associated with caring/nurturing behaviour). Oxytontin - love hormone - associated with from of attachment/relationships. Females have high levels birth and when breast feeding.
- Societal/cultural norms - Stereotypes around being sensitive/caring portrayed as feminine traits. Traditionally in society - caregiver role is not seen as masculine, may discourage fathers from taking on child rearing role. Economic factors - in families where ‘bread winner’ role, hands-on involvement - not possible. Only in 2003 where fathers granted 2 weeks of paid paternity leave in UK.
18
Q
what are the factors involved in argument 2?
A
- Schaffer and Emmerson (1964) - Majority of babies first became attached to their mother at around 7 months. In only 3% of case the father was the first sole object of attachment. However, they found that most fathers go on to become important attachment figures. 75% of babies studied by Schaffer and Emmerson formed attachment with father by age 18 months evident through seperation anxiety.
- Geiger (1996) - a ‘playmate’ role. Home observation of 56 parents found play interactions o father with infant more exciting and focused on fun / playing in comparison to mothers who were typically more affectionate, caring and nurturing. The father may fulfil a different role from that of the mother - play vs emotional support - just as crucial to childs wellbeing.
19
Q
What are the factors involved in argument 3?
A
- Sensitive responsiveness definition- The ability to understand the meaning of the infants signals and respond to them appropriately.
- Field (1978) - Filmed 4 month old babies in face to face interactions with:
Group 1: Primary caregiver as mother
Group 2:Primary caregiver father
Group 3: Secondary caregiver father
Findings:Primary caregiver spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants than secondary caregiver father.
20
Q
What is a weakness of argument 1?
A
- Frodi et al ((1978) - showed videos of infants crying to participants and found no differences in the biological stress responses of males and females.
21
Q
What is a weakness of argument 2?
A
- If it was vital for males to be primary caregiver or secondary ‘playmate’ attachment, we would expect to see negative outcomes for children raised without male involvement. However, a study done by MacCallum and Golombok (2004) found that children raised by lesbian couples and single hetrosexual women did not experience any differences in terms of social and emotional development compared to children in hetrosexual parent families.
22
Q
What is a strength of argument 3?
A
Gordon et al (2010) used a longitudinal design to analyse levels of oxytocin in 160 new mothers and fathers during the first postpartum weeks and again after 6 months. They found no difference in oxytocin levels between mothers and father across both time points.
23
Q
Definition of imprinting:
A
An innate readiness to develop a strong bond with the mother which takes place during a specific time in development, probably the first few hours after birth/hatching. If it doesnt happen in this critical period, it probably will not happen.
24
Q
What was Lorenz procedure?
A
- Randomly divided a clutch of 12 greylag goose eggs into 2 groups:
1. Hatched naturally with mother goose in their natural environment
2. Hatched in an incubator where the first moving object they saw was Lorenz. - Behaviour was recorded.
25
What were the findings that Lorenz found?
- Immediately after birth group 1 followed mother goose and group 2 followed Lorenz.
- When released altogether from an upturned box, the two groups quickly re-formed as gooslings went off in search of their respective 'mothers'.
- This phenomenon = called imprinting - where animals attach to the first moving object they see after birth/hatching.
- The results were reversible and long lasting.
26
What other things did lorenz identify?
- A critical period in which imprinting needs to take place. Depending on species his can be as brief as a few hours after hatching.
- If imprinting doesn't occur then it will never happen
- Lorenz also noted that this early imprinting had an effect on later mate preferences called sexual imprinting.
- Tend to mate with the same kind of object they were imprinted to.
27
What is 1 strength to Lorenz studies?
- Research evidence for support- Guiton et al - found that chickens imprinted on yellow washing up gloves.
28
What are 2 limitations to Lorenz studies?
- Unethical - issues with animal research - his research invloved seperating eggs from biological mother - cause distress?
- Research to contradict Lorenz and imprinting - found that he could not reverse the imprinting in chicks who initially had tried to mate with rubber gloves - after spending time with own species - able to engage with normal sexual behaviour.
29
What was the aim of Harlows (1959) research?
To understand why infants attach to their mothers.
30
What was the procedure to Harlows studies?
- 16 baby rhesus monkeys were taken away from mothers at birth and reared in individual cages with both a:
- cloth mother- soft material, no food
- wire mother - dispensed food - milk
- Time spent on each mother was recorded
- Which mother they would go to when frightened = recorded.
- long-term effects recorded= sociability behaviour.
31
What were the findings to Harlows studies?
- baby monkeys spent more time on cloth mother than wire mother
- ran to cloth mother when frightened
32
What were the conclusions to Harlows studies?
- Rhesus monkeys have an innate unlearned need for contact comfort, suggesting that attachment is more to do with security and comfort than food.
33
Harlow continued to study monkeys into adulthood to see if their were any permanent consequences.
As adults the maternity deprived moneys were:
- more aggressive
- less sociable
- bred less often than typical for monkeys (unskilled at mating)
- as mothers some neglected their young and others attacked their children - even killing.
34
Harlow found the critical period for normal development, what was this?
- within 90 days of birth for attachment to from.
- after this attachment = impossible and damage cannot be undone.
35
What is a strength of Harlows studies?
- Real world applications - improved quality of care provided to children in the care system. Its now undestood that taking care of childs physical needs alone is not sufficient. Developed social workers knowledge when to intervene in child abuse cases. Even when physical needs are met, emotional needs may not be.
36
What are 2 limitations to Harlows studies?
- Ethical issues - monkeys suffered greatly as result to Harlows procedures. Rhesus monkeys considered similar enough to humans to be generalised, means their suffering was presumably quite human-like.
- Confounding variables-the 'mothers' differed in more ways than just cloth vs milk - also had different faces - may be a confounding variable - reason that monkeys preferred cloth mother may be because face was more 'monkey - like'.
37
What is classical conditioning?
Learning through association
38
Explain the processes before, during and after classical conditioning in terms of the theory of attachment
Before- food (UCS) = Happy baby (UCR)
Before - Mother (NS) = Neutral baby (No response)
During - mother + milk (paired together) = happy baby (UCR)
After - mother (CS) = Happy baby (CR)
39
40
What is this theory of attachment sometimes called and why?
'cupboard love' theory- emphasises the importance of caregiver as provider of food.
- Dollard and Miller (1950) proposed that children learn to love whoever feeds them.
41
What is attachment through operant conditioning?
Attachment through negative and positive reinforcement
42
How is positive reinforcement shown through attachment?
- crying prompts a response from the caregiver eg. Feeding/comforting
- when caregiver provides correct response crying= reinforced
43
How is negative reinforcement shown through attachment?
- the baby stops crying when the adult satisfies it's needs - the unpleasant sound of crying is being taken away.
- so caregiver is more likely to meet infants needs again in future - mutual reinforcement strengthens an attachment between infant and caregiver.
44
Whats one strength of theory of attachembt?
- learning theory of attachment founded in credible scientific principles- operant and classical conditioning are established principles as investigated by Skinner and Pavlov in highly controlled settings, classical and operant conditioning are observable and measurable.
45
What are 2 limitations to the learning theory of attachment?
- other explanations for attachment may be more successful- Bowlbys monyotropic theory, emphasises the role of evolution and innate. Adaptive behaviours in attachment
- There is counter evidence from animal studies - Lorenz (1935) study with geese found that the geese became attached with the first moving object they saw if it was in the critical period. However, Dollard and Miller proposed that children get attached to whoever feeds them.
46
Definition of monotropy
A term sometimes used to outline Bowlbys theory. The mono means 'one' and indicates that one particular attachment is different from all others and of special significance to the child's emotional development
47
Definition of critical period
This refers to the time within which an attachment must form if it is to form at all. Lorenz and Harlow noted that attachment in birds and monkeys had critical periods.
Bowlby extended the idea to humans proposing that human infants have a sensitive period after which it will be much more difficult to form an attachment.
48
What and why did Bowlby propose?
He was inspired by Lorenz research and ideas of imprinting and critical period.
He proposed an evolutionary explanation: attachment is an innate behaviour that provides a survival advantage.
49
What were the 5 key features to Bowlbys monyotropic theory?
Adaptive
Social releasers
Critical period
Monotropy
Internal working model
(Ask me- way to remember)
50
Internal working model definition
The mental representations we all carry with us of our attachment to our primary caregiver. They are important in affecting our future relationships because they carry our perceptions of what relationships are like.
51
Explanation of adaptive in one of Bowlbys key features
- infants have an innate tendency to form attachments with a caregiver
- attachment is an adaptive behaviour - increases chances of survival.
52
Explanation of social releasers in one of Bowlbys key features
- behaviours or signals from the infant that 'unlock' an instinctive caregiver response from an adult.
- Bowlby suggested that babies are born with set of innate behaviours like smiling, crying that encourage attention from an adult
- social releasers initiate reciprocity - baby's smile prompts caregiver to play with baby
53
Explanation of critical period in one of Bowlbys key features
- Bowlby identified that critical period is between birth and 2.5 years for humans
- if attachment is not formed in this time the child will be damaged for life - sociaklg, emotionally, intellectually
- He later proposed a 'sensitive period' - infants are most sensitive between birth and 2.5 years but attachment is still possible after this time , although it is much harder to form.
54
Explanation of Monotrophy in one of Bowlbys key features
- Monotrophy = a unique attachment to one particular caregiver usually mother. This relationship is more important than any others.
- Bowlby believed that the more time a baby spent with this primary attachment figure, and the more constant and predictable a child's care, the better the quality of attachment.
55
Explanation of internal working model (IWM) in one of Bowlbys key features
- A child's who experiences a loving and secure relationship with caregiver will develop positive IWM and grow up to expect this from other relationships.
- A child who experiences a poor relationship with caregiver will develop a negative IWM and tend to from low quality relationships in future expecting negative treatment.
56
What are two strengths to Bowlbys monotropic theory of attachmeng?
- Supporting evidence - Lorenz (1935) found that goslings formed attachemnts to the first moving thing that they saw after hatching (imprinting) which suggests that attachment is innate process. This supports Bowlbys idea that attachment has developed as an evolutionary process to aid survival. Also, Lorenzs study with goslings supports the idea of a critical period in which attachment must take place.
- Support evidence - Harlow (1958) research with rhesus monkeys supports the idea of critical period in which attachment must take place. Harlows research also supports in IWM - he demonstrated that monkeys reared in isolation from their mother later showed difficulties forming relationships socially with peers and caring for their own offspring. It also provides support for the idea of attachment as an innate, rather than learned, process- the baby monkeys had an innate preference for cloth mother.
57
What is one limitation to Bowlbys monotropic theory of attachment?
- conflicting evidence - Schaffer and Emerson (1964). - shortly after babies 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. By 18 months the majority of infants had formed multiple attachments with 87% being attached to more than one person, suggests other relationships eg grandparents play significant role in emotional and social development.
58
Definition of strange situation
A controlled observation designed to test attachment security. Infants are assessed on their response to playing in an unfamiliar room, being left alone and left with a stranger and bring reunited with a caregiver.
59
What was the procedure of Ainsworths strange situation (1969)
- Developed by Mary Ainsworth
- Aim- to assess the quality of a child's attachment to their caregiver
- Controlled observation - carried out in lab setting
- Ainsworth observed infant behaviour through one way mirror.
- procedure included 7 episodes each lasting 3 minutes - mini situations
- original study = 100 middle class American infants aged between 12-18 months and mother's
60
What were the 5 behaviours used to judge attachment and what do they mean (Ainsworth)
1. Proximity seeking- how closely the infant stays to caregiver
2. Exploration and secure-base behaviour - how much child is willing to explore new room, using mother as safe place to explore from.
3. Stranger anxiety- how infants behaves when stranger enters room and tries to interact with them
4. Separation anxiety- how child behaves when mother leaves room.
5. Response to reunion- how child behaves when mother returns after being separated for short time.
61
What did the episodes include and what are they testing?
Infant and caregiver enter room with the toys and chairs together (unfamiliar)
1. Child encouraged to explore - test stranger anxiety
2. Stranger enters - tries to interact with child - test stranger anxiety
3. Caregiver leaves child and stranger together - test separation and stranger anxiety
4. Caregiver returns - stranger leaves - test reunion behaviour and exploitation and secure base behaviour.
5. Caregiver leaves child alone - test separation anxiety
6. Stranger returns - tests stranger anxiety
7. Caregiver returns and reunited with child - tests reunion behaviour.
62
What were the findings to Ainsworths studies?
She found that there were distinct patterns in the way that infants behaved. Attachments can be secure or insecure. She identified 3 main types of attachment.
63
What were the 3 types of attachment Ainsworth found and explain
1. Secure attachment (type B)- explore happily but regularly go back to caregiver (Proximity seeking and secure base) moderate stranger anxiety/ seperation. Easily comforted by caregiver in reunion stage. About 60-75% of US babies classified as secure.
2. Insecure-avoidant (type A) - explore happily but do not seek Proximity or show secure base behaviour. Low separation and stranger anxiety. Indifferent at reunion stage - do not require comfort. 20-25% of US toddlers were classified as insecure-avoidant.
3. Insecure-resistant (type C)
Seek greater Proximity than others so explore less (clingy). Huge stranger and separation anxiety. Not easily comforted at reunion. Both seeks and rejects contact with caregiver.
Around 3% of toddlers classified as insecure- resistant.
64
What is a strength of the strange situation?
- Good inter-rater reliability - different observers watching the same children in the strange situation generally agree on what attachment type to classify them, due to operationalised behaviour categories. Strange situation - highly replicable because it takes place in controlled laboratory setting with standardised procedures. 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.
65
What are 2 limitations of the strange situation?
- lacks ecological validity- infants were placed in strange, artificial environment which may not reflect how infants behave in natural settings. There may be issues with social desirability - mother's may have changed their behaviour in order to look like better caregivers (eg.more responsive at reunion). The structured episodes (such as brief seperations and reunions) are unlikely to occur in everyday life, meaning the study lacks mundane realism.
- Unethical- the strange situation deliberately stresses infants to asses their reactions (stranger and separation anxiety). In original study 20% of infants cried desperately. It could be argued that the strange situation in an unethical procedure- deliberately exposing infants to stressful situations could be psychologically harmful. However, episodes only lasted 3 minutes and it's unlikely participation in the experiment led to any long term issues for infants.
66
Definition to cultural variations:
'culture' refers to the norms and values that exist within any group of people. Cultural variations then are the differences in norms and values that exist between people in different groups. In attachment research we are concerned with the differences in the proportion of children and attachment types.
67
What are the two types of cultures and explain
1. Individualist - prioritise the individual, independence and autonomy over the group (western cultures - US/USA/Europe).
2. Collective - prioritise the group, family and community over individual (Eastern cultures - China/Japan/Israel)
68
Who did a key study into cultural variations and what year?
- Van Ijzendoorne
- 1988
69
What was the aim to Van Ijzendoornes study?
To investigate attachment types (secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure -resistant) between and within cultures.
70
What is a meta anaylsis?
uses other studies and complies/analyse their findings
71
What was the procedure to Van Ijzendoornes study?
-A meta analysis was carried out on results of 32 studies that used the strange situation to measure attachment behaviour.
- Research from 8 different countries was used, including western cultures (USA, Germany) and non-western cultures (Japan, China)
- The 32 studies yielded results for for 1990 children.
72
What were the findings to Van Ijzendoornes study?
1. The secure attachment type was the most common across all cultures, with the highest % found in UK and lowest % found in China.
2. The least common attachment type overall was insecure-resistant.
3. Germany had the highest % of all infants classed as insecure -avoidant.
4. Israel, Japan and China were the countries with the highest % of infants classed as insecure-resistant.
- Individualist countries (Germany) prioritise independence = higher levels of insecure resistant.
- Collectivist countries (Japan) are more culturally close, and is oftern norm for infants to stay very close to their mothers = high level of insecure resistant.
- Differences in attachment type were 150% greater within the same cultures than between different cultures.
- In USA eg. one study found only 46% securely attached compared to one sample as high as 90%.
73
What were the conclusions to Van Ijzendoornes study?
- secure attachment seems to be the norm in a wide range of cultures, supporting Bowlbys idea that attachment is innate and universal.
- However, the research also clearly shows that cultural practices/norms have an influence on attachment type.
74
what is one strength of Van Ijzendoornes study?
- Large samples
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. For example, in the van IJzendoorn
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.
75
What are two limitation of Van Ijzendoornes study?
- Alternative explanation for cultural similarity
Bowlby’s explanation for cultural similarities is that they are due to the fact
that attachment is innate and universal and thus produces the same kind of
behaviours all over the world. van IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg proposed an
alternative possibility.
They suggest that small cross-cultural differences
may reflect the effects of the mass media, in which
a large number of books and television programmes
‘that advocate similar notions of parenting are
disseminated across countries’.
-The Strange Situation lacks validity
There is the basic issue with using the Strange
Situation in research. Last lesson we considered
whether the Strange Situation might not be
measuring attachment at all. Kagan et al. (1986)
suggested that attachment type is more related to
temperament (personality) than to the relationship
with the primary attachment figure. In which case
the Strange Situation is not assessing attachment it is
simply measuring anxiety.
76
Maternal deprivation definition:
The emotional and intellectual consequences of separation between a child and his/her mother or mother substitute.
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.
77
Separation definition:
Child not being in the presence of the mother. Brief separations are a normal part of childhood. Only becomes an issue for development if there is also deprivation.
78
Deprivation definition:
Child loses an element of emotional care or love from the mother. Extended separations without a mother substitute can lead to deprivation - causes long term harm.
79
Explain Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation
Bowlby says that attachment to the mother (monotropy) is essential for a child's normal emotional, psychological and intellectual development.
Negative consequences for children who do not have this.
If a child experiences extended separation from their mother without a suitable substitute, and so is deprived of emotional care during the critical period (2.5 yrs), Bowlby argues psychological damage is inevitable and irreversible.
80
What does Bowlby say the consequences to maternal deprivation are
- delayed intellectual development - characterised by abnormally low IQ.
- Problems forming normal relationships in future - links to IWM.
- Bowlby identified affectionless psychopathy as the inability to feel guilt and strong emotions for others. Associated with criminality affectionless psychopaths cannot appreciate the feelings of victims and lack remorse for their actions.
81
What was the aim to Bowblys theory of maternal deprivation (44 thieves study 1944)
Bowlby aimed to investigate the link between maternal deprivation and affectionless psychopathy (lack of guilt and empathy).
82
What were the participants involved in Bowblys theory of maternal deprivation (44 thieves study 1944)
- 88 children referred to the child guidance clinic that Bowlby worked in at London. Both groups were matched in terms of age and IQ.
- group 1: 44 juvenile thieves
- group 2: A control group of 44 non-criminal children with emotional problems.
83
What was the procedure to Bowblys theory of maternal deprivation (44 thieves study 1944)
- Data about the 88 children were collected via interviews and questionnaire's with the children and their families, as well as school reports. This included information about the child's early experiences eg periods of seperation and their emotional attitude.
- Bowlby analysed this data himself.
84
What were the findings to Bowblys theory of maternal deprivation (44 thieves study 1944)
- Group 1- 44 juvenile thieves:
- 14 out of 44 were reclassified as affectionless psychopaths.
- 12 out of these 14 had experienced prolonged maternal separation within the first 2 years of life.
-Group 2- control group of 44 non-criminal children
- only 2 children had experienced prolonged maternal separation
- none were affectionless psychopaths.
85
What was one strength to Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation?
Methodological strength of Bowlby’s 44 Thieves Study
Bowlby matched the groups to control for extraneous
variables.
This meant that he could be more confident that the
differences in the number of affectionless psychopaths
between the groups was due to maternal deprivation,
and not other factors such as age or IQ.
86
What are two limitations to Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation?
-Theory of maternal deprivation based on flawed evidence
Social desirability (44 thieves)
Social desirability could have been an issue as
parents may have provided answers they
thought were socially acceptable (downplaying
the length of separation/the lack of emotional
care).
- Theory of maternal deprivation based on flawed evidence
Researcher bias (44 thieves)
Bowlby diagnosed the affectionless psychopaths and
analysed the data himself.
As the participants were clients at Bowlby’s clinic, he
knew which teenagers he expected to show signs of
affectionless psychopathy.
There may also have been confirmation bias because
of Bowlby’s beliefs about the importance of maternal
love.
87
Institutionalisation definition:
the effects of living in an institution (such as a childrens home, hospital or orphanage)
88
Privation definition:
Occurs when a child never forms an attachment to a caregiver (usually due to severe neglect or growing up in an institution).
89
What was the aim of Rutters (2011) English and Romanian Adoptee study?
To understand to what extent good quality care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions.
90
What was the procedure of Rutters (2011) English and Romanian Adoptee study?
- Followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans who were adopted in UK at different ages.
- Also followed a control group of 52 adopted British children.
- Physical, cognitive and emotional development assessed at ages 4,6,11 and 15 years.
- A longitudinal study - same participants studied over long period.
91
What was the findings of Rutters (2011) English and Romanian Adoptee study?
- Initially Romanian orphans under-performed compared to British control group on all measures of physical, social and cognitive development.
- The Romanian orphans adopted early caught up with control group of British children.
- Romanian orphans adopted before 6 months of age had caught up in physical growth and cognitive abilities by age 4.
- The Romanian orphans adopted after 2 years of age demonstrated particularly impaired intellectual development (low IQ).
- Average IQ = 100
- adopted before 6 months - mean IQ = 102 at age 11
- adopted between 6 months and 2 years - mean IQ = 86 at age 11
- adopted after 2 years - mean IQ = 77 at age 11
- These differences remained at age 16.
-Romanian orphans adopted after 6 months showed signs of disinhibited attachment:
- no stranger anxiety
- attention seeking
- clinginess
- social behaviour directed towards all adults (familiar and unfamiliar)
- those adopted before 6 months rarely showed such signs.
- Rutter (2006) has explained that disinhibited attachment is the result of being exposed to too many caregivers within critical period, so a secure attachment cannot be developed.
92
What was the conclusion of Rutters (2011) English and Romanian Adoptee study?
- Rutter concluded that good quality care under the age 6 months could make up for poor early experiences in institutions. However, after 6 months orphans showed signs of another attachment called disinhibited attachment.
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What is a strength of Rutters (2011) English and Romanian Adoptee study?
- Real life applications - expanded our knowledge of the effects of institutionalisation. Results led to improvements in way children are cared for in institutionalisation.For example, 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.
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What are two limitations of Rutters (2011) English and Romanian Adoptee study?
- Problems generalising from Romanian studies as standards of care were particularly poor -
The Romanian orphanages had particularly harsh conditions, with minimal emotional care and extremely low staff-to-child ratios. These conditions are not typical for orphanages, and so findings
may not apply to all children in institutions.
- Long term effects - not yet clear - Romanian orphan studies have now followed up fostered and adopted orphans into their mid-teens and found some lasting effects of early experience, in particular for those 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.
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Internal working model definition
The mental representations we all carry with us 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.
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Explain how attachment types can cause different attachments in childhood
- Bullying behaviour can be predicted by attachment type.
- Myron-Wilson and Smith (1998) assesed attachment type and bullying involvement using questionnaire in 196 children aged 7-11.
- Secure children were very unlikely to be involved in bullying.
- Insecure-avoidant children were most likely to be victims.
- Insecure -resistant were most likely to be bullies.
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Explain how attachment types can cause different attachments in adulthood
