Attachment studies

Question 1

What was Schaffer and Emersons (1964) study on attachment

Answer 1

Evidence for the attachment stages
60 babies were observed in their homes in glasgow, from birth every 4 weeks until 18mths interviews also conducted with families

Question 2

what were schaffer and emersons (1964) study on attachment’s findings and conclusions

Answer 2

Stages of attachment seen to occur, at 8mths about 50 infants had more than one attachment and about 20 of then had no attachment to their mother even though mother was always primary caregiver

quality of care is important and so if mother doesnt respond to signal correctly then it may not attach to their mother

Question 3

What was Ainsworth et al (1978) study on attachment

Answer 3

Strange situation- controlled observation
12-18mth old infants were left in a room with their mother and 8 different scenarios occur
being approached by stranger, being left alone and then mother coming back ect…

Question 4

What were Ainsworth et als (1978) study on attachment results

Answer 4

About 15% insecure avoidant (A) ignored mother and didnt mind if she left but stranger comforted them
About 15% insecure resistant (C) uneasy around mother and upset if she left resisting comfort from stranger
About 70% Securely attached (B) they content with mother, cried when she left and happy when returned and avoided strangers

Question 5

What were Ainsworth et als (1978) study on attachment evaluations

Answer 5

control of variables-reliable
Lab so artificial and reduced ecological validity
parents may have changed behaviour due to the study affecting the childs behaviour
mother may not have been childs main attachment figure

Question 6

What were Van ljzedoorn and Kroonenberg (1988) study on attachment

Answer 6

carried out a meta-analysis on 32 studies of the ‘strange situation’ in different countries they were then analysed to find any overall pattern

Question 7

What were Van ljzedoorn and Kroonenberg (1988) study on attachment results and evaluations

Answer 7

the % of people who were secure/insecure was consistent between countries differences were more within the countries
secure was most common across all countries
Western (Germany) Highest IA
Non-western (Japan) Highest IR
children brought up in different ways in different cultures, might result in different attachment types meta analysis can hide individual results that show an unusual trend

Question 8

what was bowlbys 1944 study on juvenile theives

Answer 8

Case study completes on the background of 44 adolescents who has been referred to the clinic where bowlby worked because they have been stealing
there was a control group of 44 emotionaly disturbed adolescents who didnt steal

Question 9

what were the results and conclusion of bowlbys 1944 study on juvenile theives

Answer 9

17 of the thieves had experienced frequent separations form their mother before the age of 2, compared with 2 in the control group
14 of the thieves were diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths and 12/14 had experienced separation from their mother

deprivation of the child from its main carer early in life can have harmful LT consequences

Question 10

what were the evaluations of Bowlbys 1944 study on juvenile thieves

Answer 10

Link between derivation and criminal behaviour
It can’t be said that one causes the other as their may be other factors
study relies on retrospective data that may be unreliable

Question 11

what was robetson and robertsons 1968 study

Answer 11

a separation study in a naturalistic observation several children who experienced short separations from their carers were observed and filmed
e.g a baby called john stayed in residential nursery for 9 days whilst his mother had another baby

Question 12

what were the results of the robetson and robertsons 1968 study

Answer 12

first day or two john protested at being separated from his mother, he then started trying to get attention from the nurses but they were busy with other children so he gave up trying
after another few days he began to show signs of detachment he was more active and content than previously had been, when his mother came in he was reluctant to be affectionate

ST separation had very bad effects on john, including possible permanent damage to his attachment with his mother

Question 13

what were the evaluation points for robetson and robertsons 1968 study

Answer 13

Johns reactions might not had been due to separation it could have been down to his new environment or the fact that he was getting much less attention that usual
little control of variables and it would make it hard to replicate each individual situation
Natural setting so high Ecological validity

Question 14

what was koluchovas 1976 study

Answer 14

case of the czech twin boys
mother died soon after they were born, father remarried and their stepmother treated them cruelly and they were often kept locked up in a cellar with no toys and often beaten
they were found when they were 7 with rickets and vert little social/interlectual development
they were later adopted and made much progress by adult hood they had above average intelligence and normal social relationships

Question 15

what was rutters 2007 study

Answer 15

study on romanian orphans
111 romaniam orphans who were adopted by british families compared to a group of 52 uk adoptees over a prolonged period assessed at ages 4,6 and 11

Question 16

what were the results of rutters 2007 study

Answer 16

the younger children when adopted had the same level of emotional development as other uk children adopted at the same age
those older showed signs of insecure-attachments and social problems the uk children over 6mths didnt show these reults

Question 17

what were the conclusions of rutters 2007 study

Answer 17

the effects of privation can be reversed if an attachment starts to form before 6 mths long-term effects are more permanent if attachment does occur in the 6mths
maternal deprivation on its on its own doesnt cause permanent effects because uk adopted children had been separated and showed no problems

Question 18

what were the evaluations of rutters 2007 study

Answer 18

the results with the older children may be due to a lack of any stimulation in the orphanage
as a longitudinal study, rutter was able to investigate the children over a long period of time meaning the results provide a better insight into the LT effects of privation

collected mainly qualitative data which is detailed but harder to create generalised laws or theories from

Question 19

what was hodges and tizards study

Answer 19

children raised in institutions
longitudinal study of 65 children who has been placed in a residential nursery before they were 4mths old
they hadn’t had the opportunity to form close attachments with any of their caregivers
by the age of four, some of the children had returned to their birth mothers and some has been adopted others stayed in the nursery

Question 20

what were the results and conclusion of hodges and tizards study in 1989

Answer 20

at the age of 16 the adopted childrern had a strong family relationship although compared to a control group of children from a normal home environment they showed poorer peer relationships those who stayed in the nursery or who returned to their mothers showed poorer relationships with family and peers than others

children can recover form early maternal privation if they are in good quality loving environment

Question 21

what is the evaluation points of hodges and tizards study in 1989

Answer 21

this was a natural experiment as it had high ecological validity
small sample
more than 20 couldn’t be found at the end of the study so hard to generalise
alot of children in institutions are underfed and malnurished with little stimulation which could explain behaviour rather than attachment

Question 22

what was hazan and shavers study of attachment in 1987

Answer 22

love quiz- study of influence of early attachments
conducted a love quiz with 2 parts
1) assessed the attachment type of each person with their parents
2) second part involved questions asking about their current beliefs about romantic love

Question 23

what were the results and conclusions of hazan and shavers study of attachment in 1987

Answer 23

first 620 responses analysed found that there was a correlation between the type of childhood attachment and people later views on romantic love
secure: more likely to have happy and trust worthy relationships
IA: children ended up fearing intimacy
IR: more likely to be worried they arent loved

concluded that their findings provided support for bowlbys IWM

Question 24

what was the evaluations hazan and shavers study of attachment in 1987

Answer 24

relied on people thinking back to their childhood which isnt always accurate
volunteer sample, certain type of people
may have answered untruthfully to show then selves in a better light

Question 25

what was quinton et als study in 1984

Answer 25

study on the cycle of privation
compared 50 women who had experienced institutional care as children with 50 who hadnt
they found that the women who had been raised in institutions were more likely to have parenting difficulties later in life
suggesting cycle of privation

Question 26

what was freud and danns study in 1951

Answer 26

studies 6 WWII children, they has been orphaned at a few months old and raised within deportation camp, looked after by jewish people ‘passing through’ to the concentration camp they didnt have enough time to form attachment instead forming bonds between themselves
when the war ended they were adopted by british families and since have shown few signs of a troubled upbringing having normal intelligence and maintaining normal relationships