ATTACHMENT-The influence of early attachment Flashcards
What is the role of the internal working model in early attachments?
-An infant learns about a relationship from experience
-The infant learns what a relationship is and how people with attachments behave towards each other
Who conducted a study on this in 1987?
-Hazah and Shaver
What was the aim of their experiment?
-To test the internal working model
What was the procedure?
-Placed a love quiz in the Rocky Moutin news
-The quiz asked questions about current attachments and attachment history to identify current and childhood attachment types
-Also had questions about attitudes towards love
-This was an assessment of the internal working model
-They analysed 620 responses,205 from men and 415 from women from across the population
What were the findings of the study?
-When analysing the self report of attachment history they found that the prevalance of attachment styles were similar to that in infancy
-56% were secure,25% avoidant and 19% resistant
-Found a positive correlation between attachment and love experiments
-Securely attached adults descrivbed their love experiences as happy, friendly and trusting (they emphasised being able to accept and support their partner despite faults)
-These relationships were more enduring and lasted an average of 10 years in comparison to 5/6 for resistant and avoidant attachments
-People who were securely attached had a positive internal working model
What did the Minessota child-parent study find?
-Continuity between early attachment and later emotional/social behaviour
-Individuals who were classified as securely attached in infancy were highest rated for social competence later in childhood and were less isolated, more empathetic and popular
How can the findings of the Minnesota study be explained by the internal working model?
-Securely attached children have high expectations that others are friendly and trusting and this would enable easier relationships with others
How does poor parenting affect attachments? Reference Harlow, Quinton et al and the internal working model
-Harlows research with monkeys also demonstrated a link between poor attachments and later difficulties with parenting
-Quinton et al showed that the same is true in humans
-The lack of an internal working model means that individuals lack a reference point to form relationships with their children
How does a lack of attachments affect mental health?
-Children with attachment disorder lack a preferred attachment figure, an inability to interact with others which is prevalent from the age of 5 (this is due to severe neglect or frequent change in caregivers)
Give a strength (understanding) how to support people with different attachment types
Understanding why a child or adult may be struggling due to their attachment type allows those working with them, to support them betterThis may help those who were not securely attached, reach relationship stability as they grow older
Give a strength
The internal working model has a practical real-life application
Limitations
Self-report techniques, which were used, can be less valid as participants may under or over-exaggerate
There may also be bias in the type of person who replies to adverts in newspapers: e.g. people who had recently suffered a bad break-up and wished to vent their feelings
It is difficult to establish a cause and effect as it is a correlation: further research would be required
