Attatchment

Question 1

What is attachment as a definition

Answer 1

A close two way attachment or emotional bond which is essential for a persons individual security

Question 2

What are the three attachment behaviours

Answer 2

Proximity = where people try to stay physically close
Separation distress = distress when attachment figure leaves
Secure base= explores environment but can return to attachment figure for comfort

Question 3

What is reciprocity

Answer 3

How two people interact with one another where babies have alert phases and signal they are ready for interaction whilst mothers typically pick up on responses to alertness.

Question 4

What did brazleton eat al. Say about reciprocity

Answer 4

Described interaction as a dance because each partner responds to each others movements with a movement of their own

Question 5

What is interactional synchrony

Answer 5

Mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions of one another in a co-ordinated synchronised way.

Question 6

What did meltzoff and Moore say about interactional synchrony

Answer 6

Adults displayed one three facial expressions and one hand gesture. The child’s response wads filmed- and an association was made between the infants behaviour and that of the adult model

Question 7

What did Schaffer and Emerson of 1964 set out to study?

Answer 7

Aimed to investigate the formation of early attachment, in particular the age at which they developed emotional attachments and bonds

Question 8

What was Schaffer and Emerson’s 1964 study’s procedure and sample size

Answer 8

60 babies from working class Glasgow families. This was a longitudinal study where the babies and mothers were studied every month for the first year and then again in 18 months.
They observed and interviewed mothers assessing their separation anxiety through leaving the baby outside a shop and letting it cry at night. Also assessing stranger anxiety with the researcher starting home visits by approaching the infant- seeing if they got distressed

Question 9

What were the findings of Schaffer and Emerson’s 1964 study

Answer 9

at 25-32 weeks they showed separation anxiety from their caregiver mothers- with high levels of reciprocity.
By 40 weeks 80% of babies had a specific attachment with 30% showing multiple attachments to either grandparents or non immediate family members.

• shows the attachment of children as a common, universal predictable experience. Where its based on not who they spend the most time with but who’s the most alert to their child’s signals (start of reciprocity)

Question 10

What are the 4 stages of attachments

Answer 10

1. Indiscriminate attachments
2. The beginning of attachments
3. Discriminate attachments
4. Multiple attachments

Question 11

What is the indiscriminate attachment stages

Answer 11

When infants show similar reactions and responses to animate and inanimate objects.
Reciprocity and interactional synchrony play a big part in this aswell

Question 12

What is the beginnings of attachments

Answer 12

When at age 4 months infants become more social beginning to distinguish between different faces and are easily comforted by anyone

Question 13

What is discriminate attachment

Answer 13

Where by 7 months infants form an attachment to a primary caregiver. They protest highly when that person leaves them (separation anxiety) and quickly comforted by them.

Attachments formed to people most responsive and sensitive to child’s signals

Question 14

What is the stage of multiple attachments

Answer 14

Schaffer and emerson found within 1 month 29% of infants had multiple secondary attachment- grandparents, aunties.
Within 6 moths= rises to 78%

Question 15

What can we say about the ecological validity of Schaffer and Emerson’s study

Answer 15

It has high ecological validity- research was done in own homes+ most observation with own parents. Reflective of real life situations- no demand characteristics, behaviour is more natural.

However, lacks generalisability, 60 infants, middle class, same district of Glasgow. Non representative- child rearing practices differ from one culture/ social class- can’t generalise across cultures. Temporal validity? Changes since the 1960s in child rearing practices. Fathers as primary attachments.

Question 16

What is a strength and counter argument of Schaffer and Emerson’s studies when looking at the study as a longitudinal piece of research

Answer 16

Same children follows up, better than cross sectional (comparing two different groups)- better internal validity —> same participants so no confounding variables within participants

However could have social desirability bias, data from mothers could lie —> to make themselves look better, desirable answers. Lacks some internal validity as its difficult to establish between truth and lies

Question 17

What was lorenzs procedure

Answer 17

Lorenz took a clutch of goslings eggs leaving one half with the other and placing another in an incubator. They eventually hatched with the incubated eggs seeing Lorenz as a pose to the mother when they hatched. He then reunited both half’s where both himself and the mother were present.

Question 18

What were the findings of lorenzs study

Answer 18

The gosling quickly divided themselves back to incubated and non incubated which lorenzs goslings following him as a pose to their biological mother. Displaying their innate readiness to imprint with a primary attachment figure. This is described as a critical period after birth where imprinting is long lasting and permanent. And if not happening in this period, it may never happen.

Furthermore, he found that imprinting had an impact on their sexual partners, modelling of of the person imprinted= sexual imprinting

Question 19

What was Harlow procedure

Answer 19

Harlow took baby female rhesus monkeys and placed them in an enclosure with two artificial mother- one wire mother who provided milk and food, whilst the other was covered in cloth and had more realistic features but didn’t provide nutrients. 8 baby rhesus monkeys where studied for 165 days. They were also presented with a frightening stimulus robot and their reactions were recorded

Question 20

What were the findings of Harlow experiment

Answer 20

All 8 spent more time with their cloth mothers, seemingly going to them for comfort whilst only leaving them temporarily for food and water.
When monkeys were frightened they returned back to their cloth mothers and stayed with them when playing.
Showed love and comfort over food
Further monitoring shows an abnormal social development, self harm, introverted behaviour, anti social characteristics which allows Harlow to agree with the critical period of 3 months for an attachment to form otherwise they wouldn’t recover

Question 21

How did Guitan et als research counter lorenzs

Answer 21

-Challenged research
-Guitan et al found chicken that imprinted on yellow washing up gloves would try to mate with them as adults- but after time learnt to prefer mating with their own species.
- suggests impacts of imprinting behaviour isn’t as long lasting as suggested by Lorenz

Question 22

How can we criticise Lorenz in his research with his part in his own research

Answer 22

-Researcher bias
-wanted to support theory- imprinting. Interpreted behaviour to fit that theoretical description? Lacks internal validity and credibility.

Question 23

What can we use to criticise Harlow besides generalisability and ethicalness

Answer 23

Harlow use 2 diff. Monkeys with 2 diff. Heads which could be a confounding variable
Lack control= confounding variables
May be the reseason they preferred cloth more- more realistic features- lacks internal validity

Question 24

What are strengths of Harlow research

Answer 24

Real life application- captive monkeys
Need for proper attachment figures in zoos and therefore can care more appropriately for monkeys
Better wellbeing and care
Increases ethicalness and adds to cost benefit analysis

Question 25

What did Dillard and miller propose as their explanation for attachment

Answer 25

Explained through learning theories- ‘cupboard love’ as it emphasises the importance of a caregiver for food
Children love who feeds them

Question 26

How can we describe operant conditioning in attachment

Answer 26

A baby crying is being reinforced by the process of positive reinforcement which is the caregiver response of feeding

Negative reinforcement= caregiver removes hunger (negative feeling) reinforced by feeding the infant

Question 27

What does social learning theory suggest

Answer 27

That we learn through observation and imitation of others behaviours to influence our own.

Question 28

What did hay and Vespo (1988) say about SLT as a learning theory to explain attachment

Answer 28

Children see parent affection behaviour towards them and imitate it. Parent also reward desirable behaviours which children will adopt in hopes of receiving the same reward

Question 29

What are some weaknesses of using learning theories to describe attachment

Answer 29

-animal research- Pavlov+skinner, low external validity, humans= more complex and other situational/environmental factors

Alternate theories- bowlby explains why not just how attachments form- B shows advantages of attachment formations. When compared B> LT- limits LT explanatory power

Question 30

What is a strength of using learning theories to describe

Answer 30

Has some explanatory power
infants do learn through the attentiveness and responses observed from primary caregivers. Some credibility to theory. explains then how infants imitate parent’s responses and thus conduct relationships and develop

Question 31

What are Bowlby’s theories and explanations of attachment

Answer 31

Attachment is adaptive and innate
Sensitive period
Caregiving is adaptive
Secure base
Monterey and heirarchy
Internal working model
Continuity hypothesis

Question 32

What did Bowlby say about attachment being innate and adaptive

Answer 32

Attachment evolves to aid survival, where children have an innate drive to become attached to a caregiver because of long term benefits (imprinting)
Caregivers feeds + nourishes child to increase chances of survival.

Question 33

What is Bowlbys theory of the sensitive period

Answer 33

Bowlby believed that there is a limited window for attachments to form which is usually between the second quarter of a child’s first year(3-6 months)
If not developed- difficulty forming attachments later.

Question 34

What did Bowlby say about caregiving being adaptive

Answer 34

Caregiver adapts to children’s social releases (crying, baby face, smiling) because of an innate response to the babies innate attachment needs.

Question 35

What did Bowlby say about the secure base

Answer 35

Secure base to return to after exploration- aids independence in a child’s development

Question 36

What did Bowlby say about monotropy and hierarchy

Answer 36

A special attachment that is a primary attachment- main foundation for emotional development, future relationships, esteem

Secondary attachment= safety net and contribute to social development- lacking this causes a lacking in social skills

Question 37

What did Bowlby say about the internal working model

Answer 37

That childhood attachments monotropic for the basis for future adult relationships where securely attached infants develop more fulfilling and emotional attachments

Question 38

What is the continuity hypothesis proposed by Bowlby

Answer 38

Follows a similar concept of the internal working model,
Securely attach.= socially and emotionally competent
Insecurely attach.= more social and emotional difficulties later in childhood and adulthood

Question 39

How can we link Lorenz and bowlby for an evaluation point of Bowlbys theory

Answer 39

Research support- some of B theory
Infants genetically programmed to form attachments from birth- Lorenz found similar patterns of behaviours- goslings
Preprogramming provides an evolutionary advantage- passed through natural selection, survival purposes as Bowlby also suggested

Question 40

How can we link Rutter and bowlby for an evaluative point

Answer 40

Critical period- challenged
B= attachment not made in CP, difficult to form in later life or nay be not possible
Rutter (2010) not always the case, some children do struggle, but others do not.
Sensitive not critical- evidently varies between individuals

Question 41

What can we use to evaluate Bowlbys theory of attachment- with link to the continuity hypothesis

Answer 41

Hazel et al (1987)- found pp. who had reported secure attachments as children were more likely to report being in secure/lasting relationships as adults.
Validates and adds credibility to the internal working model and continuity hypothesis

Question 42

What was ainsworths aims in the strange situations

Answer 42

Testing the nature of attachments through devising groups of pp. systematically and assessing how infants from ages 9-18 months behaved under conditions of mild stress

Question 43

What was ainsworths procedure in the strange situations experiment

Answer 43

In a 9 by 9 room- children put in 8 different stages (each lasting 3 minutes) involving being left with a caregiver, stranger or alone.
This enables ainsworths to see responses of the infant being=
Separated from caregiver (separation anxiety)
Reunited with a caregiver (reunion behaviour)
Meeting a stranger (stranger anxiety)
In a novel environment (baseline reaction)

Question 44

Whatever did ainsworths find from his strange situations experiment

Answer 44

Combination of findings from 106 studies on middle class infants
She found a general trend of behaviours- decline in. Exploration after parent leaves
She found three patterns of behaviour which she grouped into attachment types
-secure 70%
-insecure- avoidant 15%
-insecure- resistant 15%

Question 45

Define the three types of attachment ainsworths found in her study

Answer 45

Secure= healthy attachment bonds, trust distress when separated but easily soothed on return. Avoids stranger when alone but friendly when mother is present

Insecure avoidant= little interest in mother leaving or returning, mother and stranger can comfort child equally well

Insecure-Resistant= intense distress when mother leaves, fear of stranger, resits contact from mother (may even push her away)- cries much more

Question 46

What are some strengths of ainsworths study

Answer 46

The observations had high reliability as they used multiple observers
• This meant that results could be compared to make sure they agreed, this is
called inter observer reliability
• They found a 94% agreement between the observers

• Interventions have been developed based on Ainsworth’s research to help fix
attachments that display disordered patterns
• The Circle of Security project (Cooper) teaches parents to better understand
their infants signals of distress
• After the project there was a decreased number of attachments classed as
disordered (from 60% to 15%) and an increase in secure attachments (32% to
40%)

Question 47

What are some weaknesses of ainsworths study

Answer 47

• Main and Soloman repeated the strange situation and found a fourth attachment type which they called insecure disorganised type D
• This is characterised by a lack of consistent patterns of social behaviour, for example they will show very strong attachment behaviour followed by avoidance or being fearful of the caregiver
• This shows that not all infants fall neatly into Ainsworths’s categories- questions the external validity and credibility of findings

• There may be confounding variables within the experiment as the parent who took part in the study may not of been the infants primary care giver (Main and Western)
• The children may of also had different upbringings which effected the results e.g. a child who regularly attends day care will show a lower level of separation and stranger anxiety than an infant who doesn’t but this does not necessarily mean they don’t have a secure attachment with their Primary caregiver.
Affects the validity of results, decreasing pop validity + chance of generalisability

Question 48

What did van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg aim to study in 1988

Answer 48

The proportions of attachment across a range of countries- and difference between them

Question 49

What was the procedure of van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg in 1988

Answer 49

They conducted a meta analysis on 32 studies of attachment that used the strange situations- including 1,990 children

Question 50

What did van Ijzendoorn and kroonenberg find from their 1988 study

Answer 50

• in all countries secure was most common
• they ranged with Britain at 75% compared to 50% in china
• insecure resistant was least common in cultures (except japan and Israel)
• 3% Britain 30% Israel
• German insecure avoidant and Israel (or Japan) insecure resistant

Question 51

What did simonella (2014) find about cultural variation of attachment

Answer 51

Experiment conducted in Italy, using 76, 12 month Olof infants using strange situation.
The found 50% secure, 36% insec.- avoid
This suggests that more. Others are working longer hours and use professional childcare services

Question 52

What did Jin et all (2012) find about cultural variations when studying attachment

Answer 52

Jin et al. Compared attachment types from Korea to other countries using 87 children using strange situations.
Secure and avoidant similar, but resistant was very common.

Question 53

What did grossman and grossman find about infants when studying attachment in different cultures

Answer 53

More likely insecurely attached
German culture values interpersonal distance between children and parents to encourage independence- this reduces proximity seeking behaviour which according to ainsworths is key to being securely attached.

Question 54

What did Tronick et al 1992 find when studying cultural variations ideas of attachment

Answer 54

Studied an African tribe, the fee, from Zairean who lived in extended family groups.
Infants were looked after and breastfed by different women, but slept with their mothers at night.
Despite differences in childrearing the infants at 6 months still showed on primary attachment

Question 55

What is a weakness of van ijzendoorn and kroonenbergs research

Answer 55

-Looked at countries not cultures
- used SS designed by an American and so not relevant for other cultures
- willingness to explore is the sign of a secure attachment in west- but in japan dependence over independence describes a secure attach.
- this means that not only are the methods of conducting the meta-analysis study culturally bias, so is the theory they’re based on

Question 56

What was John Bowlbys maternal deprivation theory

Answer 56

Emphasises the value of maternal care- he came to the conclusion that children needed emotional, intimate attachments with mothers aswell as just being fed, warm and kept safe

Question 57

What is deprivation in attachment

Answer 57

To lose something- in this case the emotional attachment and connect from a child

Question 58

What was the procedure of Bowbys 1944 study in the juvenile thieves

Answer 58

• Bowlby analysed the history of previous patients of the child guidance clinic in London
• 88 patients were studied- 44 were thieves and the other 44 were a control group
• through interviews of the patients and families, Bowlby established=
• whether the children were thieves, or affection less thieves
• whether or not they had at any time been separated from their mothers

Question 59

What were the findings of the 44 juvenile thieves study by Bowlby in 1944

Answer 59

86% of children classed as affection less thieves had experiences repeated separations from their mothers- before 2. Whereas 4% of the control group had experiences frequent separations

• displays the long lasting effects of deprivation of a child’s development into adulthood

Question 60

How can we use Marian redid- yarrow study on the physical and emotional separation effects on attachment- to evaluate Bowlbys theory of deprivation.

Answer 60

Marian Radke-Yarrow et al (1985) – Studied mothers who were severely
depressed and found that 55% of their children was insecurely attached
compared with 29% in the non-depressed group.
• This suggests that psychological separation can also lead deprivation.

Question 61

What did Antonia bilfulcos study show us about the long term effects of attachment deprivation (bowlby)

Answer 61

studied women who had experienced separation from their mothers either because of maternal death or temporary separation of more than a year. Bifulco found that about 25% later experienced depression or an anxiety disorder compared with 15% who had no experience of separation. The mental health problems were much greater for those women who had experienced the separation before the age of six, supporting Bowlby’s critical period. This shows that the maternal deprivation can make individuals vulnerable to later effects.

Question 62

What were the long term real world applications of Bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 62

Changed the child rearing of family practices post war.
Increased visits to caregivers in hospitals and making sure infants and parents aren’t separate

Question 63

Define institutionalisation

Answer 63

The effect of living in an institutionalised setting- in this case the setting where children love for a long period of time

Question 64

What did rutter argue in 2010 which informed his later study

Answer 64

It may be privation and not deprivation that has permentant and irreversible effects

Question 65

What was Rutter’s procedure of his study

Answer 65

• a longitudinal study
• followed 165 Romanian orphans who experience very poor conditions before being adopted in Britain
• they were interested in finding out whether love and care could make up for poor early childhood experiences
• they physically cognitively and emotionally assess each pp. at age 4,6,11,15
• control group of 52 British adoptees

Question 66

What were the findings of Rutter’s study

Answer 66

Majority were severely undernourished. By 11 they showed different rates of development based on age of adoption
Mean IQ before 6mnth= 102
Mean IQ between 6-12mnth= 86
Mean IQ adopted after 2yrs= 77

After 6 months- showed disinhibited attachment (attention seeking, clinginess)
Supported sensitive period theory

Question 67

What are some of the effects of institutionalisation

Answer 67

Physical underdevelopment=
Children in institutional care are usually physically smaller.
Research by Gardner (1972)- emotional care rather that poor nourishment is the
cause which has been called deprivation dwarfism.

Disinhibited attachment –
Form of insecure attachment where children will not discriminate between people
they consider attachment figures e.g. may treat near strangers with inappropriate
familiarity and be overfriendly towards them.

Intellectual under functioning –
Cognitive development is affected by emotional deprivation.

Poor parenting –
Quinton et al (1984) – compared a group of 50 women who had been reared in
institutions with a control group of 50 women who had been reared at home. When
the women were in their 20s it was found that the institutional women were
experiencing extreme difficulties acting as parents.

Question 68

What is a are some strengths of the Romanian orphanage study by Rutter (2010)

Answer 68

High ecological validity, natural occurring scenario/ conditions of orphanage+ age of adoption —> increases validity and adds credibility to the study

Longitudinal study- illuminates confounding participant variables compared to cross sectional research studies- however unreflective sample, low population validity and time consuming

Question 69

What are some weaknesses of the Romanian orphanage study

Answer 69

Cultural bias/ low pop validity- Romanian orphanages extremely poor conditions- non reflective of better conditions in other countries

Low temporal validity- government banning abortion—> crisis poor conditions not reflective of modern conditions- where there’s a better student to staff ratio divide

Question 70

What is the internal working model

Answer 70

Bowlby- relationship between an infant and primary caregiver forms the basis/template for later adult relationships. We would argue that our early attachments do influence our future relationships in both childhood and adulthood.

Question 71

What was the Minnesota study?

Answer 71

> 200 mothers at a moderate risk of parenting difficulties
Strange situations at 12 and 18 months
Followed up over 30 years
Interviews for caregivers and teachers , behavioural observations, self report questionnaires, formal tests and data from records

Question 72

What was the Minnesota study?

Answer 72

> 200 mothers at a moderate risk of parenting difficulties
Strange situations at 12 and 18 months
Followed up over 30 years
Interviews for caregivers and teachers , behavioural observations, self report questionnaires, formal tests and data from records

Question 73

What did the Minnesota study find about securely attached infants at preschool?

Answer 73

Secure attached infants at preschool were happier more popular and less dependent

Question 74

What did the Minnesota study find about securely attached infants at preschool?

Answer 74

Secure attached infants at preschool were happier more popular and less dependent

Question 75

What did the Minnesota study find about secure attached infants as adolescence

Answer 75

Long lasting romantic relationships, more satisfied with romantic relationships less emotional and psychological problems

Question 76

What did the Minnesota study find about secure attached children in middle childhood?

Answer 76

More friends higher self-esteem, high confidence

Question 77

What did the Minnesota study find about secure attached children in middle childhood?

Answer 77

More friends higher self-esteem, high confidence

Question 78

What was the aim of Hazan and Shaver’s 1987 love quiz

Answer 78

To investigate whether adult romantic relationships reflected the same attachment styles as those found between children and their parents.

Same beliefs as bowlby

Question 79

What was the procedure of Hazan and Shavers love quiz

Answer 79

The researchers analysed 620 responses.
Survey ‘love quiz’ in a newspaper
Three sections=
1. Respondents current/ most important relationship
2. General love experiences
3. Number of partners and attachment types measured by asking respondents to chose which statements best describe their feelings.

Question 80

What was the procedure of Hazan and Shavers love quiz

Answer 80

The researchers analysed 620 responses.
Survey ‘love quiz’ in a newspaper
Three sections=
1. Respondents current/ most important relationship
2. General love experiences
3. Number of partners and attachment types measured by asking respondents to chose which statements best describe their feelings.

Question 81

What were the findings of Hazan and shavers love quiz study

Answer 81

56% securely attached
25% insecure avoidant
19% insecure- resistant

Securely attached—> most likely to have good and longer lasting romantic relationships

Question 82

What did bailey eat al. Find in 2007

Answer 82

99 mothers.
Measured infant attachment using the strange situation and the mother’s attachment as a child using interviews.

Concluded that early attachment,e t styles of the mother are passed on to their children + subsequent future generations

Question 83

What is a negative about the influence of early childhood attachment, referring unrepresentative nature of research that supports the claims of the internal working model

Answer 83

P= Not all research supports the claims of the internal working model.
E= Internal working models are unconscious and we are not directly aware of their influence on us. We would not expect to gain direct evidence about them through self-report methods which require conscious awareness. Yet research in this area tends to rely on self- report methods.
L= This suggests that research investigating internal working models may be erroneous and limits its ability to support the theory.

Question 84

What is a negative about the influence of early childhood attachment, referring unrepresentative nature of research that supports the claims of the internal working model

Answer 84

P= Not all research supports the claims of the internal working model.
E= Internal working models are unconscious and we are not directly aware of their influence on us. We would not expect to gain direct evidence about them through self-report methods which require conscious awareness. Yet research in this area tends to rely on self- report methods.
L= This suggests that research investigating internal working models may be erroneous and limits its ability to support the theory.

Question 85

What are some theoretical issues with research relation to the internal working model AO3

Answer 85

P= There are theoretical issues with research relating to the internal working model.
E= Most studies do not use the strange situation to assess infant attachment, but instead use retrospective interviews or questionnaires.
E= This creates validity issues as the data relies on the fact that people are giving honest and truthful answers regarding their relationships.
L= Why might retrospective methods lead to issues?
This suggests that early attachments may not be as important for later relationships as described by the internal working model.

Question 86

What did Zimmerman’s 2000 study show us about the influences of infant attachment on future relationships

Answer 86

P= The influence of infant attachment on future relationships is exaggerated.
E= Zimmerman (2000) assessed the relationship between infant attachment type and adolescent attachment and found that there was little relationship between them.
E= This suggests that self-report methods in this area offers only indirect evidence of internal working models and not direct, as in theory internal working models are not in the conscious awareness