Booklet 1: Explanations and Types of attachment

Question 1

What is attachment?

Answer 1

An emotional bond/tie between two people who seek closeness and feel more secure when in the presence of the attachment figure. Usually between a parent and a child.

Question 2

What are the two explanations of attachment?

Answer 2

The learning theory and Bowlby’s theory.

Question 3

What is the learning theory?

Answer 3

The belief that children develop attachments to the feeder (the person who satisfies their needs) through a process of association.

Question 4

Describe operant conditioning in terms of the learning theory…

Answer 4

This involves learning behaviour due to its consequence by the use of reinforcements; either positive or negative. Positive reinforcements will increase the likelihood of behaviour occurring again, whereas negative reinforcement reduces the likelihood of the behaviour occurring again as it has a negative outcome.

Question 5

Give an example of Operant conditioning.

Answer 5

Skinners rats- Hungry rats were placed in a box which contained a lever. As the rat moved about the box it would accidentally know the lever, which immediately dropped a food pellet. The rats showed how positive reinforcement works as they quickly lean red to of straight to the lever, only a few times of being put in the box.

Question 6

Describe classical conditioning in terms of the learning theory…

Answer 6

This occurs where a stimulus becomes associated with a response. This involves babies learning to associate care givers with food(an unconditioned or primary reinforcer), due to the pleasure food ives, with carers being a conditioned or secondary reinforcer.

Question 7

Give an example of classical conditioning….

Answer 7

Pavlovs dog:
 UCS - Food 
UCR- Salvation 
UCS- Food
CS -Bell 
CR- Dogs salvation

Question 8

What are the A02 points for the learning theory?

Answer 8

Harlow’s monkeys, Schaffer and Emerson (Glasgow babies), Real life contradictions and reductionist.

Question 9

Evaluate the learning theory regarding Harlows monkeys.

Answer 9

There is a lot of evidence to contradict the learning theories prediction that a baby will form its primary attachment to the person who provides the most drive reduction. For example in Harlow’s study, where the baby monkeys had the option between two pretend mothers, one being comforting and one who fed, the monkeys chose the cloth condition not food. This contradicts the learning theory as the monkeys didn’t attach to the mother who provided food.

Question 10

Evaluate the learning theory regarding the Glasgow babies.

Answer 10

Schaffer & Emerson carried out a longitudinal for 18 months with 60 Glasgow babies. They studied the babies in their own home in a regular pattern and still found that less than half of the children’s primary attachment was to the person who regularly fed them.

Question 11

What do Harlow’s monkeys and the Glasgow babies show?

Answer 11

These studies suggest that it is responsiveness, rather than drive reduction that is more important to attachment.

Question 12

What are the learning theories real life contradictions?

Answer 12

1. Reinforcers make behaviour reoccur and punishments reduce behaviour. However people with cruel parents and attachment figures contradict the learning theory.
2. The learning theory predicts that if the reinforcements go away the behaviour will also disappear too. However research suggests that absence strengthens attachments.

Question 13

What is the final negative evaluation point for the learning theory?

Answer 13

The theory is accused of being reductionist as it reduces attachment behaviour down to just a single stimulus-response link, but real life attachment is much more complicated than that and is affected by a number of factors including personality.

Question 14

What is Bowblys theory?

Answer 14

Bowlbys theory claims the opposite of the learning theory- that attachment is innate. According to Bowlby attachment can be explained in terms of the theory of evolution as it has been naturally elected through time because it promotes survival. When humans are faced with dangers such as predators, infants stay close so they are more likely to survive. Therefore the survivor gene gets passed down so the chance of survival is increased. This means that infants are now programmed to behave towards their primary caregiver in which way ensures their survival for example by social releasers e.g. crying, smiling, gurgling.

Question 15

What are the three key features of Bowlby’s theory?

Answer 15

Critical period, Monotropy and the internal working model.

Question 16

What is the critical period?

Answer 16

The time in which an attachment has to be formed or it is useless. For most children in will be before 12 months, for all children it will be 2.5-3 years. If the attachment is damaged in this time, the child will suffer irreversible long term social and emotional difficulties.

Question 17

What is monotropy?

Answer 17

An strong innate tendency to attach to one particular adult who interacts with them more sensitively, usually the biological mother. This attachment is unique from any other attachment a child will make.

Question 18

What is the internal working model?

Answer 18

Bowlby’s claim that the first and strongest maternal attachment, forms a template on which all later relationships are based.

Question 19

What are the positive evaluation points for Bowlby’s theory?

Answer 19

Hugely influential and research e.g. the love quiz supports the internal working model and Lorenz and his ducks supports the critical period.

Question 20

Explain the first evaluation point for Bowlby’s theory.

Answer 20

Bowlby’s theory of attachment has been hugely influential. t has generated an enormous amount of research, both trying to support and disprove it. Harlow’s monkeys had important practical implications as they changed the way orphanages are run as bowlby’s research shows show important comfort is swell as food.

Question 21

Explain the second evaluation point of Bowlby’s theory.

Answer 21

Hazan & Shaver’s love quiz supports the internal working model as it shows a strong positive correlation between child relationships and adult relationships. A second piece of research that supports is Lorenz & his ducks as the ducklings attached to Lorenz rather than their biological mother.

Question 22

What are the negative evaluation points for Bowlby’s theory?

Answer 22

Not a universal finding and the Czech twins contradict.

Question 23

Explain the first negative evaluation point for Bowlby.

Answer 23

The correlations found between child and adult relationships in the love quiz are not universal findings as there are other ways to explain this such as the temperament hypothesis- some children are better at forming relationships due to their personalities.

Question 24

Explain the second negative evaluation point for Bowlby.

Answer 24

Koluchova’s research on the Czech twins contradicts Bowlby’s theory as they had no mother and were also treated badly by their step mother, however formed an attachment with an adoptive mother at 13 years. This shows that children can form an attachment after the critical period if given the right circumstances. More recent researchers have suggested that the term ‘critical period’ is too strong and should be described as the ‘sensitive’.

Question 25

What is the strange situation?

Answer 25

The most important method of measuring a child’s attachment type devised by Mary Ainsworth. It has a series of seven steps, carried out as a controlled observation. This procedure is now used in almost every study of attachment.

Question 26

How long does each step of the SS last for?

Answer 26

3 minutes.

Question 27

What are the seven steps?

Answer 27

1. Mother and child enter room, and child is free to explore.
2. A stranger enters the room and briefly talks to the mother.
3. The stranger tries to engage with the infant through play and talk.
4. The mother leaves the room. If the baby gets upset the stranger tries to comfort them.
5. The mother returns and the stranger leaves.
6. The mother leaves and infant is left alone.
7. The stranger reruns to the room instead of the mother and tries to comfort and play.
8. The mother re-enters and the stranger leaves.

Question 28

What are the four aspects of behaviour the infants are assessed on?

Answer 28

Separation anxiety, willingness to explore, stranger anxiety, reunion behaviour.

Question 29

What is separation anxiety?

Answer 29

How the child reacts when the mother leaves the room.

Question 30

What is willingness to explore?

Answer 30

How happy the child is to play.

Question 31

What is stranger anxiety?

Answer 31

How the child reacts with a stranger.

Question 32

What is reunion behaviour?

Answer 32

How the child reacts on the mothers return.

Question 33

What were Mary’s findings?

Answer 33

Secure - 70%
Insecure resistant - 10%
Insecure avoidant - 20%

Question 34

What was Mary’s sample?

Answer 34

American infants, aged between 12 and 18 months.

Question 35

Explain the secure attachment type…

Answer 35

Upset and subdued when mother leaves.
Willing to explore
High stranger anxiety
Easy to comfort and happy on reunion.

Mirrors caregivers behaviour- sensitive and responsive.

Question 36

Explain the insecure resistant attachment type…

Answer 36

Intensely distressed when mother leaves.
Unwilling to explore.
High stranger anxiety
Difficult to comfort- clingy mixed with rejection on mothers return

Contradicts caregivers behaviour- sometimes responsive, sometimes dismissive.

Question 37

Explain the insecure avoid ant attachment type…

Answer 37

Unconcerned by mothers absence.
Willing to explore.
Low stranger anxiety.

Caregiver is unresponsive.

Question 38

Evaluate the strange situation regarding reliability.

Answer 38

The strange situation demonstrates reliability for example in Main, Kaplan and Cassidy’s study (1985) where they tested infants of 18 months and then again at 6 years. They found that 100% of the secure infants were still secure and 75% of the avoid ant infants were still under the same classification. Secondly Ainsworth also tested the inter observer reliability (the extent to which different observers score a behaviour in a similar way) This was found to be very high.

Question 39

Evaluate the strange situation in terms of validity.

Answer 39

The strange situation doesn’t have high validity as it assumes attachment types are fixed and permeant but it is argued classification can change if family circumstances change. Main & Solomon found an additional attachment type not recognised by Ainsworth which was ‘Insecure disorganised’.

Secondly, some researchers have argued that the SS only measures the relationship between the mother and the child and that if it was repeated with the father then the attachment type could be completely different.

Lastly, the SS lacks ecological validity as it is done in an artificial environment so the mother and infant are acting to a script and therefore it is not a true representation of their attachment type. Studies such as Brofenbrenner have found that infants behaviour is much strong in a lab than at home.

Question 40

What were the cross cultural variations in attachment?

Answer 40

Studies done since the creation of the SS which have examined differences in attachments across cultures. One of the biggest was by Van Iljendoorn & Kroonenberg.

Question 41

What was Van Iljendoorn & Kroonenberg’s method?

Answer 41

They carried out a meta-analysis combining the findings of 32 other studies of the strange situate based on the observation of over 2000 children from 8 different con tries; West Germany, UK, Holland, Sweden, Israel, Japan, China and USA.

Question 42

What were Van Iljendoorn & Kroonenberg’s findings?

Answer 42

They found consistency in the overall distribution of attachment types across cultures. Their most significant findings was that there is one and a half greater times variation within cultures than between.

Secure attachement types was the most common type in all 8 countries. However significant differences were found between the distributions of insecure attachments. For example in indivualistic Cultures e.g. Germany the dominate insecure type is avoidant, whereas in collectivist cultures e.g. Japan the dominant insecure type was Resistant.

Question 43

What was Van Iljendoorn & Kroonenberg’s conclusion?

Answer 43

The overall consistency in secure attachment leads to the conclusion that there may be universal characteristics that underpin attachment. However the significant variations in insecure attachments demonstrate that univerisitality can be limited and questions the generlisability of the strange situation.

Question 44

What are the evaluation points of cultural variations?

Answer 44

Its bias to America, Small sample, Misinterpretation.

Question 45

Explain the first evaluation point for the CV.

Answer 45

Despite the large number of studies in this meta-analysis, over half (18 out of 32) were still conducted in America, only five of the 32 studies were carried out in a collectivist culture. Therefore, this study is not a true representation of cultural differences in attachment.

Question 46

Explain the second evaluation point for CV.

Answer 46

There is a problem with generlisability due to the very small sample sizes used in some of the countries for example China only used 26 children. This means that it is not a true representation of each culture and cannot be generalised.

Question 47

Explain the third evaluation point of CV.

Answer 47

It has been suggested that the cultural differences attachment found may be due to misinterpretation of the behaviours observed. The SS method assumes that behaviour has the same meaning in all cultures but it may be that cultural values means that attachment may be displayed differently. For example the high number of insecure avoidant children found in Germany could simply reprint the cultural emphasis and encouragement of children to display independent behaviour.

Question 48

What is the secondary study for cultural variations?

Answer 48

Takahashi (1990)

Question 49

What is Takahashi’s A01?

Answer 49

Takahashi compared attachment types in 60 middle class Japanese infants aged under 12 months with American infants using the strange situation. The findings were that 68% of Japanese infants were securely attached, 32% were insecure resistant and none were insecure avoidant. When the Japanese infants were left alone they were so upset that the ‘leaving the infant alone’ stage of the strange situation had to be abandoned.

Question 50

What is Takahashi’s A02?

Answer 50

This findings can be explained by the fact that Japanese infants spend almost 100% of their time in contact with their mothers for the first 2 years of their lives. This means that being left alone is extremely unusual for them and leads to extreme distress that the strange situation incorrectly judges as insecure resistant behaviour. This supports the clam that the strange situation is an imposed etic (a technique made in one culture that is wrongly used in others)