Bowlby's Maternal Deprivation Theory

Question 1

Explain the concept of deprivation according to Bowlby?

Answer 1

• Deprivation is when a child is seperated from an attachment figure, or did not have one during the critical period, causing psychological damage
• The effects are irreversible

Question 2

What are the consequences of deprivation? (3)

Answer 2

1. Impaired cognitive development
   - poor language skills, low IQ, difficulty with attention/memory
2. Impaired emotional development
   - struggle to control emotions and form relationships
3. Impaired behavioural development
   - Delinquency, poor behaviour

Question 3

What are the consequences of short term seperation during the critical period?

Answer 3

Children follow the PDD model as a result of short term seperation

Question 4

What is the PDD model?

Answer 4

1. PROTEST
   Child becomes angry about abondonment from caregiver
2. DESPAIR
   Child becomes sad and withdrawn
3. DETACHMENT
   Child rejects main caregiver, & refuses comfort upon reunion

Question 5

What study did Bowlby conduct to prove his maternal deprivation theory?

Answer 5

Bowlby interviewed 44 thieving teens vs a control group of 44 non criminal teens

Question 6

Explain the results of the 44 thieves study?

Answer 6

CONTROL:
>5% - Maternal seperation

EXPERIMENTAL:
50% Maternal seperation
32% showed affectionless psychopathy
86% (of the 32%) suffered maternal seperation

Question 7

What can be concluded from the 44 thieves study?

Answer 7

Maternal deprivation contributes to delinquency and leads to affectionless psychopathy

Question 8

What are the limitations of the 44 thieves study?

Answer 8

1. Interviews may be unreliable and lack objectivity
   - Memory can be skewed by leading questions + young age
2. Participants may have been affected by investigator effects and demand characteristics
   - May exaggerate their deprivation for the researcher
3. This was a natural experiment
   - Little control over extraneous variables, hard to establish causal relationship because theres no control over IV

Question 9

Explain how the Koluchova twins limit Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory

Answer 9

• The effects are reversible
  The twins were abused by their stepmom until discovered at the age of 9, they were severely impaired emotionally, cognitively and behaviourally and were adopted by a loving family
  They were happy, fulfilled adults, and caught up academically

Mental age of 3, at age 7, difficulty speaking

Question 10

Explain how confounding variables limit Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory

Answer 10

Confounding variables are not considered when determining the effects of deprivation
Makes it more difficult to establish a causal relationship between deprivation and psychological damage
eg. abuse, malnourishment etc

Question 11

Explain how oversimplification is a limitation of Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory?

Answer 11

Bowlby does not consider the difference between privation and deprivation
The effects of privation are worse than deprivation according to Rutter

Rutter criticises the oversimplification of deprivation

Question 12

What is the difference between privation and deprivation?

Answer 12

Privation - failure to form an attachment during critical period
Deprivation - attachment breaks during critical period