Child Psychology Flashcards
Why does Bowlby think attachments form?
He proposed that attachment behaviour evolved as it serves an important survival function - a baby who is not attacked is less protected.
When and how do attachments form?
Bowbly suggested that babies form attachments around 6 months. If a baby didn’t form attachments during this period, they will find it difficult to form them later on.
Who do babies attach to most?
To the people who are sensitive to their needs - carers that are responsible and more accessible than others.
How do social releasers link to attachment?
Many baby-like behaviours elict care-giving. These behaviours have been naturally selected as they lead to survival success.
What is monotropy?
The idea that a child has an innate need to form one special, emotional bond to one person - a primary attachment figure. The bond should usually stay unbroken for the first two years, otherwise it could lead to affectionless psychopathy (the maternal deprivation hypothesis)
Who is usually the primary attachment figure?
The biological mother, but it could be the person who spends the most time with the baby.
What is the maternal depriviation hypothesis?
The emotional & intellectual consequences of separation between a child and their caregiver. If the bond between the child and their caregiver is broken too soon, it can cause serious damage to the child’s development. Bowlby says that if this happens, the child can become an ‘affectionless psychopath.’
Explain how the importance of sensitivity is a strength of Bowlby’s theory of attachment?
Importance of sensitivity: Russell Isabella (1993) observed mothers and their babies interacting at one, four and nine mths of age then assessed the quality of attachment. It was found that strongly attached babies had mothers who were more responsive.
Explain how the support for the critical period a strength of Bowlby’s theory of attachment?
Support for the critical period: According to Bowlby it should not be possible to form attachments beyond the age of six months. Rutter et al. (2011) shows that this is true to an extent. It appears less likely that attachments will form after this period but it is not impossible. Therefore, researchers now prefer to use the term sensitive period.
Explain how the temperament hypothesis is a weakness of Bowlby’s theory of attachment?
Alternative explanations for attachment: Kagan (1934) proposed the temperament hypothesis - the view that a baby’s innate temperament (personality) has an important influence on the attachment. Some babies are emotionally difficult and this affects the mother’s ability to form an attachment. This means that it comes down to more than just the sensitivity of the mother, illustrating that both nature and nurture matter.
Explain how the application to working mothers in society is a weakness of Bowlby’s theory of attachment?
Bowlby’s theory has had a considerable impact on attitudes towards mothers going out to work. Many people felt that Bowlby’s theory implied that mothers should stay at home to look after their children, and not go to work, because separation was harmful to the child’s development. This led some feminists to be very critical about Bowlby’s theory because it discouraged women from trying to be both a mother and career woman.
Aim of the Strange Situation Procedure?
To assess and measure the quality of attachment, which takes place in a room unfamiliar to the child.
Procedure of the Strange Situation Procedure?
1) Child + caregiver enter room + encouraged to explore (Exploration + secure base)
2) Stranger enters + tries to interact with child (Stranger anxiety)
3) Caregiver leaves room, leaving child + stranger (Separation + stranger anxiety
4) Caregiver returns + stranger leaves (reunion behaviour + exploration and secure base)
5) Caregiver leaves child alone (separation anxiety)
6) Stranger returns + trees to comfort + play (stranger anxiety)
7) Caregiver return + stranger leaves (reunion behaviour)
Findings of the Strange Situation Procedure?
Ainsworth combined the date and found the babies’s responses fell into 3 types of attachment: Secure attachment, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant.
Results (% of attachment types) of the SSP?
22% - Insecure-avoidant
66% - Secure
12% - Insecure-resistant
What is Type A attachment type - insecure-avoidant?
These babies showed a high willingness to explore but low stranger anxiety, indifferent seperation anxiety and they were indifferent to the departure/return of the care giver.
What is Type B attachment type - secure?
These babies showed low seperation and stranger anxiety and the behaviour on reunion was enthusiatic.
What is Type C attachment type - insecure-resistant?
They showed high stranger and high seperation anxiety and low willingness to explore. Upon reunion, they resisted being picked up whilst trying to maintain proximity.
Strength of the SSP?
High reliablity: panel of experienced observers which meant that inter-obsever reliablity could be calculated. The correlation was +.94 which was almost perfect.
Weaknesses of the SSP?
Not all attachment types covered: A new type was proposed; insecure-disorganised (Type D), found by Main (1990). Such children lacked a coherent strategy for dealing with stress of seperation.
Low external validity: Main and Weston found that the classification of attachment types depended on which parent the baby was with. This suggests that attachment types may not be valid as we are measuring one relationship only.
What is deprivation?
To have lost something or been away from something for a long time.
In the context of maternal care, it is the loss of emotional care that is normally provided by a primary caregiver.
Who created the PDD model?
(short term effects of deprivation)
Robertson and Bowlby (1952) studied young children who experienced brief seperation from their caregivers.
Over time, the child’s responses to their caregivers’ arrival and departure changed in typical ways i.e the PDD model.
What is the ‘Protest’ in the PDD model?
The first response is to appear acutely distressed and is targeted towards their caregiver.
What is the ‘Despair’ in the PDD model?
The child is less active and self-comforts. It may be interpreted as overcoming distress but is actually hopelessness.
What is the ‘Detachment’ in the PDD model?
The child may get the attachment of others and appear sociable. The child becomes truly apathetic but keeps up the appearance of well-being.
Strengths of the PDD model?
High validity - Robertson recorded the behaviour of one child, Laura aged 2, when she went into hospital. Filming was done to ensure there was no bias and he filmed during two 40-min sessions at the same time each day.
Application to hospital care - The research changed the way children are cared for in hospital; visiting rights for families changed from not allowed or limited time spent with the child to special rooms being made for families to stay together.
Weaknesses of the PDD model?
Bowlby’s research did not demonstrate that deprivation is the causal factor - The 44 Thieves study had many other factors which could explain why the early seperations were associated with later affectionless psychopathy. This means that we cannot simply conclude that seperation/deprivation cause mental health problems and it is likely to be a vulnerablity that is caused by life stressors.
Lack of distinction between deprivation and privation - Rutter (1981) criticised Bowlby’s view of deprivation as it did not make clear whether the child’s attachment bond had formed but been broken, or never formed in the first place. He felt that Bowlby’s research mixed deprivation and privation together when they were quite different.
This means that the conclusions drawn from Bowlby’s research lack validity because it is not clear whether subsequent effects are due to being deprived of emotional care or having never had that emotional care in the first place.
What is the maternal deprevation hypothesis?
(long term effects of deprivation)
Bowlby (1953) considered the longer-term effects of seperation and believed that children need a ‘warm, intimate and continuous relationship’ with a caregiver to ensure normal mental health.
However, it only applies to a critical period in development; deprevation will have this effetc if the relationship with the caregiver is lost before 2 and a half years old.
What is the long term consequence of deprevation?
Vulnerabilty to mental health problems i.e depression.
The 44 Thieves study showed that children who experienced prolonged seperations at a young age often developed mental health issues (affectionless psychopathy)
What is privation?
The lack of any attachments during the critical period of development (before 2 and 1/2 years).
What was the aim of Rutter et al. (2011)’s ERA study?
To investigate the long term effects of institutional care.
What was the sample of Rutter et al. (2011)’s ERA study?
165 Romanian children.
What was the control group for Rutter’s study?
52 UK children who hadn’t grown up in institutions and were adopted before 6 months.
How were the adoptees tested in Rutter et al’s study?
At adoption, 4 years, 6 years, 11 years, 15 years and early adulthood.
This was to test their physical cognitive and social development.
