influence of early attachment on later relationships: evaluation

Question 1

what does it mean when we say that evidence on continuity of attachment type is mixed

Answer 1

INTERNAL WORKING MODELS CONTINUITY between the security of an infant’s attachment and that of its later relationship
e.g. attachment type in infancy is usually the same as that characterising the person’s late relationships

EVIDENCE FOR THIS CONTINUITY IS MIXED

some studies e.g. like that by McCarthy do appear to support continuity and so provide evidence to support internal working models

Not all studies, however, support internal working models
e.g. Zimmerman (2000) assessed infant attachment type and adolescent attachment to parents
There was very little relationship between quality of infant and adolescent attachment

This is a problem because it is not what we would expect of internal working models were important in development

Question 2

what does it mean when we say that there is a lack of validity

Answer 2

most studies of attachment to primary caregiver and other significant people do not make use of the STRANGE SITUATION but assess infant - parent attachment by means of interview/ questionnaire, not in infancy but years later
creates validity problems

the first assessment relies on self- report techniques like interviews or questionnaires to assess the quality of those relationships
the validity of questionnaires and interviews is limited because they depend in respondents being honest and having a realise view of their own relationships

Question 3

what does it mean when we say that association does not mean causality

Answer 3

studies where infant attachment type is associated with the quality of later relationships the implication is that infant attachment type causes the attachment

HOWEVER - there are alternative explanations for the continuity that often exists between infant and relationships

THIRD ENVIRONMENT FACTORS e.g. PARENTING STYLE might have a direct effect on both attachment and the child’s ability to form relationships with other

ALTERNATIVELY the child’s TEMPERAMENT may influence both infant attachment the quality of later relationships

This is a limitation because it is counter to Bowlby’s view that the internal working model caused these later outcomes

Question 4

self - report is conscious but internal working models are not - why is this a limitation

Answer 4

theoretical problems with most research related to INTERNAL WORKING MODELS which are unconscious; we are not directly aware of their influence on us
We should not really expect to get direct evidence about them by means of interviews or questionnaires because people can only self- report what they are aware of

when participants self- report on their relationships they are relying on their conscious understanding of those relationships

at best the self report gives us indirect evidence about internal working models.
This is a potential limitation of most internal working models