knight - attachment Flashcards
What is attachment?
A close emotional bond between an infant and their caregiver
What are animal studies?
Studies carried out on non-human species rather than on humans either for ethical or practical reason
What is a practical reason that an animal study is conducted?
Animals breed faster and researchers may be interested in seeing results over generations
What is ethology?
The study of animal behaviour
What is imprinting (according to Lorenz’s geese study)?
Newly hatched geese attach to the first moving object they see
What is critical period according to Lorenz’s geese study?
Imprinting must occur within a few hours after birth
What is sexual imprinting?
Birds show courtship behaviour towards whatever species they imprint on
What are the two animal studies of attachment?
- Lorenz’s geese
- Harlow’s monkeys
What is the aim of Lorenz’s geese study?
investigate whether baby geese would imprint on humans
What was the procedures of Lorenz’s geese study?
Randomly split the eggs into half
Control group: Half the eggs were hatched with the mother goose in a natural environment
Experimental group: The other half was hatched in an incubator where the first living object they saw was lorenz
What are the findings of Lorenz’s geese study?
The control group followed the mother whereas the experimental group followed Lorenz
What are some evaluations for Lorenz’s geese study?
- cannot be generalised
-> humans are different to geese and human attachment involves a greater amount of emotion and can occur at other stages of life outside of infancy -_> this means that Lorenz’s findings are not truly representative of human behaviour - Imprinting may not have as permanent an effect on behaviour as Lorenz stated
-> Guiton et al (1966) found that although chickens could be made to imprint on yellow washing up gloves, they would eventually learn to show appropriate mating behaviour to other chickens
-> this challenges the validity of Lorenz’s observations.
What is the aim of Harlow’s monkeys study?
to investigate whether food or comfort was more important
when forming attachments
What was the procedure of Harlow’s monkeys study?
16 baby monkeys were reared with two wire model “mothers” (one was only made of wire and one was a softer and cuddlier as it was cloth covered.
What are the findings of Harlow’s monkeys study?
The monkeys would spend most time clinging to the cloth mother and occasionally feeding from the wire mother
-> when the monkeys were stressed by a mechanical toy banging a drum, the monkeys would always run to the cloth mum for safety suggesting an attachment
What are the conclusions of Harlow’s monkeys study?
The evidence suggested that warmth and comfort rather than food were more important in forming an attachment
What does Harlow’s monkeys study tell us about the importance of contact comfort in attachment in human babies?
Mother infant attachement: attachment does not develop as the result of being fed by a mother figure but as a result of contact comfort
What did Harlow find out about maternally deprived monkeys as adults?
Severe consequences with permanent effects
- reared with wired mothers : most dysfunctional
- abnormal social behaviour
->more agressive
-> less sociable
-> unskilled in mating
-> bredless
What does Harlow’s monkeys study suggest about children who experience material deprivation?
children who experience material deprivation might be…
- more agressive
- less sociable
- less able to hold down adult relationships
- less likely to successfully rear children
What did Harlow find to be the critical period for attachment?
mother figure had to be introduced to an infant monkey within 90 days for an attachment to form
-> after this time, attachment would be impossible
What are some strengths for Harlow’s monkeys study?
+ practical value
-> helped social workers to understand risk factors of neglecting a child and abuse so they can intervene to prevent it
-> important in the care of captive monkeys as the importance of proper attachement figures for baby monkeys in zoos and breeding programmes are known nowadays
+theoretical value
-> importance of quality of early relationships for later social development: eg. ability to hold down adult relationships or successfully rear children
-> mother infant attachment: doesnt develop as the result of being fed by a mother but by contact comfort
+ rhesus monkeys are used; much more similar to humans than birds
What is a weakness of Harlow’s study?
- ethical issues
-> the baby monkeys suffered greatly as a result of the study
-> wasnt protected from harm
-> evidence:struggled with relationships
What are the explanations for attachment?
- learning theory of attachment
- Bowlby’s monotropic (evolutionary) theory
Who created the learning theory of attachment?
John Dollard and Neal Miller
What does the learning theory of attachment suggest and explain?
suggests that attachment is a learnt set of behaviours developed through the process of nurture
-> explains how infants learn to become attached to the caregiver who feeds them
What are the two parts of learning theory of attachment?
- classical conditioning
- operant conditioning
How does classical conditioning affect attachment?
the infant learns to associate their primary caregiver with food
-> caregiver is associated with positive emotions like happiness and an attachment is formed
ucs: food
ucr: pleasure
neutral: caregiver
cs: caregiver
cr: pleasure
How does operant conditioning affect attachment?
infants learn to repeat behaviours (eg crying or smiling) to bring desirable behaviours from their caregiver or to get the things they want
-> strengthens the attachment between the infant and the caregiver
What are some evaluations of the learning theory of attachment?
- learning theory ignores other factors associated with forming attachments (research into early infant caregiver interactions states that the quality of attachment is associated with factors like developing reciprocity and good levels of interactional synchrony - best quality attachments are with sensitive carers who pick up infant signals and respond appropriately)
-> If attachment is developed purely or primarily as a result of feeding, there wouldnt be any purpose of these complex interactions and relationships bewteen them and quality of infant - carer attachment wouldnt be found - A range of animal research has shown that actually young animals do not necessarily attach to those who feed them
-> Lorenz’s geese study: animal attachment doesn’t develop as a result of feeding so the same must be true with humans (food dont create an attachment bond) - research with human infants shows that feeding doesn’t seem to be an important factor in humans
-> Schaffer and Emerson: many of the babies developed a primary attachment to their biological mother other carers did most of the feed
-> feeding isnt the key element so there is no unconditioned stimulus
What does Bowlby’s monotropic (evolutionary) theory state?
children come into the world biologically pre-programmed to form attachment with others because this will help them survive
-> attachment is not determined by food but the care and responsiveness of the parent to the infants emotional needs to feel secure as the parent provides an emotional safe bas
What does it mean if something is innate?
it is there at birth
-> attachment is a innate system which gives babies a survival advantage
-> babies are highly dependent on parent and require constant care at their early stages of development
What is the critical period according to Bowlby?
- two years
- infant attachment system is active
- if an attachment is not formed within the period of time, a child will find it much harder to form one later
What are social releasers?
- babies are born with a set of innate “cute” behaviours that encourage attention from adults (eg. smiling, gripping, cooing)
- to activate the adult attachment system (ie. make the adult feel love towards the baby)
What is the internal working model?
- a child forms a mental representation of their relationships with their primary caregiver which becomes a template / model for future relationships
-> affects the child’s later ability to become a parent themselves - parenting behaviour will also be based on own parenting experiences
What is monotropy?
- places great emphasis on a child attachment to one particular caregiver who is different but more important than others
- “mother” might not be biological mother
What are laws of continuity?
the more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better the quality of the attachment
What is accumulated separation?
effects of every separation from the mother add up and the safest dose is therefore a zero dose within the two years period
What is monotropy required to?
- develop internal working model
- develop emotional maturity (to develop skills and understand how to attach to others)
How does Harlow’s monkey study support Bowlby’s idea of the internal working model?
The early attachment experience for monkeys were negative: removed from their mothers & raised by wired mothers & care was unstable and unpredictable
-> permanent effects / severe consequences / problems of later relationships:
-more agressive
-less sociable
-bred less / less skilled at mating
-> therefore, this supports that poor treatment leads to poor future relationship due to the blueprint created
How does Lorenz’s geese study support Bowlby’s idea that attachment is innate?
Imprinting occurred within the critical period which is seen when the geese followed the first moving object they saw they saw from birth (controlled group - mother v experimental group - Lorenz)
Why should we be careful about generalising findings from animal studies to humans?
because the mammalian attachment system is different to human attachment system
How the Brazelton et el study support Bowlby’s ideas on social releasers?
when mothers (primary attachment figures) were instructed to ignore their babies signals, the babies initially showed some distress and when the attachment figure continued to ignore them, some responded by curling up and lying motionless
-> supports the idea that social releasers are to trigger adult attachment systems
What are the types of observations?
- obvert
- covert
- participant
- non-participant
- controlled
- naturalistic
What is overt observation?
participants know that they are being watched
What is an advantage of overt observation?
ethically acceptable
-> informed consent is collected
What is a disadvantage of overt observation?
behaviour might not be natural (order effects or demand characteristics)
What is covert observation?
participants are unaware that they are observed
What is an advantage of covert observation?
behaviour observed is more likely to be natural
-> participant reactivity
-> high validity
What is a disadvantage of covert observation?
Ethical issues
-> informed consent is not collected
What is participant observation?
Researcher becomes a participant
What is an advantage of participant observation?
Allows the researcher to experience the situation
-> gains insight
-> increases validity
What is a disadvantage of participant observation?
Researcher might identify too strongly with participants
-> lose objectivity
-> go nature
What is non-participant observation?
Researcher remains outside the group
What is an advantage of non-participant observation?
Allows researcher to maintain an objective psychological distance from participants
-> less likely to go native
What is a disadvantage of non-participant observation?
Researcher might lose valuable insight as they are too far away from participants and their behaviour
What is going native?
The line between being a researcher and being a participant becomes blurred
What is controlled observation?
Behaviour of participants is observed within a structured environment
What are some advantages of controlled observation?
+ extraneous variables are controlled
-> replicated more easily
+ can observe response to specific or sudden situations
What is a disadvantage of controlled observation?
Findings produced cannot be applied or generalised to everyday life settings
What is naturalistic observation?
Observing behaviour in a setting that the behaviour would normally occur in
What is an advantage of naturalistic observation?
High external validity
-> can be generalised to everyday life
What is a disadvantage of naturalistic observation?
Lack of control of research situation and extraneous variables
-> cannot be replicated easily
What are behavioural categories?
When conducting observations, psychologists are required to decide which specific behaviours they would liike to examine so they need to operationalise the procedures
- precisely breaking the target behaviour into components that can be measured or observed through the use of behavioural categories
What is a record sheet?
checklist on the top (behavioural categories) with space to record behaviour with a tally chart
What is inter observer reliability?
Researchers should not conduct observations alone because they might miss details or only notice what conforms their hypothesis which introduces bias to the process
- important to be established
- refers to the extent to which two or more observers are observing and recording behaviour in the same way
How is inter observer reliability ensured?
- using the same behavioural categories
- observing the same behaviour at the same time
- record, analyse and compare the data
- Identify similarities and differences
A strong positive correlation of each pair of observations show high inter observer reliability
What are the two types of sampling?
- event sampling
- time sampling
What is event sampling?
A target behaviour or event is first established then the researcher records this event every time it occurs
eg. at a football match and counting the number of times the players disagree with the referee
What is time sampling?
A target individual group is first established then the researcher records their behaviour in a fixed time frame
eg. if interested in one football player and making a note on the tally chart on what the individual is doing every second
What are the two types of caregiver-infant interaction in humans?
- reciprocity
- interactional synchrony
What is reciprocity?
Where an infant responds to the actions of another person
What is an example of reciprocity?
Smiling at someone who then smiles back
Which study supports reciprocity?
Tronick et al
What is Tronick et al’s study?
Asked mothers sho had been enjoying a dialogue with their baby to stop moving and maintain a static, unsmiling expression on their faces
-> babies would try to tempt the mother into interactions by smiling themselves and would become puzzled and increasingly distressed when their smile did not provoke the usual response.
Why is reciprocity important according to Brazelton?
So parents know how to communicate with their baabies
-> the infant’ssignals allows a caregiver to anticipate the infant’s behaviour and respond appropriately
Why is reciprocity important according to Travethan?
So parents understand that turn taking in the infant adult interaction is importantfor the development of social and language skills
What is interactional synchrony?
Where an infant mirrors the actions of another person
-> eg. their facial expressions and body movements - moving their body in tune with their carer (like a dance)
Which study supports interactional synchrony?
Meltzoff and Moore
What is Meltzoff and Moore’s study?
Observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in infants as young as two weeks
-> an adult displayed one of three facial expressions or one of three distnictive gestures
Why is reciprocity important according to Isabella et al?
Implies that securely attached mother infant pairs had shown more instances of interactional synchrony in the first year of life -> strong emotional attachments are assosiated with high levels of synchrony
How does reciprocity and interactional synchrony overlap?
The caregiver who smiles at their baby in response to a smile like facial movement from the infant (reciprocity) is engaged in a two way pattern of interaction and is laying a foundation for an attachment to form
-> the infant might cry and elicit a sad expression when they see a look of upset on their caregiver’s face (interactional synchrony)
What are some weaknesses on research of caregiver infant interactions?
- Culturally different
-> interactional synchrony is not found iin all cultures which weakens the support for the idea that it is important in the development of attachments (eg. Kenyan mothers have little physical contact or interactions with their children but have high proportions of secure attachments
-> this suggests that interactional synchrony may not be a universal feature of attachment formation
-Research in this area is socially sensitive
-> this has damaging implications for working mothers who have their children looked after by others
-> it suggests that it may be their fault if their children have trouble with relationships as they did not spend enough time with them when they were younger
What are some strengths on research of caregiver infant interactions?
+ observations of mother infant interactions are generally well controlled procedures
-> both the mother and child are filmed often from multiple angles
-> ensures very fine details of behaviour recorded -> improves validity
+ infants dont know or care that they are bring observed
-> their behaviour doesn’t change in a controlled observation
-> the research has good validity
* however, the behaviour of the caregiver might be subject to demand characteristics
+ practical applications
-> Meltzoff andMoore demonstraed intentional synchrony with three day old babies
-> this suggests that babies should be placed next to their mothers in hospitcal and should continue to remain in close contact for at least the first three months to improve the quality of attachment
+ practical application
-> music therapists and other therapists who work with parents and infants or children who have experienced disruption in their attachment formation recognise the importance of reciprocity and interational synchrony in their theraputic work
What are the roles of the father in attachment?
- playmate
- not biological equipped to nurture children (lack of oestrogen)
- (some) primary caregivers
What are some problems of the role of the father in attachment?
- research is inconsistent
- children growing up in single or same sex parent families do not seem to develop any differently from those under two parent, opposite sex families
- socially sensitive (puts pressure on mother)
What is the aim of Schaffer and Emerson’s study with the glasgow babies?
To find tha age at which attachments start and how intense these are
What is the procedure of Schaffer and Emerson’s study?
They studied 60 babies froma working class area of glasgow
-> observing them every four weeks for the first year andthe again at 18 months
How did Schaffer and Emerson measure strength of attachment of the babies?
1) separation anxiety
2) stranger anxiety
What is separation anxiety?
How distressed the child became when separated from the main caregiver (which suggess that an attachment has been formed)
What is stranger anxiety?
Distress shown when the child was left alone with an unfamiliar person (which suggests that the child can recognise familiar and unfamiliar people)
What are the results of Schaffer and Emerson’s study with the babies?
the first specific attachment was formed by 50 % of infants between 25 and 32 weeks (was usually with the caregiver who was the most interactive to infant signals and facial expressions (ie. reciprocity) not necessariy the person the infant spent most time with)
-> by 40 weeks 80% of the babies had a specific attachment and nearly 30% had multiple attachments
What is the conclusion of Schaffer and Emerson’s study with the babies?
human attachments develop in four distnict stages
What are some negatives of Schaffer and Emerson’s study?
- young babies have poor co-ordination and are pretty much immobile
-> makes it difficult to make any judgements about them based on observations of behaviour as there isn’t much behaviour to observe
-> any evidence gathered in this way may be invalid and unreliable - evidence about multiple attachments is conflicting
-> unclear to when children learn to be capable of multiple attachments
-> bowlby: infants form attachments to one carer before others VS van ljzendoornetal: babies can form multiple attachments from the outset
-> this conflicting evidence makes conclusions unreliable - multiple attachments can be difficult to assess
-> just because a baby becomes distressed when a caregiver leaves the room does not mean that there is an attachment as children can get distressed when a playmate who they are not attached to leaves the room (according to bowlby)
-> Schaffer and Emerson’s stages may not be valid
What are the four stages of attachment according to Schaffer?
- Asocial
- Indiscriminate attachment
- Specific attachment
- Multiple attachment
When does asocial attachment occur?
0-2 months
What are some features of asocial attachment?
- when behaviours between humans (mother) and non-human (lights/mobile) objects are quite similar
- prefrence for people rather than inaminate objects
When does indiscriminate attachment occur?
2-7 months
What are some features of indiscriminate attachment?
- happier in presence of humans than when alone
- recognise and prefer familiar people
- accept comfort from any adult
When does specific attachment occur?
7-12 months
What is specific attachment?
- show separation anxiety
- primary attachment to one particular individual (the person who shows most sensitivity to their signals)
- show stranger anxiety
When does multiple attachment occur?
1 year onwards
What are some features of multiple attachment?
- form secondary attachments with familiar adults whom they spend time with (eg. father or grandparents)
What is the study of measuring attachment?
Ainsworth’s strange situation
What is the type of experiment is Ainsworth’s strange situation?
controlled observation
What is the procedure of Ainsworth’s strange situation designed to measure?
the security of attachment of a child displayed towards a caregiver
Where does Ainsworth’s strange situation usually take place?
in a room with quite controlled conditions (ie. laboratory) with a two way mirror through which psychologists can observe the infant’s behaviour
What are the five behaviours used to judge attachment?
- proximity seeking
- exploration and secure base behaviour
- stranger anxiety
- separation anxiety
- response to reunion
What is proximity seeking?
an infant with a good attachment will stay fairly close to the caregiver
What is exploration and secure base behaviour?
good attachment enables a child to feel confident to explore, using their caregiver as a secure base (ie a point of contact which will make them feel safe)
What is stranger anxiety?
One of the signs of being closely attached is a display of anxiety when a stranger approaches
What is separation anxiety?
Another sign of being attached is to protest at separation from the caregiver
What is response to reunion?
Is when the reaction of an infant seeing the caregiver again after separation for a short period of time under controlled conditions is observed
What is the beginning of Ainsworth’s strange situation?
child and caregiver enters an unfamiliar playroom
What are the seven episodes of the procedures?
- exploration
- stranger comes
- caregiver leaves
- caregiver returns
- child is left alone
- stranger returns
- caregiver returns + reunited
What is the acronym of the seven episodes of the procedures?
Ed Sheeran clearly cries at small rabbits
What is the first episode?
The child is encouraged to explore
-> tests exploration and secure base
What is the second episode?
A stranger comes in and tries to interact with the child
-> tests stranger anxiety
What is the third episode?
The caregiver leaves the child and stranger together
-> tests separation and stranger anxiety
What is the fourth episode?
The caregiver returns and the stranger leaves
-> tests reunion behaviour and exploration / secure base
What is the fifth episode?
The caregiver leaves the child alone
-> tests separation anxiety
What is the sixth episode?
The stranger returns
-> tests stranger anxiety
What is the seventh episode?
The caregiver returns and is reunited with the child
-> tests reunion behaviour
What are the three types of attachment?
Type A: insecure avoidant
Type B: secure
Type C: insecure resistant
What percentage of British toddlers has secure attachment?
60 to 75%
What is secure attachment?
They explore happily but regularly go back to their caregiver
What are the levels of secure attachment towards the behaviours to judge attachment?
- proximity seeking - moderate
- exploration and secure base behaviour - moderate
- stranger anxiety - moderate
- separation anxiety - moderate
- response to reunion - easily calmed
What is secure attachment associated with?
sensitive and responsive primary care
What percentage of British toddlers has insecure - avoidant attachment?
20 -25%
What are the levels of insecure avoidant attachment towards the behaviours to judge attachment?
- proximity seeking - low
- exploration and secure base behaviour - high
- stranger anxiety - low
- separation anxiety - low
- response to reunion - ignores (doesnt require comfort)
What is insecure avoidant attachment associated with?
unresponsive care
What percentage of British toddlers has insecure - resistant attachment?
3%
What are the levels of insecure resistant attachment towards the behaviours to judge attachment?
- proximity seeking - high
- exploration and secure base behaviour - low
- stranger anxiety - high
- separation anxiety - high
- response to reunion - hard to calm
What is insecure resistant attachment associated with?
inconsistent primary care
What is a strength of Ainsworth’s strange situation?
high reliability
-> measured under controlled conditions with well defined and easily observed behavioural categories
-> Bick et al: 94% agreement on attachment types between observers
-> attachment identified by the strange situation doesnt depend on who is observing them
What are some limitations of Ainsworth’s strange situation?
- at least more than one attachment type
-> ainsworth: secure, insecure avoidant, insecure resistant
-> Main and Soloman: a minority of children displayed a typical attachment that doesnt fall between type A, B or C (disorganised attachment - displays and odd mix of resistant and avoidant behaviours)
-> lowers validity - strange situation may be culturally bound
-> might not have the same meaning in countries outside western europe or the usa
due to different childhood experiences (child responds differently) or different cultures (careigver performs differently)
-> eg japanese mothers are so rarely separated from their child = high separation anxiety
-> lacks validity in all cultures
Who did the key study of cultural variations?
Van Ijzendoorn
What type of experiment is Van Ijzendoorn’s study?
secondary research
- analysis of research conducted by others
Why did Van Ijzendoorn conduct his study?
To look at the proportions of secure, insecure avoidance and insecure resistnat attachment across a range of countries + the differences within the same country
What is the procedure of Van Ijzendoorn’s study?
32 studies of attachment by the strange situation
-> conducted in 8 countries
-> 15 studies in the USA
-> 1990 children
How were the data analysed in Van Ijzendoorn’s study?
meta-analysis
-> results were combined and weighted for sample size
What are the findings of Van Ijzendoorn’s study?
- lots of variation between different countries and cultures
- most common: secure (75% GB vs 50% China)
- least common: insecure resistant (3% GB vs 30% Israel)
- insecure avoidant: highest - germany vs lowest - japan
What is a strength of Van Ijzendoorn’s study?
large sample (1990 children)
-> reduces impact of anomalies
-> increases internal validity
-> more able to generalise
What is a weakness of Van Ijzendoorn’s study?
method of assessment (strange situation) is culturally biased
-> measures attachment types based on UK and US norms
-> separation anxiety might be seen as independence instead of avoidance in Germany
-> lacks validity in all cultures
What is institutionalisation?
The effects of spending significant time in an orphanage or children’s home where little emotional care is provided
What are two effects of institutionalisation?
- mental retardation (low IQ)
- disinhibited attachment (equally friendly and affectionate towardspeople they know well or strangers that they have just met -> vulnerable: easily trusting people)
What are the two studies of institutionalisation?
- Rutter et al - ERA study
- Zennah et al - Bucharest early intervention project
What is the procedure of Rutter’s ERA study?
-165 Romanian orphans were adopted in the UK to test to what extent good care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions
- physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed
- control group: 52 british children adopted at the same time
What are the findings of Rutter’s ERA study?
- romanian orphans showed signs of delayed intellectual development when they first arrived in the UK
- at the age of 11, there was different rates of recovery related to the age being adopted: (IQ)
before 6 months - 102
6 months to two years - 86
two years or above - 77
What is the procedure of Zeanah’s Bucharest early intervention study?
- 95 children aged 12 to 31 months old who had spent most of their lives in institutional care (90% on average)
- compared to control group of 50 children who have never lived in an institution
- attachment type was measured by strange situation
- carers were asked about unusual social behaviours (clingy or attention seeking behaviours)
What are the findings of Zeanah’s Bucharest early intervention study?
- 74% of control group were securely attached vs only 19% of institutionalised group were securely attached
- 65% institutional group were classified as disorganised attachment
- discription of disinhibited attachment applies to 44% of institutional children vs less than 20% of the control group
What are some strengths of these Romanian orphan studies/
+ fewer extraneous variables
-> other studies like Goldfarb used children who had often experienced trauma or loss before institutionalisation which makes it difficult to establish whether trauma or institutionalisation led to their intellectual or development problems
-> romanian orphan studies allow researchers to study the effects of institutionalism without these confounding variables increasing its internal validity
+ real life application
-> changes to how children are cared in institutions: orphanages or childrens’ homes now avoid having large numbers of caregivers for each child but one or two keyworkers allowing children to form normal attachments and helps avoid disinhibited attachment
-> shows that orphan studies have been immensely valuable in practical terms
What is a weakness of Romanian studies?
situational variables are unusual
-> conditions were so bad that results cannot be applied to understanding the impact of better quality institutionalcare
-> lacks generalisability - reduces external validity
How does maternal deprivation affect development?
- intelletual
- emotional
What is deprivation according to Bowlby?
prolonged separation from a child’s mother in the first 2.5 years of life
What is the effect of maternal deprivation on intellectual development?
delayed intellectual development (abnormally low IQ)
What study acts as evidence that maternal deprivation has effects on intellectual development?
Goldfarb
What is found in Goldfarb’s study?
lower IQ in children who had remained in institutions as opposed to those who were fostered (higher standard of emotional care)
What is the effect of maternal deprivation on emotional development?
affectionless psychopath: inability to experience guilt or strong emotions for others / cannot appreciate feelings
-> prevents person from developing normal relationships / lack remorse for actions
What study acts as evidence that maternal deprivation has effects on emotional development?
Bowlby 44 thieves study
What is the aim of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study?
to investigate the long term effects of maternal deprivation on people in orfer to see whether delinquents have suffered deprivation
What is the procedure of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study?
interviewed 44 adolescents who were referred to a child protection program in London because of stealing
-> selected another group of 44 children to act as controls (individuals were referred to the clinic because of emotional problems but not yet commited any crimes)
-> interviewed the parents from both groups to state whether their children had experienced separation during the critical period and for how long
What are the findings of of Bowlby’s 44 thieves study?
more than half of the juvenile thieves had been separated from their mothers for longer than six months during their first five years vs only two in the control group had such a separation
-> some young thieves (32%) showed affectionless psychopathology vs 0% of control groups
What are some weaknesses towards the evidence used to show that maternal deprivation affects intellectual and emotional development?period is not inevitable but would have good outcomes with good aftercare ad social interacions
- poor evidence
-> studies like Goldfarb used war orphans who were often traumatised, had poor aftercare and grew up in poor quality orphanages
-> problematic: we cannot be sure whether it was maternal deprivation or poor care or trauma that led to intellectual and / or emotional problems - counter evidence by Hilda Lewis
-> replicated the 44 thieves study on a larger scale looking at 500 young people ; in her sample, a history of early prolonged separation from the mother didnt predict criminality or difficulty forming close relationships
-> other factors might affect the outcome of early maternal deprivation - critical period might be more of a sensitive period
-> Koluchova reported the cae of twin boys who were isolated since they were 18 months till 7 years old but appear to fully recover after being taken care of by two loving adults
-> therefore damage caused by separation between the critical period is not inevitable but would have a good utcome with good aftercare and social interactions
What is the discription of the internal working model of an insecure avoidant child?
- child is not close to the mother figure
- assume that the motther will not be there for them when they need them
- they do not feel loved by the mother
What is the discription of the internal working model of an insecure resistant child?
- child has an inconsistent relationship with the mother figure
- feel confused and unsure when the mother will be there for them
- are not as confident as they do not always feel loved by the mother
What is the discription of the internal working model of a secure child?
- child has loving relationship with the mother figure
- assume that the mother will be there when they need them
- good self esteem as they feel loved by the mother
How does early attachment influence one’s relationships?
- childhood relationships
- romantic relationships
- parenting relationships
How does early attachment influence one’s childhood relationships?
attachment types is assosiated with the quality of peer relationships in childhood
- secure: best quality relationship, unlikely to be involved in bullying
- insecure avoidant: friendship difficulties, victims in bullying
- insecure resistant: friendship difficulties, bullies in bullying
Which study explains how early attachment influence one’s romantic relationships?
Hazan and Shaver love quiz
What is the procedure of Hazan and Shaver’s love quiz study?
- analysis of 620 love quiz which was printed in the local newspaper
- assessed current relationship, past relationships and attachment types
- 56% secure / 25% avoidant / 19% resistant
What are the findings of Hazan and Shaver’s love quiz study?
securely attached:
- love is enduring
- had mutal trust
- less likely to get divorced
insecurely attached:
- love was rare
- felt in and out of love
- found relationships less easily
- more likely to be divorced
How does early attachment influence one’s parenting relationships?
- affect the child’s ability to parent their own children
- people tend to base their parenting style on their internal working model
- attachment type tends to be passed on through generations of a family
Which study suggests that early attachment influences one’s parenting relationships?
Bailey et al:
99 mother baby attachment was measured by the strange situation and the majority of women had the same attachment type to their mothers
What is internal working model?
mental framework or template for future relationships
What is an evaluation for how attachment affects relationships in childhood?
Evidence of continuity of attachment type is mixed (not all evidence of continuity supports a link between early attachment and later relationships)
-> for example, zimmerman didnt find a relationship between infant and adolescent attachment type
-> therefore, the influence might not be as significant as bowlby states
What is an evaluation for how attachment affects romantic relationships?
Most studies have validity issues as most studies (interviews and self report techniques) rely on self report techniques and retrospective data
-> self report techniques are open to social desirability bias (people may lie to present the best version of themselves) and retrospective data is inaccurate as people might misremember
-> this means conclusions may be invalid
What is an evaluation for how attachment affects relationships in adulthood?
Association does not mean causality
-> research has found conclusions according to correlations between early attachment and later relationships
-> we cannot establish cause and effect from correlation and other factors which may influence later relationships
-> this means that influence of early attachment on later relationships might be overstated
What is an evaluation for how early attachment affects the internal working model?
deterministic
-> cannot explain individual differences in individuals
-> some people with negative early attachment experiences go on to have successful relationships
