L11 - The infuence of early attachment on childhood relationships

Question 1

What did Sroufe et al do?

Answer 1

• study called the Minnesota Parent-Child Project
• began in 1975 + mother-child pairs continue to be studied today

Question 2

What was the procedure for the Minnesota Parent-Child Project?

Answer 2

• since 1975, mothers’ + childrens’ behavioour assessed using questionnaires + observations - e.g mothers + children videotaped (intra-observer reliability) while playing for a period of 10-15 minutes at home
• mothers aware that they were being videotaped (possible social desirability bias)
• 2 observers analysed recordings (inter-observer reliability)

Question 3

What were the findings of the Minnesota Parent-Child Project?

Answer 3

• securely attached infants were; rated highest for social competence/ less socially isolated/ more popular with their peers/ more empathetic
• infant’s early attachment creates their internal working model of what relationships are/ how partners in a relationship behave towards eachother + what they should expect of a relationship
• securely attached = positive internal working model for relationships so better at forming/ maintaining relationship with others

Question 4

What are the longterm effects of not forming an early attachment?

Answer 4

• if infant does not have early attachment during crititcal period this would result in lack of internal working model for attachment
• could lead to attachment disorder - children have no preferred attachment figure and may find it difficult to interact + relate to others
• evident from age of five + usually caused by severe neglect/ frequent change of caregivers

Question 5

What are the strengths of Sroufe et al’s study, Minnesota Parent- Child project?

Answer 5

+ study is reliable - Simpson et al found similar results - assesed infant attachment styles at age of one. Several studies found that children who were securely attached as infants were rated as having higher social competence as children + were closer to friends ages 16

Question 6

What are the weaknesses of Sroufe et al’s study, Minnesota Parent- Child project?

Answer 6

• study claims that early expereinces have a fixed effect on later childhood relationships + therefore children who are insecurely attached as infants are doomed to experience emotionally unsatisfactory relationsips as children - deterministic (does not take into account people’s free will to make conscious decisions about their behaviour)
• lots of studies that contradict claim that early attachment affects later childhood relationships. Tizard + Hodges found that children raised in care who never formed any attachments by the age of 4, and then were adopted, could still form attachments to their new adoptive parents