Module 3 - Attachment

Question 1

What is meant by reciprocity in terms of attachment?

Answer 1

Mother-infant interaction is reciprocal - both infant and mother respond to each other’s signals and each elicits a response from the other.

Question 2

What is meant by interactional synchrony in terms of attachment?

Answer 2

Mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and so this is a co-ordinated (synchronised) way.

Question 3

Describe one way in which psychologists have investigated the caregiver-infant interactions. Refer to a specific study.

Answer 3

Meltzof and Moore (1977) observed interactional synchrony in infants. An adult displayed 1 of 3 facial expressions or gestured and the child’s response was filmed. An association was found between adult and child behaviour.
OR: Ainsworth’s strange situation. Baby was observed for behaviours e.g. separation and stranger anxiety, exploration behaviour, reunion behaviour. Ainsworth discovered 3 distinct attachment types.

Question 4

Referring to research, describe the role of the father in development.

Answer 4

Grossman (2002). The quality of infant attachment in adolescence was related to the quality of play with the father. The father is important in a stimulation role, rather than a nurturing role.
OR: Fathers are usually seen as the secondary caregiver (mother being primary). However, this is not to say that fathers can’t be the primary caregiver - Field (1978) found that primary caregiver fathers spent more time nurturing than secondary caregiver fathers. They can play a primary role, however it is the level of response that is important.

Question 5

Outline 1 strength of research into caregiver-interaction.

Answer 5

Due to the controlled nature of the observations it is possible to capture fine detail of interactions. This increases validity.

Question 6

Outline 1 weakness of research into caregiver-infant interactions.

Answer 6

Research involves observing simple gestures and expressions. It is hard to know what is happening and to assume the infant’s intention. This means we cannot be certain that the behaviours seen in mother-infant interactions are special.

Question 7

Outline 2 weaknesses of research on the role of the father.

Answer 7

Children who grow up in the same sex or single parent households do not develop any different - suggests that the role of the father is not important. Different research questions asked in studies produce inconsistent findings - overall picture is unclear.

Question 8

Outline Schaffer and Emerson’s study into the formation of early relationship.

Answer 8

Aimed to investigate the age of attachment formation and who they are formed with. Mothers of 60 babies from Glasgow report monthly on separation and stranger anxiety. Most babies showed attachment to a primary caregiver by 32 weeks and developed multiple attachments soon after this.

Question 9

What are the 4 stages of attachment?

Answer 9

Asocial stage: Happier with humans, lasts the first few weeks.
Indiscriminate attachment: 2-7 months, prefer humans, some recognition.
Specific attachment: From 7 months, stanger and separation anxiety.
Multiple attachments: Shortly after specific attachment, display separation anxiety towards other caregivers, too.

Question 10

Why does Schaffer and Emerson’s study have good external validity?

Answer 10

Because the observations took place in the participants natural environments.

Question 11

What are 2 weaknesses of Schaffer’s stages of attachment?

Answer 11

Measuring attachment - just because a child cries when an adult leaves the room does not have to mean attachment.
Conflicting evidence - Van Ijzendoorn et al. found that in different contexts multiple attachments may come first.

Question 12

What is ethology?

Answer 12

The study of animal behaviour.

Question 13

What is imprinting?

Answer 13

Animals attaching to the first moving object they see.

Question 14

What is the critical period?

Answer 14

Imprinting must occur within a few hours/days/weeks after birth.

Question 15

What is sexual imprinting?

Answer 15

Birds show courtship behaviour towards whatever species they imprint on.

Question 16

Outline Lorenz’s research into attachment.

Answer 16

2 groups of goslings - 1 saw Lorenz when they hatched and one saw their mother. He described imprinting and sexual imprinting.

Question 17

What is the importance of contact comfort?

Answer 17

Animals like monkeys prefer a soft toy mother to a wire one regardless of which provides milk.

Question 18

What is maternal deprivation?

Answer 18

Animals brought up without a mother were dysfunctional as adults.

Question 19

Outline Harlow’s research into attachment.

Answer 19

Baby monkeys were given a cloth or a wire mother with a feeding bottle attached. He discovered the importance of contact comfort. The critical period was seen as 90 days - after this attachments wouldn’t form.

Question 20

What did Harlow find out about the effect of maternal deprivation?

Answer 20

Maternally deprived monkeys grew up socially dysfunctional.

Question 21

Describe 1 weakness of Lorenz’s research.

Answer 21

The research lacks generalisability. Birds and mammals have different attachment systems - so Lorenz’s research may not be relevant to humans. Mammalian mothers show much more emotion towards their young.

Question 22

Outline 1 strength of Harlow’s research.

Answer 22

Theoretical value - demonstrated that attachment depends more on creature comfort than feeding.
Practical value - helps us to understand risk factors for child abuse (Howe).

Question 23

Outline 1 weakness of Harlow’s research.

Answer 23

Ethical issues. Monkeys were considered similar enough to humans to generalise the findings. Their suffering was human like. But it can be argued that the research was sufficiently important to justify the effects.

Question 24

Where is the emphasis in the learning theory of attachment?

Answer 24

The key is food (primary drive). Babies become attached to whoever feeds them.

Question 25

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 25

Food (unconditioned stimulus) produces pleasure (unconditioned response). Caregiver (neutral stimulus) becomes associated with the food (unconditioned stimulus). Caregiver becomes conditioned stimulus. Pleasure becomes the conditioned response.

Question 26

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 26

Learning by rewards and punishment. Baby becomes hungry and cries, which elicits a response from the parent. As long as the response is correct, the baby will learn that crying will lead to that response. Caregiver will provide the response - social suppressor. Baby (positive reinforcement), parent (negative reinforcement).

Question 27

Provide counter evidence to the learning theory of attachment from animal research.

Answer 27

Lorenz’s geese - imprinted before they were fed. Harlow’s monkeys attached to the cloth mother rather than the mother that dispensed milk.

Question 28

Describe Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment.

Answer 28

Attachment is innate. Attachment gives a survival advantage - makes the infant stay close to the mother.
There is a primary attachment figure. This attachment is different and more important than others.
More time spent with mother-figure is beneficial. The law of continuity and the law of accumulated separation.
Babies are born with social releasers. ‘Cute’ behaviours are designed to elicit a response. Their purpose is to activate the adult attachment system, i.e. make an adult feel love.
There is a critical period. More of a sensitive period - if that attachment is not formed in this period it will be harder to form later.
The first attachment forms an internal working model of relationships. Child will form a mental representation of the relationship with their primary caregiver, which will serve as a template for what relationships are like.

Question 29

Briefly evaluate the idea of an internal working model.

Answer 29

Predicts that patterns of attachment will be passed on through the generations. Bailey et al. (2007) - 99 mothers - those with poor attachment to their own parents were more likely to have children who were poorly attached. Support for IWM being passed through families.

Question 30

Evaluate the existence and value of social releasers.

Answer 30

Brazleton et al. (1975) instructed primary caregivers to ignore social releasers. Previously responsive babies showed some distress but then curled up motionless. Shows the importance of infant social behaviour eliciting caregiving in adults and the role of social releasers in initiating social interaction.

Question 31

What are three limitations of Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment?

Answer 31

The evidence for monotropy is mixed. Schaffer and Emerson found that most babies did attach to one person first, however a small minority formed multiple attachments at the same time. Contradicts Bowlby’s idea of monotropy and that this attachment is unique. Although attachments to mothers are better predictors of later behaviour, it does not mean that these attachments are better in quality, it could simply be that it is due to the primary caregiver.
Socially sensitive research. The law of accumulated separation = poor attachment. Feminists argue that mothers are blamed for anything that goes wrong in a child’s life and pushes mothers into making lifestyle choices. Not Bowlby’s intention. He wanted to boost mothers standing by emphasising their importance.
Overemphasis of role of attachment. A child’s temperament is also important in the development of social behaviour. Some babies are more anxious and some are more sociable. Temperamental differences rather than quality of attachment could explain later social behaviour.

Question 32

Outline the procedure and findings from the Strange Situation.

Answer 32

A controlled observation with a two-way mirror to observe behaviour. Five categories are used to judge attachment quality - proximity seeking, exploration and secure base behaviour, stranger anxiety, separation anxiety, reunion behaviour.
Child is exposed to a sequence of episodes to test the above. These involve the child being with the parent, left alone, a stranger interacting with the child (and without the parent there), and the caregiver returning.
Ainsworth found distinct patterns in behaviour: secure attachment (60-75%), insecure-avoidant attachment (20-25%) and insecure-resistant attachment (3%).

Question 33

Describe the 3 types of attachment.

Answer 33

Secure - explores and seeks proximity; moderate stranger/separation anxiety; requires and accepts comfort upon reunion.
Insecure-avoidant - explores but does not seek proximity; little or no separation/stranger anxiety; does not require comfort.
Insecure-resistant - explores less and seeks proximity more; considerable stranger/separation anxiety; resists comfort.

Question 34

What are 2 strengths of the Strange Situation?

Answer 34

There is predictive validity. Attachment typed predict later development e.g. secure = better at school. Resistant is associated with the worst outcomes e.g. bullying and adult mental health problems.
Good inter-rater reliability. Different researchers watching the same children generally come to the same conclusion (94%) agreement. Strange Situation takes place under controlled conditions and the conditions are easy to observe. We can be confident that the attachment types being observed do not depend on who is watching them.

Question 35

What are 2 limitations of the Strange Situation?

Answer 35

May be culture bound. Test may have little meaning outside of western society. Cultural differences in child-rearing could lead to different responses. Takahashi (1990) explain that Japanese mothers are rarely separated from their children and so they show high levels of separation anxiety.
Temperament could be a confounding variable. Ainsworth assumed that the main influence on separation and stranger anxiety was attachment type. Kagen (1982) suggests that temperament is more important. Challenges validity - if the Strange Situation measures attachment behaviour, but this id also affected by temperament, this does not purely measure attachment.

Question 36

Outline the meta-analysis by van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenburg (1988).

Answer 36

They investigated the proportions of secure, avoidant and resistant attachments across a range of countries and cultures. 32 studies, 8 countries (15 in the US), almost 2000 infants. Secure was the most common in all countries (ranged from 50% in China to 75% in Britain). Individualist cultures had rates of resistant similar to Ainsworth - but in collectivist cultures rates were all above 25% and avoidant was reduced. These are cultural differences in the distribution of insecure attachment. Variations within cultures were actually 150% greater than between cultures (in the US one study found 48% secure and another 90%).

Question 37

Outline the key study by Simonelli et al. (1994).

Answer 37

Researchers assessed 76 12-month-olds using the strange situation to assess if the attachment styles have stayed the same in Italy. Mothers varied in terms of educational level and their professions. 50% secure, 36% avoidant - which is lower than in previous studies. Researchers suggested this is due to the increasing numbers of mothers working long hours and using professional childcare. Cultural changes can make dramatic differences in the patterns of attachment.

Question 38

Evaluate the samples used in van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s meta-analysis.

Answer 38

A strength is that you have very large samples (nearly 2000 babies). Even Simonella’s study had comparatively large samples. This increases internal validity by reducing the impact of unusual participants.
A limitation is that the sample may not be representative of cultures. Meta-analysis compared countries not cultures - within countries there are many different cultures. E.g. in Tokyo there were similar proportions to western culture but rural samples revealed higher levels of resistant. Differences between countries may be meaningless - the cultural characteristics of the sample need to be specified.

Question 39

Describe why the Strange Situation may be biased towards British/US culture.

Answer 39

The Strange Situation was designed by American researchers and is based on a British theory. Trying to apply a theory designed for 1 culture to another is known as imposed etic - this disregards the notion of cultural uniqueness. The idea that a lack of pleasure upon reunion signals avoidant attachment is an imposed etic - in Germany it may be seen as independent rather than avoidant.

Question 40

What is the alternative explanation for the similarities between cultures?

Answer 40

Mass media. Bowlby assumed the similarities were due to attachment being innate and universal. Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg suggested that it could be down to mass media. There are many books/TV programmes broadcasted all over the world suggesting best practice.

Question 41

Outline Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation.

Answer 41

Continued emotional care from mother is essential. Separation from mother may lead to maternal deprivation. Separation is different from deprivation - deprivation is losing emotional care as a result of separation. Critical period of 30 months. Intellectual development - deprivation lowers IQ. Emotional development - deprivation is linked to affectionless psychopathy.

Question 42

Describe 1 study into the effects of maternal deprivation.

Answer 42

44 delinquent teenagers accused of stealing. Families were interviewed to establish any prolonged separations from mothers. All ‘thieves’ were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy (lack of guilt, affection or empathy). 14 of 44 were affectionless psychopaths - 12/14 had experienced prolonged separation from mothers within the critical period. Only 5 of the remaining 30 had experienced separation.

Question 43

Outline the case of the Czech twins and how this challenges Bowlby’s theory.

Answer 43

Twins isolated from age of 18 months - later looked after by two loving adults. Shows that severe deprivation can still have positive outcomes, as long as the child has some interactions and good aftercare. Critical period may be more of a sensitive period.

Question 44

Outline how animal studies support the theory of maternal deprivation.

Answer 44

Levy et al.’s study shows that separating baby rats from their mothers can have permanent negative effects on their social development. However there are some issues regarding to generalisability of some research.

Question 45

What is the difference between deprivation and privation - how does this link to Bowlby’s theory?

Answer 45

Deprivation - the loss of primary attachment figure after the attachment has formed; privation - failure to form any attachment.
Rotter argues that the severe long term damage outlined by Bowlby is more likely a result of privation.
May of the 44 thieves had moved from home to home whilst growing up and so may not have formed any kind of attachment in the first place.

Question 46

Outline Rutter et al. (2011) English and Romanian adoptee study.

Answer 46

165 Romanian orphans - poor conditions before being adopted in the UK. Can good care make up for early experiences? Physical, cognitive and emotional development assessed at 4, 6, 11 and 15. Also followed a control group (52 British children). Half of the orphans showed signs of mental retardation when they came to the UK - at age 11 their recovery rates were related to age of adoption. Adopted before 6 months = IQ 102. Adopted between 6-24 months = IQ 86. After 24 months = IQ 77. Frequent disinhibited attachment in those adopted after 6 months.

Question 47

What are 2 strengths of the Romanian orphan study?

Answer 47

Important practical applications. Improvements in the way children are cared for in institutions. Homes now avoid large amounts of carers for each child. Child can develop normal attachments.
Fewer confounding variables than other research. Original orphan studies involved children who had experienced lots of trauma. This made it hard to observe the effects of institutionalisation - confounding variable. Most Romanian orphans were abandoned at birth - less confounding variables increases the internal validity.

Question 48

What are 2 limitations of the Romanian orphan study?

Answer 48

Issues with generalisability. The conditions of the orphanages were so bad that the results may not apply to general situations of deprivation. Romanian orphanages had particularly low standards of care. The unusual situational variables mean the study may lack generalisability.
The children were not randomly assigned. Rutter did not interfere with the adoption process - those children adopted earlier may have been more sociable. In the Bucharest Early Intervention study, the researchers randomly assigned children to groups. This is better because it gets rid of the problem of parents selecting children.

Question 49

How does an infant’s internal working model affect their later relationships?

Answer 49

First attachment is a template for future relationships.
Good experience of attachment = good relationship expectations - they will seek functional relationships or behave functionally in them.
Bad experience of attachment = bad relationship expectations - they may struggle to form relationships or behave appropriately in them.
Secure infants form better friendships and are less likely to bully.
Internal working models affect parenting.

Question 50

Outline the procedure and findings from Hazen and Shaver’s study into romantic relationships.

Answer 50

Researcher analysed 620 responses to a love quiz.
The quiz assessed 3 different aspects of relationships: respondents current and most important relationship, general love experiences, and attachment type.
56% of respondents were identified as secure, 25% avoidant, 19% resistant.
Secure respondents were most likely to have good and longer-lasting romantic relationships.
Avoidants tended to be jealous and fear intimacy.

Question 51

Outline problems with the concept of an internal working model.

Answer 51

Unconscious - can’t get direct evidence from self-report methods, which require conscious awareness. At best these research methods give us indirect evidence of internal working models. This is a weakness of most research involving the IWM.

Question 52

What is meant by correlation vs causation and how does it relate to IWM research?

Answer 52

The theory assumes that the IWM causes continuity between early and later relationships. however, this could just be an association rather than a causation - there are other explanations, e.g. temperament, which could affect both early and later relationships. This counters the view put forward by Bowlby.

Question 53

Outline 2 limitations of research on attachment and later relationships.

Answer 53

Evidence on continuity is mixed. IWM predict that attachment types in infancy is usually the same as that in the future. Zimmerman (2000) found little relationship between quality of infant and adolescent attachment. This is a limitation as it is not what we would expect if the IWM is important for attachment.
Validity issues. Most studies do not use the Strange Situation to measure attachment, but use interviews instead. The validity of interviews and questionnaires is an issue as they rely on people being honest and have a realistic view of relationships. Equally, the data is retrospective - this means it relies on people being able to accurately recollect early childhood experiences.