Psychology - Types of attachment and looking at different cultures

Question 1

What’s used to asses type of attachment?

Answer 1

Strange situation

Question 2

Who came up with the strange situation?

Answer 2

Ainsworth

Question 3

When was Ainsworth’s research?

Answer 3

1970

Question 4

Ainsworth

Answer 4

Used strange situation

Identified three broad types of attachments

Question 5

3 types of attachment

Answer 5

Secure
Insecure- avoidant
Insecure-ambivalent

Question 6

Method of the strange situation experiment

Answer 6

Mother and infant in room, mother reads magazine, baby left to play with toys
After 3 minutes stranger enters and talks with mother
Stranger approaches and tries to interact with the infant
Mother leaves room so stranger is alone with infant
Stranger offers to comfort baby
After around 3 minutes mother returns and stranger leaves
Mother leaves again and stranger returns just after offering to comfort baby
Mother returns and stranger leaves

Question 7

Secure attachment in Ainsworth’s strange experiment

Answer 7

Used mother as safe base
Happy to explore room when mother was present
Distress and crying when mother left but easily comforted on return
Wary of stranger and treated them very differently to mother

Question 8

Insecure-avoidant attachment in Ainsworth’s strange experiment

Answer 8

Did not orient behaviour towards mother in same way
Showed only some stress when mother left
Didn’t seek comfort on mothers return
Rejected strangers attempts at comforting

Question 9

Insecure-ambivalent attachment in Ainsworth’s strange experiment

Answer 9

Very upset when mother left
Not easily comforted on return - angry and rejected attempts
Alternated between seeking closeness and distance

Question 10

Insecure-ambivalent attachment percentage in Ainsworth’s strange experiment

Answer 10

15% of infants

Question 11

Secure attachment percentage in Ainsworth’s strange experiment

Answer 11

70% of inafants

Question 12

Insecure-avoidant attachment percentage in Ainsworth’s strange experiment

Answer 12

15% of infants

Question 13

Evaluate strange situation ethical and methodologically (positives)

Answer 13

Easily replicated
Obtain a lot of information in a relatively short period of time
Many studies have found similar results
Mother returned early if infant showed extreme stress
While setting was unfamiliar to child, so would be a baby-sitters house of nursery

Question 14

Evaluate strange situation ethical and methodologically (negatives)

Answer 14

Lots of stress for children and mothers during experiment

Attachment type results may cause some harm to mothers

Question 15

Main and Solomon 1986

Answer 15

Added the disorganised attachment type

Question 16

Who added the disorganised attachment and when?

Answer 16

Main and Solomon

1986

Question 17

Disorganised attachment type

Answer 17

Behaviour doesn’t fit into any of Ainsworth’s three categories
For example cried first time mother left, but not the second

Question 18

What did Ainsworth say was the explanation of different types of attachment?

Answer 18

Sensitivity of the mother

Those who could read infants moods and feelings and act accordingly more likely to have securely attached children

Question 19

When was Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg meta-analysis?

Answer 19

1988

Question 20

Spell the names of the people who did the all important meta-analysis of 1988

Answer 20

Van Ijzendoorn

Kroonenberg

Question 21

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg

Answer 21

Meta-analysis of 32 studies of strange situation in 8 different countries
Over 2000 infants involved in total (not important)

Question 22

Countries in Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s meta-analysis

Answer 22

Great Britain
US
Sweden
Israel
West Germany
Japan
China
Netherlands

Question 23

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg results (secure attachemnts)

Answer 23

Most common in all countries
Lowest proportion was China with 50%
Highest was GB and Sweden around 75%

Question 24

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg results (insecure-avoidant attachemnts)

Answer 24

More common in West Germany than other Western countries

Very rare in Israel and Japan

Question 25

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg results (insecure-abivalent attachemnts)

Answer 25

More common in Israel, China and Japan

Sweden had lowest rates

Question 26

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg weird result and why

Answer 26

China
Had low secure attachment (50%)
Same levels for both insecure types (25% each)

Question 27

What else did they find apart from difference between cultures?

Answer 27

Differences between cultures
2 in Japan, one of which had no avoidant attachments
Intra-cultural variation was 1.5X greater than cross-cultural variation

Question 28

What does the huge intra-cultural variotion show?

Answer 28

We can’t assume that all children are brought up exactly the same in the same cultures

Question 29

Issues with Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg

Answer 29

Over half the studies were carried out in the US
only 5 of the 32 studies were done in collectivist societies
Ethnocentric to assume strange situation best to be used to asses attachments in other cultures

Question 30

Belksy and Rovine

Answer 30

Argue that individual differences in attachment relates both to inborn temperament of baby and sensitivity of mother

Question 31

What year was Belksy and Rovine?

Answer 31

1987

Question 32

Temperament hypothesis of attachments

Answer 32

Attachment formed reflects temperament of infant rather than sensitivity of care-giver
If this is true infant should show same attachment to both parents
Fox (1991) found a strong relationship between attachment type to both parents, supporting this claim

Question 33

Who and when looked at relationships with both caregivers and why?

Answer 33

Fox
1991
To support temperament hypothesis that infant’s temperament affects attachment type