Section 3 : Attachment - Types of Attachment

Question 1

Attachments can be….

Answer 1

• secure
• insecure

Question 2

What is a secure attachment

Answer 2

• a strong bond between the child and caregiver

Question 3

In a secure attachment, what happens if the child is separated from the caregiver and then reunited

Answer 3

• At separation the infant becomes distressed
• when reunited the child is easily comforted by the caregiver

Question 4

The majority of attachments are what type

Answer 4

Secure

Question 5

Secure attachments are associated with what

Answer 5

A healthy cognitive and emotional development

Question 6

What are insecure attachments

Answer 6

• the bond between child and caregiver is weaker
• ainsworth et al came up with two types of insecure attachment:
• Insecure avoidant
• Insecure resistant

Question 7

What is an insecure avoidant attachment

Answer 7

• if they’re separated from their caregiver, the child doesn’t become particularly distressed
• the child can be comforted usually by a stranger

Question 8

What type of person would usually show an insecure avoidant attachment

Answer 8

Shown by children who generally avoid social interaction and intimacy with others

Question 9

What is an insecure-resistant attachment

Answer 9

• child is often uneasy around their caregiver
• becomes upset if they’re separated
• comfort can’t be given by strangers and is also resisted from the caregiver

Question 10

What type of person would show an insecure resistant attachment

Answer 10

Children who show this attachment both accept and reject social interaction and intimacy

Question 11

Who came up with the strange situation

Answer 11

Ainsworth

Question 12

What did ainsworth use the strange situation for

Answer 12

To assess how children would react under conditions of stress and also to new situations

Question 13

What was the method used in Ainsworth et al 1978 - the strange situation

Answer 13

• controlled observation
• 12-18 month old infants left in a room with their mother
• eight different scenarios including:
• being approached by a stranger, being left alone, and mother returning
• infants reactions were constantly observed

Question 14

What was the results of Ainsworth et al 1978

Answer 14

• 15% of infants were insecure avoidant - they ignored their mother and didn’t mind when she left
• about 70% we’re securely attached - content with the mother then upset when left and happy after reunited
• 15% were insecure resistant - they were content with their mother and upset when left, they resisted the strangers and were also hard to comfort when their mother arrived

Question 15

What was the conclusion of ainsworth et al

Answer 15

Infants showing different reactions to their carers have different types of attachment

Question 16

What are the evaluations of Ainsworth et al 1978

Answer 16

• research method used allowed control of the variables (reliable results)
• lab situation made study artificial (reduces ecological validity)
• parents may have changed behaviour due to being observed (may effect child’s behaviour)
• new situation in the experiment may have effected child’s behaviour (not representative of child’s behaviour in real life)
• mother may not have been the child’s main attachment figure

Question 17

What cross cultural study to Ainsworth et al has taken place

Answer 17

Van Ljzendoorn and Kroonenberg 1988

Question 18

What was the method used in Van Ljzendoorn and Kroonenberg 1988

Answer 18

• Van Ljzendoorn and Kroonenberg carried out a meta analysis of 32 studies of the strange situation in different countries, which were then analysed to find overall patterns

Question 19

What were the results of Van Ljzendoorn and Kroonenberg 1988

Answer 19

• children classified as secure or insecure were similar across the countries tested
• more differences within the actual countries than between them
• secure attachment were the most common type of attachment
• some difference in the distribution of insecure attachments
• dominant type of insecure attachment was avoidant in western cultures (most coming from Germany)
• dominant type of insecure attachement in non western cultures were resistant (most coming from Japan)

Question 20

What are the conclusions of Van Ljzendoorn and Kroonenberg 1988

Answer 20

There are cross cultural similarities in raising children with common reactions to the strange situation

Question 21

What are the evaluations of Van Ljzendoorn and Kroonenberg 1988

Answer 21

• children brought up in different ways in different cultures
• might result in different types of attachment in different cultures
• strange situation might not be suitable method for studying cross-cultural attachment
• using a different type of study may have revealed different patterns or types of attachment in different culture
• study assumes that different countries are the same thing as different cultures
• one problem with the research method is that meta analysis can hide individual results that show an unusual trend

Question 22

What did Grossman et al claim

Answer 22

• some cultural differences are found
• claimed more avoidant infants may be found in Germany because of the value Germans put in independence - avoidance is seen as good

Question 23

What are said about the causes of attachment types

Answer 23

The causes may be the sensitivity of their careers and/or their inborn temperament so the causes for attachment type are debatable

Question 24

What does the strange situation experiment not show

Answer 24

• Doesn’t show a characteristic of the child
• experiment only shows the child’s relationship with a specific person so they might react differently with different carers or later in life

Question 25

Attachment type may late influence what

Answer 25

• attachment you may influence later behaviours
• securely attached children may be more confident in school and form strong, trusting adult relationships
• avoidant children may have behaviour problems in school and find it hard to dorm close trusting adult relationships
• resistant children may be insecure and attention seeking in school as asukts their strong feelings of dependant may be stressful for partners