Studies: Developmental Psych Flashcards
aim of O’Connor et. al
To investigate whether Social Learning Theory (SLT) parenting intervention promotes positive change in parent-child rel. in terms of attachment theory
To examine whether children learn attachment behavior from their parents (role models)
Participants of O’Connor et. al
4 primary schools in a deprived borough of inner London\
2004 - 2006
672 reception and Yr1 students
split into a training group and a control group
Procedure of O’Connor et. al
-Training group
-offered 12 weeks SLT based parenting programme and a 6 week literacy programme
-Control group
no active intervention offered
- each family given a home visit before and after the 12 weeks
-child and parent videotaped doing 3 tasks
-free play
-construct lego object from image
parent not allowed to tough, only instruct
toy clean up
Findings of O’ Connor et. al
-more attachment behaviour TOWARDS the parent from child after training
-esp. after rewards (e.g: praise)
-training group=happier and more communicative
Conclusion of O’Connor et. al
- Children do learn attachment behaviours from parents
-Children more likely to reciprocate attachment behav. when modeled it by parents (motivated via reward)
-attachment behav. is learned
Aim of Bowlby’s 44 Thieves Study
To investigate whether there is a CORRELATION between
-maternal DEPRIVATION
+ affectionless psychopathy
Participants in Bowlby’s 44 Thieves Study
-88 children from a London guidance clinic
-Juvenile thieves=44
-‘control’ non- thieves but emotionally disturbed=44
Procedure of Bowlby’s 44 Thieves
- all interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy
-families interviewed
-records looked at to see if they experienced MAT. DEP.
Conclusion of Bowlby’s 44 Thieves
-MAT DEP. causes/correlates with affectionless psychopathy
Findings of Bowlby’s 44 Thieves
-14 out of 44 Thieves were classified as being “affectionless”
-12/14 of those thieves experienced maternal deprivation
What was the aim of Ding et. al’s study?
-To investigate the relation of mother-infant attachments
-2 ATTACHMENT, cognitive and behavioral dev.
-in young children
Who were the participants in Ding et. al’s study?
-firstborn and healthy 12-18 month old infants
-160
-82 boys and 72 girls
-recruited through child healthcare networks in China
-mostly middle income families
Who were the participants in Ding et. al’s study?
-firstborn and healthy 12-18 month old infants
-160
-82 boys and 72 girls
-recruited through child healthcare networks in China
-mostly middle income families
Procedure of Ding et. al’s study
-Longitudinal study
-attachment at first evaluated using
-SSP (Ainsworth’s method)
-Child attachment Q-SETS (AQS)
-reflects on child’s seQurity
-evaluation performed by mothers
-approval from a board in China + INFORMED consent from mothers
-followed up 3 years later
What were the findings of Ding et. al’s study?
- 78/118 (children who followed up)= secure attachment
-40/118= insecure attachment
-10/40= insecure avoidant
-27/40=Insecure resistant
-3/40=both
What was the conclusion of Ding et. al’s Study
-Majority showed secure attachment (maintained this during early childhood)
-Insecure attachment remained
-Securely attached children more likely 2 have higher cognitive skills and behaviour
Evaluation of Ding et. Al’s Study?
G — low as all participants were from Shanghai China
collectivist culture so can’t be generalised to individualist cultures
R — high due interobserver reliability and use of SSP and AQS that can be easily repeated and means there’s 2 dif tests being used in eval
A — high applicability as it encourages parents to evaluate their parenting and be more sensitive to their child’s needs
secure attachment aids cognitive development
V — high as study uses empirical evidence (video and audio recordings), so reviewer can return to evidence to review
E — high as it was approved by an ethics board in China and informed consent was gained from the mothers
Evaluation of Bowlby’s 44 Thieves Study
Evaluation -
G - low —
all teens
done a long time ago (+ after WW2)
R - low —
retrospective study + interviews
A - high —
may aid in making better policies in childcare and hospitals
V - low
Bowlby carried out the assessments and interviews himself
E - low
Lack of consent (minors)
Psychological harm by asking about childhood
Evaluation of Ding et. al’s Study
Evaluation -
G — low as all participants were from Shanghai China
collectivist culture so can’t be generalised to individualist cultures
R — high due interobserver reliability and use of SSP and AQS that can be easily repeated and means there’s 2 dif tests being used in eval
A — high applicability as it encourages parents to evaluate their parenting and be more sensitive to their child’s needs
secure attachment aids cognitive development
V — high as study uses empirical evidence (video and audio recordings), so reviewer can return to evidence to review
E — high as it was approved by an ethics board in China and informed consent was gained from the mothers
Longitudinal Study
+
not-retrospective and so doesn’t rely on potentially unreliable memory
-
some participants were unable to return for follow ups and so there data cannot be analysed and recorded and pop size decreases
Aim of Ainsworth’s SSP
- To investigate the TYPES of attachments formed by 12-18 month old infants
Participants of Ainsworth’s SSP
- 100 middle class mother and infants (12-18 months)
- from the USA
Procedure of Ainsworth’s SSP
- SSP
-Child plays toys + EXPLORES space
-MOTHER is present
-stranger enters + tries to interact with child
-MOTHER LEAVES
-stranger triest to comfort child
-Mother returns and stranger leaves
-mother comforts child
-then leaves again for 3min
-stranger returns
-mother returns, picks up child and stranger leaves
Finding’s for Ainsworth’s Study
- 70%=secure
-20%= IA
-10% IR
Conclusion of Ainsworth’s SSP
- Attachment is NOT an all or nothing process
-dif types of attachment
-most infants are securely attached
Evaluation of SSP
-G: lacks generalisability
-100 middle class American famillies
-R: high due to inter-observer reliability
-more than one observer + process was filmed
-A: has become the most widely used method for caregiver (can be used to identify types)
-V: lacks ecological validity (strange + artificial environment)
-E: Informed consent from mothers
Aim of Cassiba et. al
To investigate if the majority of Italian Children are classified as having secure attachment
Participants in Cassiba et. al
For children
- 627 participants
- from 17 studies using SSP
For adults
-For adults
-2258 participants
from 50 studies using Adult Attachment Interview (AAI)
Procedure of Cassiba et. al
-Studies used SSP and AAI
-Statistical tests were used to compare SSP and AAI –together
-researchers looks at clinical and non-clinical samples
-results were measured against US non clinical norm of attachment
Findings of Cassiba et. al
Children
secure attachment = 53%
IA = 33%
IR = 14%
lower % of secure and higher % of IA attachment than US
Conclusion of Cassiba et. al
-differences in percentage of IA attached children between US and Italy
-secure attachment was still the highest
Aim of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg
- To carry out cross-cultural analysis looking at differences between cultures and countries in their attachment types
Paricipants of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg
Participants:
- 32 studies
-All using SSP and ABC classification
-children under the age of 2
from 8 countries
Procedure of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg
- Meta analysis
- using large database
-Only studies using:
-SSP
-ABC Classifications
-Samples such as Down Syndrome children + studies with less than 35 participants not included
- using large database
-using meta analysis they calculated the average percentage for the diff. attachment
Findings of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg
-In most studies, secure attachment was the most frequently found attachment type
- More Type A attachments in western countries (insecure avoidant)
- More Type C attachments in Eastern Countries (insecure resistant)
- China had the lowest rate of secure attachment because no one caregiver (everybody contributes financially to the family and helps out)
Conclusion of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg
- Secure attachment is the most common type
-universally, however there are some significant cultural differences(for example, between the US and China)
collectivist vs individualist
Evaluation of Cassiba et. al
G — high as it looks at both clinical and non-clinical samples
low as ethnocentric (italian sample and compared to US studies only - individualist culture
R —
A — high as Applicable to understanding differences in attachment styles in each country and perhaps improving infant care to establish secure attachments.
V — height due to Standardized methodology, lab experiment (high control of extraneous variables). However the studies lacked ecological validity due to the strange environment
E — high as it was a Meta analysis, didn’t do any actual experiments
Summary of Punch
- Type of research: Ethnography
-systematic study of people and cultures
-designed to exp. cultural phenomena
-researcher observes society from pov of the subject of the study
Strengths of Punch
As an ethnography
- Direct access 2 culture and practices of group (val. insight)
-Extensive in depth findings
-Observation rather than pre. det. examinations or tests
-can explore new lines of enquiry
Weaknesses of Punch
- relies on observations so often takes longer to produce thorough and reliable results
- usually only 1 or very few observers to low inter-observer reliability and high observer bias (cultural bias or ignorance)
