topic 3: attachment

Question 1

define attachment

Answer 1

a two-way, enduring emotional tie to a specific person

Question 2

how can you tell if someone has an attachment

Answer 2

1. a desire to be close to them
2. become distressed when separated from the attachment figure

Question 3

what did Woolf say about The Cry

Answer 3

there are 3 different cries that babies have
1. basic cry; hunger
2. angry cry
3. pain cry

Question 4

what was discovered about facial preference?

Answer 4

facial preference in babies from 1 hour old, orientation to face-like stimuli from birth.

Question 5

what is a social releaser

Answer 5

any behaviour that encourages a caregiver reaction from another person

eg. smiling, crying, laughing

Question 6

what are caregiver behaviours

Answer 6

sensitive responsiveness
motherese/caregiverese - a slow, high pitched, song like way of talking to babies

Question 7

what is reciprocity in interactions

Answer 7

each party responding to the other’s signals to sustain interaction, caregiver-infant interaction is a two-way process that can happen from 1 month old
e.g mother hugging baby in response to it crying

Question 8

evidence for reciprocity in adult and baby interactions

Answer 8

there was an observation where an interaction was analysed frame by frame, to find that babies co-ordinate their actions in sequence to speech in the form of turn-taking conversations

Question 9

what is interactional synchrony

Answer 9

when the caregiver and infant act so that their actions and emotions seem to mirror each other

Question 10

outline the still face experiment, tronick

Answer 10

primary caregivers interacted with young babies normally then became emotionless

the babies reacted with grasping, crying, pointing, smiling etc. to get their attention

Question 11

outline Schaffer and Emerson’s stages of Attachment

Answer 11

1. asocial, 6 weeks
   they show a similar response to people and objects
2. indiscriminate attachment, 6 weeks - 6 months
   baby becomes more sociable and prefers general human company
   comforted by anyone, don’t prefer particular people but are increasingly able to spot unfamiliar faces
   - no stranger/separation anxiety
3. discriminate attachment, 7 months
   separation anxiety, prefer to stay close to the primary caregiver and protest when they leave
   - shows stranger and separation anxiety
4. multiple attachments, 10 months
   form multiple strong emotional ties with major caregivers; parents/siblings/grandparents/childcare staff
   known as secondary attachment
   - has separation anxiety with >1 attachment figure

the study’s results indicate that attachments ar more likely to form with those that responded to the baby’s signals correctly, not who they spend the most time with
- named this; sensitive responsiveness

Question 12

evaluate the stages of attachment; Schaffer and Emerson

Answer 12

+ naturalistic investigation, has high ecological validity

– the sample is only 60 and they’re all Glaswegian working class babies; the limited sample isn’t representative of the target pollution and can’t be generalised
+ BUT it has been repeated with many different samples and population with the same results; it is reliable

+ there is triangulation of data
the findings of the observer match up with the information from primary caregiver interviews, supporting fear of strangers

+ can be applied in healthcare
useful during transitions at around 7months+, can help parents understand why the child seems sp afraid suddenly

Question 13

how do fathers act as primary caregivers

Answer 13

there is evidence that suggests that when fathers take on this role and become the PAF also, they are able to adapt to the more emotional role that is more commonly associated with mothers

Question 14

outline the study comparing male primary care givers, female primary caregivers, male secondary caregivers and female secondary caregivers

Answer 14

Tiffany Field 1978
they filmed 4 month old babies in face-to-face interactions with male primary care givers, female primary caregivers, male secondary caregivers and female secondary caregivers

primary caregivers, both male and female, were found to spend more time smiling, imitating and holding babies more than secondary caregivers
- these behaviours are all part of reciprocity and interactional synchrony

Question 15

outline the study of how attachments with different parents as a baby affect those as a teen

Answer 15

Grossman et al. 2002
longitudinal study
researchers investigated how behaviours of both parents related to the quality of the babies later attachments to others

they found that only the quality of a mothers attachment to the baby was related to their later attachments in adolescence, which suggests that attachment in fathers is less important than attachment in mothers

BUT, they found that the quality of a father’s play with babies was related to the quality of adolescent attachments; so fathers may just have a different role that is based more on play and simulation

Question 16

what statistics did Schaffer and Emerson discover surrounding who was a babies PAF

Answer 16

7 month ish:
father - 3%
father+mother as joint - 27%

by the time they reached 18 months:
75% of fathers become an important attachment figure

Question 17

evaluate studies on the role of the father

Answer 17

— societal bias can cloud judgement of researchers and the idea that dads are more playful could stem from observer bias

— we don’t have a clear explanation as to why dads can’t form primary attachments it may be gender stereotypes or it may be that oestrogen is linked to being more nurturing

– there is a lack of consistency in the research
different research states different things about the roles of a father as they all researching different things; some look at the role as a secondary attachment figure and some as a primary
secondary - distinct rule, playing and simulations
primary - they can take on a more maternal role

+ practical IRL application
Paternity/maternity leave
Custody of children: Men gaining more equality in this
Role modeling parental skills in young men

– children turn out the same whether they are from homo or heterosexual parents
Grossman suggests that fathers have an important and distinctive role in their Childs development BUT if this was true then there would be a difference so whether they have a distinctive role or not is unanswered
+ HOWEVER, fathers may in fact take on a distinctive role in 2 parent hetero families but single mothers/lesbian families just adapt to take on more of a father’s role

+ the research can offer support and advice to parents
parents don’t have to worry about following social norms because there’s proof that either can be the primary caregiver and it will work out
so parental anxiety can be reduced and lesbian/gay parents don’t have to worry because there is evidence of adaptation both ways

Question 18

define imprinting

Answer 18

a form of irreversible attachment where offspring (often seen in birds) follow the first large, moving object they see

Question 19

outline the experiment done on Imprinting

Answer 19

done by Lorenz
he split a clutch of geese eggs into 2 groups
group 1 stayed with mum, hatched in her presence and followed her around as they had imprinted on her
group 2 hatched in an incubator, they followed around Lorenz as they imprinted on him
he then put them in a box together and they reliably segregated to either their mum or Lorenz according to who they were exposed to first

it showed that there must be a critical period in the development of the brain and behaviour; Lorenz found it to be around 0-32 hrs in ducks by varying the time between birth and seeing the first moving object

the experiment showed how young imprints can affect later life; their mating habits were affected, they need to reproduce to continue their genes but they tried mating with Lorenz’ wellies

Question 20

discuss the idea of a sensitive period and any supporting evidence

Answer 20

Sluckin isolated a duckling for 5 days, which is past the critical period, and found that it was still possible for the duckling to be imprinted

they then thought that it could be a sensitive period rather than critical period

sensitive period - best time for attachments to occur, but not the only time as they can still occur after
vs critical period - only time for attachments to occur

Question 21

why do animals imprint

Answer 21

1. foraging for food
2. escape from predators, for protection
3. reproduction of the species; they’re given a model of their species and who to mate with

Question 22

what research learnt about the nature of the bond

Answer 22

Harlow
reared rhesus monkeys with 2 surrogate mothers from birth
1. wire mother producing milk
2. cloth covered mother

if the biological approach was 100% right the monkeys would stay with the wire mother but harlow found them clinging to the cloth mother most of the time even though it couldn’t feed them
this suggested that monkeys need contact comfort

Question 23

what was learnt about the importance of forming attachments

Answer 23

Harlow found he could introduce monkeys to the colony after 3 months, it was part of the sensitive period and they were usually accepted and able to adapt well

But with a delay over 6 months the monkeys were severely withdrawn or violent, the found it difficult to mate and females didn’t know how to care for any offspring they produced and no one cared for the offspring either

he concluded that maternal deprivation in all primates leads to later distorted development

Question 24

outline the study about love in infant rhesus monkeys

Answer 24

the strange situation
harlow left the monkey in a room with toys and one mother
cloth mother: ran to mother, was comforted, had the courage to explore
wire mother: huddled in a frozen state of terror, away from the mother

he placed a scary toy in front of the baby monkey, it was loud with big teeth and loving parts and the baby repeatedly went to the cloth over the wire mother after seeing it
after going ti the mother it began to try and confront the scary toy

so the monkey did love its mother bc it went to it when scared and felt comofrted

Question 25

evaluate animal studies in attachment

Answer 25

+ they have taught us about critical/sensitive periods
the monkey that formed no attachments over 6 months struggled when it was released, it couldn’t mate and couldn’t care for any offspring if they were produced as it was never taught through seeing it

+ IRL application, eg in post-natal depression
medical professionals are aware of it and can intervene earlier to help the formations of an attachment
depression can leave the mother feeling numb and unable to form a bond but now that we know the consequences if no bond we can intervene to help the formations of an attachment

+- can the data be extrapolated?
we can experiment in monkeys because they aren’t too similar to us but how can they also be similar enough to produce data that can be generalised to humans, they must also be able to experience similar pains and anxiety

+ animal studies prevent us harming young children who we are certain experience the same levels of pain and anxiety

Question 26

how can attachments be explained

Answer 26

classical and operant conditioning

babies learn to associate the feeder with the comfort of being fed; the attachment is learned when the infant is happy and comforted when the primary caregiver is present

the baby learns because it’s behaviours are positively reinforced; crying gives them milk, smiling gives them attention

the caregiver learns through negative reinforcement; unpleasant crying leads them to feed/comfort the baby as it removes the crying

Question 27

what is the secondary drive hypothesis

Answer 27

the primary drive is something the infant biologically needs to survive, eg. food

the secondary drive is a stimulus that reinforces everything after being associated with the primary drive, eg. emotional closeness from PCG

the attachment begins when the infant starts looking for the secondary drive instead of the primary drive

Question 28

evaluate the behaviourist explanation of attachment

Answer 28

+ scientifically reliable explanation
it seems highly likely that simple association between the provision of needs essential for survival and the person providing those needs can lead to strong attachments

– contradictory evidence
Harlow found monkeys to attach to the cloth mother even though it didn’t provide food and satisfy the monko’s needs; so classical conditioning doesn’t explain attachment formation in infant monkeys as they aren’t linking the food with pleasure
+ BUT maybe to monkeys, clinging is more important than food because in the wild they would have to cling to their mother to survive so classical conditioning could still explain it

– the air blast experiment
halo made the cloth mother blast cold air out when the baby hugged it that flung the monkey but the baby still went back to cling to it’s mother

– Schaffer and Emerson found quality > quantity
learning theories use a quantity explanation based on repeated associations but there’s evidence of over 50% of infants getting attached to a person that isn’t doing the most feeding, nappy changing etc.

Question 29

what are the types of observations

Answer 29

1. controlled
2. naturalistic
3. covert
4. overt
5. participant
6. non-participant
7. direct
8. indirect

Question 30

describe and evaluate a controlled observation

Answer 30

Watching and recording behaviour in a structured environment e.g. lab setting

+ high control of extraneous variables, making results less valid

– low ecological validity

Question 31

describe and evaluate a naturalistic observation

Answer 31

watching and recording behaviors in a natural situation i.e. don’t create conditions

+ high ecological validity

– low control of extraneous variables, making results less valid

Question 32

describe and evaluate a covert observation

Answer 32

participants are unaware of their behaviour being watched and recorded

+ high ecological validity because of natural behaviour
– ethical issues from a lack of informed consent

Question 33

describe and evaluate an overt observation

Answer 33

participants may know that their behaviour is being watched and recorded, the research isn’t hidden

+ acceptable ethically because informed consent is given

– likely to have demand characteristics which decrease ecological validity

Question 34

describe and evaluate a participant observation

Answer 34

the researcher observes whilst being a part of the group that is being observed

+ getting to know people could lead to subjective recording and observer bias

– can be more insightful and increase validity of findings

Question 35

what are the types of observational designs

Answer 35

structured and unstructured

Question 36

describe and evaluate a non-participant observation

Answer 36

the researcher is not a part of the group being observed while observing

+ the researcher can be more objective as they are less likely to identify with participants

– researcher may lose valuable insight

Question 37

what is an indirect observation

Answer 37

when the behaviour is video recorded and observed and analysed at a later date

Question 38

what is a direct observation

Answer 38

when the event is observed as it takes place

Question 39

what is a structured observational design

Answer 39

the researcher quantifies what they are observing by using a predetermined list of behaviours and sampling methods

have to consider what behaviours you are interested in and then operationalise each one

categories have to be mutually exclusive

cant choose too many/few behaviours
too few - low reliability, validity and accuracy bc you miss out on other behaviours that do occur

too many - takes too long to locate each behaviour on a long list

Question 40

what is an unstructured observational design

Answer 40

continuous recording where the researcher writes down everything that they see during the observation

often done at the start of research when unsure of what behaviours may occur

this lack of structure can cause you to miss small, influential behaviours whilst being side-tracked by bigger and more obvious ones

Question 41

what are the sampling methods used for observations and evaluate them

Answer 41

event - recording every time and event (behaviour) occurs, you have a behavioural list and have to tally every time is occurs, it gives frequency data

+ frequency data lets you know how often the behaviour occurs

– a lot could be happening at once, making it difficult to record all the behaviours and reducing reliability and validity

– don’t know when the behaviours started, so cant identify trends/if the behaviours were triggered by something

time - focuses on recording behaviours at certain points in time, eg. record what is happening every 5 minutes

+ more practical as less observations have to be recorded

+ can establish the sequence of behaviours

– if time slots are too large then behaviours will be missed, reducing validity
if time slots are too short then behaviours have to be recorded too regularly, making it impractical

Question 42

define monotropy

Answer 42

the single, unique attachment bond formed by an infant with their mother, Bowlby said this was qualitatively different from any other attachment formed and necessary for healthy psychological development

Question 43

what does the evolutionary theory of attachment say about babies forming attachments

Answer 43

babies are biologically pre-programmed to form attachments with others beacuse it helps their survival

the baby produces innate social releases, behaviours that will stimulate innate caregiving responses from adults

it suggests that the determinant of attachment is not food but care and responsiveness

Question 44

what is Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis

Answer 44

Bowlby said that depriving a child of their mother between 6 months to 5 years old would lead to difficulties later in life

he thought they would be unable to form attachments with others and have delayed social, intellectual and emotional development (crime)

Question 45

what did Bowlby say about critical/sensitive periods

Answer 45

he agreed and was influenced by animal studies in saying that there was a critical period for attachment development (maternal deprivation hypothesis)

critical period = 3 years
because a child is maximally sensitive until them and not forming an attachment in this time makes forming a later one more difficult

sensitive period = 5 years

Question 46

what did Bowlby say was the consequence of the relationship formed with your primary caregiver

Answer 46

your Internal Working Model is a mental representation of the ‘relationship with their primary attachment figure’
so the monotropic attachment you form as a child will serve as a template for what you believe relationships are like

if maternally deprives, your Internal Working Model may not be fully, or well formed

continuity hypothesis says that the relationship you form will influence future parenting and relationships

Question 47

what is the continuity hypothesis

Answer 47

the internal working model may influence future parenting styles

Question 48

evaluate Bowlby’s theory of attachment

Answer 48

+ there is support for the continuity hypothesis, mothers that had a poor attachment with their own parents also had a poor attachment with their own children

– monotropy may not be evident in all children, Schaffer and Emerson found a small minority that could form multiple attachments from the outset
and another study found monotropy to be scarce is cultures where whole families are involved in raising a child; so monotropy could be a strictly limited explanation in some cases

– monotropy is a socially sensitive piece of research, suggesting that mothers are to blame for bad attachments, they may delay returning to work to form a secure attachment

Question 49

outline the 3 types of attachment found by Ainsworth and the %s of each
- proximity
- secure base
- stranger anxiety
- comfort on reunion

Answer 49

1. secure attachment 70%
   seek proximity, explore and use attachment figure as a secure base, moderate stranger anxiety, moderate separation anxiety, quickly comforted on reunion
2. insecure-avoidant attachment; 15% emotionally closed off and uninvolved
   not very proximity seeking, explores but doesn’t use attachment figure as a secure base, little stranger anxiety, little separation anxiety, lack of a need to be comforted on reunion
3. insecure-resistant attachment; 15% controlling and argumentative, potentially due to inconsistent care (may really want hug then push away, aka be resistant)
   seek a lot of proximity but aren’t comforted, lack of exploration, extreme stranger anxiety, extreme separation anxiety, take a long time to settle when reunited

Question 50

outline the study done on different attachment types in babies

Answer 50

Ainsworth, The Strange Situation

it is an observation in a controlled environment

behaviours looked for; separation anxiety, fear if strangers, proximity seeking, exploration and use of attachment figure as a secure base, response to reunion.

each episode lasts 3 minutes

episode 1: parent/caregiver and baby are left to play
episode 2: parent sits while baby Explores and plays (secure base)
episode 3: stranger enters and talks to parent (Stranger Anxiety)
episode 4: parent leaves and stranger stays, letting baby play and comforting is necessary (Separation Anxiety)
episode 5: parent returns and stranger leaves, greets baby and offers comfort if needed (Reactions To Reunion)
episode 6: parent again leaves room, baby is now alone (Separation Anxiety)
episode 7: stranger enters and offers comfort (Stranger Anxiety + ability to be soothed by a stranger)
episode 8: parent returns and stranger leaves, greets and offers comfort (Reactions To Reunion)

Question 51

evaluate Ainsworth’s, The Strange Situation

Answer 51

+ standardised procedures, around 3 mins per episode and same interactions, makes the method more reliable as it can be repeated in different populations

+ continuity hypothesis says parents with an insecure attachment as a child may have the same with their own child
we can use the strange situation to determine the attachment type they have and then help the parent know how to improve the attachment and the continuity can be prevented

– infer meanings of behaviours
eg. a child continues to play when mum leaves
1. insecure avoidant because not showing separation anxiety
2. secure because child has learnt that mum always come back because in the past she has said that and followed her promise

— incomplete because it doesn’t include disinhibited attachments!

– cultural relativity, Ainsworth has used american standards but in other places like germany, there are more insecure-avoidant kids but only because they are raised to be more independent

Question 52

what is an individualist culture

Answer 52

a culture that values personal needs and independence
there are loose ties between people, you have to look after yourself
eg. UK, USA, Sweden

Question 53

what is a collectivist culture

Answer 53

it values group needs and consensus
large families will live together and pool together their finances, there’s an emphasis on society working together to achieve a common goal
eg. China, Japan, Israel

Question 54

outline the study done on cultural attachment differences

Answer 54

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg 1988
meta analysis - combined results of 32 different studies using the Strange situation and weighted with sample size

used: 1990 children, 3 collectivist, 5 individualist societies

findings: all countries found secure attachment to be the most common
most = britain
least = china

individualist: resistant was similar to Ainsworth’s sample, all below 14%

collectivist: resistant rates were over 25% and avoidant rates were lower

conclusions:
secure attachments are the norm in a variety of cultures which supports Bowlby’s theory that attachment is innate and universal and that secure is the norm
- 1.5x more variation within a culture than between
BUT is also clearly shows that attachment type is influenced by cultural processes

Question 55

what is inter-generational continuity

Answer 55

when an adult’s attachment type continue as their children adopt a similar parenting style to their parents

Question 56

outline the study on the influence of early attachment in childhood on adult relationships

Answer 56

Hazan and Shaver 1987
they conducted a ‘love quiz’ in a local newspaper
with 2 parts; 1. attachment type with parent as an infant, 2. current beliefs about current adult relationships and views of romantic love

there were 99 questions
sample: total of 620, 205 male and 415 female
age range of 14 to over 80

results were:
56% secure
24% insecure-avoidant
20% insecure-resistant

securely attached adults had longer lasting relationships, they found others to be trustworthy and were confident in themselves being lovable

insecure avoidant adults were more doubtful of the existance/durability of romantic love, feared intimacy and suggested they don’t need a partner to be happy

insecure resistant were worried that they weren’t loved in their relationship, easily fell in love but it rarely worked out

both insecure types were more vulnerable to loneliness

conclusions: the correlations did support Bowlby’s Internal Working Model; aka early attachments do influence adult relationships

the %s found support those found by Ainsworth in children

the IWN of adults differed with attachment type

Question 57

evaluate Hazen and Shaver’s study on the influence of early childhood attachments on adult attachment type

Answer 57

— it focuses on adult Relationships
Wood et al. found the quality of a relationship results from an interaction of two people’s attachment styles
so there could be a secure attachment between an insecure and secure person

— used a local paper
it was a volunteer sample and could be biased
they may put down answers that seem to be secure because they don’t want to accept that they haven’t got a secure attachment type
the people that take it may just be ones that are sure of a secure type bc theyre in a happy relationship
or may be in/juts out of a bad one for the opposite reason

– it is a deterministic approach
it doesn’t consider free will, children may visit other households and see the parents of others and know that it doesn’t have to be like it is at home
you can grow up and actively decide not to be like your parents

– closed questions were used to give qualitative results
the fixed choices may make results less valid and accurate and not as generalisable as p’s have to pick one even if they don’t actually agree with it

Question 58

what is maternal deprivation

Answer 58

the consequences, in terms of Emotional, Social and Intellectual development caused by the disruption of the bond between a child and their mother

Question 59

what research was conducted by Bowlby surrounding his Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis (MDH)

Answer 59

44 Juvenile thieves
sample:
44 adolescents that had stolen (displayed anti-social behaviour)
44 adolescents that had emotional problems (not thieves)

procedure:
parents were interviewed; was there separation? was it in the critical period? how long did it last?
social worker was asked for details of early life
psychometric testing of IQ and emotional strength

results:
1/2 of thieves were separated for over 6 months in the 1st 5 years (critical period)
1/3 of thieves were classed as affectionless psychopaths (they lacked guilt or remorse), 12/14 of these were separated
2/44 with emotional problems were separated

Question 60

what was Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis

Answer 60

he thought that depriving a child of their mother in the first 6 months to 5 years (critical period) can cause difficulties in later life

he said the would be unable to form later attachments with others and were likely to turn to crime

he suggested that early childhood separation is what can lead to affectionless psychopathy (the inability to have deep feelings for others and therefore a lack of meaningful personal relationships) and damaged social, emotional and intellectual development

Question 61

Evaluate Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis

Answer 61

+ we now know the significance of maternal deprivation and what it can lead to; affection less psychopathy, damaged social+intellectual+emotional development
this has led to an improvement in child welfare; children in hospital were then allowed to have their PCG stay with them whereas they were only allowed during visiting hours before

– researcher bias; Bowlby carried out the research and he was trying to find supporting evidence for MDH, so he may have asked accidental leading questions etc.
this decreases validity

– later replications found different results
Lewis 1954 replicated it with 500 young people but found No association between early separation and later psychopathy
directly contradicts Bowlby

– Bowlby found correlational evidence
- 50% of thieves were separated during critical period, majority of the affectionless psychopaths were separated
but correlation does not equal causation and there may have been other causal factors leading adolescents to turn to crime ad having later difficulties eg. poverty/genetic link

— romanian orphan twins were able to recover so it’s not permanent like bowlby suggested

Question 61

outline the study done on twins that contradicts Bowlby’s MDH

Answer 61

twin boys had a somewhat normal upbringing for the first 18 months (in institution then with aunt)
father remarried, they returned home
stepmother locked them in a room and beat them for 5 years

they experienced privation

found at 7: bone disease + small for their age, couldn’t talk/recognise pictures, weren’t Able to do an IQ test, frightened of others, their development was like that of a 3 year old

they went to a school for children with severe learning difficulties (+others)
adopted by a women who gave them special care and attention
they began to catch up and went to a normal school
@ 11 - speech was normal for their age
@ 15 - intelligence was normal for their age

they both ended up happily married with children, they were hoary and stable with warm family relationships

SO, effects of privation are reversible
opposes Bowlby - maybe it’s a sensitive period not a critical period because they still managed to attach and grow up happily

– they could have formed attachments with each other
– they seem happy but might hide their real emotions so that researchers leave them alone
but they’re in relationships with kids so they’re probably doing good

Question 62

what are the different types of attachment disruption

Answer 62

1. short-term separation
   baby-sitter, short term hospitalisation
2. long term deprivation
   lengthy separations from attachment figure eg. divorce
3. privation
   where a bond was never formed; this is usually considered via case studies because it is more rare

Question 63

how did Rutter criticise/evaluate Bowlby’s MDH

Answer 63

he compared the effects on children of separation through death vs divorce
SO, nature of separation does impact the consequences

he found divorce to have a longer lasting effect

he said that the key concept wasn’t ‘separation’ but rather the disruption/interference of the relationships functioning

he didn’t agree with monotropy and preferred the notion of multiple attachments bc the norm is for children to have multiple and very uncommon for the child’s care to solely be the responsibility of the mother

Question 64

outline the study done on the effects of institutionalisation

Answer 64

Hodges and Tizard
looked at emotional, social and intellectual consequences of early institutionalisation
british care system: good physical care but lack of consistency (insecure resistant), atttachments with staff were discouraged,
a child could have 24 carers in 2 years and up to 70 in 4

longitudinal study
sample: now all 16, they were in institutionalised care until at least 2 (maternal deprivation criteria met)
the sample was compared with a matched group that weren’t institutionalised; they matched based on: gender, sibling no. and position, one/two-parents family, breadwinner’s occupation etc.

data collection:
self reports and interviews from p’s, parents and teachers; triangulation of data
psychometric testing eg. IQ/personality - objective and quantitative data

@16 most adoptive mothers felt their child was deeply attached - they were more likely to give consistent, specific care

only 1/2 of the restored group were described as deeply attached, maybe because the child didn’t want to attach

Nevertheless all those children who had spent their early years in institutions were more attention-seeking from adults and showed some difficulties in their social relationships, particularly with their peers.

Question 65

describe and evaluate a study done on short term separation

Answer 65

Robertson and Robertson
measured distress experienced by young children when they/their mother was hospitalised, the kids stayed in R+R’s home to give them normal attachment figures and normal home routines to prevent severe psychological damage

kids split from their mothers experience many emotions including sadness and aggression.
providing a positive, caring environment can limit most adverse reactions to separation

+ children no longer get separated from parents if admitted to hospital, parents used to only visit in visiting hours
hospitals are now more colourful and child friendly with play rooms etc.

+ Residential Nurseries were closed in favour of Foster Care where the children had to experience less change

– short term separation can have different effects
it depends on the child’s maturity, age, personality and why the separation initially occurred

Question 66

describe studies done on long term separation via divorce

Answer 66

Furstenberg + Kiernan
saw that children experiencing divorce score lower than 1st marriage families on measures of social development, emotional well-being and academic performance
only found in 25% though, so 75% could adapt and overcome
the disparity could be caused by financial difficulties –> have to also work etc.

Demo and Acock
children’s reactions to divorce can vary, some develop better attachment afterwards
may be because the parents were always fighting/ the parents now each have more time for their child now because the divorce is sorted

Question 67

what conclusions did Hodges and Tizard make about the effects of insitutionalisation

Answer 67

ex-institution: more problems with siblings, poorer peer relationships, rated by teachers to be more quarrelsome, bullies other kids, mother’s said they were less likely to have a special friend
all in comparison to the comparison group (not separated)

they found that depriving children of close, lasting attachment in early childhood can lead to social, emotional and intellectual difficulties
But a stable family and chance to form an attachment when still a child with quality and sensitivity of care can reduce these effects

they found that restored parents were more ambivalent towards their child being back than adopted parents

Question 68

what is a disinhibited attachment

Answer 68

a pervasive pattern of attention seeking behaviours with a relative lack of selectivity in social relationships

Question 69

outline the study done on Romanian orphanages

Answer 69

Rutter et al.
sample:
1. 58 adopted before 6 months old
2. 59 adopted between 6 months to 2 years old
3. 48 adopted between 2 to 4 years old
4. 52 British adoptees (control)

method:
longitudinal study; the children were checked in at 4, 6 and 11
used parental reports, home observations and teacher reports

results:
adopted before 6 months showed normal development (weren’t institutionalised for long and were adopted within critical period) compared to g4

adopted at 2 or after showed disinhibited attachment

adopted at 2-4 had the most disinhibited attachment behaviours; 26% were marked behaviours

54% of children overall showed disinhibited attachment behaviours
only half, but half still did show behaviours

Question 70

evaluate the findings of the study done by Rutter on Romanian orphanages

Answer 70

— unclear long term effects, kids with problems now might recover when older or kids well now might have problems when older
so valid conc. can’t be drawn

+ minimal extraneous variables because the kids are all in the orphanage because their parents couldn’t afford them, not because of trauma, loss etc.

+ we now know the consequences of maternal deprivation and have made policy changes
the study showed institutionalisation, a type of privations and how it can lead to a disinhibited attachment; this is dangerous for the child because they could approach a stranger etc.
eg,. children’s homes avoid having large numbers of carers for each child and instead have 1/2 key workers that actively work to form an attachment

– the study may lack external validity due to the extreme conditions in the orphanages that can’t really be generalised; it specifically reflects Poor institutional care not general institutional care

– the children were not allocated to conditions randomly, so the more sociable children may have been adopted first which could reduce the data’s validity

Question 71

what is a self-report

Answer 71

a data-collection form where the p answers questions about themselves concerning their behaviour, thoughts or feelings
eg. questionnaire/interview

an advocate may answer instead if the p lacks capacity

Question 72

outline characteristics of a questionnaire

Answer 72

they can be open, free rein in answering, or closed, limited no. of answers

formal eg. psychometric tests - IQ tests/personality tests

Question 73

outline characteristics of interviews

Answer 73

can be unstructured/structured/semi-structured

unstructured: no predetermined structure but the interview does have a goal and sense of direction in mind. it usually involves open ended questions
- may lose focus

structured: has predetermined questions which they stick to; each p will be asked the same questions and in the same order

semi-structured: uses predetermined questions but with a flexible approach, the flow of following questions can be determined by the answers given

Question 74

evaluate the use of self reports

Answer 74

+ questionnaires have more anonymity than an interview/observation, so p’s may be more honest due to a lack of social desirability bias, making results more valid

+ practical as questionnaires can allow for large volumes of data collection without too much effort

– interviews; time consuming and may only use a small sample which reduces validity and generalisability

– can’t determine the accuracy of responses from p’s

Question 75

what study supports reciprocity

Answer 75

Tronick - still face experiment
mothers were told to stop happily chatting with their child and maintain a still emotionless face
babies used smiling as a social releaser to try and tempt the mother into smiling but became increasingly distressed as they found that it was not working

the conclusion from this was that reciprocal interaction is actually important for children and infants do actively attempt to communicate and interact with caregivers

Question 76

describe and evaluate the study that supports interactional synchrony

Answer 76

Meltzoff and Moore - an adult model did a certain hand gesture to a 2 week old infant and the infants response was recorded and analysed frame by frame
an association was found between the adult and infant and the same happened with 3 day old children

this suggests that babies have an innate ability to imitate behaviours intentionally

– conclusions made by inference
+ supporting these behaviours can help to form a stronger attachment

Question 77

what are effects of institutionalisation

Answer 77

difficulty in forming close relationships
delayed physical development
disorganised/disinhibited attachment

Question 78

evaluate Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s study

Answer 78

+ it was a meta analysis and over the 32 studies there was a sample size of almost 2000; this is more likely to overcome individual difference and be a representative sample that gives generalisable info

– although the overall study had a high sample size, some samples were v small. eg. there was a chinese study with just 36 children

– the volume of data for each type of society was nowhere near similar, individualist = 27, collectivist = 5

– it labels a whole country under one culture, but these things differ in a country eg. in rural vs urban areas; the labels are an oversimplification

Question 79

what did bowlby say was the critical period

Answer 79

2.5 years
5 = sensitive

Question 80

what are those 2 important pcg behaviours

Answer 80

reciprocity and interactional synchrony