Wk8 Pre-recorded Part 3 Flashcards
What are internal working models?
Mental representations about caregiver responsiveness based on experience
What type of theoretical explanation is Bowlby’s concept of internal working models?
Cognitive
What can internal working models do?
Allow infants to predict how the caregiver will respond in the short-term.
IWM can be generalised to how people behave in other relationships, thus influencing the infants ability to successfully form and maintain relationships.
How can having a positive internal working model influence later development?
Children grow up with self-worth, confidence to explore the world, and belief in the helpfulness of others.
Children are more resilient and are willing to seek help from others.
What caregiver behaviour can lead to the formation of a positive internal working model?
Positive, supporting, encouraging, and cooperative caregiver behavour
What caregiver behaviour can lead to the formation of a negative internal working model?
Unresponsive caregivers who are frequently unavailable, distant, or erratic in their responses to the child.
How can a negative internal working model influence later development?
Children grow up to believe that others are unreliable, unpredictable, and distrustful.
They may have relationship difficulties and be withdrawn/angry and struggle to seek help.
Poorer future outcomes.
What are criticisms of Bowlby’s concept of internal working model?
An internal working model is an ambiguous, vague concept which is loosely defined. What exactly is an internal working model? Could be adapted to explain any correlation.
Are internal working models specific to certain relationships or do they generalise to all relationships?
Bowlby thought that they could be generalised to all relationships, although how they interacted was unclear.
Was Bowlby’s theory centered around the child having one primary caregiver or multiple caregivers?
One primary caregiver.
Can internal working models explain multiple attachment patterns with multiple caregivers?
No, because Bowlby’s theory was centered around the child having one primary caregiver.
It is difficult to understand what happens when the child has multiple caregivers. It is difficult to determine who the primary caregiver is because relationship quality does not necessarily correlate to time spent together.
Are internal working models stable over the time?
We don’t know. What happens if something fundamentally changes the relationship with a caregiver (e.g., a stressful event?). Can an individual hold contradictory models and how do they reconcile these?
What has been suggested about early attachment and personal growth?
Early attachment shapes personal growth. Secure attachment provides a strong foundation for dealing with developmental challenges due to caregiver support.
What is a factor that is important throughout childhood to provide a strong foundation?
Continued sensitive parenting.
What factors can negatively impact parenting sensitivity?
Life stressors can cause parents to become less sensitive. Longitudinal studies have found that less sensitivity results in a weaker relationship between early security and good outcomes.
What interaction could be key for good outcomes?
The interaction between early attachment security and continued sensitive parenting throughout childhood.
What is a biological theoretical explanation for attachment patterns and later outcomes?
Attachment patterns are an adaptation to the environment.
How can insecure attachment affect later outcomes according to the biological theoretical explanation?
Insecure attachment may be adaptive in harsh environments.
Infants learn to avoid/not trust unresponsive caregivers and believe that the environment is hostile. They become alert to risks. The infant would put low investment into the relationship and use opportunistic reproductive strategies (e.g., early pregnancy to ensure the survival of their genes).
How can secure attachment in stressful environments affect later outcomes, according to the biological theoretical explanation?
Secure attachment can buffer the negative effects of stress and help people cope with stress and emotional regulation later on.
What do biological explanations suggest about genes and attachment?
Early experiences may influence the expression of certain genes with long-term consequences. There is an interaction between the genes and the environment.
How can genes influence the environment?
Temperament has a genetic basis. Their temperament affects how parents respond to their children and affects the quality of their relationship.
What genes are linked to attachment security, pleasure, happiness, and love?
Dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin
What do twin studies suggest on genetic influences on attachment?
Genetics have little influence on attachment in infancy but do have influences later on as the child grows older.
What is early secure attachment in infancy linked with, regarding parental and peer relationships?
Positive interactions with parents.
Social competence with peers.
What variable can affect an infants relationship with parents?
Parental stress
Stressful events in the family can disrupt the relationship, although generally secure attachments have better outcomes for parent-child relationships than insecure relationships because early security tends to act as a buffer.
Is early security linked with personality?
Yes. Early security is linked with self-esteem, confidence, optimism, and happiness. However this association may be indirect, and good quality stable parental relationships might be the key factor instead.
Is early security linked with emotion regulation?
Yes, early security is associated with more competent emotion regulation skills.
However this could also be scaffolded by parents who accept their children’s emotions, talk about them and respond appropriately. Continuing parental support is important.
Is early security linked with social cognitive outcomes?
Yes, children with secure attachments are better at identifying complex emotions and solving social problems.
What is early insecurity suggested to be linked with, in terms of social cognition?
Children with insecure attachments are more likely to attribute negative motivations to peer behaviours. E.g., thinking accidental actions are deliberate.
Can early attachment styles determine behaviour alone or is another variable involved?
Another variable is involved. Continuing parental support is important.
How does early security relate to the development of conscience?
Children with secure attachments demonstrate greater compliance and cooperation. They have superior moral thinking.
What is the development of conscience motivated by?
The desire to maintain parental approval and maintain positive relationships with their parents.
Insecure children don’t have this same drive and don’t develop a superior social conscience.
How does security in childhood relate to self-concept?
More secure children have a more positive self-concept and tendency to seek and selectively attend to positive feedback. Children are more confident.
How does security in childhood relate to school?
Secure children have more positive attitudes to school, self-efficacy, and mastery motivation.
However the relationship with achievement is unclear.
What are psychopathological outcomes of secure attachments?
Early security is associated with lower levels of behavioural issues, and lower levels of anxiety and depression.
Insecurity is linked to mental health problems.
However, relationship between attachment and psychopathology is modest.
What attachment type is linked to anxiety and depression?
Disorganisation
What other factors are more likely to explain psychopathological outcomes instead of attachment style?
Maltreatment, poverty, genetics have a greater influence.
What are applications of Bowlby’s attachment theory?
Bowlby’s attachment theory fundamentally changed scientific and popular views about the importance of parenting.
What have longitudinal studies shown about attachment and later outcomes?
Secure attachment is associated with positive outcomes, however future research should be more theory-driven.
Parental care, parental discourse, and family circumstances may partly explain the associations.
What is a limitation of attachment studies?
Most studies use US and European children.
Focus is mostly on mother-child relationship, rather than fathers or grandparents
There is still much to learn about other attachment relationships and cultural influences.
