Year 1 Chapter 3 Attachment

Question 1

Outline Rutter et al (2011) English and Romanian adoptee study

Answer 1

-165 Romanian orphans, poor living conditions before being adopted in the uk
-Can good care make up for poor early experiences, physical, cognitive and emotional development assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15
-Also followed a controlled group of 52 english orphans
-Half the orphans showed signs of mental retardation
-Adoption before 6 months = 102 IQ
-Between 6-24 months = 86 IQ
-After 24 months = 77 IQ
Frequent disinhibited attachment in those adopted after 6 months

Question 2

Outline 2 strengths of the English-Romanian orphans study

Answer 2

Important practical applications:
-Improvements in the way children are cared for in institutions
-Homes now avoid large amounts of carers for each child
-Child can now develop normal attachments
Fewer confounding variables:
-Original orphan studies were done on children who experienced lots of trauma
-Most Romanian orphans were abandoned at birth

Question 3

Outline 2 limitations of the Romanian orphan studies

Answer 3

Issues with generalisability:
-The conditions for the orphans were so bad that the results may not apply to the general situations of deprivation
-Romanian orphanages were extremely bad for level of care
-This means that it may lack generalisability
The children were not randomly assigned:
-The children who were adopted may have been more or less social than others
-In Bucharest early intervention study the orphans were randomly assigned to groups
-This gets rid of the problem with parents selecting children

Question 4

What is meant by reciprocity in terms of attachment

Answer 4

Mother-infant interactions is reciprocal that both infant and mother respond to each other’s signals and each elicits a response from the other

Question 5

What is meant by interactional synchrony in terms of attachment

Answer 5

Mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions of each other in a synchronised way

Question 6

Describe one way in which psychologists have investigated the caregiver-infant interactions. Refer to a specific study in your answer.

Answer 6

• Meltzof and Moore (1977) observed interactional synchrony in infants
  
  • An andult displayed 1 of 3 facial expressions or gestures and the child’s response was filmed
  • An association was found between adult and child behavior

Question 7

Referring to research, describe the role of the father in development

Answer 7

• Grossman (2002)
  
  • The quality of infant attachment in adolescence was related to the quality of play with the father. Seems the father is important in a stimulation role, rather than a nurturing role

Question 8

Outline one strength of research into caregiver-infant interactions

Answer 8

Due to the controlled nature of observations it is possible to capture fine details of interactions, this increases validity

Question 9

Outline one weakness of research into caregiver-infant interactions

Answer 9

Research involves observing simple gestures and expressions. It’s had to know what is happening and to assume the infants intentions. This means we can’t be certain that the behaviors seen in mother-infant interactions are special.

Question 10

Outline two weaknesses of research into the role of the father

Answer 10

• Children who grow up with single/same sex parents do not develop any different - suggests that the role of the father is not important
  
  • Different research questions asked in the studies produced inconsistent findings –> overall picture is unclear

Question 11

Outline Schaffer and Emerson’s study into the formation of early attachments

Answer 11

• Aim to investigate the age of attachment formation and who they became attached too
  
  • Mothers of 60 babies from Glasgow reported monthly on separation and stranger anxiety
  • Most babies showed attachment to a primary caregiver by 32 weeks and developed multiple attachments soon after

Question 12

Name the 4 stages of attachments in the order they occur

Answer 12

• Asocial
  
  • Indiscriminate
  • Specific attachment
  • Multiple attachments

Question 13

Why does Schaffer and Emerson’s study have good external validity

Answer 13

-Because it took place in the participants natural environments

Question 14

Outline 2 weaknesses of Schaffer’s stages of attachment

Answer 14

• Measuring attachment
  
  • Just because a child cries when someone leaves the room doesn’t mean they’re attached
  • Conflicting evidence
  • Van Ijzendoorn et al found that in different contexts multiple attachments may be formed first

Question 15

Outline Lorenz’s research into attachment

Answer 15

• 2 groups of goslings, 1 saw Lorenz when they hatched the other saw their mother
  
  • Newly hatched chicks became attached to the first thing they saw (imprinting)
  • Adult birds try to mate with whatever species they imprinted on

Question 16

Outline harlow’s research into attachment

Answer 16

• Baby monkeys were given a choice of a wire mother with a feeding bottle and a cloth mother without a feeding bottle
  
  • Monkeys clung to the cloth mother and only went to the wire one for food
  • The critical period was seen as 90 days

Question 17

What did Harlow find out about the effect of maternal deprivation

Answer 17

-Maternally deprived monkeys grew up to be socially dysfunctional

Question 18

Describe one weakness of Lorenz’s research

Answer 18

• Research lacks generalisability

- Birds and mammals are very different when it comes to attachment

Question 19

Outline one strength of Harlow’s research

Answer 19

• Theoretical value
  
  • Demonstrated that attachment depends more on creature comfort than feeding
  • Practical value
    
    • Helps us to understand risk factors for child abuse

Question 20

Outline one weakness of Harlow’s research

Answer 20

• Harlow’s research has considerable ethical issues
  
  • Monkeys that were used were considered similar enough to humans to generalise the findings
  • Their suffering was also deemed human like

Question 21

Where is the emphasis in learning theory of attachment

Answer 21

-That food is the key part of infant attachment

Question 22

What is classical conditioning in terms of attachment

Answer 22

Food (unconditioned stimulus) –> pleasure (unconditioned response)
Caregiver (neutral stimulus) –> Food (unconditioned stimulus)
Caregiver (conditioned stimulus) –> Pleasure (conditioned response)

Question 23

What is operant conditioning in terms of attachment

Answer 23

• Learning is done through rewards and punishment

- Babies learn that crying get’s them food

Question 24

Provide counter evidence to the learning theory of attachment

Answer 24

• Lorenz’s study

- Harlow’s study

Question 25

Describe Bowlby’s theory of attachment

Answer 25

• Attachment is innate
  
  • Attachment give a survival advantage
  • There is a primary attachment figure
    
    • This attachment is different/more important than the others
  • More time spent with child is beneficial
    
    • The law of continuity
    • The law of accumulated separation
  • Babies are born with social releasers
    
    • Innate ‘cute’ behaviours that are designed to elicit a response
    • Their purpose is to activate the adult attachment system
  • The critical period
    
    • The period where the attachment system is most active
    • It’s more like a sensitive period

Question 26

Briefly evaluate the idea of the internal working modle

Answer 26

• Predicts the patter of attachment will be passed on through the generations
  
  • Bailey et al (2007) looked at 99 mothers. those with poor attachments to there own parents had poor attachment with their own children
  • Supports that the IWM will be passed through the family

Question 27

Evaluate the existence of social releasers

Answer 27

• Brazelton et al (1975) instructed primary caregivers to ignore social releasers
  
  • Babies that were responsive before curled up and were motionless
  • Shows the importance of social releasers

Question 28

Outline 2 limitations of Bowlby’s theory of attachment

Answer 28

• The evidence from monotropy is mixed
  - Schaffer and Emerson found that most babies did attach to one person first, however a small minority found multiple attachments at the same time
  
  • Socially sensitive research
    
    • Feminists argue that mothers are blamed for everything that goes wrong with children
    • Not Bowlby’s intention, he wanted to boost mothers standing by showing how important they are
  • Overemphasis of the role of attachment
    
    • A child’s temperament is also important in the development of social behaviour
    • Temperamental differences could explain later social behaviours rather than quality of attachment

Question 29

Outline the procedure and findings of the strange situations

Answer 29

• Two-way mirror used to observe behaviour
  
  • Seven categories (each test lasting 3 minutes
    
    • Proximity seeking
    • Exploration and secure base behaviour
    • Stranger anxiety
    • Separation anxiety
    • Reunion behaviour
  • Ainsworth found distinct features
    
    • Secure (60 -70%)
    • Avoident(20-25%)
    • Resistant(3%)

Question 30

Name and describe the three types of attachment

Answer 30

• Secure – Explores and seeks proximity; moderate separation and stranger anxiety
  
  • Avoident – Explores but doesn’t seek proximity; little separation and stranger anxiety
  • Resistant – Explores less and seeks proximity more; Great separation and stranger anxiety but resists comfort

Question 31

Outline 2 strengths of the strange situations

Answer 31

• Predictive validity
  - Attachment types accurately predict what the child will be like in the future
  
  • Resistant has the worst outcomes in later life
  • Good inter-rater reliability
    
    • Different people identified the same type of attachment in the same children 94% of the time
    • Takes place under controlled conditions

Question 32

Outline 2 weaknesses of the strange situations

Answer 32

• May be culture bound
  - Tests may have different meanings in different countries
  - Takahasi (1990) explains that Japanese mothers are rarely separated from their children and they show high levels of separation and stranger anxiety
  
  • Temperament could be a confounding variable
    
    • Kagen (1982) suggests temperament could play a key role in the behaviours seen in the strange situations

Question 33

Outline the meta-analysis by Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg

Answer 33

• Investigated the proportions of secure, avoident and resistant attachments across a range of cultures & countries
  
  • 32 studies, countries and almost 200 infants
  • secure was most common across all countries 50% in china and 75% in the UK
  • Individualist cultures had rates of resistant attachments similar to Ainsworth, but in collectivist cultures rates were up to 25% and avoident was reduced
  • Variations within cultures was 150% greater than across cultures

Question 34

outline the key study done by Simonelli et al (1994)

Answer 34

• Researchers assessed 76 12-month olds using the strange situation to assess if the attachment styles have stayed the same in Italy
  
  • Mothers varied in terms of education level and profession
  • 50% secure, 36% avoident- which is lower than in previous studies
  • researchers suggest that this is due to the longer hours mothers work
  • cultural changes can cause differences in patters of attachment

Question 35

Evaluate the samples used in the Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s metaanalysis

Answer 35

• A strength is that you have very large samples(nearly 2000 babies)
  - Even Simonella’s study have comparatively large samples
  - Increases internal validity by reducing the effect of unusual participants
  
  • Sample may not be representative of cultures
    
    • Meta analysis compared countries not cultures- within countries there may be different cultures
    • E.g. in Tokyo proportions are similar to the western cultures but in rural Japan there are higher levels of resistant
    • Differences between countries may be meaningless- the cultural characteristics need to be specified

Question 36

Describe why the strange situations may be biased towards western cultures (UK/USA)

Answer 36

• The strange situation was designed by Americans and based of a British theory
  
  • Trying to apply a theory designed for one culture to another is know as imposed etic
  • The idea that a lack of enjoyment upon reunion signals avoidant attachment is an imposed etic - In Germany may be seen as independent

Question 37

Describe explanation for similarities between cultures

Answer 37

• Mass media
  
  • Bowlby assumed the similarities were because attachment was innate. Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg suggest it could be down to mass media
  • There are many books/TV programmes broadcast all over the world suggesting best practice

Question 38

Outline Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 38

• Continued emotional care from the mother is essential
  
  • Separation from the mother may lead to maternal deprivation
  • Separation may be different from deprivation, deprivation is loss of emotional care due to separation
  • Critical period is 30 months
  • Maternally deprived children have lower IQ’s and it’s link to affectionless psychopathy`

Question 39

Describe one study into the effects of maternal deprivation

Answer 39

• 44 thieves
  
  • 44 delinquent teenagers accused of stealing
  • Families were interviewed to establish if there was any prolonged separation from the mothers
  • All thieves were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy
  • 14 of the 44 were affectionless psychopaths, 12 of these 14 had prolonged separation from their mothers
  • Only 5 of the remaining 30 had experienced separation

Question 40

Outline the case of the Czech twins and how this challenges Bowlby’s theory

Answer 40

• Twins isolated from 18 months to 7 years, later looked after by two loving adults
  
  • Shows that severe deprivation can still have positive outcomes, so long as the children have some social interactions and good after care
  • Critical period may be more like a sensitive period

Question 41

Outline how animal studies support the theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 41

• Levy et al
  
  • Shows that separating baby rats from their mothers can have permanent negative effects on their social behaviour
  • However, there are some issues regarding generalisability

Question 42

What is the difference between deprivation and privation - how does this link to Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 42

• Deprivation, the long term loss of the primary attachment figure after an attachment has formed
  
  • Privation, the failure to form any attachment
  • Rutter argues that the severe long term damage outlined in Bowlby’s theory is more likely the result of privation rather than deprivation
  • Many of the 44 thieves had moved from home to home when growing up and so many may have not form attachments in the first place

Question 43

How does an infant’s internal working model affect their later relationships

Answer 43

• First attachment is a template for all future relationships
  
  • Good attachment experiences = good expectations, they will seek functional relationships and behave functionally in them
  • Bad attachment experiences = bad relationship experiences, they may struggle to form relationships or behave appropriately in them
  • Secure infants form better friendships and are less likely to be bullied or be bullied
  • IWM affects parenting

Question 44

Outline the procedure and findings from Hazen and Shaver’s study into romantic relationships

Answer 44

• Research looked at 620 responses to a ‘love quiz’
  
  • The quiz assessed three different aspects of relationships;
    
    • Current relationships
    • General love experiences
    • Attachment type
  • 56% secure, 25% avoidant and 19% resistant
  • Secure respondents most likely to form healthy long lasting relationships
  • Avoidants got easily jealous and feared intimacy

Question 45

Outline The problem with the concept of an Internal working model

Answer 45

• Unconscious - can’t get direct evidence from self-report methods
  
  • At best the research method gives us indirect evidence of IWM
  • This is a weakness of most IWm research

Question 46

What is meant by correlation vs causation and how does it affect research into the internal working model?

Answer 46

• The theory assumes that the IWM causes continuity between early and later relationships
  
  • This could just be association rather than causation (e.g. temperament)
  • This counters Bowlby’s view

Question 47

Outline 2 limitations of research into the influence of early attachment on later relationships

Answer 47

• Evidence on continuity is mixed
  - IWM predicts that attachment types in infancy is usually the same as the type in the future
  - Zimmerman (2000) found little relationship between quality of infant and adolescent attachment
  - Limitation as it is not what we would expect if the IWM is important for attachment
  
  • Validity issues
    
    • Most studies don’t use the strange situations to measure attachment type
    • The validity of interviews and questionnaires is an issue as they rely on self-reported information, so people could be dishonest or have unrealistic views of their relationships
    • Equally the data is retrospective, this means it relies on people accurately recalling childhood experiences