Attachment

Question 1

Attachment definition by Schaffer.

Answer 1

A close emotional relationship between 2 people characterised by mutual affection and a desire to maintain proximity.

Question 2

4 primary behaviours that shows attachment in infancy and early childhood by Maccoby (1980).

Answer 2

Seeking to be near the other person.
Showing distress in separation from that person.
Showing relief or joy on reunion.
An orientation to the person.

Question 3

Reciprocity definition.

Answer 3

A form of interaction between infant and caregiver involving mutual responsiveness with both the infant and the caregiver responding to each others signals.

Question 4

Meaning of reciprocity by Brazelton et al (1975).

Answer 4

Interaction between both infant and caregiver flows back and forth.
Brazelton et al describes this as a dance.
This is because they respond to each others movements like a couple dancing.

Question 5

Alert phases (reciprocity).

Answer 5

Babies signal that they are ready for interaction (example: eye contact). These increase in frequency from around 3 months old.
Parents typically respond to their children’s alertness 2/3 of the time, 67%

Question 6

Still face study - Tronick, 1975 (reciprocity).

Answer 6

Studying children around 1.
Mother interacts, smiles and plays with her baby and the baby replicates this behaviour.
The mother is then instructed to have a still face for 2 minutes and not interact or play with the baby. The baby then starts to scream and get upset.
Shows that babies are active agents, they are deliberately trying to elicit a response from the caregiver.

Question 7

Interactional synchrony definition.

Answer 7

When 2 people interact and mirror what the other is doing in terms of their facial and body movements. (present in infants as young as 2 weeks old)

Question 8

Interactional synchrony study.

Answer 8

A baby starts with a dummy in their mouth to prevent a facial response.
The baby then watches an adult model display a facial expression or hand movement.
Then the dummy was removed from the baby’s mouth and the expressions were filmed.
An association was found between the expression or gesture the adult had made and the actions of the baby.
This suggests that this behaviour is not learnt and is innate.

Meltzoff and Moore (1983) later found the same responses in 3 day old babies.

Question 9

Strengths of caregiver infant interactions.

Answer 9

Most of the research is filmed and are controlled observations.
This means that other distractions for the baby can be controlled, key behaviours are less likely to be missed, more than one observer can record data (interobserver reliability - consistency) and babies don’t know when they are being observed, so they wont change their behaviour.
This makes it more reliable and valid.

Research evidence shows that reciprocity and interactional synchrony are important for a child’s development. Found that at 3 and 9 month old high levels of synchrony were associated with better and more secure attachment.
Creates expectations for future life.
Practical applications.

Question 10

Limitation of caregiver infant interactions.

Answer 10

It is hard to interpret a baby’s behaviour.
Possibly due to lack of coordination, unsure whether actions are voluntary or not. We must assume behaviour because there is no way to ask the baby.
Some behaviour may have occurred by chance.

Observing a behaviour does not tell us its developmental importance.
Descriptive not explanatory. Ideas such as interactional synchrony and reciprocity simply give us names of observable behaviours.
We cannot be certain from observational research alone that reciprocity and interactional reciprocity are important for a child’s development.

Question 11

Glasgow Babies (1964) method.

Answer 11

Observational study on 60 infants (31 male and 29 female) from working class families in Glasgow.
Longitudinal study.
The researchers visited the babies in their homes every month for the first 12 months and once again at 18 months.
Researchers interviewed mothers and observed the children in relation to separation anxiety and stranger anxiety in a range of activities.
Naturalistic.
Overt.
Participant.

Question 12

Glasgow Babies (1964) key findings.

Answer 12

At 6-8 months 50% of the babies showed separation anxiety, measured through crying and vocalisations.
By 10 months 80% of the children had a specific attachment and 30% had multiple attachments.

Question 13

Stage 1 of attachment.

Answer 13

Asocial stage.
Age : birth - 2 months.
Both objects and people produce a favourable reaction, towards the end of this stage they display a preference for faces.
Attention seeking behaviour is not directed at anyone in particular showing that an attachment could be made with anyone.

Question 14

Stage 2 of attachment.

Answer 14

Indiscriminate attachment.
Age : 2-6 months.
Infant shows preference for human company over non-human company. They can distinguish between faces, but are comforted indiscriminately (by anyone).
They get upset when people fail to interact with them. From 3 months infants smile more at familiar faces.

Question 15

Stage 3 of attachment.

Answer 15

Specific attachment.
Age : 7-12 months.
Infant shows preference for one caregiver, infant looks for a particular person for security and protection, infant shows joy upon reunion, stranger and separation anxiety showing.
50% show their first specific attachment at 6-8 months. Primary caregiver is the person who offers the most interaction, 65% of cases this is the mother.

Question 16

Stage 4 of attachment.

Answer 16

Multiple attachments.
Age : 12 months onwards.
Attachment behaviour displayed to many other people (secondary attachments). Dependant on the people the infant is exposed to.
29% formed a secondary attachment within a month after specific attachments. By 1 year old majority of babies have multiple attachments. By 18 months old, only 13% were attached to 1 person.

Question 17

Strengths of The Glasgow Babies research.

Answer 17

Natural environment, no manipulation, good external validity,

longitudinal, interview and observe, clearly shows stages babies progress through. Practical applications - identifying normal progression.

Question 18

Limitations on The Glasgow Babies research.

Answer 18

Less control over extraneous variables, naturalistic, social desirability bias from the mother

lacks population validity, relatively small sample all from working class background.

Question 19

Attachment to fathers.

Answer 19

Compared to mothers, fathers are much less likely to become a baby’s first attachment.

Question 20

Schaffer and Emerson’s fidings into attachment to fathers.

Answer 20

3% of cases the father was the main attachment. In 75% of the infants studied an attachment was formed with the father by the age of 18 months , this was determined by the fact that infants protested when their fathers walked away.

Question 21

Study into role of the father.

Answer 21

Gottesman
Longitudinal study.
Looked at how attachment with the parents affected an infants quality of life in the future.
Quality of attachment with mothers was related to attachments later on in life, but not with fathers. This suggests that the attachment with the father is less important.

He also found that fathers have a different role in attachment, one to do with play and stimulation and less to do with emotional development.

Question 22

Why fathers are less likely to be the primary attachment figure

Answer 22

One study found Men seem to lack the emotional sensitivity to infant cues which women offer spontaneously. This may be due to biological factors (hormones - oestrogen associated with caring behaviour)

Question 23

Why fathers could be primary attachment figures.

Answer 23

One study found Men also become hormonally adapted to parenthood - men’s testosterone levels drop to help a man respond more sensitively to his children’s needs.

Another study found that when fathers take on the role of being the primary caregiver, they adopt behaviours more typical of mothers.
Field filmed 4 month old babies in face to face interactions with primary caregiver mothers and fathers and secondary caregiver fathers.
Primary caregiver fathers spent more time interacting with their baby than secondary caregiver fathers.
Shows that fathers can provide the responsiveness needed for a close emotional attachment, but perhaps only when they are given the role of the primary caregiver.

Question 24

Strengths of studies into the role of the father.

Answer 24

Practical applications (giving advice to parents in different types of families).

Both roles are important - one study found that secure attachment with both parents is needed. One is not more important than the other.

Question 25

Limitations of studies into the role of the father.

Answer 25

Not important - fathers might not have distinct roles, one study found that children growing up in single parent families or same sex parents did not develop differently from those in a nuclear family.

Complex - Difficult to make generalisations as there can be so many factors involved: amount of time father spends away from home, culture, age.

Implications on the economy - women feel more pressured to stay at home.

Question 26

Reasons for using animal studies.

Answer 26

Easier from a consent point of view.
Seen as having fewer consent issues.
Practical - more participants more quickly.

Question 27

Lorenz’s research.

Answer 27

Studying imprinting.

Randomly divide clutch of goose eggs, half hatched in an incubator and the first thing the chicks saw was Lorenz, half hatched in natural environment with their mother. Once hatched the two groups were mixed up and Lorenz observed who they followed. He varied the time between birth and seeing a moving object to measure the critical period.

Eggs placed in an incubator.
Ducklings of different ages were exposed to different items to see if they would form an attachment.
10 hour old ducks formed an attachment with the first moving thing they see (animatronic dog, duck and train and a balloon.
30 hour old ducks do not form an attachment.
The window for ducks to form an attachment is between 3 and 30 hours, peaking at 16.

Question 28

What is imprinting?

Answer 28

Any species which can move quickly after birth (example, birds) will attach to the first moving thing they see - innate.

Question 29

What is the critical period?

Answer 29

The time in which imprinting must occur. This can be brief.
This can be explained by evolution because the aim is to survive and reproduce, any behaviour that helps us do this is an adaptive behaviour. For example, chicks following their mother as soon as they have hatched helps them to survive.

Question 30

Sexual imprinting.

Answer 30

Lorenz described a case study of a peacock that was reared in the reptile house , where the first moving thing a peacock saw was giant tortoises. As an adult, the peacock would only direct behaviour towards giant tortoises - the peacock had undergone sexual imprinting.

Question 31

Strengths of Lorenz’s research.

Answer 31

Additional research supporting this. Guiton and chicks with a yellow glove

Question 32

Limitations of Lorenz’s research.

Answer 32

Question around whether we can generalise findings and conclusions from birds to humans.

Question 33

Harlow’s research.

Answer 33

Studying effects of maternal deprivation.

New born monkeys were separated from their mothers and put into cages with a ‘surrogate’ mother. One was made out of wire and provided the monkey with food and the other was made out of cloth, but didn’t provide food.

The monkeys were frightened by a noisy mechanical toy and sought comfort with the cloth mother. This led Harlow to conclude that monkeys have an unlearnt need for contact and comfort.

Monkeys spent more time with the cloth mother overall and only went to the wire mother when hungry.

When placed in a different room alone, the monkey was frightened.
When placed in a different room with a wire mother, the monkey ran to a blanket for comfort.
When placed in a different room with a soft mother, the monkey immediately ran to it.

Question 34

Consequences of Harlow’s research.

Answer 34

Harlow followed the monkeys to adulthood to see if the early maternal deprivation had a permanent effect.
Severe consequences were found and the monkeys were more aggressive, less social and less skilled at mating than other monkeys. Some of the deprived monkeys even neglected their own children, attacking then and even killing them.

The monkeys raised with a plain wire monkey were the most dysfunctional.

Question 35

Conclusions of Harlow’s research.

Answer 35

There was a critical period for attachment formation, a mother had to be introduced to the monkey within 90 days for an attachment to form, after this time attachment was impossible and the damage caused would be irreversible.

Question 36

Strengths of Harlow’s research.

Answer 36

Practical applications - emphasises the importance of emotional care in hospitals, children’s home and day care. Longitudinal - long term effects

Inter-rater reliability as it was filmed.

Question 37

Limitations of Harlow’s research.

Answer 37

Short and long term harm for the monkeys.
Ethical issues (however 1950s had different rules concerning the use of animals for testing).
Cofounding variable of living in a cage.
Unable to generalise between monkeys and humans.

Question 38

Dollard and Miller (1950) learning theory.

Answer 38

Proposed the idea that children learn to love whoever feeds them. ‘cupboard love’ theory.

Question 39

Classical conditioning and attachment.

Answer 39

A child learns to associate their caregiver with their needs being met (feeding them).

The stimulus of food produces pleasure (unconditioned stimulus produces an unconditioned response).

The person providing the food becomes associated with this pleasure and therefore becomes the conditioned stimulus.

Over time, an association is formed, the food givers becomes a source of pleasure regardless if they provide food or not.

Question 40

Operant conditioning and attachment.

Answer 40

When a baby is hungry, they cry, causing their mother to provide food. This is an example of a primary reinforcement.
At the same time, they may feel comfort and connection with their mother, creating a secondary reinforcement.

The food will comfort the infant and, therefore crying will be learned trough negative reinforcement.

A baby being hungry is a primary drive, this becomes associated with secondary drives: emotional closeness.
This shows that attachment is a two way process which is learnt by the caregiver and the child. Mutual reinforcement.

Question 41

Strengths of the learning theory for explaining attachment.

Answer 41

Emphasises role of association and reinforcement in learning, implying that consistent responsiveness and sensitivity to child’s needs can facilitate attachment. Infant learns acceptable behaviours by replicating this behaviour. Indicating relationship between innate and leaned aspects of attachment formation. Teaching a child how to behave so it can be modified.

Provides an adequate testable explanation - scientific, emphasising observable behaviours and environmental influences which aligns with the empirical focus of psychology.

Useful into helping understand the development of attachments.

Question 42

Limitations of the learning theory for explaining attachment.

Answer 42

Lack of support from animal studies (Harlow - monkeys spent most time with the cloth mother rather than the food providing wire monkey, opposing the learning theory)
Lack of support from human studies (Schaffer and Emerson found that less than half of babies primarily bonded with the individual who typically fed them). Feeding is not the main drive of attachment formation.

Question 43

Reasons for John Bowlby rejecting learning theory for an explanation for attachment.

Answer 43

Thought learning theory was simplistic to explain complex behaviours such as attachment.

Question 44

5 aspects to Bowlby’s theory.

Answer 44

Evolution, monotropy, internal working model, social releasers, critical period.

Question 45

Bowlby’s theory of attachment - evolution.

Answer 45

Bowlby suggested that attachment is an innate, adaptive process that has endured throughout evolution.

Attachment is adaptive because human children would die very quickly without someone looking after them. Therefore forming an attachment with an adult increases the chance of survival.

Question 46

Bowlby’s theory of attachment - monotropy.

Answer 46

A primary attachment is qualitatively different from other attachments.
He believed that more time spent with the primary attachment figure the better.

Law of accumulated separation (stay close)
Law of continuity (consistent)

Question 47

Bowlby’s theory of attachment - internal working model.

Answer 47

A child forms a mental representation of their relationship with their primary attachment figure, this acts as a template for future relationships.
If the child’s first experience of a relationship is loving and reliable this will be their expectations for all relationships in the future.
If a child’s first experience of a relationship involves poor treatment, they are likely to treat others in this way.

Question 48

Bowlby’s theory of attachment - social releasers.

Answer 48

Babies are born with the tendency to display certain behaviours to help gain an adult response and ensure survival.
Example : crying, gestures, other noises, smiling.

Question 49

Bowlby’s theory of attachment - critical period.

Answer 49

Argues mothering is almost useless for most children if delayed after 12 months. If an attachment does not form in the first 2 years, children may be unable to form relationships later in life.
This was later refined to a more sensitive period to around 6 months.
An attachment can still be formed later on, but it will require increased effort from the caregiver.

Question 50

Strengths of Bowlby’s theory of attachment.

Answer 50

Practical applications - law of continuity - constant predictable care. Choosing childminders over nursery.

Evidence supporting social releasers - observation of babies interactions with adults using social releasers. Them primary attachment figure ignores babies and they become distressed.

Question 51

Limitations of Bowlby’s theory of attachment.

Answer 51

Conflicting monotropy arguments, Schaffer and Emerson - although most babies did attach to one person at first, there was a significant minority which formed multiple attachments at the same time. Inaccurate.

Critical period too strict - one study found that children in a Romanian orphanage were able to attach at ages well above 3

Question 52

The Strange Situation - Ainsworth.

Answer 52

Controlled observation.
Designed to measure the security of attachment that a baby displays towards towards a caregiver.
Takes place in a room with a 2 way mirror and/or cameras to observe the baby’s behaviour.
Laboratory setting.

Question 53

Behaviours assessed in the Strange Situation.

Answer 53

Proximity seeking (infants will seek to remain close to their attachment figure).

Exploration and secure base behaviour (to which degree the child will move around the room and explore).

Stranger anxiety (are infants uncomfortable or unhappy around people they do not know).

Separation anxiety (are infants upset when the primary caregiver leaves the room).

Response to reunion (how does the child respond upon reunion).

Question 54

What happens in the Strange situation and what does it test?

Answer 54

1. Caregiver encourages the baby to explore. Tests- exploration and secure base.
2. Stranger enters, talks to the caregiver and approaches the baby. Tests- stranger anxiety.
3. Caregiver leaves the baby and stranger alone together. Tests- separation anxiety.
4. Caregiver returns and stranger leaves. Tests- reunion response and exploration base.
5. Mother leaves, leaving the baby alone. Tests- separation anxiety.
6. Stranger returns. Tests- separation anxiety and stranger anxiety.
7. Mother returns and stranger leaves. Tests- reunion response.

Question 55

Strange situation findings.

Answer 55

Type B - secure attachment.
Type A - insecure-avoidant attachment.
Type C - insecure-resistant attachment.
Type D - Disorganised attachment.

Question 56

Type B.

Answer 56

Secure attachment.
Explore happily when their mother is present.
Show distress when the mother leaves.
Show a clear preference for their mother. - seek proximity.
Show anxiety in the presence of a stranger.
65%-75% of babies.

Question 57

Type A.

Answer 57

Insecure-avoidant.
Explore freely whether their mother is present or absent.
Do not seek proximity or show secure base behaviour.
Little or no reaction when the mother leaves or returns.
Little stranger anxiety.
20%-25% of babies.

Question 58

Type C.

Answer 58

Seek greater proximity than others and so explore less.
Show high levels of both stranger and separation anxiety.
Resist comfort when reunited with their caregiver.
3% of babies.

Question 59

Type D.

Answer 59

Disorganised attachment.
Mix of resistant and avoidant behaviours shown.
Generally experienced severe neglect or abuse.
Most go on to develop psychological disorders.

Question 60

Strengths of the Strange Situation.

Answer 60

Good predictive validity - predicts a number of aspects of babies development. Research has shown that type B children tend to have better outcomes than others - better achievement at school and less likely to be bullied in childhood and better mental health in adulthood.

Good reliability - Tested inter rated reliability for the strange situation and found agreement on attachment type in 94% of cases. Not based on subjective judgement because behaviours are easy to observe and procedure is highly controlled and operationalised.

Question 61

Limitations of the Strange Situation.

Answer 61

Less useful to understand attachment - disorganised attachment type was later added, suggests that infants do not fit into all attachment types.

May be culture-bound - designed in America and used American babies. Criteria based used to assess babies are based on US values.

Question 62

Cultural variations in attachment - IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s research (aim).

Answer 62

Investigating cultural differences in the proportions of each attachment type between and within cultures.

Question 63

IJzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s research procedure.

Answer 63

Researchers found 32 studies of attachment that used the Strange Situation, using 1990 children from 8 different countries. (Great Britain, Sweden, Japan, Netherlands, USA, Israel, Germany, China).
This was not an equal spread.
Carried out meta-analysis on the data (combining and analysing the findings).
Secondary data.

Question 64

Cultural variations in attachment results between countries.

Answer 64

(Indiv) Great Britain - secure 75%, avoidant 22%, resistant 3%.
(Col) Japan - secure 68%, avoidant 5%, resistant 27%.
(Indiv) USA - secure 65%, avoidant 21%, resistant 14%.
(Indiv) Germany - secure 57%, avoidant 35%, resistant 8%.
(Col) China - secure 50%, avoidant 25%, resistant 25%.

Sweden - secure 74%, avoidant 22%, resistant 4%.
Netherlands - secure 67%, avoidant 26%, resistant 7%.
Israel - secure 64%, avoidant 7%, resistant 29%.

Question 65

Individualistic countries in the cultural variation research.

Answer 65

Western.
Great Britain, Germany, USA.

Question 66

Collectivist countries in the cultural variation research.

Answer 66

Non-western.
Japan, China.

Question 67

Findings and conclusions in cultural variation research.

Answer 67

Wide variation between countries.
In all countries, secure attachment was most common, with variation between 50% and 75%.
Individualistic countries, rates of insecure resistant attachment were all under 15% (similar to Ainsworth’s findings).
Collectivist countries, rates of insecure resistance were much higher at 25% or above.

Secure attachment is the norm in majority of cultures.
Supports Bowlby’s idea of attachment being innate and universal.
Cultural practices have an influence on attachment. For example, childcare, teaching children independence, time with others.

Question 68

Strengths for cultural variation in attachment.

Answer 68

Studies are conducted by indigenous psychologists (same cultural background as participants) - for example German studies in the van Ijzendoorn and Kronenberrg are conducted by a German psychologists team so problems in cross cultural research such as bias due to stereotypes are avoided.

Data from 32 samples in 8 countries - good variation in comparison.

Question 69

Limitations of cultural variations in attachment.

Answer 69

Ethnocentric - strange situation assumes that behaviour has then same meaning in all cultures. Created in the US, reflecting norms and values from there.

Using meta analysis - studies are matched on methodology but participant variables (poverty) may affect results or differences in the environment in the studies (size of the room)

Question 70

Theory of maternal deprivation.

Answer 70

Proposed by Bowlby who was a child psychiatrist.
Looked at how the lack of a continued presence of care from a mother or a mother substitute impacted children.

Question 71

Separation.

Answer 71

Short time periods when the child is not in the presence of the primary attachment figure. This is not significant for development.

Question 72

Deprivation.

Answer 72

When a child is in need of emotional care.

Question 73

Maternal deprivation hypothesis.

Answer 73

If a child fails to develop a ‘ warm, intimate and continuous relationship with the mother’ during the critical period then the child is at an increased risk of experiencing negative effects on their development.

Question 74

Effects of maternal deprivation.

Answer 74

‘DADDI effects’ - long lasting and difficult to reverse.
Delinquency.
Affectionless psychopathy.
Decreased self esteem.
Depression.
Intellectual retardation.

Question 75

44 Thieves procedure.

Answer 75

44 child thieves and 44 emotionally maladjusted children who had committed no crimes.
Children were given an IQ and interviewed about their early life experiences.
Mothers were also interviewed.
This was a 2 hour process conducted by a social worker and a psychologist.
They met with Bowlby and he diagnosed the child, possibly with affectionless psychopathy.

Question 76

44 Thieves findings.

Answer 76

32% of the thieves were diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths. (14/44).
Of these children, 86% of them had experienced early and prolonged separation (deprivation). (12/14).
0% of the non thieves were diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths.

Question 77

44 Thieves conculsions.

Answer 77

Early and prolonged separation or deprivation is linked with affectionless psychopathy.

Question 78

Limitations of the theory of maternal deprivation.

Answer 78

Based on flawed evidence. Researcher bias - bowlby carried out interviews and assessments and the study is largely based off the memory of parents, they may not accurately remember information.

Similar studies have failed to provide similar results - one study looked at 500 young people and found no correlation between the amount of early separation and levels of later psychopathy. Reduced validity because different results are found when the test is repeated.

Bowlby may have confused deprivation with privation. Never having a relationship.

Question 79

Strengths of theory of maternal deprivation.

Answer 79

Support from other sources of evidence - Czech twins, mother died and spent first 18 months in an institution. They went to live with their father and step mother and were abused and deprived of food and sunshine. At 7 they looked like 3 year olds. At 8 they were cared for by 2 sisters and by 14 they had normal development.

Practical applications, children who experience disrupted attachment (hospitalisation) can plan to ensure that this disruption is minimalised.

Question 80

What do orphan studies investigate?

Answer 80

Children who have been placed in care because their parents can’t look after them or have died.

Question 81

Background of Romania for orphan studies.

Answer 81

1960s - 1989 communist Romania.
It was ran by a dictator who demanded women must have more children to increase work force and stimulate the economy.
Contraception and abortion was banned which created a large population and increased the number of orphans.

Question 82

Why is orphan studies useful to investigate the effects of maternal deprivation?

Answer 82

We are fairly certain they have experienced maternal deprivation very early in life. This increases the validity and it allows us to study this area in an ethical way.

Question 83

What will be the result for the Romanian orphans?

Answer 83

Negative internal working model - struggle to form future relationships.
Deprivation occurring in the critical period (2-3 years).
DADDI effects, long lasting and effecting all aspects of development.

Question 84

Procedure of Rutter’s English and Romanian Adoptee (ERA) study.

Answer 84

Followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain. This sample was put into further sub groups depending on the age they were adopted (less than 6 months, 6-12 months , 12-24 months and more than 24 months.
Physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at 6, 11, 15, and 22-25 (longitudinal study).
A control group of 52 British children adopted around the same time.
Natural experiment.

Question 85

What type of experiment is Rutter’s ERA Study.

Answer 85

Longitudinal, natural.

Question 86

Findings of Rutter’s ERA Study.

Answer 86

Half the Romanian adoptees showed signs of delayed intellectual development and the majority were severely undernourished, however they all quickly caught up after arriving to the UK.

In both groups, as the age of adoption increased, average IQ decreases (before 6 months = 102, 6 months - 2 years = 86, after 2 years = 77). This was retested at 16 and the differences were still present.

ADHD was also more common in the Romanian orphans.

In both groups, those adopted after six months showed signs on disinhibited attachment (attention seeking, clinginess and they were equally friendly to strangers and people they knew well). This was in both Romanian and British orphans.
Children adopted before 6 months rarely displayed disinhibited attachment, they had secure.

Question 87

Effects of institutionalisation.

Answer 87

Disinhibited attachment (attention seeking, clinginess and equally friendly to stranger and people they know well).
Intellectual disability.

Question 88

Strengths of Romanian orphan studies.

Answer 88

Study cause and effect, usually people are removed from abusive households but this is not the case for Romanian orphans as they have never lived anywhere else.

Practical applications. Increased understanding of the need for high quality of institutional care (key workers for consistency).

Question 89

Limitations of Romanian orphan studies.

Answer 89

Natural experiment - lack of control over IV, children were not randomly allocated into groups. (disabled children more likely to be left in orphanages for longer, even though children adopted earliest showed best recovery. Also based on looks and personality).

Extremely poor conditions and low standards of care. Unclean, low intellectual stimulation levels. Physically and mentally abused, left alone, socially deprived, long term effects due to a range of deprivation types such as privation. Lacks external validity - effects may represent poor institutional care rather than institutional care in general.

Question 90

Influence of early attachment types on childhood and adult relationships.

Answer 90

Internal working model - Bowlby said that attachment to primary caregiver provides a schema and template for future behaviour.
Continuity - predictable and constant relationship.
Secure attachment - assuming all relationships should be secure and loving and will seek out functional relationships and aim to behave in this way.

Bowlby’s internal working model (IWM) – early attachment provides blueprint/prototype for later attachment; formation of mental representation/schema of first attachment relationship; affects later relationships during childhood and adulthood

Without a loving relationship, child is more likely to be unable to function I’m their relationships: insecure avoidant - emotionally closed or uninvolved, difficult to form secure attachments, insecure resistant - controlling and argumentative, difficult to form secure attachments.

Question 91

Study for peer relationships in childhood and bullying in childhood.

Answer 91

According the Bowlby the children with secure attachment should be ,ore confident with interactions with friends.

Kerns (1994) found that the attachment type of an infant is strongly associated with the quality of their peer relationships as a child.
Securely attached infants go on to form the ‘best quality’ childhood relationships, but those who are insecurely attached tend to have friendship difficulties.

Myron-Wilson and Smith (1998) found that bullying behaviour can be predicted with attachment type. They gave 196 children aged 7-11 s questionnaire.
Those who were securely attached were unlikely to be involved in bullying at all.
Those who were insecure-avoidant were likely to be the victims of bullying.
Those who were insecure-resistant were likely to be the bullies.

Question 92

Study for friendships and romantic relationships in adulthood.

Answer 92

McCarthy (1999) studies 40 adult women who had been assessed when they were babies to establish early attachment type.
Those who had the best adult friendships were securely attached.
Those who had problems maintaining friendships were insecure-resistant.
Those who struggled with romantic relationships were insecure-avoidant.

Question 93

Study for parenting style and romantic relationships in adulthood.

Answer 93

Continuity with adult attachment type and their children, including adopting the same parenting styles of their own parents. Based on internal working model, so parenting styles is normally passed through generations.
One study found that the majority of women had the same attachment classification to both their babies and their mothers.

Internal working model acts as a template for future relationships and how they treat others.
Hazan and Shaver (1987) conducted a study into the association between attachment and romantic relationships as adults.
Analysed 620 replies to a ‘love quiz’.
Found that 56% classified themselves as securely attached, balanced, long lasting relationship.
25% as avoidant, feared closeness, did not think they needed love to be happy.
19% as resistant, constantly worried about partners love, feared they would be abandoned.

Question 94

Strengths of the influence on early attachment types to later relationships.

Answer 94

The internal working model has a practical real-life application. Understanding why a child or adult may be struggling due to their attachment type allows those working with them, to support them better. This may help those who were not securely attached, reach relationship stability as they grow older.
Insecure attachment does not guarantee later developmental problems, just increases the likelihood, intervention allows us to prevent a self fulfilling prophecy.

Predictive validity. Studies linking attachment to later development have concluded that early attachment does consistently predict later attachment, well being and attachment to own children.

Question 95

Limitations to the influence of early attachment types on later relationships.

Answer 95

Self-report techniques, which were used, can be less valid as participants may under or over-exaggerate.
There may also be bias in the type of person who replies to adverts in newspapers: e.g. maybe they had recently had a relationship end and wanted to vent.

Difficult to establish cause and effect relationship for early bonds, internal working model and later attachment.

Reductionist and deterministic.