Attachment

Question 1

Reciprocity

Answer 1

A description of how two people interact. Caregiver-infant interactions are reciprocal in that both caregiver and baby respond to each other’s signals and each elicits a response from the other. this is an essential part of the conversation. These interactions between the infant and carer facilitate and strengthen the attachment bond.The importance of reciprocity was demonstrated by Brazleton et al, who found that children as young as 2 weeks old can attempt to copy their caregiver, who in turn responds to the child’s signals two-thirds of the time (Feldman).

Question 2

Interactional synchrony

Answer 2

Caregiver and baby reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a coordinated (synchronised) way. Infants and parents are seen to develop a shared sense of timing and rhythm which develops into a flow of mutual behaviours. Meltzoff & Moore (1983) demonstrated that interactional synchrony occurred with infants imitating facial expressions, tongue protrusions and mouth openings from an adult model when only three days old. This suggests the behaviour was innate rather than learned.
Isabella et al observed 30 mothers and babies together to judge the degree of synchrony. they also assessed the quality of attachment. They found that higher levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attachment.

Question 3

Stages of attachment
Shaffer and Emerson

Answer 3

1. ASOCIAL stage 0 to 6 weeks - In the baby’s first few weeks of life its observable behaviour toward objects and humans is fairly similar. The baby tends to show a preference for familiar people and forming bonds with certain people.
2. INDISCRIMINATE attachment from 6 weeks to 6 months- babies start to display more obvious and observable social behaviours. Now show a clear preference for people over inanimate objects, but don’t have a specific favourite. They don’t show separation anxiety or stranger anxiety.
3. SPECIFIC attachment from 7 months + - the majority of babies start to display the classic signs of attachment towards one particular person (primary attachment figure). This is the mother in 65% of cases.
4. MULTIPLE attachments 1 year onwards- Schaffer and Emerson observed that 29% of children formed secondary attachments within a month of forming a primary attachment. Attachment behaviour is extended to multiple attachments with other people with who they regularly spend time

Question 4

Schaffer and Emerson’s research

Answer 4

Used 60 babies (31 male, 21 female) who were all from W/C families in Glasgow. researchers visited the babies and mothers in their own homes every month for a year and then again at 18 months. The researchers asked the mothers questions about the kind of protest their babies showed in everyday situations ( eg separation anxiety). This was designed to measure the baby’s attachment. They also measured stranger anxiety.
They found that the babies of parents/carers who had ‘sensitive responsiveness’ - (who were more sensitive to the baby’s signals) - were more likely to have formed an attachment.
Used these findings to come up with the stages of attachment.

Question 5

Attachment to fathers

Answer 5

Schaffer and Emerson found that the majority of babies first became attached t their mother at about 7 months. In only 3% of cases, the father was the first attachment, and in 27% of cases, the father was the joint first object of attachment with the mother. BUT it appears that fathers go on to become important attachment figures. 75% of the babies studied by Schaffer and Emerson formed an attachment with their fathers by the age of 18 months. This was shown by separation anxiety.

Question 6

Distinctive role of fathers

Answer 6

Grossman et al carried out a longitudinal study where babies’ attachments were studied until they were teens. The researcher looked at both parents’ behaviour and its relationship to the quality of their babies’ later attachments to other people. Quality of a baby’s attachment with mothers but not fathers was related to attachments in adolescence. This suggests that attachment to fathers is less important than attachment to mothers. However, Grossman et al also found that the quality of fathers’ play with their babies was related to the quality of adolescent attachments. This suggests that fathers have a different role from mothers- this is more to do with play and simulation, and less to do with emotional development.

Question 7

Fathers as primary caregivers

Answer 7

There is some evidence to suggest that when fathers do take on the role of primary caregiver they are able to adopt the emotional role typically associated with mothers. For example, Field filmed 4-month-old babies in face-to-face interaction with primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers, and primary caregiver fathers. Primary caregiver fathers, like primary caregiver mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding babies more than secondary caregiver fathers. This is interactional synchrony and a part of attachment formation. So it seems that fathers have the potential to be more emotion-focused primary attachment figures.

Question 8

Lorenz’s research

Answer 8

Lorenz (1935) conducted a study into attachment and demonstrated how imprinting occurred within the animal world. Lorenz split a batch of gosling eggs into two groups; one group remained with the mother while the other batch was incubated until hatched and Lorenz was the first living object they encountered. The goslings that hatched with Lorenz were found to imprint themselves on him and started following him around wherever he went. This imprinting was evident even when Lorenz marked and mixed his hatched goslings with the natural mother’s goslings. Those familiar with Lorenz still followed him with no recognition of their biological mother and separated themselves towards Lorenz. Imprinting/ the formation of an attachment must occur within the critical period of attachment development, after which an attachment is not possible and the consequences of a failure to form an attachment are irreversible.
Sexual imprinting is also a similar idea, where animals will attach to and display sexual behaviours towards the first moving object or animal they see directly after birth. Lorenz reported a case of a peacock who was born surrounded by turtles, and so only desired to mate with turtles in later life.

Question 9

Harlow’s research

Answer 9

Harry Harlow conducted research to show attachment is not necessarily a learned process due to feeding bonds.
Rhesus monkeys were separated from their mothers and raised in isolation cages and exposed to two mother figures. One was a wire mother while the other a cloth-covered mother for comfort. Four of the monkeys were exposed to the cloth mother having a milk bottle while another four were exposed to the wire mother with the milk bottle. Measurements were made through observations on the amount of time the monkeys spent with each mother as well as their responses when frightened for example by a mechanical bear.The findings were that all the monkeys, despite who fed the milk to them, spent the majority of their time with the cloth mother. The study also found that when frightened all of the monkeys would cling to the cloth mother for reassurance as well as remain touching them with their feet when playing with new objects. These findings demonstrated how infant monkeys do not necessarily develop an attachment with only the person that feeds them (feeding bond) but rather the person offering contact comfort.
Later in life, because they had suffered maternal deprivation, the monkeys were more aggressive and less social with other monkeys. Some also neglected or even killed their young.
Argued the critical period in monkeys was 90 days.

Question 10

Learning theory of attachment

Answer 10

Classical conditioning:
By the process of classical conditioning, the baby forms an association between the mother (a neutral stimulus) and the feeling of pleasure that comes with being fed (an innate unconditioned response). At first, the baby feels comforted by food. However, each time it is fed, the mother is also present. It quickly associates the mother with the pleasure of being fed. Before long, the mother becomes a conditioned stimulus and
also causes pleasure for the child. This means that the baby feels happier when the mother is near. This conditioned response is love, and the beginning of the formation of an attachment
Operant conditioning:
The child carries out an action such as crying, which triggers a response, such as the mother coming to comfort or feed the baby. The more this happens, the more that the action is reinforced, as the child associates the mother with those rewards (i.e the reward for crying encourages the child to cry more to receive more rewards like attention and food)
The caregiver receives negative reinforcement as it stops the unpleasant crying
● Food is the primary drive and the mother (attachment) is the secondary drive
Sears et al argue that as caregivers provide food, the primary drive of hunger is generalised to them.

Question 11

Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment

Answer 11

This is the evolutionary theory of attachment. It states that attachments are innate. The acronym, ASCMI summarises the theory.
A = Adaptive – attachments are an advantage, or beneficial to survival as it ensures a child is kept safe, warm and fed
S = Social releasers – e.g. a cute face on a baby. These unlock the innate tendency for adults to care for a child because they activate the mammalian attachment system.
C = Critical period – This is the time in which an attachment can form (2.5 years). Bowlby suggested that if an attachment is not formed in this time, it never will. If an attachment does not form, you will be socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically stunted.
M = Monotropy – means ‘one carer’. Bowlby suggested that you can only form one special intense attachment (this is typically but not always with the mother). This attachment is unique, stronger and different to others. Maternal deprivation, which is characterised by a lack of a mother figure during the critical period for attachment formation, results in emotional and intellectual developmental deficits.
I = Internal working model – This is an area in the brain, a mental schema for relationships where information that allows you to know how to behave around people is stored. Internal working models are our perception of the attachment we have with our primary attachment
figure. Therefore, this explains similarities in attachment patterns across families. Those who have a dysfunctional internal working model will seek out dysfunctional relationships and behave dysfunctionally within them.

Question 12

Ainsworth’s strange situation

Answer 12

Ainsworth’s strange situation was devised to assess how securely attached infants between the ages of 9 and 18 months were to their caregivers. There were 7 episodes each lasting approximately 3 minutes some of which placed the infants in conditions of mild stress in unfamiliar settings to observe their reaction.
The 7 episodes were:
1. The caregiver enters a room and places the child on the floor and sits on a chair. The caregiver does not interact with the child unless the infant seeks attention.
2. The stranger enters the room, talks to the caregiver and then approaches the child with a toy.
3. The caregiver exits the room. If the infant plays, the stranger observes without interruption. If the child is passive the stranger attempts to interest them in the toy. If they show distress the stranger attempts to comfort them.
4. The caregiver returns while the stranger then leaves.
5. Once the infant begins to play again, the caregiver may leave the room, leaving the child alone briefly.
6. The stranger enters the room again and repeats the behaviours mentioned in step 3 (observing, engaging and comforting as needed).
7. The stranger leaves and the caregiver returns.
Designed to test
The “strange situation” places the child in a mildly stressful situation in order to observe 4 different
types of behaviour which are separation anxiety,
stranger anxiety, willingness to explore(secure base) and reunion behaviour with the caregiver

Question 13

Secure attachment (TYPE B)

Answer 13

this was the most popular attachment type (with both types of insecure attachments being equally as common). This was found when the infant showed some separation and stranger anxiety when the parent/caregiver leaves the room but can be easily soothed when the parent/caregiver returned. A securely attached infant is also able to play independently but used their parent/caregiver as a safe base to explore a new
environment. This usually accounts for 60-75% of British children

Question 14

Insecure-Avoidant attachment (TYPE A)

Answer 14

this is when the infant shows no separation anxiety when their carer leaves the room and shows no stranger anxiety when a stranger enters the room. They may show anger and frustration towards their carer and actively avoid social interaction and intimacy with them. They are able to explore and play independently easily, no matter who is present. This accounts for around 20-25% of british children.

Question 15

Insecure-Resistant attachment (TYPE C)

Answer 15

This is when the infant becomes very distressed and tries to follow them when the parent/caregiver leaves, but when they return, the infant repeatedly rejects social interaction and comfort with them. They also explore less.They are also less inclined to explore new environments. This usually accounts for 3% of children, and so is the least common attachment type.

Question 16

Van Ljzendoorn and Kroonenburg’s research on cultural variations

Answer 16

Did a meta-analysis of 32 studies of attachment in children across 8 countries and used 1990 (approx 2000) children.
Found that in all countries secure attachment was the most common, but the proportion ranged from 75% in Britain to 50% in China. In individualist cultures, the result for insecure-resistant was similar to Ainsworth’s ( all under 14%) but was not true for the collectivist samples(China, Japan, Israel) where it was up to 25%.
The most interesting finding was that variations within the countries were 150% greater than those between countries.

Question 17

Other studies on cultural variations in strange situation

Answer 17

Korean study- Jin et al (2012) found that when the Strange Situation was used to assess 87 Korean infants aged 6 months old, the vast majority of insecurely attached children were actually classed as insecure resistant, as opposed to insecure-avoidant. Therefore, since this pattern is similar to that of Japan, this suggests that similarities in child-rearing practices are influential in establishing patterns of attachment.
Italian study- Simonelli et al conducted a study in Italy to see whether the proportions of babies with different attachment types still matched. Assessed 76 babies aged 12 months with the strange situation. They found 50% were secure, 36% were insecure-avoidant. this is a lower rate of secure and a higher rate of insecure-avoidant than has been found in many studies. the researchers suggest this to be because of the increasing number of mothers of young children who work long hours and use childcare. This suggests that patterns of attachment type are not static, but vary in line with cultural change

Question 18

Maternal deprivation

Answer 18

Bowlby believed maternal love from an attachment figure was just as important for mental health and emotional development as vitamins were for physical health. Without this, he proposed a link occurred between maternal deprivation and affection-less psychopathy and emotional maladjustment in later life.
Bowlby also believed that loss or prolonged separation from an attachment figure during the critical period could lead to emotional disturbance. Separation from an attachment figure would only contribute to this if it occurred before the age of 2 1/2 and only if there was no suitable substitute for the attachment figure who was sufficiently sensitive to the needs of the child. If suitable emotional care is provided by a substitute then deprivation may be avoided as well as the potential for long-term psychological harm.
Maternal deprivation and its long-term effects were seen as an inability to form bonds with other people, an avoidant/dismissive attachment type as well as a higher risk of depression. Such individuals may most commonly be diagnosed with an attachment disorder due to their emotional maladjustments.

Question 19

Bowlby’s Juvenile thieves research

Answer 19

examined the link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation.
Used 44 criminal teenagers who had been thieves and all interviewed for affectionless psychopathy (lack of empathy, lack of guilt for their actions, and lacked affection). Their families were also interviewed to find out if the thieves had suffered prolonged separation from their mothers. The sample was compared to a control group of 44 non-criminal but emotionally disturbed teenagers.
Found that 14 of the 44 thieves could be described as affectionless psychopaths and 12 of these had suffered maternal deprivation in the first 2 years of their lives. Only 5 of the remaining 30 thieves had experienced separations. Bowlby concluded that prolonged early separation/deprivation caused affectionless psychopathy.

Question 20

Rutter’s Romanian orphan study

Answer 20

165 Romanian children who spent their early lives in an orphanage were observed to see how institutionalisation would affect them. They were assessed at ages 4,6,11,15, and 22-25 compared to a control group of 52 children adopted in the UK at the same time.
When the children first arrived in the UK, half of them showed signs of delayed intellectual development and the majority were severely malnourished. At age 11, the adopted children showed differential recovery rates related to their age of adoption. The mean IQ of those children adopted before the age of 6 months was 102, compared with 86 for those adopted between 6 months and 2 years, and 77 for those adopted after 2 years. These differences remained at age 16. Those children adopted after 6 months showed disinhibited attachment (attachment seeking, clinginess and social behaviour directed indiscriminately towards all adults). Children adopted before 6 months rarely showed this.

Question 21

Zeanah et al’s Romanian orphan study

Answer 21

Conducted the Bucharest early intervention (BEI) project, assessing attachment in 95 Romanian children aged 12-31 months who had spent most of their lives (90%) in institutional care. They were compared to a control group of 50 children never institutionalised. Their attachment type was measured using the strange situation, and carers were asked about strange social behaviour such as clingy attention seeking.
Found that 74% of the control group were classified as securely attached in the strange situation. However, only 19% of the institutional group were securely attached. The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% of the institutionalised children as opposed to less than 20% in the controls.

Question 22

Effects of institutionalisation

Answer 22

DISINHIBITED ATTACHMENT- Children who have spent their early lives in an institution often show signs of disinhibited attachment, being equally affectionate towards familiar people and strangers. This is highly unusual behaviour as most children in their second year show stranger anxiety. Rutter explained disinhibited attachment as an adaptation to living with multiple caregivers during the critical period
INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY- In Rutter’s study most children showed signs of intellectual disability when they arrived in Britain. However most of those adopted before they were 6 months old caught up with the control group by age 4. It appears that, like emotional development, damage to intellectual development as a result of institutionalisation can be recovered provided adoption takes place before the age of 6 months-the age at which attachments form.

Question 23

IWM and later relationships

Answer 23

The quality of a baby’s first attachment is crucial because this template will powerfully affect the nature of future relationships. A baby whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable attachment figure will assume this is how relationships are meant to be. this means that they will then seek out functional relationships and behave functionally within them.
A child with bad first experiences of their first attachment will bring these bad experiences to bear on later relationships. This may mean that they struggle to form relationships in the first place or they behave inappropriately within relationships, displaying insecure-avoidant or insecure-resistant behaviour towards friends and partners

Question 24

Relationships in adulthood

Answer 24

IWM affects two major adult experiences:
ROMANTIC relationships- shown by Hazan and Shaver and McCarthy. McCarthy studied 40 adult women who had been assessed when they were babies to establish their attachment type. Those assessed as securely attached babies had the best adult friendships and romantic relationships. Adults classed as insecure-resistant as babies had particular problems maintaining friendships, whilst those classed as insecure-avoidant struggled with intimacy in romantic relationships.
PARENTAL relationships- IWM also affect the child’s ability to parent their own children. People tend to base their parenting style on their internal working model so attachment type tends to be passed on through generations of family. When women-baby attachments were assessed using the strange situation, along with adult attachment interviewers to their own mothers, it was found that the majority of women had the same attachment classification both to their babies and their own mothers.

Question 25

Hazan and Shaver’s love quiz

Answer 25

Analysed 620 replies to a ‘love quiz’ printed in an American local newspaper, which had 3 sections. The first assessed the responder’s current or most important relationship. The second part assessed general love experiences(such as the number of partners). The third section assessed attachment type by asking respondents to choose which of the 3 options best described their feelings.
Found that 56% of the respondents were identified as securely attached, with 25% being insecure-avoidant and 19% insecure-resistant. Those reporting secure attachments were the most likely to have good and longer-lasting romantic experiences. the avoidant respondents tended to reveal jealousy and a fear of intimacy. These findings suggest that patterns of attachment behaviour are reflected in romantic relationships.

Question 26

Filmed observations of caregiver-infant interactions
(strength)

Answer 26

One strength of the research on this topic is that caregiver-infant interactions are usually filmed in a laboratory. This means that other activity, that might distract a baby, can be controlled. Also, using films means that observations can be recorded and analysed later. Therefore it is unlikely that researchers will miss seeing key behaviours. Furthermore having filmed interactions means that more than one observer can record data and establish the inter-rater reliability of observations. Finally, babies don’t know they are being observed, so their behaviour does not change in response to observation (this is generally the main problem for overt observations).
Therefore the data collected in such research should have good reliability and validity.

Question 27

Difficulty observing babies in caregiver-infant interactions

Answer 27

One limitation of research into caregiver-infant interaction is that it is hard to interpret a baby’s behaviour. Young babies lack coordination and much of their bodies are almost immobile. The movements being observed are just small hand movements or subtle changes in expression. It is difficult to be sure, for example, whether a baby is smiling or just passing wind. It is also difficult to determine what is taking place from the baby’s perspective. For example, we cannot know whether a movement such as a hand twitch is random or triggered by something the caregiver has done.
This means we cannot be certain that the behaviours seen in caregiver-infant interactions have a special meaning

Question 28

Caregiver-infant interaction observation doesn’t tell us its developmental importance

Answer 28

A further limitation is that simply observing a behaviour does not tell us its developmental importance.
Feldman points out that ideas like synchrony (and by implication reciprocity) simply give names to patterns of observable caregiver and baby behaviours. These are robust phenomena in the sense that they can be reliably observed, but they still may not be particularly useful in understanding child development as it does not tell us the purpose of these behaviours.
This means that we cannot be certain from observational research alone that reciprocity and synchrony are important for a child’s development.
However, there is evidence from other research that suggests early interactions are important. For example, Isabella et al found that achievement of interactional synchrony predicted the development of a good-quality attachment. This means that, on balance, caregiver-infant interaction is probably important in development.

Question 29

Shaffer and Emerson’s research has good external validity

Answer 29

One strength of Schaffer and Emerson’s research is that it has good external validity. Most of the observations (though not stranger anxiety) were made by parents during ordinary activities and reported to the researchers. The alternative would have been to have researchers present to record observations. This might have distracted the babies or made them feel more anxious. This means it is highly likely that the participants behaved naturally while being observed.
HOWEVER there are issues with asking the mothers to be the ‘observers. They were unlikely to be objective observers. They might have been biased in terms of what they noticed and what they reported, for example, they might not have noticed when their baby was showing signs of anxiety or they may have misremembered it. This means that even if babies behaved naturally their behaviour may not have been accurately recorded.

Question 30

There is poor evidence for the asocial stage

Answer 30

One limitation of Schaffer and Emerson’s stages is the validity of the measures they used to assess attachment in the asocial stage. Young babies have poor coordination and are fairly immobile. If babies less than two months old felt anxiety in everyday situations they might have displayed this in quite subtle, hard-to-observe ways. This made it difficult for mothers to observe and report back to researchers on signs of anxiety and attachment in this age group.
This means that the babies may actually be quite social but, because of flawed methods, they appear to be asocial.

Question 31

Real-world application of stages of attachment

Answer 31

Another strength of Schaffer and Emerson’s stages is that they have practical application in day care (where babies are cared for outside of their home by a non-family adult). In the asocial and indiscriminate attachment stages, day care is likely to be straightforward as babies can be comforted by any skilled adult. However, Schaffer and Emerson’s research tells us that day care, especially starting day care with an unfamiliar adult, may be problematic during the specific attachment stage.
This means that parents’ use of day care can be planned using Schaffer and Emerson’s stages.

Question 32

Real world application for the role of the father

Answer 32

One strength of research into the role of the father is that it can be used to offer advice to parents.
Parents and prospective parents sometimes agonise over decisions like who should take on the primary caregiver role. For some, this can even mean worrying about whether to have children at all. Mothers may feel pressured to stay at home because of stereotypical views of mothers and fathers’ roles. Equally, fathers may be pressured to focus on work rather than parenting. In some families, this may not be economically the best solution. Research into the role of the father can be used to offer reassuring advice to parents. For example, heterosexual parents can be informed that fathers are quite capable of becoming primary attachment figures. Also, lesbian-parent and single-mother families can be informed that not having a father around does not affect a child’s development.
This means that parental anxiety about the role of fathers can be reduced.

Question 33

Confusion over research questions in the role of the father

Answer 33

One limitation of research into the role of fathers is the lack of clarity over the question being asked.
The question, ‘What is the role of the father? in the context of attachment is much more complicated than it sounds. Some researchers attempting to answer this question actually want to understand the role of fathers as secondary attachment figures. But others are more concerned with fathers as primary attachment figures. The former have tended to see fathers as behaving differently from mothers and having a distinct role. The latter have found that fathers can take on a ‘maternal’ role.
This makes it difficult to offer a simple answer as to the ‘role of the father. It really depends on what specific role is being discussed

Question 34

Conflicting evidence for the role of the father

Answer 34

A further limitation of research into the role of fathers is that findings vary according to the methodology used.
Longitudinal studies such as that of Grossmann et al. have suggested that fathers as secondary attachment figures have an important and distinct role in their children’s development, involving play and stimulation.
However, if fathers have a distinctive and important role we would expect that children growing up in single-mother and lesbian-parent families would turn out in some way different from those in two-parent heterosexual families. In fact, studies consistently show that these children do not develop differently from children in two-parent heterosexual families.
This means that the question as to whether fathers have a distinctive role remains unanswered.

Question 35

Research support for Lorenz

Answer 35

One strength of Lorenz’s research is the existence of support for the concept of imprinting.
A study by Regolin and Vallortigara supports Lorenz’s idea of imprinting. Chicks were exposed to simple shape combinations that moved, such as a triangle with a rectangle in front. A range of shape combinations were then moved in front of them and they followed the original most closely.
This supports the view that young animals are born with an innate mechanism to imprint on a moving object present in the critical window of development, as predicted by Lorenz.

Question 36

Lorenz’s study has low generalisability

Answer 36

One limitation of Lorenz’s studies is the ability to generalise findings and conclusions from birds to humans.
The mammalian attachment system is quite different and more complex than that in birds. For example, in mammals attachment is a two-way process, so it is not just the young who become attached to their mothers but also the mammalian mothers who show an emotional attachment to their young.
This means that it is probably not appropriate to generalise Lorenz’s ideas to humans.

Question 37

Real-world value of Harlow’s research

Answer 37

One strength of Harlow’s research is its important real-world applications.
For example, it has helped social workers and clinical psychologists understand that a lack of bonding experience may be a risk factor in child development allowing them to intervene to prevent poor outcomes. We also now understand the importance of attachment figures for baby monkeys in zoos and breeding programmes in the wild.
This means that the value of Harlow’s research is not just theoretical but also practical.

Question 38

Harlow’s research has low generalisability

Answer 38

One limitation of Harlow’s research is the ability to generalise findings and conclusions from monkeys to humans.
Rhesus monkeys are much more similar to humans than Lorenz’s birds, and all mammals share some common attachment behaviours. However, the human brain and human behaviour are still more complex than that of monkeys.
This means that it may not be appropriate to generalise Harlow’s findings to humans.

Question 39

Counter evidence of learning theory from animal studies

Answer 39

One limitation of learning theory explanations for attachment is lack of support from studies conducted on animals.
For example, Lorenz’s geese imprinted on the first moving object they saw regardless of whether this object was associated with food. Also, if we consider Harlow’s research with monkeys, there is no support for the importance of food. When given a choice, Harlow’s monkeys displayed attachment behaviour towards a soft surrogate ‘mother’ in preference to a wire one which provided milk.
This shows that factors other than association with food are important in the formation of attachments.

Question 40

Counter evidence of learning theory from human studies

Answer 40

A further limitation of learning theory explanations is the lack of support from studies of human babies.
For example, Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found that babies tended to form their main attachment to their mother regardless of whether she was the one who usually fed them. In another study, Isabella et al. (1989) found that high levels of interactional synchrony predicted the quality of attachment. These factors are not related to feeding.
This again suggests that food is not the main factor in the formation of human attachments.

Question 41

Conditioning may be involved in attachment (learning theory STRENGHT)

Answer 41

One strength of learning theory is that elements of conditioning could be involved in some aspects of attachment.
It seems unlikely that association with food plays a central role in attachment, but conditioning may still play a role. For example, a baby may associate feeling warm and comfortable with the presence of a particular adult, and this may influence the baby’s choice of their main attachment figure.
This means that learning theory may still be useful in understanding the development of attachments.

Question 42

Support for social releasers

Answer 42

One strength of Bowlby’s theory is the evidence supporting the role of social releasers. There is clear evidence that cute baby behaviours are designed to elicit interaction from caregivers. Brazelton et al. (1975) observed babies trigger interactions with adults using social releasers. The researchers then instructed the babies’ primary attachment figures to ignore their babies’ social releasers. Babies (who were previously shown to be normally responsive) became increasingly distressed and some eventually curled up and lay motionless.
This illustrates the role of social releasers in emotional development and suggests that they are important in the process of attachment development.

Question 43

Support for Internal Working Model

Answer 43

A further strength of Bowlby’s theory is support for the internal working model. The idea of the internal working model predicts that patterns of attachment will be passed from one generation to the next. Bailey et al. (2007) assessed attachment relationships in 99 mothers and their one-year-old babies. The researchers measured the mothers’ attachment to their own primary attachment figures (i.e. their parents). The researchers also assessed the attachment quality of the babies. They found that mothers with poor attachment to their own primary attachment figures were more likely to have poorly attached babies.
This supports Bowly’s idea that mothers’ ability to form attachments to their babies is influenced by their internal working models (which in turn comes from their own early attachment experiences).

Question 44

Validity of monotropy is challenged

Answer 44

One limitation of Bowlby’s theory is that the concept of monotropy lacks validity.
Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found that although most babies did attach to one person at first, a significant minority formed multiple attachments at the same time. Also, although the first attachment does appear to have a particularly strong influence on later behaviour, this may simply mean it is stronger, not necessarily different in quality from the child’s other attachments. For example, other attachments to family members provide all the same key qualities (emotional support, a safe base etc).
This means that Bowlby may be incorrect that there is a unique quality and importance to the child’s primary attachment.

Question 45

The strange situation has good predictive validity

Answer 45

One strength of the Strange Situation is that its outcome predicts a number of aspects of the baby’s later development. A large body of research has shown that babies and toddlers assessed as Type B (secure) tend to have better outcomes than others, both in later childhood and in adulthood. In childhood, this includes better achievement in school and less involvement in bullying. Securely attached babies also tend to go on to have better mental health in adulthood (Ward et al. 2006). Those babies assessed as having insecure-resistant attachment and those not falling into Types A, B or C tend to have the worst outcomes.
This suggests that the Strange Situation measures something real and meaningful in a baby’s development.

Question 46

The strange situation has good reliability

Answer 46

A further strength of the Strange Situation is good inter-rater reliability (the agreement between different observers). Bick et al. (2012) tested inter-rater reliability for the Strange Situation for a team of trained observers and found agreement on attachment type in 94% of cases. This high level of reliability may be because the procedure takes place under controlled conditions and because behaviours (such as proximity-seeking and stranger anxiety) involve large movements and are therefore easy to observe. For example, anxious babies cry and crawl away from strangers.
This means that we can be confident that attachment type as assessed by the Strange Situation does not depend on subjective judgements.

Question 47

Strange situation may be culture bound

Answer 47

One limitation of the Strange Situation is that it may not be a valid measure of attachment in different cultural contexts.
The Strange Situation was developed in Britain and the US. It may be culture-bound, i.e. only valid for use in certain cultures (in this case Europe and the US). One reason for this is that babies have different experiences in different cultures and these experiences may affect their responses to the Strange Situation. For example, in one Japanese study by Takahashi, babies displayed very high levels of separation anxiety and so a disproportionate number were classified as insecure-resistant. Takahashi (1990) suggests that this anxiety response was not due to high rates of attachment insecurity but to the unusual nature of the experience in Japan where mother-baby separation is very rare.
This means that it is very difficult to know what the Strange Situation is measuring when used outside Europe and the US.

Question 48

Indigenous researchers used in cross-cultural research in strange situation

Answer 48

One strength of the research is that most of the studies were conducted by indigenous psychologists. Indigenous psychologists are those from the same cultural background as the participants. For example, van Izendoorn and Kroonenberg included research bv a German team (Grossmann et al. 1981) and Takahashi (1986) who is Japanese. This kind of research means that many of the potential problems in cross-cultural research can be avoided, such as researchers’ misunderstandings of the language used by participants or having difficulty communicating instructions to them. Difficulties can also include bias because of one nation’s stereotypes of another.
This means there is an excellent chance that researchers and participants communicated successfully - enhancing the validity of the data collected.

Question 49

Confounding variables in cross-cultural variations

Answer 49

One limitation of cross-cultural research, including meta-analyses of patterns of attachment types, is the impact of confounding variables on findings.
Studies conducted in different countries are not usually matched for methodology when they are compared in reviews or meta-analyses. Sample characteristics such as poverty, social class and urban/rural make-up can confound results as can the age of participants studied in different countries. Environmental variables might also differ between studies and confound results. For example the size of the room and the availability of interesting toys there - babies might appear to explore more in studies conducted in small rooms with attractive toys compared to large, bare rooms. Less visible proximity-seeking because of room size might make a child more likely to be classified as avoidant.
This means that looking at attachment behaviour in different non-matched studies conducted in different countries may not tell us anything about cross-cultural patterns of attachment.

Question 50

Imposed etic of cross-cultural research

Answer 50

A further limitation of cross-cultural research is in trying to impose a test designed for one cultural context to another context.
Cross-cultural psychology includes the ideas of emic (cultural uniqueness) and etic (cross-cultural universality). Imposed etic occurs when we assume an idea or technique that works in one cultural context will work in another. An example of this in attachment research is in the use of babies’ response to reunion with the caregiver in the Strange Situation. In Britain and the US, lack of affection on reunion may indicate an avoidant attachment. But in Germany, such behaviour would be more likely interpreted as independence rather than insecurity. Therefore that part of the Strange Situation may not work in Germany.
This means that the behaviours measured by the Strange Situation may not have the same meanings in different cultural contexts, and comparing them across cultures is meaningless.

Question 51

Flawed evidence of maternal deprivation basis

Answer 51

One limitation of the theory of maternal deprivation is the poor quality of the evidence it is based on.
Bowlby’s 44 thieves study is flawed because it was Bowlby himself who carried out both the family interviews and the assessments for affectionless psychopathy. This left him open to bias because he knew in advance which teenagers he expected to show signs of psychopathy. Other sources of evidence were equally flawed. For example, Bowlby was also influenced by the findings of Goldfarb’s (1943) research on the development of deprived children in wartime orphanages. This study has problems with confounding variables because the children in Goldfarb’s study had experienced early trauma and institutional care as well as prolonged separation from their primary caregivers.
This means that Bowlby’s original sources of evidence for maternal deprivation had serious flaws and would not be taken seriously as evidence nowadays.

Question 52

Deprivation and privation (WEAKNESS of maternal dep)

Answer 52

Another limitation of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation is his confusion between different types of early experiences.
Rutter (1981) drew an important distinction between two types of early negative experiences. Deprivation strictly refers to the loss of the primary attachment figure after the attachment has developed. On the other hand, privation is the failure to form an attachment in the first place - this may take place when children are brought up in institutional care. Rutter pointed out that the severe long-term damage Bowlby associated with deprivation is actually more likely to be the result of privation. So the children studied by Goldfarb may actually have been ‘prived’ rather than deprived.
Similarly, many of the children in the 44 thieves study had disrupted early lives (e.g. spells in hospital) and may never have formed strong attachments.
This means that Bowlby may have overestimated the seriousness of the effects of deprivation on children’s development.

Question 53

Critical versus sensitive period (WEAKNESS of maternal deprivation)

Answer 53

A further limitation of the theory is Bowlby’s idea of a critical period.
For Bowlby, damage was inevitable if a child had not formed an attachment in the first two-and-a-half years of life. Hence this is a critical period. However, there is evidence to suggest that in many cases good quality aftercare can prevent most or all of this damage. For example, Koluchova (1976) reported the case of the Czech Twins. The twins experienced very severe physical and emotional abuse from the age of 18 months up until they were seven years old. Although they were severely damaged emotionally by their experience they received excellent care and by their teens, they had recovered fully.
This means that lasting harm is not inevitable even in cases of severe privation. The “critical period’ is, therefore, better seen as a ‘sensitive period.

Question 54

Real-world application of Romanian orphan studies

Answer 54

One strength of the Romanian orphanage studies is their application to improve conditions for children growing up outside their family home. Studying Romanian orphans has improved psychologists’ understanding of the effects of early institutional care and how to prevent the worst of these effects (Langton 2006). This has led to improvements in the conditions experienced by looked-after children, i.e. children growing up in the care system. For example, children’s homes now avoid having large numbers of caregivers for each child. Instead, the children tend to have one or two ‘key workers who play a central role in their emotional care. Also, institutional care is now seen as an undesirable option for looked-after children. Considerable effort is made to accommodate such children in foster care or to have them adopted instead.
This means that children in institutional care have a chance to develop normal attachments and disinhibited attachment is avoided.

Question 55

Fewer confounding variables in Romanian studies

Answer 55

Another strength of Romanian studies is the lack of confounding variables.
There were many orphan studies before Romanian orphans became available to study (e.g. orphans studied during the Second World War). Many of the children studied in orphanages had experienced varying degrees of trauma, and it is difficult to disentangle the effects of neglect, physical abuse and bereavement from those of institutional care. However, the children from Romanian orphanages had, in the main, been handed over by loving parents who could not afford to keep them.
This means that results were much less likely to be confounded by other negative early experiences (higher internal validity).

Question 56

Lack of adult data in Romanian studies

Answer 56

One limitation of the Romanian orphanage studies is the current lack of data on adult development. The latest data from the ERA Study looked at the children in their early- to mid-20s. This means that we do not currently have data to answer some of the most interesting research questions about the long-term effects of early institutional care. These research questions include the lifetime prevalence of mental health problems and participants’ success in forming and maintaining adult romantic and parental relationships. It will take a long time to gather this data because of the longitudinal design of the study, ie. the same participants are followed over a long period.
This means it will be some time before we know more completely what the long-term effects are for the Romanian orphans. It is possible that late-adopted children may catch up.

Question 57

Research support for attachment and later relationships

Answer 57

One strength of the research into attachment and later relationships is supporting evidence. We have looked at studies linking attachment to later development. Reviews of such evidence have concluded that early attachment consistently predicts later attachment, emotional well-being and attachment to own children. How strong the relationship is between early attachment type and later development depends both on the attachment type and the aspect of later development. So whilst insecure-avoidant attachment seems to convey fairly mild disadvantages for any aspect of development, disorganised attachment is strongly associated with later mental disorder.
This means that secure attachment as a baby appears to convey advantages for future development while disorganised attachment appears to seriously disadvantage children.

Question 58

Validity issues with retrospective studies on influence on early attachment

Answer 58

One limitation of most research into the influence of attachment is that early attachment is assessed retrospectively. Most research on the link between early attachment and later development are not longitudinal (i.e. they don’t assess attachment in early life and then revisit the same person later in life). Instead, researchers usually ask adolescent or adult participants questions about their relationship with parents and identify attachment types from this. This causes two validity problems. First, asking questions relies on the honesty and accurate perception of the participants. Second, it means it is very hard to know whether what is being assessed is early attachment or in fact adult attachment.
This means that the measures of early attachment used in most studies may be confounded with other factors making them meaningless.

Question 59

Confounding variables in the studies on attachment and later relationships

Answer 59

A further limitation of studies into the influence of early attachment on later development is the existence of confounding variables. Some studies do assess attachment in infancy which means that the assessment of early attachment is valid. However, even these studies may have validity problems because associations between attachment quality and later development may be affected by confounding variables. For example, parenting style may influence both attachment quality and later development.
Alternatively, genetically-influenced personality may be an influence on both factors.
This means that we can never be entirely sure that it is early attachment and not some other factor that is influencing later development.