Attachments

Question 1

Define reciprocity

Answer 1

Infants co-ordinate their response to the caregiver in a kind of conversational manner. Operate in a rhythm as though taking turns.

Question 2

Define interactional synchrony

Answer 2

An interaction between caregivers and infants in which both parties reflect each others actions and emotions in a synchronised way

Question 3

Describe Meltzoff and Moore’s 1977 study on caregiver-infant interactions

Answer 3

4 different stimuli - 3 facial expressions, 1 hand gesture. Initially, babies couldn’t respond (dummy in mouth), then they were able to respond and this was recorded: responses to mouth opening, tongue protrusion, and the termination of both actions. 2 independent observers reviewed the videos twice - obtained inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of +0.92.
Findings: 2-3 week old babies imitate facial and hand gestures

Question 4

Describe one supporting and one critical study to Meltzoff and Moore’s findings

Answer 4

Supporting: Murray and Trevarthen (1985) found 3 day olds exposed to videos of mother not in real-time were distressed when they received no response - imitation is innate
Critical: Piaget (1962) said all imitation before 1 years old is due to desire to receive a reward rather than an intentional response

Question 5

State two advantages of Meltzoff and Moore’s study

Answer 5

1. Abravenal and Deyoung (1991) conducted study with robotic objects exhibiting mouth opening or tongue protrusion - babies showed little response
2. Valuable research as these interactions form the basis of social development. Meltzoff developed the ‘like me’ hypothesis from findings - imitation is a method to understand others

Question 6

State two disadvantages of Meltzoff and Moore’s study

Answer 6

1. Difficult to distinguish between specific and general behavioural - issues with reliability
2. Individual differences - Isabella et al (1989) found more strongly attached individuals illustrate more interactional synchrony

Question 7

Describe Brazelton’s research into reciprocity

Answer 7

Suggested that this basic rhythm is a precursor to later conversation. The caregiver anticipates the infant’s response and acts appropriately - sensitivity to infant behaviour lays foundation for later.

Question 8

State and describe the stages of attachment

Answer 8

1. Pre-attachment (0-3 months) - at 6 weeks prefer humans to inanimate objects
2. Indiscriminate (3-6/7 months) - no preference to certain adults, become more social
3. Discriminate (7/8 months) - formed primary attachment - show stranger anxiety, separation anxiety, joy on reunion
4. Multiple - (9 months +) - stranger and separation anxiety extended to other attachments

Question 9

Describe Schaffer and Emerson’s (1964) study on the stages of attachment

Answer 9

60 babies and their mothers studied over 1.5 years - conducted interviews and overt observations every 4 weeks for a year, and then after 18 months. Mothers kept diaries, noted down responses to 7 situations and intensity of protests on a 4 point scale .
Findings: 65% primary attachment was mother
30% joint mother and father (3% of 30% only to father). Infants with intense attachment had overly sensitive mothers

Question 10

State three advantages of Schaffer and Emerson’s study

Answer 10

1. Longitudinal
2. Natural observation - high ecological validity
3. No ethical issues - consent obtained

Question 11

State three disadvantages of Schaffer and Emerson’s study

Answer 11

1. Can’t generalise - all from one social class
2. Prone to social desirability bias from mothers
3. Bowlby (1969) said babies have playmates also and are distressed when they leave - hard to distinguish

Question 12

Describe Rutter’s (1995) theory of multiple attachments

Answer 12

Proposed the model of all attachments being of equal importance (contrary to Bowlby) that combine to form the internal working model, and can be formed for multiple purposes.

Question 13

Discuss the role of the father

Answer 13

Schaffer and Emerson found that fathers are less likely to be the primary attachment due to spending less time with children. Other researchers found the father is more of a playmate, due to a mother’s biological predisposition to be nurturing. Geiger (1996) found father’s play is more exciting than mother’s. Lamb (1987) found children seek fathers when in positive state, but mothers when distressed and in need of comfort

Question 14

State an advantage of research into the role of the father

Answer 14

Importance of the father was shown in Grossman’s 2002 longitudinal study on the relationship between infant and adolescent attachments. Found that the quality of father’s play as an infant is related to the quality of adolescent attachment

Question 15

State two disadvantages of research into the role of the father

Answer 15

1. Inconsistent findings - different researchers exploring different questions of whether the father is a playmate or a primary/secondary attachment
2. Children raised by single mothers or lesbian couples develop no differently - father not important?

Question 16

Describe the learning theory of attachment

Answer 16

Classical and Operant conditioning form the ‘Cupboard Love theory’, with the focus on the providing of food.
Classical: associates caregiver with pleasure of food
Operant: primary reinforcer - satisfies biological needs (milk)
secondary reinforcer - satisfies materialistic needs (caregiver)
Social learning - observe parent’s affectionate behaviour and imitates

Question 17

State an advantage of the learning theory of attachments

Answer 17

Provides a possible reason as to why attachments form - most babies form strong attachments to those that feed them

Question 18

State two disadvantages of the learning theory of attachments

Answer 18

1. Research shows attachment doesn’t have to only be about food - Lorenz, Harlow
2. Reductionist

Question 19

Describe Lorenz’s 1935 study on imprinting (animal attachments)

Answer 19

Clutch of goose eggs split into two equal groups - one incubated, other hatched naturally. Geese marked and placed under box then released - those incubated went to Lorenz, others went to mother. Geese imprinted on Lorenz.
Findings: imprinting occurs 4-25hrs after hatching

Question 20

Describe Lorenz’s research into sexual imprinting

Answer 20

Investigated the relationship between imprinting and adult courtship. He noted that imprinting is irreversible as one of the geese that imprinted on him would sleep in his bed and tried to mate with him

Question 21

State two advantages of Lorenz’s study on imprinting

Answer 21

1. Guiton (1966) found that adult male chickens tried to mate with rubber gloves that were used to feed them
2. Lorenz found peacocks exposed to tortoises after hatching only aimed courtship at tortoises

Question 22

State two disadvantages of Lorenz’s study on imprinting

Answer 22

1. Animal study - can’t generalise to humans

2. Guiton found the chickens’ behaviour could be reversed

Question 23

Describe Harlow’s 1959 study on animal attachments

Answer 23

16 monkeys (4 in each condition) separated from mothers and put in cage with either: 1) a towelling mother w/ milk, wire mother w/out 2) towelling mother w/out milk, wire mother w/milk 3) towelling mother w/milk 4) wire mother w/milk. Time with each mother recorded. 
Findings: monkeys with only wire mother were distressed (diarrhea). Monkeys sought comfort from towelling mother - clung on when feeding from wire mother, high exploration with towelling mother when put in large cage.

Question 24

State two advantages of Harlow’s 1959 study

Answer 24

1. Increased knowledge of attachments - valuable
2. Caused the ethical guidelines to become stricter in regards to animal rights - American animal liberation movement developed
3. Practical applications - helped social workers understand the risk factors of child neglect

Question 25

State two disadvantages of Harlow’s 1959 study

Answer 25

1. Highly unethical - some monkeys died prematurely

2. Can’t generalise to humans

Question 26

Describe Harlow’s follow up study in 1965

Answer 26

Raised monkeys in isolation for 3-24 months - monkeys hugged themselves and rocked back and forth. Feared others when placed back with other monkeys - harmed themselves, no sexual ability.
Also conducted a rape rack - mothers were abusive and neglectory to babies - chewed off fingers and feet, crushed baby’s head

Question 27

State Bowlby’s evolutionary theory of attachment

Answer 27

Why? - Attachments are formed because they’re adaptive and innate.
How? - Infant illustrates social releasers (innate mechanism) to elicit care-giving. There’s a critical period in which the attachment must be formed - before 2. The infant forms a secure base to help foster independence and for protection.
Consequences - Internal working model is formed based off of monotropy (first bond ever formed, provides foundation) for what to expect from other attachments. Continuity hypothesis states that infant attachments are reflected in later attachments

Question 28

State three advantages of Bowlby’s evolutionary theory of attachment

Answer 28

1. Lorenz’s study supports the innate nature
2. Tronick et al (1992) found infants fed by multiple women still showed one primary attachment towards mother - supports monotropy
3. Minnesota longitudinal study showed consistency in attachment types from infancy to late adolescence - supports continuity hypothesis

Question 29

State three disadvantages of Bowlby’s evolutionary theory of attachment

Answer 29

1. Tizard and Hodges found 21/22 children adopted at 4 years showed secure attachments by 8 years old - contradicts critical period
2. Ignores the role of the father - having an increasing role in children’s lives
3. Criticised as putting too much emphasis on the primary attachment - attachments to fathers can help social development, and to siblings can help peer relationships - formed in a hierarchy rather than solely one

Question 30

Describe Ainsworth and Wittig’s 1969 Strange situation study

Answer 30

106 infants’ response observed in series of episodes:
1) Parent and infant play 2) Parent sits, infant plays 3) Stranger enters, talks to parent 4) Parent leaves, stranger comforts 5) Parent returns, stranger leaves 6) Parent leaves - child alone 7) Stranger returns 8) Parent returns
Tested stranger and separation anxiety - group of observers noted infant interactions every 15s on 1-7 scale.

Question 31

What were the findings of the strange situation?

Answer 31

70% secure (B) attachment, 15% insecure-avoidant (A), 15% insecure-resistant (C). Exploratory behaviour decreased after episode 2 (stranger entered), proximity-seeking and contact-maintaining intensified after and during separation

Question 32

State two advantages of Ainsworth and Wittig’s strange situation study

Answer 32

1. Inter-rater reliability was +0.94
2. Practical applications - Circle of Security project teaches caregivers to understand patterns of distress - increased secure attachments from 32%to 40%

Question 33

State three disadvantages of Ainsworth and Wittig’s strange situation study

Answer 33

1. Ethical issues - psychological distress, 20% of infants cried desperately when alone
2. Lacks validity - controlled environment, possible demand characteristics, low population validity
3. Ignores role of father - children behave differently with different people, doesn’t reflect all attachments

Question 34

Describe the characteristics of the three different attachment types

Answer 34

Secure (B) - high exploratory behaviour, high stranger anxiety but easy to soothe after separation, and enthusiastic at reunion.
Insecure-avoidant (A) - high exploratory behaviour with or without caregiver, low stranger anxiety, indifferent when separated, avoids contact at reunion
Insecure-resistant (C) - low exploratory behaviour, high stranger anxiety, immediate and intense distress at separation, seek and reject at reunion

Question 35

Describe Bowlby’s theory of the role of the internal working model

Answer 35

Stated that the first primary attachment forms a mental representation of future relationships. The quality of this relationship is crucial as it affects all future ones.
Supported by Prior and Glaser (2006) who found secure attachments are associated with positive outcomes, insecure-avoidant with aggression, and insecure-resistant with anxiety and withdrawn behaviour.

Question 36

Describe Hazan and Shaver’s 1987 study on the internal working model

Answer 36

Predicted a relationship between adult attachments and parenting received. Completed love quiz - one on past and current attachments, and other on attitudes to love. Had 2 samples - 620 (205m, 415w) 108 (38m, 70w).
Findings: 56% securely attached, 23-25% insecure-avoidant, 19-20% insecure-resistant. Securely attached - long-lasting relationships, trusting. Insecure-avoidant doubted existence of romantic love, jealous, fear intimacy. Both IR and IA vulnerable to loneliness

Question 37

State two advantages of Bowlby’s theory of the role of the internal working model

Answer 37

1. Mundane realism - used interviews and questionnaires to gather data to form theory
2. Lack of ethical issues - consent given in studies

Question 38

State three disadvantages of Bowlby’s theory of the role of the internal working model

Answer 38

1. Research is correlational - can’t obtain cause and effect
2. Relies on retrospective data - could miss details due to bias, or forget
3. Zimmerman (2000) found little relationship between infant and adolescent attachments

Question 39

State and describe the behaviours influenced by the internal working model

Answer 39

Childhood friendships - securely attached infants had highest rating for social competence, were more popular and less isolated
Poor parenting - lack of internal working model leads to a lack of reference for future relationships with their children
Romantic relationships - securely attached individuals had longer lasting relationships
Mental Health - lack of IWM leads to having no preferred attachment figure (attachment disorder) - inability to interact and relate with others

Question 40

Describe Ainsworth’s 1967 study in Uganda (cultural variations)

Answer 40

2 year naturalistic observation of mother-infant interaction of 26 mothers and infants from 6 villages. Mothers who were more sensitive to needs tended to have securely attached infants

Question 41

Describe Simonella’s 2014 study in Italy (cultural variations)

Answer 41

sample of 76 1 year olds using strange situation. Found 50% securely attached and 36% insecure-avoidant. Lower SA due to increase in working women

Question 42

Describe Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s 1988 cultural meta-analysis

Answer 42

32 studies of over 2000 strange situation observations from 8 different countries: Israel, Japan, China, UK, USA, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden. Found secure attachment most common type, followed by insecure-avoidant (except in Japan and Israel). Insecure-resistant was higher in collectivist countries. China - lowest % of SA UK - highest % of SA Germany - highest % of IA

Question 43

State two strengths of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s meta-analysis

Answer 43

1. Large sample size
2. Provides a wider appreciation for attachment around the world, considering both individualist and collectivist countries

Question 44

State threee disadvantages of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s meta-analysis

Answer 44

1. May be measuring variation between countries instead of culture - different sub-cultures within countries, may be more impactful than the cultures themselves e.g. Japan rural areas compared to city
2. Only 3/8 countries were collectivist
3. Rotherbaum et al (2000) criticised the use of the strange situation - very American: 1) Sensitivity hypothesis - in Japan, being sensitive is to promote dependence 2) Continuity hypothesis - being emotionally competent means not to show/share emotion 3) Secure-base hypothesis - Relationships are dependence-oriented

Question 45

Describe Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 45

Attachment is essential for healthy social and emotional development, so a disruption of this could have a negative effect. His hypothesis states: 1) deprivation during the critical period has the most harmful effects

2) Long term effects could include long-term separation anxiety (problem behaviour, insecurity)
3) Other long term consequences - delinquency, aggression, depression

Question 46

Outline Goldfarb’s 1943 study on maternal deprivation

Answer 46

Compared 15 children raised in social isolation in institutions to 15 children who went straight from mothers to foster homes. At 3 yrs old, isolated children were behind in thinking, sociability and rule-following.

Question 47

Outline Skodak and Skeels’ 1949 study on maternal deprivation

Answer 47

Studied children in institutions - found when transferred to a better institution, where they were given emotional care, their IQ scores improved by almost 30 points

Question 48

Outline the study on maternal deprivation by the Robertsons from 1967-1973

Answer 48

Opened residential home for children with mothers in the hospital for birth and recorded behaviour. Case studies showed gradual attempts to gain attention from nurses, seek comfort from other places (teddy bear), breakdowns and refusal of food and drink.
Findings: Studied the short-term effects of separation - found children went through a distinct behavioural pattern with long-term effects - PDD model

Question 49

Outline the PDD model of behaviour

Answer 49

Protest - immediate reaction to separation of screaming and crying - outward distress
Despair - little response to comfort, try to comfort self, inwardly angry, outwardly calm
Detachment - rejects caregiver at reunion, angry

Question 50

Describe the study conducted by Bowlby (1944) on maternal deprivation

Answer 50

Studied 44 adolescent juvenile thieves in a natural experiment. One group of 44 from child protection programmes due to stealing, and other group of 44 as control (no stealing). Parents of children were interviewed. 14/44 were affectionless psychopaths, and 12 of the 14 had experienced frequent separation from mothers before 2 (only 2/44 of control group had experienced this)

Question 51

State an advantage of Bowlby’s 1944 maternal deprivation study

Answer 51

Supported by Harlow’s 1959 research - affects of deprivation

Question 52

State three disadvantages of Bowlby’s 1944 maternal deprivation study

Answer 52

1. Relied on retrospective data - unrelible, inaccurate, experimenter bias
2. Rutter (1976) argued cause and effect didn’t account for individual differences in the causes of deprivation and the effect on each child - found stress and family discord caused anti-social behaviour in children of broken homes
3. Correlational data instead of causation - could be other factors e.g. lack of intellectual stimulation and social experiences

Question 53

Outline Rutter and Songua-Barke’s 2010 study on the effects of institutionalisation

Answer 53

165 adopted Romanian orphans, between 6months - 4 years, were regularly tested in regards to physical, cognitive and social development. Compared to 52 British children adopted before 6 months.

Question 54

What were the findings of Rutter and Songua-Barke’s 2010 study?

Answer 54

Romanians lagged behind British, but some caught up by age of 4. Longer in institution, more they struggled. Differences in IQ still evident at 16 years old. Those adopted after 6 months were more likely to suffer mental health issues and exhibited disinhibited attachment (adaptation to living with multiple carers). Has long-term consequences, but minimised if adopted young

Question 55

State two advantages of Rutter and Songua-Barke’s 2010 study

Answer 55

1. Natural experiment - high ecological validity

2. Quite a large sample

Question 56

State four disadvantages of Rutter and Songua-Barke’s 2010 study

Answer 56

1. Ethical issues - consent
2. Natural experiment - couldn’t control extraneous variables such as prior quality of care
3. Only some of the children had clinical evaluations, so can’t generalise the overall findings
4. Compared to group of 52 all of a similar age group - not a fair comparison

Question 57

Outline Le Mare and Audet’s 2006 study on the effects of institutionalisation

Answer 57

Longitudinal study of 36 Romanian orphans in Canada. Orphans physically smaller than control group of Canadian orphans at 4yrs old, but this disappeared by 11. Suggests recovery is possible

Question 58

Outline Zeanah et al’s 2005 study on the effects of institutionalisation

Answer 58

Compared 95 Romanian orphans to control group of 50 children never institutionalised - assessed with Strange situation. Control group: 74% SA, less than 20% disinhibited. Institutional group: 19% secure, 44% disinhibited.

Question 59

State two advantages of these studies into the effects of institutionalisation

Answer 59

1. Value of longitudinal studies
2. Real life application - changed ways hospitals are run (babies stay with mothers for longer) and application of maternity leave

Question 60

State two disadvantages of these studies into the effects of institutionalisation

Answer 60

1. Individual differences - some children may have received more care due to smiling more or being more cute, not all children are affected in the same way
2. Methodological/Ethical issues - children weren’t randomly assigned to parents, those adopted earlier could’be been due to variables such as cuteness or sociability. Also, issues with informed consent

Question 61

State and describe the effects of institutionalisation

Answer 61

1. Physical underdevelopment - physically smaller due to lack of emotional care (deprivation dwarfism) - Gardner 1972
2. Intellectual underdevelopment - Skodak and Skeels 1949
3. Disinhibited attachment - do not discriminate when choosing attachment figures
4. Poor parenting - Harlow 1959, Quinton et al 1984 found women raised in institutions struggled more in raising children