AS Paper Paper 1- Attachment Flashcards
1
Q
What is attachment?
A
- Emotional, long lasting, two way bond between an infant and a primary caregiver.
2
Q
What is intersectional synchrony?
A
- When infants and caregivers mirror each others movements and gestures simultaneously during an interaction.
- Called a conversation dance.
- Condon and Sanders observed how babies movements seem to be closely choreographed with their mothers. Shows how the infants are attending to the caregiver in an active way and may contribute to a formation of a permanent attachment.
3
Q
What is reciprocity?
A
- Turn taking between infants and caregivers during a period of interaction that appears to be conversational.
- Infants appear to have a red to close intimate interactions from birth and signal the need through periods of alertness. Caregivers respond roughly 2/3 times.
- Seen at the start of modelling how human conversations take places.
4
Q
Evaluation of caregiver infant interactions - reliability
A
- Controlled observations tend to produce reliable data as they take place in lab settings with standardised procedures.
- Often filmed and the fine details of interaction are carefully analysed.
- Strength - research can be replicated by other psychologists at ease. Increased reliability.
5
Q
Evaluation of caregiver infant interactions - internal validity
A
- Infants are young and less likely to be affected by demand characteristics. High in validity.
- Strength - leads to greater confidence that attachments are being measured.
6
Q
Evaluation of care giver infant interactions - demand characteristics affect caregivers
A
- Caregivers may feel the need to alter their behaviour to act in a manner that is more socially desirable. May affect infants.
- Weakness - reduces internal validity of the research as we cannot be confident that the observations are measuring what they are supposed to be.
7
Q
Evaluation of caregiver infant interaction - socially sensitive research
A
- Can affect mothers across wider population.
- Children may be at a disadvantage if their mums return to work so soon. If mum is at work then this will restrict the opportunities for interactional synchrony.
- Weakness - may cause psychological harm to new Mums if they need to return to work due to financial commitments. Because they have enjoyed their career which they have worked extremely hard on.
8
Q
Evaluation of infant caregiver interactions - doesn’t apply to other cultures
A
- Le Vine et al. Kenyan mothers have little contact or physical interactions with infants. Does not impact upon attachment.
- Weakness - decreases validity of the infant caregiver interactions.
9
Q
Evaluation of infant caregiver interactions - is behaviour meaningful or random
A
- Infants can not tell us what they are doing or why they are doing it.
- Researchers making assumptions.
- Don’t know if infants behaviours are intentional or even a reaction to the mother.
10
Q
Schaffer and Emerson’s stages of attachment
What is the stages of attachment?
A
*Series of developmental stages leading to attachment formation recorded by Schaffer and Emerson
11
Q
What is multiple attachments?
A
*Infants are able to form attachments with others as well as a primary caregiver if they have successfully passed through the stages of attachment.
12
Q
Schaffer and Emerson’s Aim
A
*To investigate the formation of early attachments, particularly the age at which they developed, emotional intensity and whom they were directed towards.
13
Q
Schaffer and Emerson’s Procedure
A
*Studied 60 babies at monthly intervals for the first 18 months of life.
*From working class communities in Glasgow
*Children were studied in own home and a regular pattern was identified in development of attachment
*Babies were visited monthly for approx 18 months.
*Interactions with caregivers were observed and carers were interviewed.
*Evidence for the development of an attachment was that the baby showed separation anxiety after the carer left.
14
Q
Schaffer and Emerson’s Findings
A
*Attachment formation seemed to occur in clear stages.
15
Q
What stage of attachment is an infant in at 0-3 months?
A
*Asocial stage - show no recognition that humans and objects are different. At 6 weeks infants begin to treat other humans differently from objects. Show some general preferences to familiar adults but these are not attachments.
16
Q
What stage of attachment is an infant in at 3-7 months?
A
*Indiscriminate attachment - social behaviour is shown more often. Clear preference for human company develops and familiar adults are recognised. Comfort is accepted from any adult and no specific attachment formed.
17
Q
What stage of attachment is an infant in at 7-9 months?
A
*Discriminate attachment - baby looks to particular people for security comfort and protection. Stranger anxiety. Separation anxiety. Some babies show these more frequently and intensely than other. Baby has formed an attachment. Usually developed by one year of age.
18
Q
What stage of attachment is an infant in at 9+ months?
A
*Multiple attachments - attachments develop with other people. Original attachment remains the strongest. Secondary attachments with adults who infant spends time with often.
19
Q
When are multiple attachments formed?
A
*Several attachments by 10 months. Mother was main attachment figure for about half of the children at 18 months and father for most of the others.
*Attachment is not who feeds and changes the child but who plays and communicates with him or her.
20
Q
Schaffer and Emerson’s Conclusion
A
*Attachments are formed in stages and can eventually lead to multiple attachments. Quality of care influences attachments and mother may not be the attachment figure if someone else provided better quality care.
21
Q
Evaluation of Schaffer and Emerson - methodology
A
-Benefits of using longitudinal studies.
-Ensures the same infants are measured over the full period of the research.
-Strength - eliminated confounding variable of individual differences. Good internal validity
22
Q
Evaluation of Schaffer and Emerson - Good ecological validity
A
- Naturalistic observation. High in ecological validity.
-Mothers and infants were observed at home doing normal activities. Many observations were carried out by the families and reported to the researchers which would limit the impact of
the presence of researcher on behaviour.
-Strength - conducted in a natural environment, behaviours produced would be more natural. Increases validity of data.
23
Q
Evaluation of Schaffer and Emerson - lacks population validity
A
-Sample issues. All families lived in one area of Glasgow and from same working class background.
-Might be particular child bearing practices that are unique to this community and may not be found in other communities.
-Weakness - sample is not representative of the wider population and cannot be generalised outside of Glasgow.
24
Q
Evaluation of Schaffer and Emerson - lacks cultural validity
A
-Culturally biased favouring Scottish families.
-Child rearing practices vary significantly across other countries and cultures which might also affect influence attachments in infants.
-Weakness - results can not be generalised access social and cultural contexts.
25
Evaluation of stages of attachment - cultural bias
-Model is based on attachments in an individualistic culture and might not reflect the formation of attachments in collectivist cultures.
-Sagi et al compared attachment formation in individualistic and collectivist cultures and found that infants can form multiple attachments before they form single attachments which suggest that the rigid ordering of Schaffer and Emerson’s stages is not universal.
-Weakness - stage theory may not be adequate explanation of developments of attachment.
26
Evaluation of stages of attachment - measuring the asocial stage
-Due to the round age of these infants it is very difficult to measure where they are up to with attachment formation.
-Infant’s eye sight, motor coordination and mobility are so underdeveloped that judgements of behaviour are guesses. Their Brian’s may be highly social but the behavioural evidence can not conclusively show this.
-Weakness - we can not rely on this evidence as the infants may have just been a random occurrence.
27
Evaluation of stages of attachment - measuring multiple attachments
-Just because a baby gets distressed when an individual leaves the room does not necessarily mean that individual is a true attachment type.
-Bowlby pointed out that children have playmates and may get distressed when they leave the room but this doesn’t signify attachment.
-Weakness - means it is difficult to measure if multiple attachments have really been formed.
28
Evaluation of stages of attachment - practical applications
-Theory can be used to find out if a child is developing normally and making attachments.
-If a child gets to a certain age and has not formed a specific attachment then intervention strategies can be followed to ensure the child is developing on a more normal route.
-Strength - theory can be used to help parents and procedures can be put into pace to aid the child’s development.
29
Role of the father-
What is one variable that is important in formation of attachments?
-Quality of play with fathers in infancy do correlate with attachments in adolescence which suggests that fathers have a different role in attachment.
-Geiger found that father’s relationship with infants is focused around play contrasting with mother’s focus on nurturing
30
Father as a primary caregiver
-Field used an observation to compare the behaviours of 3 types of caregivers; primary caregiver mothers, primary caregiver fathers and secondary caregiver fathers.
-Primary caregiver fathers behaved more like mothers showing reciprocity, interactional synchrony, nurturing, intimacy, smiling and face to face imitating. Showed the same heightened responsiveness of mothers suggesting it is sensitive responsiveness and not gender that is crucial for attachment formation.
31
Evaluation of the role of fathers - inconsistent findings
-Evidence on how much fathers influence attachments is inconsistent so it is difficult to reach any conclusion about the importance of fathers as primary caregiver.
-Researchers have had different sims with some considering fathers as primary attachment figured and others though secondary attachment figures.
-Weakness - can not answer what is the role of the father.
32
Evaluation of role of the father - primary attachments
-Predominantly the case that mothers are primary attachment figures.
-Could be due to social values and norms dictating that it is women who should be more caring and sensitive to infants needs. Alternatively there could be biological reasons such as hormonal differences ,produced in greater quantities in women, might make women more nurturing and better to suited to the role of primary attachment figure.
-Weakness - traditional role assumptions can mean that fathers simply don’t feel they should act caring and nurturing.
33
Evaluation of role of the father - holistic approach
-looking at role of the father is vitally important. 400,000 families were headed by lone fathers in 2012.
-Parental care has changed considerably in recent years. More women go out to work and many fathers stay at home and are the main caregiver.
-Strength - undermine the role of the father as Bowlby’s monotropic theory did.
34
Evaluation of the role of the father - support for father being the primary caregiver
-Much supporting evidence to show that the father has a very important role in child rearing.
-Caldera found that when fathers were heavily involved in care giving activists the infant was more likely to have a strong attachment to him.
-Strength - demonstrated support for the role of the father being the primary caregiver.
35
Animal studies of attachment-
What are animal studies?
Psychologists frequently study non human species to be able to understand human behaviour. Mammals seem to share a number of behaviours in relation to attachments between found and adults and we can make comparisons with human behaviours. Study of animals may be done because it is unethical to carry out on humans.
36
Lorenz’s imprinting phenomenon
-In many species the young are pre social which means they are independently mobile from birth. We see this in many birds and herding animals.
-Imprinting is a part of the process of forming an attachment with the parent animal.
37
Lorenz’s Aim
-To conduct a study on imprinting
38
Lorenz’s Procedure
Randomly divided a clutch of Greylag goose eggs. Half were hatched normally with the mother bird and half in an incubator. Upon hatching the incubated goslings followed Lorenz around because he made sure he was the first object they saw. The other half of the clutch followed the natural mother.
39
Lorenz’s Conclusion
Lorenz established that following an instinctive behaviour and that there was a critical period for imprinting to take place. Usually occurs between 13-16 hours after hatching. After this the mechanism seemed to switch off and the chicks would wander aimlessly and not become attached
40
What is sexual imprinting?
Geese who had originally imprinted on a human would try to mate with a human once they had reached sexual maturity. Lorenz described a case study of a peacock in a zoo that had imprinted on a tortoise as a chick, the peacock attempted to mate with the tortoise.
41
Evaluation of Lorenz’s Research - practical applications
*Although human infants do not imprint, Lorenz’s ideas about critical periods for forming attachments have been carried over to human infants through the work of developmental psychologists in areas such as language acquisition.
*If children are not exposed to spoken language before they reach the age of around 11 years they rarely develop normal language skills. Bowlby also believed that there was a critical period in which human attachments should ideally be formed.
*Strength - his ideas have had led to a a better understanding of when human attachments should be formed.
42
Evaluation of Lorenz’s research - research support for imprinting
*Later researchers have found support for Lorenz’s theory of imprinting.
*Guiton demonstrates that leghorn chicks exposed to a yellow rubber gloves when feeding them in the first few weeks became imprinted on the gloves.
*Strength - demonstrates that chicks do imprint on the first thing they see adding validity to the imprinting theory.
43
Evaluation of Lorenz’s research - generalisability to human
*Human species are very different to birds and the imprinting process does not really explain human attachments.
*Geese are precocial and human infants are not. For survival it makes sense that precocial species quickly imprint on the mother otherwise they would perish.
*Weakness - we can not generalise from geese to humans in a meaningful way to explain how human attachments are formed.
44
Evaluation of Lorenz’s research - ethical issues
*Ethically Lorenz may be criticised because his researched changed the normal course of development for the chicks that attached to him.
*He did go out of his way to teach them to behave like normal geese but they might have fared better with a natural mother.
*Weakness - he may have caused the geese long term damage as when they have to return to their mothers they will not be able to attach.
45
Harlows cupboard love theory
Influenced by a theory that infants form attachments to the adults who feeds them - attachments being a secondary consequence of feeding.
46
Harlow’s Aim
Harlow wanted to investigate that he noticed that round rhesus monkeys left alone without a mother quickly did, but if given something to cuddle were more likely to survive,
47
Harlow’s Procedure
*Conducted lab experiments on infant rhesus monkeys taken from their mothers soon after birth.
*Placed in cages with a wire surrogate mother with a feeding bottle attached and a soft cloth mother without a feeding bottle.
48
Harlow’s Findings
The monkeys spent nearly all the time clinging to the cloth mothers and only approached the wire mothers to get milk. Once they were full they returned to the cloth mother.
The monkeys formed attachments with the cloth mother and she was a slice of contact comfort and safety if they became frightened. It appeared that emotional comfort was more important than feeding for attachment formation
49
What is the critical period for normal development?
Harlow found a critical period for attachment of 90 days. If the infants were not provided with a comforting mother figure within this time they would not attach and the damage of privation was irreversible.
50
What are maternally deprived monkeys in adults?
When these were introduced to normally reared monkeys their abnormal behaviours became apparent.
Maternally deprived monkeys were more aggressive and less sociable.
Often attacked by normal monkeys. Some of the female experimental monkeys had offspring but were unable to care for them, neglected them and in some cases killed them.
The lack of a real mother and normal attachment had made them totally dysfunctional
51
Evaluation of Harlow - theoretical value
-Had significantly changed our understanding of attachments and their value for later life.
-His studies showed the importance of contact comfort for normal emotional development and normal adult and parenting skills.
-Strength as it highlights what happens in early infancy can have far reaching effects into adult relationships and due to the strength of the theory we have a better understanding of human attachments.
52
Evaluation of Harlow - practical value
-Harlow’s findings have been extended to a practical understanding of human infant and child neglect.
-In fields such as social work signs of neglect and abuse can be identified and strategies can be put in place to help.
-Strength - allows for more preventative action to take place and has had real life application.
53
Evaluation of Harlow - ethical issues
-Critics have attacked Harlow for the unethical treatment of hundreds of baby rhesus monkeys.
-Conducted his research over a number of years and was creative in the ways he found to test the attachments between cloth mothers and the infants, often deliberately terrifying the infants to see their reaction. The rhesus monkeys were used because they were more human than Lorenz’s geese as an example so we might conclude that the monkeys suffering was also greater.
-Weakness - can have a negative impact on the reputation of psychology as a scientific discipline.
54
Evaluation of Harlow - confounding variable
-The two stimulus objects varied more than just what cloth they were covered with.
-The two heads were very different which could have acted as a confounding variable.
-Weakness - may be that the monkey preferred one of the heads as opposed to the comfort element. Lack validity.
55
Learning theory and attachment-
What is classical conditioning in terms of attachment?
-Learning through association.
-Pleasure of feeding becomes associated with the person who feeds the the infant and this person becomes a source of pleasure even when no feeding present.
-Food becomes the unconditioned stimulus.
-Being fed gives us the natural response of pleasure and that is the unconditioned response.
-A caregiver is a neutral stimulus.
When the same person provides food over time and they become associated with food.
-When the baby sees this person there is an immediate expectation of food.
-Neutral stimulus has become a conditioned stimulus.
-Once conditioning has taken place the sight of the caregiver produces a conditioned response of pleasure.
56
What is operant conditioning in terms of attachment?
-Involves learning to repeat behaviour or not depending on consequences.
- If a behaviour produces a pleasant consequence that behaviour is likely to be repeated again. It is reinforced.
- If a behaviour produces an unpleasant consequence it is less likely to be repeated
-A hungry infant feels uncomfortable and this creates a drive to reduce discomfort.
- When the infant is fed the drive is reduced and the produces a sense of pleasure. Reward.
- Food is a primary reinforcer because it directly reduces discomfort.
-A person associated with avoiding discomfort becomes a secondary reinforcer and a source of reward.
- Attachment occurs because the infant seeks the person who can supply the reward
57
Attachment as a secondary drive
-Learning theory draws on the concept of drive reduction.
-Hunger can be though if as a primary drive. Innate, biological motivator.
-Motivated to eat to reduce our hunger drive.
-Sears et al suggested that as caregivers give the food, the primary dive of hunger is generalised to them.
-Attachment is a secondary drive learned by association between the caregiver and the satisfaction of a primary drive.
58
Evaluation of learning theory of attachment - counter evidence from animal research
-animal studies has shown that young animals do not necessarily attach to or imprint on those who feed them.
-Lorenz’s geese imprinted before they were fed and kept these attachments regardless of who fed them. Harlow’s monkeys attached to a soft surrogate in preference to a wire one that dispensed milk.
-Weakness - shows that attachment does not develop as a result of feeding.
59
Evaluation of learning theory of attachment - counter evidence from human research
-Feeding does not appear to be an important factor in humans.
-Schaffer and Emerson’s study, many of these babies developed a primary attachment to their biological mother even though other carers did most of the feeding.
-Weakness - findings show that feeding is not the key element to attachment and so there is no unconditioned stimulus or primary drive involved.
60
Evaluation of learning theory of attachment - some elements of conditioning could still be involved
-We believe that many aspects of human development are affected by conditioning.
-Problem with learning theory is the idea that feeding provides the unconditioned stimulus, reinforcement or primary drive. Credible thst association between primary caregiver and the provision of comfort and social interaction is part of what builds attachment.
-Strength - some learning mechanisms in relation to attachment are still relevant.
61
Evaluation of learning theory of attachment - a newer learning theory explanation
-SLT based on the idea that social behaviour is acquired as a result of modelling and imitation of behaviour. They suggested that parents teach children to live them by modelling attachment behaviour e.g by hugging them and other family members and instructing and rewarding them with approval when they display attachment behaviour if their own.
-weakness - may provide a more robust explanation for attachment
62
Bowlby's theory of Attachment-
Attachment is Adaptive
-Interested in the relationship between caregiver and a child.
-Proposed that attachment was important for the survival of a child.
-Infants are physically helpless at birth and have evolved with an innate tendency to form an attachment.
-Attachment is an adaptive behaviour that increases the likelihood of survival and reproduction.
-Attachment is a reciprocal process. Infant programmed to attach to their caregiver but this caregiver is also programmed to attach to the infant.
63
Monotropy theory
-Bowlby placed emphasis on a child’s attachment to one particular caregiver.
-Bowlby believed that human infants have an innate tendency to become attached to one particular person. Usually the person who responds most sensitively to the infant.
-Believed monotropy was essential for the healthy psychological development of the child.
64
What are social releasers?
-Infants born with these.
-Social behaviours that create a caregiver reaction such as crying and smiling.
-Necessary to ensure that interaction takes place between the attachment figure and infant.
-Infants most strongly attached to person who interacts best - best sensitive responsiveness to social releasers.
65
What is the critical period?
-Believed that the attachment between and infant and caregiver had to occur in at the least the first 3 years of life and preferred in 1st year of life.
-Said it was critical in the sense that if children did not form an attachment they would suffer negative psychological effects.
66
What is the internal working model in attachment?
-Attachment enables infant to learn how to form healthy emotional relationships.
-Idea that first relationship provides a template for all future relationships. Part of the continuity hypothesis that suggests that early patterns of attachment are related to how child has future relationships as an adult.
67
Evaluation of Bowlby’s theory of attachment - attachment is adaptive and innate
-Imprinting supports the idea that attachment is adaptive and innate.
-Newborn animals appear to form a picture of their parent within hours of birth and this helps them to stick closely to this important source of protection and food. Lorenz believed that imprinting has evolutionary value for animals since the young animal that follows its mother is more likely to be safe from predators, to be fed and learn how to find food, increase chance of survival and natural selection.
-Strength - research shows clearly that infants have an innate drive ti attach to their primary caregiver.
68
Evaluation of Bowlby’s theory of attachment - support for internal working model
- Hazen and Shavers put a live quiz in a US newspaper collecting information from people about their early attachment experiences and their current romantic attitudes and experiences.
-Found that adult romantic love can be related back to an individuals attachment history. Secure attachment types had love experiences that were happy, friendly and trusting. Insecure types found relationships less easy were more likely to be divorced and felt that true love was rare.
-Strength - findings demonstrate that early attachment experiences affect adult behaviour.
69
Evaluation of Bowlby’s theory of attachment - real world implications
-Theory has brought change to public policies.
-Influenced many aspects of daily life like parenting programmes and day care programmes.
-Strength - Bowlby’s ideas have been useful and led to a better insight into the importance of primary attachments.
70
Evaluation of Bowlby’s theory of attachment - support for social releasers
-Strong evidence to show that cute infant behaviours are intended to initiate social interaction and doing so is important to the baby.
-Brazleton et al observed mothers and babies during their interactions reporting the existence of interactional synchrony. Then extended the study from an observation to an experiment. Primary attachment figures were instructed to ignore their babies signals to ignore social releasers. Babies initially showed some distress but when attachment figures continued to ignore the baby some responded by curling up and lying motionless.
-Strength - fact that children responded so strongly supports Bowlby’s ideas about the significance of infant social behaviour in eliciting caregiving.
71
Ainsworth's strange situation-
What is a strange situation?
*A controlled observation designed to test attachment security.
72
Ainsworth’s Aim
*To investigate individual differences in attachment.
*Investigate differences between secure and insecure attachments.
*To see how infants responded in a new and mildly stressful situation.
73
Ainsworth’s Procedure
*In a room in a university with the researchers watching through a one way mirror and videotaping it.
*Controlled observational study.
*100 middle class American infants aged between 9-18 months and their mothers.
*8 standardised episodes which lasted for 3 minutes.
74
Ainsworth’s 8 Episodes
1)Mother and child introduced to the room (exploration of secure base behaviour).
2)Mother and child left alone and the child can investigate the toys. (proximity seeking).
3)Stranger enters the room and talks with mother. (stranger anxiety)
4)Mother leaves child alone with stranger and stranger attempts to interact with child. (separation anxiety).
5)Mother returns and greets and comforts the child. (response to reunion).
6) Child is left on their own. (separation anxiety).
7)Stranger returns and tries to engage with child (stranger anxiety).
8)Mother returns, greets and picks up the child. Stranger leaves. (response to reunion).
75
Ainsworth’s Findings
3 main attachment types
1. Secure - separation protest (distress on separation), stranger anxiety (moderate distress), willingness to explore (mother as a safe base), reunion behaviour (joy on reunion).
2. Insecure Avoidant - separation protest (little distress on separation), stranger anxiety (respond to mother and stranger in similar ways), willingness to explore (no secure base but willing to explore), reunion behaviour (avoid contact).
3. Insecure Resistant - separation protest (very distressed), stranger anxiety (resists stranger), willingness to explore (not willing), reunion behaviour (seeks and resists contact on reunion).
76
Ainsworth’s Conclusion
-Significant individual differences between infants, may be related to behaviour and responsiveness of the caregiver.
-Sensitive mothers tend to have securely attached babies. Insensitive mothers tend to have insecurely attached babies.
77
Evaluation of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation - influential
-Highly influential across the globe.
-Accepted method world wide for measuring attachment. Called a PARADIGM.
-Strength - allows us to put together universal laws of behaviour. Heightens the reputation of psychology as a scientific discipline.
78
Evaluation of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation - Real World Application
-Real World Situations that strange situation can be applied to.
-intervention strategies can be implemented in situations where resistant attachment develops.
-E.g the Circle of Security Project teaches caregivers to better understand infants signals of distress and increase their understanding of feeling anxious.
-Strength - saw resistant attachment decrease from 60% to 15% and increase of secure attachment from 32% to 40%.
79
Evaluation of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation - Culture Bond
-The strange situation can be classed as culturally biased.
--It was created and tested in USA which means it will reflect the norms and values of American culture which may not necessarily apply to other cultures.
-Weakness - usefulness of the strange situation is assessing attachment across cultures may be limited.
80
Evaluation of AInsworth’s Strange Situation - Types of Attachment
-Study only looked at attachments between infants and their mother.
-Found that infants behave differently depending on who their are with. May be classified as having a secure attachment with their mother and an avoidant relationship with their father.
-Weakness - Suggests that what is being measured are particular attachments rather than attachment type.
81
Cross Cultural Variations in Attachment-
What are Cross Cultural Variations?
-Culture refers to the norms and values that exist within any group of people.
-Variations are the differences in the norms and values that exist between people.
-In attachment we are concerned with the differences in the proportion of children with different attachment types.
82
Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s Aim
-To assess the proportion of secure, insecure avoidant and insecure resistant attachments across a range of cultures.
83
Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s Procedure
- Meta Analysis of 32 studies using the strange situation carried out in 8 different countries.
-18 Studies in the USA
- Studies yielded for 1,990 children.
- Data for the studies were meta analysed in that results were combined and weighted for sample size.
- Included Western cultures and non western cultures.
84
Van Ijezendoorn and Kroonenberg’s Findings
-Secure attachment was the most common in all cultures.
-Insecure avoidant was the most common in Germany.
-Insecure resistant was the most common in Israel and Japan.
-Variation within countries was 1.5 larger than between cultures.
-75% of Britain were Secure attachment being the most popular and 3% insecure resistant being the least popular.
-Insecure avoidant and insecure resistant were of equal percentage in China.
85
Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s Conclusion
-Secure Attachment seems to be the norm in a wide range of cultures, supporting Bowlby’s idea that attachment is innate.
-Despite cultural infants in infant care, strongest attachments are still formed with mother.
86
Evaluation of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg - Large Sample
*2000 babies in the meta analysis.
*Researchers across the globe ensured they used the same methods and standardised procedures to investigate attachment.
*Strength - increases internal validity. Can be confident that results are unlikely to be caused by anomalous results or unusual participants.
87
Evaluation of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg - universality
*Supporting research can help determine any universal behaviours amongst attachment.
*Secure attachment was the most common form of attachment across various cultures.
*Strength - allows us to establish universal laws of behaviour and generalise findings globally.
88
Evaluation of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg - biased method
*Designed by an American researcher based on a British theory.
*Danger that Anglo-American researchers are analysing findings in a biased manner based on their own cultural beliefs.
*Weakness - researchers may be wrongly imposing cultural specific beliefs onto other cultures.
89
Evaluation of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg - sample is unrepresentative of culture.
*Only looked at comparison between countries and not cultures.
*Within countries there are many different cultures each with different child rearing practices.
*German infants were classified as insecure avoidant. This may be because of different child rearing practices in Germany, who value independence and self reliance. Japanese infants showed no evidence of insecure avoidant attachment and high rates of insecure resistant. Results may be due to different child rearing practices as in Japanese culture, dependency is highly valued and is normal for Japanese infants to be rarely separated from their mothers.
*Weakness - infants would respond differently due to their culture and be wrongly labelled.
90
Bowlbey's theory of maternal deprivation-
What is maternal deprivation?
- the emotional and intellectual consequences of separation between a child and mother
- Bowlbey suggests that prolonged deprivation would have serious consequences in terms of emotional development
91
Bowlbey's theory of maternal deprivation-
-his theory arose from his work as a psychiatrist in a child guidance clinic
- believed infants and children need a "warm intimate and continuous relationship" with a mother to ensure good mental health
- initially believed that infant could only attach to their mother
-later changed to allow other people to be primary caregiver - but had to be permanent mother substitute
92
Three main categories of maternal deprivation theory-
* SEPERATION VS DEPRIVATION
- bowlbey believes there is an important distinction to be made between separation and deprivation- separation, child isn't in presence of caregiver for short period of time- deprivation, occurs when separation is extended and they loose an element of their attachment figures care.
*CRITICAL PERIOD
- bowlbey believed that there itv a critical period in which the bond will form, or it will not form at all, if there is a prolonged separation from the mother before the age of 2.5 years it would lead to serious mental health issues, the infant is at risk for up to 5 years
*EFFECTS ON DEVELOPMENT
- bowlbey believed strong attachment was important for a Childs psychological health both in infancy and in adulthood- deprived of maternal bond- serious consequences for child
- intellectual consequences- suffer mental retardation- characterised by low IQ
- emotional consequences- include depression, delinquency and affection less psychopathy- attachment disorder
93
Bowlbey's 44 juvenile thieves- key study in support of maternal deprivation
44 delinquent teenagers accused of stealing. Families were interviewed to establish any prolonged separations from mothers. All ‘thieves’ were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy (lack of guilt, affection or empathy). 14 of 44 were affectionless psychopaths - 12/14 had experienced prolonged separation from mothers within the critical period. Only 5 of the remaining 30 had experienced separation.
94
Evaluation of Bowlbey's theory of maternal deprivation- reversible?
- p-MDT suggests that children can not recover from the effects of a negative early experience
e- however research suggest children can recover- Bohman and Sigvardsson studied 600 adopted children- at age 11 26% were classified as 'problem children' in a follow up 10 years later none of these children differed from the general population
L- this is a weakness of bowlbeys theory as it is longitudinal evidence that goes against it.
95
Evaluation of MTD- physical vs psychological separation
P- Bowlbey's theory assumes it is the physical separation of the mother and child that is the cause but it could also be psychological separation that leads to deprivation
E- for example a mother who is depressed may be physically present but may be unable to provide suitable emotional care
L- this is a weakness because it limits the usefulness of this theory- there are several factors that could result in affection less psychopathy however Bowlbey has just focused on one.
96
Evaluation of MTD- support for long term effects
P- Bifulco et al (1992) support the md hypothesis
E- they studied 250 women who had lost mother through separation or death before they were 17- found that loss of their mother doubles the risk of depressive and anxiety disorders in adult women- the rate of depression was the highest in women whos mothers had died before they were 6
L- having supporting evidence increases the validity of the research- more evidence for theory- allows you to develop cause and effect.
97
Evaluation of MTD- Real world application
P- Bowlbey's theory brought about change to public policy
E- Bowlebys work had an enormous impact on child rearing and in changing practices relating to the stays of small children in hospitals so that parents were allowed more frequent and longer visits
L- this is a strength as it may lower the cases of maternal deprivation- this will benefit the development of children and reduce the risk of developing affection less psycopathy.
98
Effects of Institutionalisation - Romanian Orphan studies
165 Romanian orphans - poor conditions before being adopted in the UK. Can good care make up for early experiences? Physical, cognitive and emotional development assessed at 4, 6, 11 and 15. Also followed a control group (52 British children). Half of the orphans showed signs of mental retardation when they came to the UK - at age 11 their recovery rates were related to age of adoption. Adopted before 6 months = IQ 102. Adopted between 6-24 months = IQ 86. After 24 months = IQ 77. Frequent disinhibited attachment in those adopted after 6 months.
99
Evaluation of Rutter's effects on institutionalisation - Individual Differences
P- some children recover when they do not form a primary attachment within that early period- in all of these types of studies- children are not as strongly affected as others
E- Rutter suggests that perhaps some children received more special attention-(more smiles etc.) and this would mean they did have some early attachment experiences.
L- this is a weakness because it acts as a potential confounding variable and threatens the validity of the research therefore we cannot generalise the findings
100
Evaluation of Rutter's effects on institutionalisation- long term effects still unclear
P- it is too soon to say with certainty whether children suffered long term or short term effects
E- it may be that the children with attachment difficulties 'catch up' as adults or children who appear to have no issues may now experience emotional problems as adults
L- this is a weakness because we are unable to make any conclusions about the effects of institutionalisation
101
Evaluation of Rutter's effects on institutionalisation- real life application
P- results from these studies have led to improvements in the way children are cared for in institutions
E- Now every child is allocated a key worker meaning the child has a chance to develop normal attachments
L- this is a strength because it shows how much research can be immensely valuable in practical terms
102
Evaluation of Rutter's effects on institutionalisation- Fewer extraneous variables
P- there were many orphan studies before the Romanian orphanages became available to study
E- these previous studies often looked at who had experienced loss or trauma. these children were often traumatised from their experience. it was hard to observe the effects of institutionalisation as the children were dealing with multiple personal factors that acted as confounding variables. in the case of the Romanian orphans it was possible just to study the effects of institutionalisation in isolation.
L- this is a strength as it increases internal validity- as these children were orphaned from birth they did not suffer any trauma and we can conclude that the results were solely due to institutionalisation
103
Influence of early attachments on later relationships -
How does an infant’s internal working model affect their later relationships?
First attachment is a template for future relationships.
Good experience of attachment = good relationship expectations - they will seek functional relationships or behave functionally in them.
Bad experience of attachment = bad relationship expectations - they may struggle to form relationships or behave appropriately in them.
Secure infants form better friendships and are less likely to bully.
Internal working models affect parenting.
104
internal working model childhood relationships
- affiliations with other people in childhood, friends, classmates, teachers
securely attached infants go on to have good quality friendships- secure likely to be involved in bullying- insecure avoidant usually victims- insecure resistant most likely to be bullies
105
Outline the procedure and findings from Hazen and Shaver’s study into romantic relationships.
Researcher analysed 620 responses to a love quiz.
The quiz assessed 3 different aspects of relationships: respondents current and most important relationship, general love experiences, and attachment type.
56% of respondents were identified as secure, 25% avoidant, 19% resistant.
Secure respondents were most likely to have good and longer-lasting romantic relationships.
Avoidants tended to be jealous and fear intimacy.
106
Evaluation of early attachment on adult relationships - research support
P- McCarthy (1999) studied 40 adult women who had been assessed when they were infants to establish their early attachment type.
E- those who were assessed as securely attached infants had the best adult friendships and romantic relationships. adults classed as insecure resistant had particular problems maintaining friendships- adults classed as insecure avoidant struggle with intimacy in romantic relationships
L- this is a strength because it supports the predictions made in the theory and having much supporting evidence increases the validity of the theory.
107
Evaluation of early attachment on adult relationships - research is correlational
P- correlations can not establish cause and effect
E- this means that we can't say that the relationship between early attachments and later love styles is one of cause and effect. It could be that both attachment style and later love styles are caused by a third factor eg innate temperament
L- this is a weakness because it is counter to Bowlbey's view that the internal working model causes these outcomes
108
Evaluation of early attachment on adult relationships - counter evidence
P- in addition not all studies support internal working models
E- Zimmerman (2000) assessed infant attachment type (at age 12-18 months) . When the same participants were 16- he then interviewed them to assess their adolescent attachment to parents (longitudinal study) - there was very little relationship between the quality of infant and adolescent attachment.
L- this is a weakness because it is not what we expect if the internal working models were important in development
