Attachment Flashcards

Question

Evaluating the Role of the Father Strength

Answer 1

One strength of the research into the role of the father is that it can be used tov offer reassuring advice to parents in different types of families For example, in single-father families, they can be reassured that they will be able to take care of their baby and offer that emotional relationship that a child needs. Firstly, this is because their testosterone levels will drop, meaning they are more able to have those emotional feelings, and secondly because research has shown that primary caregiver fathers act and have a highly similar relationship with children as primary caregiver mothers do This is a strength because it means that parental anxiety about the role of the father ca be reduced

Answer 2

One limitation of research is that the question “What is the Role of the father?’ In the context of attachment is much more complex than it sounds at first For example, different researchers may interpret this question in different ways: - what is the father supposed to do? - what jobs should the father be responsible for? - how can the father be the best possible parent? There are multiple ways this question could be interpreted. Comparing research can be difficult because researchers may have different interpretations of this question This is a limitation because it means that it is difficult to answer this question and compare research into this area because it really does depend on what specific role of the father is being considered by the researcher

Answer 3

A further criticism is that research has left unanswered questions, such as if father have a distinct role then what aren’t children without fathers different? For example, as mentioned previously, Grossman’s study found that fathers, as a secondary attachment figure have an important role in their children’s upbringing. However other studied such as MacCallum and Golombok (2004) have found that children growing up in single or same-sex parent families do not develop any differently from those in two parent heterosexual families This is a limitation because it means that the question as to whether fathers behave a distinct role is left answered. However, it may actually be that these lines of research are not actually in conflict. It could simply be that fathers take typically on a distinctive role in two-parent heterosexual families, but that parents in single-mother or same-sex families simply adapt to accommodate the role of the farther. This means that the question of a distinctive role for fathers is clear after all. When present, fathers tend to adopt a distinctive role, but families can adapt to not having a father

Answer 4

The best choice for some families may be that the mothers returns and the father stays at home with the child, which could be useful if the mother has the higher wage Research has suggested that children can benefit equally with just the father, so this might be a relief to the mother who can return to work and the child will still develop normally with just the father

Answer 5

Easier from a consent point of view - it can be seen as having fewer ethical issues - in attachment, researchers are more likely to be able to separate animals from parents than infants From a practical point of view, more participants can be gathered quickly in animals for attachment research - there are shorter pregnancies and multiple offspring at once (bigger litters) - for humans, pregnancy are 40 weeks and often only have one child at a time

Answer 6

The control group in his research, hatched in the presence of their mother and followed her The experiment group, hatched in the incubator and they followed Lorenz When the two groups were mixed together, the control group followed the mother and the experimental group followed Lorenz This shows that imprinting is long lasting and accurate

Answer 7

The critical period is the time in which imprinting must occur - it can be a brief period of time - for geese, it is 3-30 hours after birth, with the peak being 16 hours Evolution can explain imprinting - evolution is anything that you can do or adapt to help you survive and reproduce - any behaviour that helps you to do this is an adaptive behaviour - imprinting helps vulnerable chicks survive

Answer 8

After observing that birds that imprinted on a human would often later display courtship behaviour towards humans, Lorenz also investigated the relationship between imprinting and adult mate preferences He described a case study of a peacock that had been reared in the reptile. House of a zoo, where the first moving objects the peacock saw after hatching were a giant tortoise As an adult, this peacock would only direct courtship behaviours towards giant tortoises - the peacock had undergone sexual imprinting

Answer 9

One strength of Lorenz’s research is that there is further research support for the concept of imprinting For example, a classic study by Guiton (1966) with chicks used yellow rubber gloves to feed them during the critical period and the chicks imprinted on the glove. The chicks were then later found trying to mate with the yellow rubber glove This was further backed up by a more recent study by Regloin & Vallorrtigara (1995), who exposed chicks to smile 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 the chicks followed the original most closely This is is a strength because it supports the view that young animals are born with an innate mechanism to imprint (including sexual imprinting) on a moving object presented in the critical period, as predicted by Lorenz

Answer 10

One limitation to Lorenz’s research is there is a question of whether we can generalise findings an conclusions from bird to humans For example, human attachment is reciprocal. This means that attachment in humans is two-way. A parent has attached to the infant and the infant has attached to the parent In birds, it is much more one way and the infant is attached to the mother only This is a limitation because it means that it is probably not appropriate to generalise Lorenz’s ideas to humans

Answer 11

Harry Harlow (1958) carried out animal research using rhesus monkeys, which are much more similar to humans than the geese Lorenz used As a part of his work, Harlow had separated new born monkeys form their ,others and raised them in individual cages Each cage contained a baby blanket and Harlow observed that the monkeys became intensely attached to the blankets and showed great distress when the blankest were taken away from them This led to him hypothesising ( a testable, predictive statement) that a soft object serves some of the functions of a mother and he developed a research study to test this theory

Answer 12

New born monkeys separated from their mothers were places in individual cages with a surrogate ‘mother’ - some were made from a wire and fitted with a bottle providing milk - some were made from a soft, cuddly terry cloth with a baby bottle proving milk - some were given both wire ‘mother’ that provided milk and a soft ‘mother’ with no bottle The baby monkeys spent most of the time clinging to their cloth mother and sought comfort from the cloth one when frightened - e.g. by a noisy mechanical toy When the cloth mother rocked, was warm and provided food, the attachment was even stronger This led Harlow to conclude that monkeys have an learnt need for contact comfort which is as basic as their need for food - monkeys only went to the wire ‘mother’ for food, showing that food wasn’t enough

Answer 13

Harlow also followed then monkeys into adulthood to see if early maternal deprivation (technically maternal privation) had a permanent effect (lead to negative emotional and social effects) Severe consequences were found, with these monkeys more aggressive and less sociable than other monkeys, including being less skilled at mating When they did become mothers, some of the deprived monkeys neglected their young and others attacked their children, even killing them in some cases (some even tried to eat their children) They monkeys raised with the plain wire mothers were the most dysfunctional, but do note that those reared with a cloth covered mother were also dysfunctional Like Lorenz, Harlow also concluded that there was a critical period for attachment formation - a mother figure has to be introduced to a young monkey within 90 days for an attachment to form - after this time, attachment was impossible and the damage done by early maternal deprivation became irreversible

Answer 14

Strengths: - it was filmed, which allows for inter-rather reliability - it is a longitudinal study, which meant it was able to find the long-term effects Weaknesses: - there is the confounding variable of living in a cage which is not their natural environment and therefore this could be an additional cause of the negative impacts in the long term - we still can’t generalise these findings because we aren’t monkeys, however, there is a chance that we can generalise because monkeys are a relatively close species and similar findings in humans surrounding long-term deprivation have been found

Answer 15

One limitation of the Harlow research was the short and long term harm of the monkeys For example, it was clear that the monkeys in this study suffered from emotional harm from being reared in isolation. This was evident when the monkeys were placed with a normal monkey (reared by a mother) and they sat huddled in a corner in a state of persistent fear and depression. In addition, Harlow created a state of anxiety in female monkeys which had implications once they became parents. Such monkeys became so neurotic that they smashed their infant’s face into the flow and rubbed it back and forth This is a limitation because it shown ethical issue in the research. Although, this was the 1950s, meaning there were different rules, regulations and guidelines for treatment of animals in research issues However, it could also be seen as vital in convincing people about the importance of emotional care in hospitals, children’s homes and day care The research also influenced the work of John Bowlby, possibly the most important psychologists in attachment theory So, we need to consider the cost to benefits of the research

Answer 16

Dollard and Miller (1950) proposed that caregiver-infant attachment can be explained by learning theory To put it simply, they proposed that children learn to love (get attached to) whoever feeds them You may therefore sometimes see this explanation referred to as a ‘cupboard love’ theory They may learn this through classical or operant conditioning

Answer 17

Learning through association As baby will cry (unconditioned stimulus) and will have food next to them (unconditioned response) The baby is then hungry (neutral stimulus) and is fed (neutral response) Then, the baby will cry when hungry (unconditioned stimulus + neutral stimulus) and will be fed and stop crying (unconditioned response) Eventually, the baby will learn that by crying when hungry (conditioned stimulus) they will be fed (conditioned response)

Answer 18

Learning through association Baby is hungry (UCR)and begets a bottle (UCS) Baby cries (NR) and gets a bottle (NS) Baby is hungry and cries (UCR + NR) and gets a bottle (UCS) Baby learns that if it cries (CR) and gets a bottle (CS)

Answer 19

Learning through reinforcement and drive reduction 1 baby is hungry (primary drive) 2 baby cries to inform parents that they are hungry 3 parents feeds the baby 4 negative feelings of hunger go away 5 baby associates this person with food and desires to stay close to them 6 strengthens bond to parents who fed them 7 caregiver becomes a secondary inforcer through association and the baby strives to stay close to them (attachment = secondary drive)

Answer 20

So far, we have only considered why a baby attaches to their caregiver But remember that attachment is reciprocal Operant conditioning can offer some explanation here as well At the same time as the baby is reinforced for crying, the caregiver is reinforced for feeding the baby as the baby stops crying The caregiver is receiving negative reinforcement (the negative feeling of the baby crying is taken away)

Answer 21

One limitation of learning theory explanations for attachment is lack of support from studies conducted on animals For example, in Harlow’s study, monkeys were fed with a wire monkey and had a cloth monkey that did not feed it. When the baby monkeys were sacred by a robot, they automatically ran to the cloth mother for comfort, rather than the fire monkey that fed them. The work from Lorenz also shows opposite findings to learning theory. In his research, he found that ducklings form attachments to the first moving thing it sees, even if it is a toy. They will remember this object when others are introduced to them too This is a limitation as these pieces of research offer alternative theories of attachment (with findings to support them), that oppose learning theory

Answer 22

One limitation of learning theory for attachment is lack of support from studies conducted on humans For example, Schaffer and Emerson conducted the Glasgow Baby Study and formed the stages of attachment: asocial stage, indiscriminate attachment, specific attachment and multiple attachments. Babies in the specific attachment stage show that the baby wouldn’t always have the attachment to the primary caregiver, which would be the case if Learning Theory was true. Learning Theory says that they should always be attached to the pcg, as they are the one to feed them, but this doesn’t always happen. The Isabella Study also showed how interactional synchrony improved attachment, as babies copied a caregiver’s facial expressions, which does not involve food, but still improves attachment This is a limitation as these respectable studies on humans offer up other explanations and opposing for attachment, which were informed by their findings

Answer 23

One strength of learning theory explanations for attachment is that elements of conditioning could be involved in some aspects of attachment, even if food does not play the sole or central role in attachment For example, a baby may associate feeling warm and comfortable with the presence of a particular adult, and thus may influence the baby’s choice of their main caregiver due to the warm and comforting nature of the mother This means that learning theory may still be useful in undertaking the development of attachments However, this theory is rather reductionist as it focuses on only basic processes n Because of this, it neglects more complex, emotional processes and mechanisms that play a role in attachment Therefore, there may be more factors involved in attachment and selection of primary attachment figures

Answer 24

John Bowlby (1958, 1969) rejected learning theory as an explanation for attachment “We’re it true, an infant of a year to two should take readily to whoever feeds him, and this is clearly not the case” - i.e. Learning Theory is too simplistic to explain complex behaviour a such as attachment - it needs a more complex theory

Answer 25

There are five aspects to Bowlby’s Theory: - evolution - monotropy - internal working model - social releasers - critical period (Every mother instinctively snuggles children)

Answer 26

Bowlby suggested that attachment is an innate (biological), adaptive process that had endure throughout evolution (which people often boil down to adaptions to help people survive and reproduce, which is often seen as the meaning of human life) Child’s PoV - human children would die very quickly without someone to look after them - forming an attachment with an adult increases chances of survival Parent’s PoV - attaching to their baby helps ensure successful reproduction

Answer 27

Main Information: Bowlby placed great emphasis on a child’s attachment to one particular caregiver This attachment is qualitatively different from other attachment - while Bowlby called this particular caregiver ‘mother’, he made it clear that this caregiver doesn’t have to be the biological mother, or even female Secondary Information (for longer mark questions) He believed that more time spent with this primary attachment figure, the better: - the law of accumulated separation - the effects of every separation from the primary attachment figure add up ‘and the safest does is therefore zero’ - the law of continuity - the more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better the quality of their attachment

Answer 28

(Template in your mind about what relationships should look like - a schema) Bowlby proposed that a child forms a mental representation of their relationship with their primary attachment figure This is the internal working model because it serves as a model, or template, for what relationships are like So, a child whose first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver will be likely to form an expectation that all relationships are loving and reliable, and they will bring these qualities to future relationships - including their relationships with their own children when they become parents However, a child when first relationship involves poor treatment will tend to form further poor relationships in which they expect such treatment from and/or treat others in that way

Answer 29

Babies are helpless at birth and are born with the tendency to display certain behaviours and qualities which help to gain an adult response (and in turn will help them ensure survival) These are known as social releases - this relates to the reciprocity that they show during alter phases Some social releases might include: - crying (pitch and tone) - this can induce breast milk production - gestures and body movements - gurgling, cooing, snorting and laughing - smiling - generally looking cute

Answer 30

Bowlby argues for the existence of a critical period for the development of attachments - he argues mothering is almost useless for most children if delayed after 12 months If attachment does not form within the first 2 years, children may be unable to form relationships later in life This idea was later refined to be a more sensitive period Around 6 months old, a child is maximally sensitive to forming an attachment and this may extend up to the age of 2 Bowlby believed that attachments can still form later on, with increased effort on the part of the caregiver

Answer 31

One strength of Bowlby’s theory is that it has practical applications For example, the law of continuity states that attachment depends on having constant and predictable care. Mary parents opt for childminders rather than using nursery care for the sake of continuity and predictability. Studies show that there is indeed better continuity in the care provided by childminders. In observations Melhuish et al. (1990) found that childminders held, displayed affection towards and communicated with children twice as often as nursery workers. This is a strength because the theory allows us to develop improvements in childcare Extension - in 2013, the Government changed regulations on adult:child ratios for nurseries and childminders so that childcare professionals are now able to look after more children, but Bowlby’s theory would suggest that this was a bad idea because there will be less continuity for the children

Answer 32

Another strength of Bowlby’s theory is that there is evidence supporting the role of social releasers For example, Brazelton et al. (1975) observed babies elicit interactions with adults using social releasers. The researchers then instructed the babies’ primary attachment figure to ignore their babies’ social releasers. The normally responsive babies became increasingly distressed and some eventually curled up and laid emotionlessly This is a strength because it illustrates the role of social releasers in emotional development and suggests that they are important in the process of attachment developments

Answer 33

A third strength of Bowlby’s theory is that there is support for the internal working molecules For example, Bailey et al. (2007) assessed relationships in 99 mothers and their 1 year old children and the same 99 mothers and their own parents. The researchers found that mothers with poor attachment to their own primary attachment figures were more likely to have poorly attached babies This is a strength because it supports Bowlby’s idea that a primary caregivers’ ability to form attachments to their babies is influenced by their internal working model

Answer 34

One limitation of Bowlby’s theory is that the concept of monotropy has been challenged For example, Schaffer & Emerson (1964) found that although most babies did attach to one person at first, there was a significant minority who formed multiple attachments at the same time. Additionally, Rutter (1981) pointed out that several indicators of attachment (e.g. distress if the person leaves the child, increase in exploration in strange situations when the attached person is present) has been shown for siblings, grandparents and peers, as well;;p as the primary attachment figure This is a limitation because it means that Bowlby may have been incorrect in stating that there is a unique quality and importance to the child’s primary attachment

Answer 35

One other point to consider with Bowlby’s theory of attachment is that he has been misquoted, with people taking his idea of ‘monotropy’ to mean ‘one key relationship with the mother’, which he never once stated However, this has led to criticisms of his work that aren’t valid - for example, according to Lamb (1979), the father’s care giving can be just as effective as the mother’s and there is little difference in how children form attachments to both parents - this was presented as a limitation of Bowlby’s theory, but it isn’t, as Bowlby would agree with this His theory was also used to promote the idea that stay-at-home mothers is the “best”, setting up mothers for blame for anything that goes wrong for the child in the future, as well as restricting women and mothers in the workplace - again, Bowlby himself never suggested this

Answer 36

The Strange Situation is a controlled observation procedure designed to measure the security of attachment a baby displays towards a caregiver It takes place in a room with attractive toys and a two-way mirror and/or cameras through which the psychologists can observe the baby’s behaviour As this room is set up in a very controlled way, this is taking place in a laboratory setting

Answer 37

Proximity seeking - infants will seek to remain close to their attachment figure Exploration and secure base behaviour - this is to which degree the child will move around the room and explore, then if they will return to the secure base (the caregiver), or if they explore or do not return Stranger anxiety - are the infants uncomfortable or unhappy with being left with adults they do not know, do they try to escape and avoid the stranger? Separation anxiety - are the infants upset when the primary caregiver leave the room, do they cry, do they try to follow the caregiver or show anger at being left? Response to reunion - how does the child respond to their primary attachment figure returning, do they show happiness and joy, or are they annoyed at being left alone?

Answer 38

1 - The caregiver encourages the baby to explore - this tests exploration and secure base 2 - a stranger enters, talks to the caregiver and approaches the baby - tests stranger anxiety, will the child react differently when a stranger is in the room? 3 - caregiver leaves baby and stranger together - tests separation anxiety, how will they responds to the caregiver leaving and being left will the stranger? 4 - caregiver returns and stranger leaves - tests reunion behaviour and exploration base, does the baby respond to the baby and begin exploring again? 5 - mother leaves, leaving baby alone - test separation anxiety, the baby is completely isolated here 6 - the stranger returns - tests stranger and separation anxiety, baby is separated from the mother and isn left alone with a stranger 7 - mother returns and stranger leaves - tests reunion behaviour, how does the baby baby react to caregiver returning and being left alone with the caregiver again

Answer 39

Ainsworth et al.(1978) found distinct patterns in the ways that babies behaved and she identified three main tapes of attachment - secure attachment (type B) - insecure-avoidant (type A) - insecure-resistant (type C) There is also a fourth type, disorganised attachment (type D), however this is not tal;led about as often

Answer 40

Infants explore happily when their mother is present but regularly go back to (proximity seeking and secure base behaviour) They show distress when she leaves (separation anxiety) and relief or joy when she returns (response to reunion) They show a clear preference for the mother and show anxiety in the presence of a stranger (fear of strangers) About 65%-75% of British babies are classified as secure Results In Strange Situation: Prolixity seeking - lots Exploration and secure base - high Stranger anxiety - high Separation anxiety - high Reunion response - prevalent

Answer 41

Infants explore freely when their mother is present or absent They do not seek proximity or show secretary-base behaviour They show little or no reaction when the mother leaves or returns - they may even avoid contact on her return About 20%-25% of British babies are classified as insecure-avoidant Results in Strange Situation: Proximity seeking - no Exploration and secure base - explore freely but not secure base Stranger anxiety - no Separation anxiety - no Reunion response - no

Answer 42

Infants seek greater proximity than others and so explore less They show high levels of both separation anxiety and stranger anxiety They resist comfort when reunited with their caregiver and may reject her and push her away About 3% of British babies are classified as insecure resistant Results in Strange Situation: Proximity seeking - extreme Exploration and secure base - explore less Stranger anxiety - extreme Separation anxiety - no - push away

Answer 43

An unusual type of attachment with a mix of resistant and avoidant behaviours shown Type D babies have generally experienced some form of severe neglect or abuse and most go on to develop psychological disorders by adulthood

Answer 44

Once strength of the strange situation is that its outcome predicts a number of aspects of the baby’s 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 late childhood and in adulthood In childhood, the included better achievement in school and less involvement in bullying (McCormick et al. 2016, Kokkines 2007) Securely attached babies tend to have better mental health in adulthood (Ward et al. 2006). Those babies assessed as having insecure-resistant and those not falling into type A, B, or C tend to have the worst outcomes This suggested that the strange situation measures something important and meaningful Counterpoint - The Strange Situation clearly measures something important that is associated with later development However, not all psychology’s believe this something is attachment For example, Jerome Kagan (1982) suggested that genetically-influenced anxiety levels could account for variations in attachment behaviour in the Strange Situation and development This means that the Strange Situation may not actually measure attachment

Answer 45

A further strength of the Strange Situation is good inter-reliability (the agreement between observers) Johanna Bick at al. (2012) tested inter-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 me maple, anxious babies cry and crawl away from strangers This means that we can be confident that attachment types as assessed by the strange situation does not depend on subjective judgment

Answer 46

One limitation of the strange situation isn that it may not be a valid measure of attachment in different cultures 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 in 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 Keiko Takanashi (1986), babies displayed very high levels of separation anxiety and so a disproportionate number were classifies as insecure-resistant. Takanashi (1990) suggests that this anxiety response was not due to high rated of attachment insecurity, but to the unusual nature of the experience in Japan where mother-baby separation in very rare This means that it is very difficult to know hat the Strange Situation is measuring when used outside of Europe and the US

Answer 47

Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenburg’s (VI + K) research (1988) VI and K aimed to investigate cultural differences in the proportions of each attachment type both between and within cultures Between cultures - different strange situations compared between different countries Within cultures - different strange situations compared within the same culture

Answer 48

For their procedure, the researchers found 32 studies of attachment that has used the Strange Situation, with 199o children used across these These were from 8 different countries: - GB - Sweden - Japan - Netherlands - USA - Israel - Germany - China However, it wasn’t an equal spread of studies from each study - for example, the USA made up 15 of these studies VI + K carried out a meta-analysis of the data from the 32 studies - i.e. combined and analysed all of the findings, weighting each study for its sample size

Answer 49

(In %) GB - secure=75 avoidant=22 resistant=3 Sweden - secure=75 avoidant=21 resistant=4 Japan - secure=68 avoidant=5 resistant=27 Netherlands - secure=67 avoidant=26 resistant=7 USA - secure=65 avoidant=21 resistant=14 Israel - secure=64 avoidant=7 resistant=29 Germany - secure=57 avoidant=35 resistant=8 China - secure=50 avoidant=25 resistant=25 Overall Mean - secure=65 resistant=20 resistant=15

Answer 50

Wide variations between countries In all countries, secure attachment was the most common, but this varied from 50% in China to 75% in GB In individualist countries (GB, Sweden, Netherlands, USA and Germany), rates of resistant attachment wee all under 15%, similar to Ainworth’s findings In collectivist countries (Japan, Israel, China), rates of resistant attachment were much higher, at 25% or above An interesting finding was that the variation in results within the same country was actually much greater than those between countries - for example, in the USA, one study found that only 46% were securely attached, compared to another ISA study that found that 90% were securely attached

Answer 51

An Italian Study conducted by Alessandra Simonelli et al. (2014), which was carried out in Italy to see whether the proportions of babies of different attachment types still match those found in previous studies The researchers assessed 79 babies, aged 12 months, using the Strange Situation They found that 50% we’re secure, with 36% avoidant This is a lower rate of secure attachment and the highest rate of avoidant attachment that has been found in many studies The researchers suggested that this is because increasing numbers of mothers of very young children working long hours and use professional childcare These findings suggest that patterns of attachment types are not static, but vary in line with cultural change

Answer 52

A study in Korea, conducted by Mi Kyoung Jil et al. (2012) compared the proportions of attachment types in Korea to other studies The Strange Situation was used to assess 87 babies The overall proportions of insecure and secure babies were similar to those in most countries, with most babies being secure However, more of those classified as insecurely attached were resistant and only 1 baby avoidant This distribution is similar to the distribution of attachment types found in Japan (VI + K 1988) Since Japan and Korea have quite similar child-rearing styles, this similarity might be explained in terms of child-rearing style

Answer 53

Secure attachment seems to be the norm in a wide range of cultures This supports Bowlby’s idea that attachment is innate and universal and that secure attachment s the norm However, research also clearly shows that cultural practises have an influence on attachment type Some differences in child-rearing within different cultures are: - childcare (more likely rot lead to avoidant attachment) - length of child leave - teaching children different behaviours, such as independence - time with the mother

Answer 54

One strength of the research carried out by VI + K is that most of the studies were carried out by indigenous psychologists Indigenous psychologists are those from the same cultural background as the participants For example, VI + K included a research by a German team (Grossmann et al. 1981) and Keiko 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 difficulties communicating instructions to them. Difficulties could also include bias because of one nation’s stereotypes of another This is a strength because it means that there is an excellent chance that researchers and participants communicated successfully, enhancing the validity of the data collected Counterpoint - However, this has not been true of all cross-cultural attachment research For example, Gilda Morelli and Edward Tronick (1991) were outsiders from America when they studied child-rearing no patterns of attachment in the Efé of Zaire Their data might have been effected by difficulties in gathering data from participants outside their own culture This means that the data from some countries might have been affected by bias and difficulty in cross-cultural communication

Answer 55

One limitation of cross-cultural research, including meta-analyses of patterns of attachment types, is the impact of confounding variables of 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 classes and urban/rural make-up can confound results, as can the base 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 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 is a limitation because it 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

Answer 56

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 occur when we assume an idea or technique that irks in one cultural context will work in an other An example of this in attachment research is the use on babies’ responses to reunion go 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 (which is seen as highly desirable in Germany) rather than insecurity. Therefore, that part of the Strange Situation may not work in Germany This is a limitation because it means that behaviours measured by the Strange Situation may not have the same meanings in different cultural contexts, and comparing them across cultures meaningless

Answer 57

Bowlby’s earlier work with children led him to become particularly interested in how the lack of continued presence of care from a mother or mother substitute impacted the mother After studying the subject for some time, he began to develop his ideas on the importance of attachment on child development ‘What occurs in the earliest months and years of life can have deep and long-lasting effects… Mother love in infancy is as important fort mental health as are vitamins and proteins for physical health’

Answer 58

Deprivation is not simply separation Separation simply means that the child is not in the presence of the primary attachment figure Brief separations, particularly where the child is with a substitute caregiver who can provide good emotional care, is not significant for development They might experience this at day care or with other members of the family Deprivation is when a child is in need of emotional care and they are not getting it This may be experienced with the death or loss of a care giver (death, divorce, ill health) or with neglect and abuse (for example within the foster care system)

Answer 59

If a child fails to develop a “warm, intimate and continuous relationship with the mother (or permanent mother substitute)” during the critical period then the child is at increased risk of experiencing negative effects on their development

Answer 60

The DADDI Effects Delinquency Affectionless psychopathy (no guilt or empathy) Decreased self-esteem Depression Intellectual retardation (lover IQ/reduced academic performance) These are long lasting and difficult to reverse

Answer 61

Bowlby’s hypothesis is supported by his 1944 research ‘study44 juvenile thieves: Their character and home life’ Bowlby compared 44 child thieves with 44 other emotionally maladjusted children (who has committed no crime) Procedure: Children would be given an IQ test The child would then be interviewed about their early life and their experiences The mother was also interviewed as well (separately) This was approx a 2 hour process It was conducted by a social worker and a psychologist They then met with Bowlby and gave him their findings Bowlby would diagnose the child - one possible diagnosis the could be given was an affectionless psychopathy

Answer 62

32% of the thieves were diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths - this was 14% 0 of the non-thieves were diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths Of those children that were diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths, 86% of them had experienced early and prolonged separation (or deprivation) from their mothers - very few other children had This means that 12 of these affectionless psychopaths had experienced deprivation Bowlby concluded that early and prolonged separation (or deprivation) is associated with affectionless psychopathy

Answer 63

One limitation of the theory of maternal deprivation is that it is based on flawed evidence For example, in the 44 Thieves study, it was Bowlby himself who both carried out the family interviews and the assessor affectionless psychopathy. There was a potential that he may have shown unconscious bias (researcher bias) In addition, the case histories developed in the 44 Thieves study were largely based on the recollections of the parents about events that happened many years previously This could pose an issue because of: - social desirability bias - may not have an accurate memory if they have been absent (this may have been due to mental health issues which could further affect their memory of events) - if there was separation/deprivation, they liked weren’t preset of a lot of their life

Answer 64

In addition, other sources of evidence Bowlby used when developing his maternal deprivation theory are also flawed For example, he was influenced by a piece of research by Goldfarb (1943), who studied two groups of children, 15 children in each group, aged 6months-3years. One group was erased in almost complete social isolation in an orphanage, the other group were raised in foster care. The ‘institution’ group lagged behind the ‘foster’ group on all measures taken, including IQ (measured intelligence), abstract thinking, social maturity and rule following. This would appear to be a good supporting evidence for the theory of maternal deprivation, but this study has a number of confounding variables because the children in the orphanages had experienced a great deal of trauma in addition to prolonged separation from primary caregivers This is a limitation because it means that Bowlby’s original source of evidence for maternal deprivation have serious flaws, reducing the validity of the theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 65

Another limitation of the theory of maternal deprivation is that it is not always backed up by other research studies, as similar studies have failed to provide similar results For example, Lewis (1954) studied 500 young people and he found no correlation between amount of early separation and levels of later psychopathy This is a limitation because other research about this theory failed and showed inconclusive results, suggesting that Bowlby’s theory was a fluke

Answer 66

One strength is that newer lines of research have provided some modest support for the theory of maternal deprivation For example, Levy et al. (2003) showed that separating baby rats from thinner mothers for as little as a day had a permanent effect on their social development Additionally, Gao et al. (2010) also partially supported Bowlby by throwing that poor quality maternal care was associated with high rates of psychopathy in adults This is a strength because it does show there are other sources of evidence for Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 67

Another limitation of the theory of maternal deprivation is that Bowlby may have confused deprivation (the lack of a continued presence of care after an attachment has been developed) with privation (the failure to form any attachment in the first place) For example, Rutter (1981) pointed out that the severe long-term damage Bowlby associated with deprivation is actually more likely to be the result of privation. Many of the children in the 44 thieves study had very disrupted early lives and therefore may have never had the opportunity to from attachments. Similarly, the children in the Goldfarb study were orphaned and therefore more likely to have been ‘prived’ rather than deprived’ This is a limitation because it means that Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation may lack internal validity

Answer 68

A final criticism made of the theory of maternal deprivation is that there is evidence against Bowlby’s idea of a critical period For example, the case of the Czech twins (Koluchova 1976 and 1991): Identical twin boys were born in Czechoslovakia in 1960 Their mother died so they spent their first 18 months in an institution They then went to live with with their farther and his wife, who disliked them and they were shut away in a small, unheated room and kept away from the rest of the family They were deprived from power food, exercise, the sun and human contact They were then rescued at age 7, looking like 3 year olds They were abnormally small, used gestures to communicate and could barely talk The twins were placed in a residential care nursery for preschool children At age 8, they were placed in the care of two sisters who provided them with a loving and secure family environment The twins soon put on weight and learnt how to walk and talk They went to primary and then secondary schools By age 14, they were in a class of children who were only 18 months younger than them Their language development was normal for their age, their IQ, which was estimated to be around 40, was 100 The twins then went on to become married, had children and are reported to have warm and stable relationships

Answer 69

One strength of the theory of maternal deprivation is that it has practical applications For example, a later study by Bowlby (1956) studied a group of children who had TB. The children were hospitalised, where the n using was impersonal. Many of the children, however, were visited weekly by their families and as a result, bond disruption was minimised Information about the children was gathered at the ages of 7 and 14 and it was found that there were no differences between the control group and the TB group in terms of delinquency or in problems forming relationships. It would seem that if bond disruption is minimised then separation is not harmful in the long run This is a strength because it means that some children who experience disruption in attachment as a result of hospitalisation can still have healthy psychological development if there is planning to ensure that the bond disruption in minimised

Answer 70

Orphan studies investigate children who have been placed in care because their parents are unable to look after them An orphan is a child whose parents have either died or have abandoned them personally Psychologists may use orphans to study maternal deprivation because: - it is fairly certain that they have experienced maternal deprivation from early in life - it is high in validity - it allows them to study maternal deprivation in an ethical way

Answer 71

Romania was the main focus in orphan studies because: From the 1960s-1989, the Communists (the dictatorship) demanded all families to have a lot of children to boost the Labour force in the USSR - they wanted families to have 5 children This saw the banning of contraception and abortion being banned The country was very poor and parents couldn’t feed all of these children, so many go put into orphanages After the fall of the USSR, the horrific conditions in these orphanages were discovered, and many children from these orphanages were adopted to countries all over the world

Answer 72

AIM - find if being in the Romanian orphanages affected development PROCEDURE - followed 165 Romanian orphans adopted into Britain to water extent good care could make up for early experiences of deprivation Participants were stratified into groups of the ages that they were adopted at: >6 months, 6-12 months, 12-24 months, 24 + months They were studied physically, cognitively, emotionally and psychologically Teachers and parents (and from aged 11, the children themselves) were interviewed about development There was also a control group of 52 British adoptees FINDINGS - all children recovered from being physically malnourished rather quickly They were given IQ tests at aged 11 (average IQ for this age is 100) and: - Before 6 months = 102 - 6 months - 2 years = 86 - 2 years + = 77 Those adopted after 6 months showed disinhibited attachment and had higher rates of ADHD

Answer 73

PROCEDURE - assessed attachment in 95 children aged 21-31 months who spent their lives in institutional care They compared these to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution Their attachment type was measures using the strange situation and caregivers were asked about unusual social behaviour including clingy, attention-seeking behaviours, directed inappropriately towards adults FINDINGS - they found that 74% of the control group were securely attached in the strange situation However, only 19% of the institutional group swerve securely attached, with 65% of them being classified at disorganised attachment The description of disinhibition attachment also applied to 44% of the institutionalised children, opposed to 20% of the control group

Answer 74

Chugani et al. (2001) administered PET scans to a sample of 10 children from Romania compared and were compared to PET scans of 17 ‘normal’ adults and 10 ‘normal’ children Assessments showed mild neurocongnitive impairment, impulsivity and attention and social deficits Specifically, the Romanian orphans showed significantly decreased activity in the orbital frontal gyrus part of the prefrontal cortex hippocampus, the amygdala and the brain stem Chugani concluded that the dysfunction in these brain regions may have resulted from the stress of early deprivation and might be linked to the long-term cognitive and behavioural deficits

Answer 75

1) Disinhibited Attachment An adaption to living with multiple caregivers during the sensitive period for attachment formation In poor quality institutions like those in Romania, a child might have 50 caregivers, non of which they see enough to form a secure attachment 2) Intellectual Disability When arriving in Britain, most showed signs of intellectual disabilities Most adopted before 6 months caught up by age 4 It appears that, like emotional development, damage to intellectual development as a result of institutionalisation can be recovered before 6 months (the age of which attachments tend to form)

Answer 76

There was different methodological strengths of Rutter’s research It was a longitudinal study - it is still ongoing - this helps us to see the long-term effects of institutionalisation It used a control group of British Orphans - this rules out simply being adoption being the cause for the developmental issues and shows that carve within institutions is important The groups were stratified by age - it was able to pinpoint 6 months as the ‘magic age’ for recovery and catch up It was a natural experiment - it is high in ecological validity

Answer 77

This was a natural experiment - there are a lack on controls over the IV (within the institutions and a lack of control over EVs) - the children were adopted the earliest showed the best recovery however children who had disabilities were often left in the institutions for longer - parents also looked specifically for younger children and children who were sociable and showed signs of being loving - it could be that children who were left longer didn’t recover as well because of other variables - it could be because they were disabled and had developmental issues which could ave been the cause of remaining in the orphanages, not an affect - potential low internal validity

Answer 78

The research has practical applications Romanian orphanages has helped us to understand the need for having a high quality of institutional care Some developments that have been made are: - Key-workers - each child has 1 or 2 consistent caregivers - allows for development of continuous bonds - Ideal age of adoption - children should ideally be adopted as soon after birth as possihp;e

Answer 79

The “care” was horrific Orphans were horrifically physically mistreated, cognitively ignored and socially deprived - it wasn’t just maternal deprivation Longer term effects are due to a range of types of deprivation We could also argue that it was privation, not deprivation - maybe the research lacks validity and measures many types of deprivation or privation

Answer 80

Kerns (1994) found that the attachment type of an infant is strongly associated with the quality of peer relationships as a child Securely attached infants go on to form the ‘best quality’ childhood friendships, whereas insecurely attached infants tend to have friendship difficulties Those who had high quality friendships may be: dependable, non-judgmental, empathetic and willing to do things for their friends Those who had friendship difficulties may: not know how to act, be rude and break promises

Answer 81

Myron-Wilson and Smith (1998) found that bullying behaviour in particular can be predicted by attachment type They gave 196 children from London aged 7-11 a questionnaire which they used to assess both attachment type and bullying involvement Securely attached children were found to be unlikely to be involved in bullying Insecure-avoidant attached children were found to be the most likely to be the victim of bulling Insecure-resistant attached children were found to be the most likely to be a bully

Answer 82

McCarthy (1999) studied 40 adult women who had been assessed when they were abuse to establish their early attachment type Securely attached children were found to have the best adult friendships and romantic relationships Insecurely-resistant children were found to have particular problems within maintaining adult friendships Insecurely-avoidant children were found to have struggled with intimacy in adult romantic relationships

Answer 83

Hazan and Shaver (1987) conducted a classic study into the association between attachment and romantic relationships as adults They analysed 620 replies to a ‘love quiz’ printed in the local American newspaper ‘The Rocky Mountain News’ The quiz had 3 sections: 1 - assessing respondents’ current or most significant romantic relationship 2 - general love experiences - e.g. number of partners 3 - assessing attachment type by asking respondents to choose which of the three statements best described their feelings: A) My mother treats me with respect and is accepting and not demanding. She is confident about herself B) My mother is humours, likeable and respected by others. She treats me with respect C) my mother treats me with respect but is sometimes cold and rejecting

Answer 84

Hazan and Shaver found that 56% classified themselves as secure, 25% as avoidant and 19% as resistant As predicted, love experience and attitudes towards love were related to attachment type ANALYSIS: Secure Adults Different Love Experiences - relationships are positive Adult Views of Relationships - trust others and believe in enduring love Memories of Mother-Child Relationships - positive image of mothers as loving and independent Avoidant Adults Different Love Experiences - fearful of closeness Adult Views of Relationships- love it not durable nor necessary for happiness Memories of Mother-Child Relationships - remember mothers as cold and rejecting Resistant Adults Different Love Experiences - preoccupied by love Adult Views of Relationships - falling in love is easy but having trouble finding true love Memories of Mother-Child Relationships - conflicting memories of mother being positive and rejecting

Answer 85

99 mothers and their attachment to their children was studied by Bailey (2007) The vast majority has some attachment to their own mothers and children

Answer 86

The internal working model is our template for our later relationships A baby whose first experience is of a loving experience is a loving relationship with a reliable attachment figure will have this as a template for relationships and and will then seek out functional relationships and behave functionally within them - i.e. without being too uninvolved (associated with avoidant attachments) or controlling/argumentative (associated with resistant attachments) Insecure children may struggle to form relationships in the first place and may behave inappropriately within them as a result of their internal working model

Answer 87

Reviews of studies linking attachment to later development have concluded that early attachment does consistently predict later attachment, emotional well-being and attachment to own children - this shows that the link between attachment and later relationships is reliable, which adds validity to the theory that early attachment influences later relationships (good predictability). Clarke and Clarke that the influence of early attachment is probabilistic rather than deterministic, i.e. an insecure attachment does not guarantee later developmental probables, but rather increases the likelihood. But knowing someone’s early attachment status means we have an opportunity to intervene and help their development - this shows that there are practical applications of the theory that early attachment influences later relationships e.g. relationship counselling

Answer 88

Zimmerman (2000) assessed infant attachment type and adolescents (aged 16) attachment to parents. The findings indicated that there was very little relationship between quality of infant and adolescent attachment, especially when life events such as parental divorce had occurred & The Regensburg longitudinal study followed 43 individuals from one year of age. At age 16, attachment was assessed using the adult attachment interview and there was no evidence of continuity - these studies fail to support the existence of close links between early attachment and later development. This means it is not clear to what extent the quality of early attachment really predicts later development Many assessments of early and current day attachments rely on the use of self-report methods as a means of categorising as a specific attachment type - the use of self-report methods such as interviews and questionnaires does mean that there are potential problems with validity of the data gathered regarding attachment type. It relies on honesty which may be affected due to social desirability bias and relies on them having an accurate perception of their relationship. If the data gathered has accuracy issues, then we need to question the validity of any links drawn between early attachment and later development Many assessments of early attachments are retrospective, i.e. they involve asking adults about their early lives in order to assess their attachment type as an infant - another reason data on this topic might be inaccurate is that it can rely on memory relationships participants had with their parents and perception and memory isn’t always reliable or accurate The research linking early attachment with later relationship experiences is correlational rather than experimental - we cannot establish a cause and effect relationship with correlation research. We cannot say that infant attachment type causes later relationships ‘styles’, only that the two are linked or associated in some way

Attachment Flashcards

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