attachment Flashcards

Question

animal experiment Harlow experiment (AO1)

Answer 1

aim: Harlow wanted to find out if monkeys attach to mothers because they feed them or because they provide a safe environment. procedure: Harlow conducted research with 16 rhesus monkeys which were caged from infancy (removed from their mothers). Harlow measured the amount of time that monkeys spent with each surrogate mother and the amount of time that they cried for their biological mother. 8 monkeys went to a wire mother with cloth which did not provide food but provided comfort. He measured the amount of time the monkeys spent with each mother and the amount of time they cried for their biological mother. Harlow’s findings revealed that separated infant rhesus monkeys would show attachment behaviours towards a cloth-covered surrogate mother when frightened, rather than a food-dispensing surrogate mother. Monkeys were willing to explore a room full of novel toys when the cloth-covered monkey was present but displayed phobic responses when only the food-dispensing surrogate was present. Baby monkeys appear to have an innate drive to seek contact and comfort from their parent suggesting that attachment is formed through an emotional need for security rather than food, which contradicts the learning theory. This contact with the mother is associate to a higher willingness to explore their surroundings and lower levels of stress

Answer 2

conducted in a controlled, artificial laboratory setting -The highly controlled laboratory setting that Harlow used is not reflective of the real life situations and may cause the monkeys to behave in an artificial manner. This is a weakness because it means that Harlow wasn’t necessarily measuring the real-life attachment formation and therefore the study can be criticised for lacking ecological validity. unethical - the monkeys in Harlow’s study showed great distress when they were removed from their biological mothers. In addition, after the study, when the monkeys were placed in situation with other rhesus monkeys, the rhesus monkeys from the study showed great distress in social situations and were unable to communicate with other monkeys. In addition, when the monkeys from the study had their own children many were said to neglect their offspring and killed their offspring. This is a weakness because Harlow’s study can be seen to be in breach of the BPS guidelines.

Answer 3

AO1: animal experiment - research which used animal subjects to investigate early life experiences and the ability for organisms to form attachments contributed significantly to the field of developmental psychology. Two of the most well known animal studies were conducted by Konrad Lorenz and Harry Harlow. AO1: Lorenz experiment - gosling AO1: Harlow experiment - rhesus monkeys AO3: evaluation lorenz experiment - criticised for extrapolation AO3: evaluation Harlow experiment - strengthL it was conducted in a controlled laboratory setting, weakness: conducted in an artificial setting, unethical

Answer 4

learning theory, monotropic theory

Answer 5

this proposes that attachments are formed when an infant receives food - they learn to 'love' the person who feeds them. this is the 'cupboard love' idea. classical conditioning involves learning through a stimulus with a response. in this case, as food naturally gives pleasure, food is an unconditional stimulus, leading to the unconditioned pleasure response. the caregiver (neutral stimulus) gives in the infant food, and the infant learns to associate the caregiver with the food - so the caregiver becomes a conditioned stimulus. The conditioned response is the pleasure of being fed, which is now 'paired' with the caregiver operant conditioning involves learning through rewards/punishments. by crying, infants produce a response from the caregiver of caregiver's perspective, comforting the infant leads to the crying stopping, so this behaviour will be repeated by the caregiver. this is negative reinforcement - continuing a behaviour to avoid a negative outcome

Answer 6

provides a very plausible and scientifically reliable explanation for attachment formation - it seems highly likely that simple association between the provision of needs essential for survival and the person providing those needs can lead to strong attachments. However, the theory is extremely reductionist and there is evidence that infants can form attachments with a person who is not the primary care-giver. Schaffer & Emerson (1964) studied the attachments formed by 60 infants from birth. They found that a significant number of infants formed attachments with a person other than the one doing the feeding, nappy changing, etc. and that the primary attachment was often with the father and not the mother. They found that it was the quality of interaction with the infant that was most important - stronger attachments were formed with the person who was most sensitive and responsive to the infant's needs. Harlow (1958) experimented with the attachments formed between rhesus monkeys and surrogate mothers. In this case the surrogate mothers were wire framed models that provided food and therefore satisfied the monkeys' primary needs, or ones that were comfortable and padded but provided no food. The findings were that the monkeys would cuddle up to and be more distressed at losing the comfortable padded surrogate mother that provided no food than they were the uncomfortable wire-framed surrogate mother that fed them. It would be easy to conclude from this that conditioning does not explain attachment in infant monkeys as they are not linking food with pleasure, but clinging could actually be essential to the survival of infant monkeys whose mothers may be swinging through trees and so conditioning could still adequately explain their attachment formations - clinging is not so essential for survival to humans

Answer 7

Bowlby's theory Bowlby (1969) suggests that attachment is a vital adaptive quality that has evolved to increase the chance of survival through proximity-seeking behaviour. As babies are born in an early stage of development, they are highly dependant on the parent as they require constant care, which means that the infant would benefit from a biological mechanism that could keep the parents close to them. According to Bowlby, infants require a qualitatively unique relationship to develop an internal working model and emotional maturity - this special bond is known as monotropic bond. The special bond helps to maintain proximity between the parent and infant and also offers the infant the opportunity to develop skills and an understanding of how to attach and bond to others. Bowlby suggests that attachment takes place during a critical period. It is suggested that if a child does not form an Bowlby’s monotopic theory of attachment takes an evolutionary perspective. He argued that children are born with an innate tendency to form attachments with their parents in order to increase chances of survival. there are 5 key elements in this theory; adaptive, social releases, critical period, monotropy, internal working model adaptive attachments are adaptive which means they give humans an advantage, making them more likely to survive. if an infant has an attachment, they are kept safe, given food and kept warm by their caregivers. therefore, attachment is innate as it has survival advantages. social releasers babies are born with the tendency to display certain innate behaviours (called social releasers) which help ensure proximity and contact with the mother or attachment figure (eg., crying, smiling, crawling etc.) - these are species-specific behaviours. critical period Bowlby suggests that there is a critical period for developing an attachment (2.5 years). if an attachment has not developed during this time period, then it may well not happen at all. bowlby later proposed a sensitive period of up to 5 years. if an attachment is not formed during this critical period, the child would be damaged for life, socially, intellectually and physically monotropy a child has an innate need to attach to one main attachment figure. This is called monotropy. this concept of monotropy suggests that there is one relationship which is more important than all person is the one that responds more sensitively to the child’s needs internal working model according to Bowlby, an internal working model is a cognitive framework comprising mental representations for understanding the world, self and others, and is based on the relationship with a primary caregiver. it becomes a prototype for all future social relationships and allows individuals to predict, control manipulate interactions with others

Answer 8

CRTICIAL PERIOD there is evidence from animal studies to support the critical period. Lorenz (1935) found that goslings who are mobile soon after birth imprinted on the mother within the first few days of life. Lorenz referred to this imprinting period as the critical period as birds would attach to the mother in this limited period of time. For example, goslings that did not imprint 13-16 hours after hatching would die. This supports the idea that attachment is adaptive and promotes survival. Therefore, the critical period of forming an attachment is supported by animal studies, so Bowlby’s theory can be seen as credible. INTERNAL WORKING MODEL there is research to support the idea that attachment provides an internal working model for future relationships. Hazan and Shaver created the love questionnaire and found that anxious lovers were jealous and preoccupied with a partner, avoidant adults tended to shy away from intimacy for fear of being hurt, and secure attachments were the most likely to have a good long lasting romantic relationship. They also found that secure adults reported their parents to be respectful and more accepting while avoidant adults remember their parents as critical and distant. Therefore, this supports the idea that childhood attachment is the memory model for future relationships, increasing the credibility of Bowlby’s theory.

Answer 9

MONOTROPY however, there is evidence to refute monotropy theory. Schaffer and Emerson conducted a natural observation and interviews in Glasgow with working class families. They found that infants form attachments to the caregiver who was the most interactive and sensitive to the infants’ signals and facial expressions, but this was not necessarily the person that the infant spent most time with. They also suggested children have multiple attachments with caregivers other than the mother and that a significant minority of children formed multiple attachments at the same time, rather than only one special attachment first as proposed by Bowlby. Therefore, this goes against Bowlby’s monotropy idea that only one attachment is formed first, so the quality of interaction may be more important than the quantity, lowering the credibility of the monotropy theory.

Answer 10

law of continuity: this refers to the more constant/ predictable a child's care, the better the quality of their attachment. the mother should be present 24/7.n

Answer 11

Mary Ainsworth created the strange situation procedure to categorise the different types and characteristics of infant-caregiver attachments. Ainsworth created the 'strange situation' concept to identify how children react when separated from their parents/caregivers and when a stranger is present

Answer 12

The strange situation study observed infants and mothers from 100 middle-class American families. The infants in the study were between 12 and 18 months old. The procedure used a standardised, controlled observation in a lab. The children’s behaviour was recorded using a controlled, covert observation (participants were unaware they were being observed) to measure their attachment type. This experiment comprised eight consecutive sections, each lasting approximately three minutes. The Ainsworth’s strange situation procedure is as follows: 1. the parent and child enter an unfamiliar playroom with the experimenter 2. the child is encouraged to explore and play by their parent; the parent and child are alone 3. a stranger enters and attempts to interact with the child 4. the parent leaves the room, leaving the stranger and their child 5. the parent returns, and the stranger leaves 6. the parent leaves the child completely alone in the playroom 7. the stranger returns 8. the parent returns, and the stranger leaves Ainsworth defined five behaviours that she measured to determine the children’s attachment types; proximity seeking, secure base behaviour, stranger anxiety, separation anxiety, reunion response. The strange situation allowed Ainsworth to identify and categorise children into one of three attachment styles. The first Ainsworth strange situation attachment style is type A insecure-avoidant. The type A attachment style is characterised by fragile infant-caregiver relationships, and the infants are highly independent. They show little to no proximity-seeking or safe base behaviour, and strangers and separation rarely distress them. As a result, they tend to show little or no reaction to their caregiver’s leaving or return. The second Ainsworth strange situation attachment style is type B, the secure attachment style. These children have health bonds with their caregiver, which is close and based on trust. Securely attached children showed moderate stranger and separation anxiety levels but quickly soothed at reunion with the caregiver. The final attachment style is type C, the insecure ambivalent attachment style. These children have an ambivalent relationship with the caregivers, and there is lack of trust in their relationship. These children tend to show high proximity seeking and explore their environment less. Insecure-resistant attached children also show severe stranger and separation anxiety sometimes even rejecting their caregiver.

Answer 13

The Ainsworth strange situation findings are 15% are type A (insecure-avoidant), 70% are type B (secure), type C (insecure ambivalent).

Answer 14

From the Ainsworth strange situation findings, it can be concluded that type B, the secure attachment style is the most prominent. Mary Ainsworth concluded that children could have one of three distinct attachment types with their primary caregiver. The strange situation findings challenge the notion that attachment was something a child either had or didn’t have.

Answer 15

replicable - as the research is highly operationalised, observers have a clear view of how a securely attached infant should behave, due to the 4 specific criteria that Ainsworth used. For this reason, the research should have high inter-observer reliability and it is also replicable so its reliability can be checked

Answer 16

low population validity - the sample was restricted to 100 middle class Americans and their infants, so it is unlikely that findings would be representative of the wider population culturally biased - the strange situation was designed by an American according to observations of US children. Consequently, the criteria used to classify infants are based on US values, relating to child-parent behaviour. It could be argued that this is Eurocentric, so observations of non-Americans will judge according to American standards. For example, Japanese infants were judged as being resistant due to high levels of distress that were observed but this reflects their lack of experience during the “infant alone” part of the research, rather than an resistant attachment type.

Answer 17

AO1: why Mary Ainsworth created the strange situation procedure, results and conclusion AO3: strength - replicable weakness - low population validity, culturally biased

Answer 18

cross cultural variation in attachment is how members of a society/culture vary in terms of their social practices (child-rearing). These variations, in turn, can effect infant development and behaviour. This can lead to cultural differences in attachment type. individualist cultures emphasise personal achievement regardless of the expense of group goals, resulting in a strong sense of competition and independence. collectivist cultures emphasise family and work group goals above individual needs or desires.

Answer 19

To investigate cross cultural differences in attachment type through meta-analysis of research, comparing findings of the strange situation research conducted in other cultures. They compared the findings of 32 studies across 8 different countries that used the strange situation to measure attachment type.

Answer 20

findings The difference between western cultures (Britain and America) and non western cultures (Japan and China) can also be attributed to cultural child-rearing practices. Mother-infant separation is much more common in Western countries, where the mother is likely to return to work sooner after having a baby. Average findings were consistent with Ainsworth’s original research - secure 65%, avoidant 21%, resistant 14%. Intra-cultural variation was nearly 15 times grater than cross-cultural variation. Van Ijizendoorn speculated that this was linked to differences in socio-economic factors and levels of stress that varied between samples used within each country. Japan and Israel revealed a higher incidence of resistant than avoidance children. Chinese findings revealed the lowest rate of secure attachments (50%) with the remaining children falling into the other categories equally. In all countries secure attachment was the most common attachment type. However, the proportion varied from 75% in Britain to 50% in China. Insecure resistant was overall the least common type although the proportions ranged from 3% in Britain to 30% in Israel. Insecure avoidant attachments were observed most commonly in Germany and least commonly in Japan conclusion secure attachment seems to be the norm in a wide range of cultures, supporting Bowlby's idea that attachment is innate and universal and that this type of attachment is the universal norm. Secure 65%, avoidant 21% resistant 14%. Intra-cultural variation was nearly 15 times greater than cross-cultural variation. Van Ijinzendoorn speculated that this was linked to different in socio-economic factors and levels of stress that varied between samples used within each country.

Answer 21

Takahashi replicated the Strange Situation with 60 middle class Japanese infants and mothers using the same standardised procedure and behavioural categories. Takahashi’s observation revealed procedure and behavioural categories. Takahashi’s observation revealed distinct cultural differences in how the infants responded to the 8 stages of procedure. The findings were as follows: 0% insecure avoidant - infants became severely distressed in the ‘infant alone step’; this situation was quite unnatural and broke cultural norm for the infants 32% insecure resistant 68% secure attachment 90% of infant alone steps had to be stopped due to excessive infant anxiety secure attachment seems to be the norm in a wide range of cultures, supporting Bowlby’s idea that attachment is innate and universal and that this type of attachment is the universal norm. However, the research also shows that cultural practices in child rearing have an influence on attachment type.

Answer 22

very large sample - for example, in the Van Ijizendoorn meta-analysis there was a total of nearly 2000 babies and their primary attachment figures. This is a strength because large samples increase internal validity by reducing the impact of anomalous results caused by bad methodology

Answer 23

comparing cultures using the same ‘strange situation’ attachment behaviour interpretations may be ethnocentric - for example, the strange situation was designed by Ainsworth based on a British theory. In Germany, this behaviour may be seen as independence rather than avoidance and hence not a sign of insecurity within that cultural context. The cross cultural comparisons using the ‘strange situation’ may lack validity.

Answer 24

AO1: collectivist cultures meaning individualist cultures meaning cross cultural variation definition AO1: Van Ijizendoorn and Kroonenberg - studies across different countries Takahashi - studies in Japan AO3: strength - very large sample weakness - comparing cultures using the 'strange situation' attachment behaviour interpretations may be ethnocentric

Answer 25

deprivation is when a child’s attachment to its mother or other caregiver is significantly broken due to no or poor-quality care being given to the child. For example, a child is deprived of his/her mother because she is in hospital

Answer 26

separation is when the caregiver is temporarily absent from the child for a short time. Separation is unlike deprivation because the caregiver’s absence occurs long enough for the attachment to be severely damaged or broken completely if it happens regularly. For example, if a child is frequently looked after their grandparents.

Answer 27

separation is when the caregiver is temporarily absent from the child for a short time. Separation is unlike deprivation because the caregiver's absence occurs long enough for attachment to be severely damaged or broken completely if it happens regularly. for example, if a child is frequently looked after their grandparents

Answer 28

privation is the complete absence of the primary caregiver. This means that the child could not make an attachment with a primary caregiver. Genie is one case of privation as her development was greatly affected.

Answer 29

robertson and bowlby

Answer 30

protest despair detachment

Answer 31

detachment

Answer 32

protest is the immediate reactions involving crying, kicking, screaming and attempting to stop the caregiver from leaving. some rejected comfort and attention from other caregivers whilst others clung to it. depending on the separation length, this stage lasted for a few hours or a few weeks.

Answer 33

in despair children displayed signs of acceptance of the situation or helplessness. they appeared to be in mourning. they comforted themselves through thumb-sucking or rocking and withdrew interest in their surroundings or other people. individual attachment styles were assessed using the strange situation classifications, which showed how much despair the child experienced

Answer 34

in detachment children began engaging with others and appeared sociable. when the caregivers returned, the children showed indifference or anger at the caregiver for leaving. this suggests children may have been masking their feelings with outward sociability

Answer 35

protest despair privation Bowlby noticed that the effects of the short-term separation lasted for several months after the separation ended and even resulted in separation anxiety. Separation anxiety is the fear of being separated from the caregiver in the future. He also stated that children between seven months and three years were the most susceptible to experiencing long-lasting effects of separation.

Answer 36

Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis is proposed that a ‘warm, intimate and continuous relationship with a mother figure’ is necessary for healthy psychological/emotional development. consequences of maternal deprivation - an inability to form attachments in the future - affectionless psychopathy - delinquency - problems with cognitive development

Answer 37

- an inability to form attachments in the future - affectionless psychopathy - delinquency - problems with cognitive development

Answer 38

44 thieves were compared with 44 non-thieves from a delinquency centre. Bowlby collected data via interviews and questionnaires from the 88 juveniles and found that 17 out of 44 thieves had experienced early prolonged separation from their mothers before 5 years. 15 out of those 17 thieves were classed as affectionless psychopaths while only 2 out of 44 thieves had experienced such separation. Therefore these findings support the MDH, as there appears to be a link between disruption to attachments in the first 5 years and later maladjustment. Bowlby’s subsequent research reported that 60 children who had spent time apart from their mothers due to tuberculosis prior to the age of 4, demonstrate lower achievement in school. Bowlby’s findings indicate that experiencing disrupted attachments early in life is linked to crime, emotional maladjustment and lower academic achievement, lending strong support for the MDH

Answer 39

practical applications - the MDH and accompanying research has significant real world applications, as they highlight the importance of positive attachment experiences and maintaining a mono tropic bond in the first five years, which have been instrumental in the developments of good childcare practices. Greater stability in childcare practice has been developed through daycare centres assigning caregivers to children and hospital visiting hours have been reviewed so that children can maintain contact with their parents.

Answer 40

retrospective recall might be inaccurate - as Bowlby was asking the adolescent participants to recall separations that they had experienced years earlier, their responses would have been subject to inaccuracies/distortions investigator effects - Bowlby designed and conducted the self-reports himself and as a result, his presence and interpretation might have influenced the outcome of the research. Bowlby’s diagnosis of affectionless psychopathy might have been distorted by researcher confirmation bias.

Answer 41

AO1: Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation consequences of maternal deprivation AO1: Bowlby 44 Juvenile Thieves Study AO3: strengths practical application weakness retrospective recall might be inaccurate investigator effects

Answer 42

research - The Bucharest Early Intervention Project: Zeenah et al (2005) - romanian orphan studies: effect of institutionalisation case study - the case of czech twins - the case of genie

Answer 43

aim: to investigate attachment type of children who had spent most of their life in institutional care. method: 100 children aged between 12 months and 31 months who had spent most of their lives in institutions were compared with a group who had never been in institutions. Using the strange situation methodology, the researchers assessed the infants’ attachment type. Additionally, the carers in the institution and parents of the control group children were asked about several aspects of the infants’ behaviour including clinging, attention seeking and appropriateness of behaviour towards adults (to determine if disinhibited attachment disorder was present. finding: Zeenah et al found that almost three quarters (74%) of the control group were classified as being securely attached to their caregivers. Conversely, less than one fifth (19%) of infants from the experimental group, who had spent most of their life in institutional care, were deemed to have a secure attachment. In fact, almost two-thirds of these infants (65%) appeared to have a disinhibited attachment.

Answer 44

Rutter et al studied 111 Romanian orphans adopted before 2 years and found that the sooner the children were adopted, the faster their development progress. Rutter studied Romanian orphans who had been placed in orphanages aged 1-2 weeks old, with minimal adult contact. This was a longitudinal study and natural experiment, using a group of around 100 Romanian orphans assessed at ages 4,6, and 11, then re-assessed 21 years later. 58 babies were adopted before 6 months old, and 59 between the ages of 6-24 months old. 48 babies were adopted late, between 2-4 years old. Those who were adopted by British families before 6 months old showed ‘normal’ emotional development compared with the UK children adopted at the same age. Many adopted after 6 months old showed disinhibited attachments (eg. attention-seeking behaviour towards all adults, lack of fear of strangers, inappropriate physical contact) and hold problem with peers. This study suggests long-term consequences may be less severe than was once thought if children have the opportunity to form attachments. When children don’t form attachments, the consequences are likely to be severe. The result is that privation an be reversed if children are adopted and earlier and after care is good.

Answer 45

a term for the effects of living in an institutional setting. Institution refers to a place like a hospital or an orphanage where people live for long, continuous periods of time.

Answer 46

Koluchiva reported the case of two identical twin boys in Czechoslovakia whose mother died, causing them to go into care as babies. Their father remarried when they were 18 months old, and they returned home. From that age they were cruelly treated by their stepmother until they were found and removed by the authorities in 1967 at about seven years of age. They had grown up in a small, unheated closet and had often been harshly beaten. After their rescue, they spent time in a children’s home and in a school for the delayed development before being fostered in 1969. At first they were terrified of many aspects of their new environment and communicated largely by gestures; they had very little spontaneous speech. They made steady progress, both socially and intellectually. A follow up report in 1976, the twins showed no psychological symptoms or unusual behaviour. Later Koluchova reported that by twenty they were above above average intelligence still had very good relationships with their foster mother her relatives and their adoptive sisters.

Answer 47

Genie was discovered at the age of 13 when her mother, supposedly mistakenly, took her to a social services office. When she was discovered she was severely undernourished, could not stand properly or walk normally, could not understand any language, and could not speak. Genie had spend the first years of life imprisoned alone in her bedroom by her father in order to ‘protect’ her as he believed she was mentally disabled.

Answer 48

real word application - their findings have real-world application to social services. Their study helped change the way that children are looked after, especially when it comes to the adoption process. Historically, mothers were encouraged to keep their babies for a substantial period by which time the critical period for attachment formation may have passed. Nowadays, infant are adopted as early as one-week old and Singer et al (1988) states that children are as securely attached to their adoptive mothers as biologically related families. This demonstrates the benefit of initialisation research to help improve the lives of children. longitudinal - their research took place over many years allowing them to assess both the short term and long term effects of institutionalisation and subsequent benefits from adoption. Therefore, the results of their research appear to be a valid representation of the effects of being placed in institutional care as well as portraying the results off receiving quality follow-on emotional caregiving in a timely manner.

Answer 49

the Romanian orphans were not typical - although much useful data about institutionalisation has come out of Romanian orphan studies, it is possible that conditions were so bad that results cannot be applied to understanding the impact of better quality in institutional care or indeed any situation where children experienced deprivation. This is a limitation or Romanian orphan studies because the unusual situation variables mean the study may lack generalisability. Therefore, it is not clear that children’s development in institutions will have irreversible effects. Chugani’s PET sans - showed different brain activity in Romanian orphans compare to non-institutionalised adults and children which show the irreversible effects of privation. Although PET scans results are highly reliably due to high control during the procedure and the use of objective data, they lack validity as they cannot establish causation. For example, in the Romanian orphan studies, it is difficult to separate nature from nurture. Some of those children may have showed signs of cognitive impairment such as autism before they were placed into an institution. Therefore, it is difficult to claim that the effects of institutional care are irreversible.

Answer 50

AO1: Rutters theory of maternal deprivation - the bucharest early intervention project: zeenah et al - romanian orphan studies: effect of institutionalisation - the case of czech twins - the case of genie AO3: evaluation of rutter strength - real world application - longitudinal weakness - the romanian orphans were not typical - chugani's PET scans

Answer 51

According to Bowlby, later relationships are likely to be a continuation of early attachment styles because the behaviour of the infant’s primary attachment figure promotes an internal working model of relationships. The continuity hypothesis is the idea that there is consistency between early emotional experiences and later relationships, and it sees children’s attachment types being reflected in these later relationships. This idea is based on the internal working model, which was proposed by Bowlby in his monotropic theory.

Answer 52

relationships in childhood relationships in adult: romantic relationships in adulthood: parenting

Answer 53

Kerns (1994) found that securely attached infants are more inclined to have good quality peer relationships during childhood whilst infants with insecure attachment types are likely to have difficulties with making or maintaining friendships Sroufe et al (2005) conducted the Minnesota child-parent study and found that infants who were rated high in social competence during childhood were more empathetic, popular and felt less isolated. These results can be easily understood by considering the role of the internal working model since infants who are securely attached will have positive expectations that others whom they relate to will be trustworthy and friendly in return, which provides the ideal platform for interacting with others during childhood

Answer 54

aim: questionnaire, termed the ‘Love Quiz’ was designed to test the internal working model to assess if attachment type formed in childhood, influences friendships and adult relationships. procedure: the ‘love quiz’ comprised of three sections which was published in a local American newspaper and received 620 volunteer responses (20 males and 415 females). The first section was designed to assess the individuals’ most important relationship. The second section focused on ascertaining general experiences in love. The third part asked self-selecting participants about their feelings in relation to some statements. findings: it was found that 56% respondents were classified as securely attached. 25% with an insecure-avoidant attachment type. 19% as being insecure-resistant. There was a positive correlation between early attachment type and experiences in love with those reporting secure attachments in childhood being the most likely to have a loving and lasting romantic relationships. Respondents whose answers indicated an insecure-avoidant attachment type from infancy were more likely to report feelings of dislike in relation to intimacy. Those individuals with an insecure-resistant attachment type were more likely to have shorter relationships, approximately six years, compared to secure respondents who averaged relationship durations of ten years or more, on average. conclusion: the findings analysed from the ‘love quiz’ indicate that specific attachment type behaviours are reflected in adult romantic relationships because of an internal working model formed an infancy to guide expectations.

Answer 55

the internal working model not only influences romantic relationships but also the parenting style of an individual who goes on to have children of their own. As a result of parenting styles being based on personal experiences and expectations of the internal working model, attachment type tends to be passed down through the generations of a family. Bailey et al looked at the attachment type of nearly 100 mothers and their infants (assessed in the strange situation) with the relationships they had with their own mothers. It was found that a vast proportion of the women had the same attachment type to their infant as to their own mother, supporting the concept of the internal working model influencing parenting style.

Answer 56

only correlational - whilst an association has been found by many researchers indicating the quality of later relationships is heavily influenced by attachment type from infancy, this does not determine causality. Fraley et al found that correlations were not always strong positive ones either, with correlation coefficients ranging from +0.10 to +.50. this means that correlational research in this area is not very reliable due to an unstable array of results. This reduces the validity of the internal working model as a template for future relationships. methodological issues with assessing attachment type of retrospectively - much research, such as the ‘love quiz’ by Hazan and Shaver rely upon self-report from adult participants about their memories from infancy and childhood. Recollection from years gone by are likely to be impaired and many answers provided may lack accuracy due to deterioration which lowers the internal validity of findings. This problem is further compounded by the possibility that individuals may not report honestly or even have an insight into their own template of expectations since the internal working model in an unconscious framework. This lowers the validity of the internal working model as a template for future relationships. general theory - Bowlby’s theory puts forward a general theory of how early attachments affect later relationships. However, such early experiences in attachment are not universal and a negative experience for one infant might have a very different outcomes to the negative to the negative experiences of another infant. This suggests that an idiographic approach, especially within these sensitive topics, might be more appropriate.