Attachment 😝 Flashcards
Paper 1
1
Q
what is attachment?
A
- close emotional bond between two people (carer and infant)
- characterised by mutual affection and the desire to maintain proximity
- two way process
- endures over time
2
Q
how do children show they are attached?
A
- proximity seeking
- separation protest
- pleasure at reunion
- secure base effect
- stranger anxiety
- general orientation of behaviour towards carer
3
Q
what is proximity seeking?
A
- desire to be physically close to the carer
- anxiety when this isn’t possible
4
Q
what is separation protest?
A
- distress at separation from carer
5
Q
what is pleasure at reunion?
A
- quickly settled upon being reunited with carer
6
Q
what is secure base effect?
A
- willingness to explore the environment when carer is near
- infant checks regularly that the carer is still in sight
- will demonstrate social referencing
7
Q
what is stranger anxiety?
A
- distress at stranger interaction
8
Q
what does having general orientation of behaviour towards carer mean?
A
- carer will be the focus
9
Q
what are the two attachment interactions?
A
- reciprocity
- interactional synchrony
10
Q
what is reciprocity?
A
- non verbal conversation between the carer and infant where the action from the carer elicits a response from the infant
- coordinated actions
- important for later communication and form basis of attachment
11
Q
what is interactional synchrony?
A
- imitation of the carer by the infant as an innate response
- not a learned behaviour
12
Q
who studied interactional synchrony?
A
- Meltzoff and Moore (1977)
13
Q
what was the aim of Meltzoff and Moore’s study?
A
- to perform the first systematic study of interactional synchrony in infants aged 2 to 3 weeks old
14
Q
what is the procedure of Meltzoff and Moore’s study?
A
- adult model displayed one of three facial expressions or hand movements
- dummy was placed in the infants mouth to prevent a response at first, this was then removed and the infant was recorded imitating the model
- observers could only see the infants on video, not the model
- controlled laboratory observation
- at a later date this was repeated with 2 to 3 day old infants to prove it was an innate response
15
Q
what were the findings of Meltzoff and Moore’s study?
A
- there was an association between the infant’s behaviour and the adult model (imitation)
- same results were found with the 2 to 3 day old infants
- it was an innate response
16
Q
who criticised Meltzoff and Moore’s study and why?
A
Keopke et al
- made original look unreliable and invalid
- repeated their study and found different results
17
Q
how did Meltzoff and Moore counter Keopke et al’s criticism?
A
- claimed Keopke et al’s study wasn’t as carefully controlled
18
Q
what are the problems with testing infants behaviour?
A
- difficult to distinguish between general activity and specific imitated behaviours
- due to infants continuously moving their mouths, etc
19
Q
who tested the intentionality of infants behaviour and how?
A
Abravanel and DeYoung
- observed infants interacting with two objects
- one stimulating tongue movements and the others mouth opening/ closing
- found infants between 5 to 12 weeks old not imitating the objects, showing response to social interactions not inanimate objects
20
Q
what are examples of facial movements Meltzoff and Moore used to study interactional synchrony?
A
- tongue protrusion
- mouth opening
21
Q
who found there are individual differences in types of attachments and how can this be used as evaluation for interactional synchrony?
A
Isabella et al
- found more strongly attached infant-caregiver pairs showed greater interactional synchrony
- children respond to adults depending on the nature of the attachment
- shows we are limited on the reliability of Meltzoff and Moore’s findings
22
Q
what was Meltzoff’s “like me” hypothesis (2005)?
A
- explains how infants will acquire an understanding of others thoughts/ feelings
- interactional synchrony helps children to understand the internal mental state of other people
- helps them to develop social relationships
23
Q
what study investigated the development of attachment and when?
A
- glasgow babies, 1963
24
Q
who studied the glasgow babies?
A
- Schaffer and Emerson
25
what was the aim of Schaffer and Emerson's glasgow babies study?
- to investigate the development of infant attachments
26
what was the procedure of Schaffer and Emerson's glasgow babies study?
- longitudinal study of 60 babies from working class families in Glasgow
- infants ranged from 5 to 23 weeks old and studied until they turned 1 year old
- mothers were visited every 4 weeks
- each visit, the mother reported their infants response to separation in seven different everyday situations
- mother described intensity of any protest on a 4 point rating scale
- asked to whom the protest was directed
- stranger anxiety was also measured (infants response to the interviewer)
27
what were the findings of the glasgow babies study?
- between 25 and 32 weeks of age, 50% of babies showed separation anxiety towards a particular adult (mostly mother)
- by 40 weeks of age, 80% babies had a specific attachment and almost 30% displayed multiple attachments
28
what were the conclusions of glasgow babies study?
- attachment develops in stages
- different behaviours exhibited at different stages
- developed stages of attachment theory
29
what led Schaffer and Emerson to develop their stages of attachment theory?
- findings of their study glasgow babies
30
how many stages are in Schaffer and Emerson's stages of attachment theory?
4
31
what are the four stages of Schaffer and Emerson's stages of attachment theory?
1. Indiscriminate attachment (Asocial)
2. Beginnings of attachment
3. Discriminate attachment (Specific)
4. Multiple attachments
32
what age were indiscriminate attachments formed according to Schaffer and Emerson's stages of attachment theory?
Birth - 2 months
33
what age were the beginnings of attachments formed according to Schaffer and Emerson's stages of attachment theory?
2 - 4 months
34
what age were discriminate attachments formed according to Schaffer and Emerson's stages of attachment theory?
4 - 7 months
35
what age were multiple attachments formed according to Schaffer and Emerson's stages of attachment theory?
7 - 9 months onwards
36
what does indiscriminate attachments refer to according to Schaffer and Emerson's stages of attachment theory?
- similar response to all objects
- then greater preference towards people nearing the end of the 2 months
- reciprocity and interactional synchrony occur
37
what does 'beginnings of attachment' refer to according to Schaffer and Emerson's stages of attachment theory?
- seek attention from a number of people
- content when received
- not yet experiencing stranger anxiety
38
what does discriminate attachment refer to according to Schaffer and Emerson's stages of attachment theory?
- strong attachment to one person
- separation protest
- stranger anxiety
39
what does multiple attachments refer to according to Schaffer and Emerson's stages of attachment theory?
- strong emotional ties develop with other carers along with non carers (ie. siblings)
- secondary attachments form (ie. father)
40
what are limitations of Schaffer and Emerson's stages of attachment theory?
challenges to internal validity and has social desirability bias
- some mothers may be more sensitive to infants protest
- subjective opinion could make the data it's based on unreliable
- mothers could adjust results slightly to fit social standards
lacks temporal validity
- from 1960's working class population
- biased sample as limited range
- can't generalise
41
what are strengths of Schaffer and Emerson's stages of attachment theory?
support Bowlby's monotropy theory
- infants have one main attachment figure
- Schaffer and Emerson also suggest infants can form multiple attachments but have a main one which forms earlier
42
what does the office for national statistics suggest about the role of the father?
- 2013, 10% of caregivers were males
- 9% of British single parents are males
43
what did Bowlby believe about the role of the father?
- father is more of a physical unpredictable playmate to infants
- mother is more likely to show sensitive responsiveness and have a nurturing nature
44
what are the factors affecting the relationship between fathers and children?
- degree of sensitivity
- type of attachment with own parents
- marital intimacy
- supportive co parenting
45
how does the degree of sensitivity affect the relationship between father and child?
- more secure attachments are found in fathers who are more sensitive to their children's needs
46
how does the type of attachment formed with own parents affect the relationship between father and child?
- single parent fathers tend to form similar attachments with their children as they had with their own parents
47
how does the marital intimacy affect the relationship between father and child?
- degree of intimacy a father has within his relationship with his partner affect the type of attachment he forms with his children
48
how does the supportive co parenting affect the relationship between father and child?
- amount of support a father gives to his partner in helping to care for their children affects the type of attachment he has with them
49
what did Geiger suggest about the role of fathers in infant attachments?
- father's play interactions are more exciting and pleasurable then mothers
- while mothers are more nurturing and affectionate
- supports idea of fathers being playmates rather than caregivers
50
what did Lamb suggest about the role of fathers in infant attachments?
- children often prefer interacting with fathers when in a positive emotional state and seek stimulation
- mothers are preferred when children are distressed and seeking comfort
- supports idea that fathers are preferred as playmates but only in certain conditions
51
what are evaluation points of research into the role of fathers?
children who grow up without fathers
- do less well at school and have higher levels of risk taking and aggression
- suggests fathers can help prevent negative developmental outcomes
- Pedersen points out that most studies have focused on female single mothers from poor socio-economic backgrounds, so it may be social factors related to poverty that produce these outcomes not the absence of fathers
fathers are important not just for children, but mothers too
- provide them with time away from childcare
- reduce stress in mothers, improve self esteem and ultimately improve the quality of a mothers relationship with her children
52
what animal studies research attachment?
- Harlows monkeys (1958)
- Lorenz and imprinting (1935)
53
what was the aim of Harlow's study?
- to investigate the mechanisms by which newborn Rhesus monkeys bond with their mothers
- investigate the basis of attachment
54
what were the procedures of Harlows monkey experiment?
- infant monkeys were separated from their mothers at birth and placed in cages with access to two surrogate mothers
- one mother was made out of wire and the other was covered in soft cloth
- the cloth mother had no food but the wire mother had a bottle containing milk
55
what were the findings of Harlows monkey experiment?
- monkeys spent more time with the cloth mother and would only go to the wire mother when hungry
- once fed it returned to the cloth mother and explore more when it was present (safe base)
- cloth surrogate mother was more effective in decreasing the youngsters fear in a second experiment
56
what was the conclusions of Harlows monkey experiment?
- prefer contact comfort over food comfort
57
what consequences were there for Harlows monkeys due to a lack of an actual mother?
- surrogate mothers didn't provide enough 'love' for healthy psychological development
- after release, were abusive to other monkeys, had difficulty mating and parenting
- monkeys need a responsive carer
58
what are limitations regarding to ethics of the Harlows monkeys experiment?
- could not be done with humans so questions ethics of doing it with monkeys
- lasting emotional harm as monkeys later found it difficult to form relationships with peers
- can it be justified by the significant effect it has on our understanding of attachment (leads to better care for human infants)
59
what limitations are there when evaluating Harlows monkey experiment?
confounding variable
- two surrogate mothers varied in more ways that just being covered in cloth or not
- cloth mother had a better head
- lacked internal validity
generalisation of animal studies to human behaviour
- differ due to humans being governed by conscious decisions
60
what was the purpose of Lorenz' study?
- to investigate the evolutionary explanation of attachment suggesting infants are pre programmed to form an attachment the second they are born
- supports idea that infants have an attachment gene and that imprinting occurs not long after birth
61
what was the aim of Lorenz' study?
- to investigate the mechanisms of imprinting on the first moving object met by infants
62
what are the procedures of Lorenz' imprinting study?
- split a large clutch of greylag goose eggs into two batches
- one batch was born naturally with the mother and the other batch was hatched in an incubator with Lorenz
- gosling's were marked per batch and their behaviour was recorded
- he placed the all gosling's under an upturned box and this was then removed
63
what were the findings of Lorenz' imprinting study?
- after birth, naturally hatched goslings followed their mother whilst the incubator hatched goslings went straight to Lorenz
- bonds were proved to be irreversible
- process of imprinting occurred only a short period of time after birth (4 to 25 hours)
64
what were the conclusions of Lorenz' study?
- imprinting is a form of attachment exhibited by mainly nidifugous birds
- close contact is kept with the first large moving object encountered
65
what is imprinting?
- an innate readiness to develop a strong bond with the mother (carer) which takes place during the critical period
66
what research support is there for imprinting?
- other studies have demonstrated imprinting in animals
- Guiton demonstrated that leghorn chicks, exposed to yellow rubber gloves whilst being fed during their first few weeks, became imprinted on the gloves
- young animals are not born with a predisposition to imprint on a specific type of object but any moving thing that is present during the critical period
- also found male chickens tried to later mate with the gloves (imprinting is linked to later reproductive behaviour)
67
what criticisms are there for imprinting?
- disputes over characteristics of imprinting
- not irreversible, Guiton found that he could reverse the imprinting in chickens that initially tried to mate with yellow rubber gloves
- after spending time with their own species they were able to engage in normal sexual behaviour with other chickens
- suggests learning can take place rapidly, with little conscious effort, and is fairly reversible
68
how can attachment be explained?
- learning theory
- Bowlby's monotropy theory
69
what kind of explanation of attachment is learning theory?
- behaviourist explanation
70
what kind of explanation of attachment is Bowlby's monotropy theory?
- evolutionary explanation
71
what does the learning theory suggest about behaviour and attachment?
- all behaviour is learned
- food is the basis of attachment
72
how does the learning theory explain attachment?
- classical conditioning
- operant conditioning
73
what is classical conditioning?
- learning occurs through association
- produces involuntary responses
74
what is operant conditoning?
- learning occurs through reinforcement
- shaping behaviour through reward and punishment
75
how does classical conditional work?
1. unconditioned stimulus (UCS) produces an unconditioned response (UCR)
2. neutral stimulus (NS) produces no response initially
3. NS is combined with the UCS to produce UCR
4. NS becomes associated with the UCS in the acquisition stage and becomes the conditioned stimulus (CS)
5. CS now produces a conditioned response (CR)
76
how does classical conditioning show attachment?
1. food produces response of pleasure in the infant
2. mother gives the infant food producing the same response of pleasure
3. mother and food become associated in the acquisition stage
4. mother alone now produces the response of pleasure from the baby
77
what study demonstrates classical conditioning?
- Pavlov's Dogs
78
how does operant conditioning work?
- combination of positive and negative reinforcement and punishment makes a good behaviour more likely to be repeated and a bad behaviour less likely to be repeated
79
what is reinforcement?
- something in the environment that strengthens a particular behaviour (more likely to recur)
80
what is positive reinforcement?
- when a positive consequence is added
- ie. food
81
what is negative reinforcement?
- when something unpleasant is removed
- ie. hunger
82
what is punishment (in terms of the learning theory)?
- undesirable consequence follows a behaviour
83
what is positive punishment?
- something bad is added
84
what is negative punishment?
- something good is removed
85
in terms of attachment, what part of operant conditioning is most relevant?
- negative reinforcement
- ie. removal of hunger as food is the basis of attachment
86
what study demonstrates operant conditioning?
- Skinner's box (1938)
- hungry rat would quickly learn to press a lever that dispenses food pellets
87
what does Bowlby's monotropy theory suggest about attachment?
- it is an innate behaviour needed for survival
- adaptive
88
what are the key aspects of Bowlby's monotropy theory?
- monotropy
- social releasers
- innate
- template for future relationships
- critical period
89
what does monotropy suggest about attachment (Bowlby's monotropy theory)?
- infants form one main attachment
- most significant
- suggests the father has no significant emotional attachment to the child
90
what do social releasers suggest about attachment (Bowlby's monotropy theory)?
- that infants need attention from their primary care giver
- ie. smile, scream and cry
- encourages caregiver to care for the child
- basis for attachment to form
91
how does Bowlby suggest his monotropy theory of attachment is a template for future relationships?
- basis of our expectations for future relationships
- continuity hypothesis
- internal working model
92
what did Bowlby suggest was the critical period for when attachments need to be formed according to his monotropy theory?
- attachment is most likely to take place within 3 to 6 months
- also known as the sensitive period as Bowlby suggests after 2 to 3 years old, no new attachments can be formed
93
why did Bowlby's monotropy theory suggest we form attachments?
- for survival
94
what did Bowlby's monotropy theory suggest are the consequences of attachment?
- forms an internal working model
95
how is attachment instinctive?
- both mother and infant have the biological need to stay in constant contact and proximity
- mother inherits a genetic blueprint to behave a certain way to the child
- adaptive (innate drive to be attached as more likely to survive)
96
what strengths are there for Bowlby's monotropy theory?
attachment is adaptive
- Bowlby suggested attachments develop when infants are older than 3 months
- late mechanism protects infants (adaptive leading to survival)
- when humans start to crawl (6 months), attachment is vital
multiple attachments vs monotropy
- Bowlby's contradicts tht the multiple attachment model integrated into one single internal working model
- Bowlby stated secondary attachments do contribute to social development, but healthy development requires one central attachment
- supports concept of monotropy
97
how does the continuity hypothesis provide support for Bowlby's monotropy theory?
- Bowlby suggests one outcome of attachment is its effect on subsequent relationships
- Sroufe et al tested this with their Parent-Child study
- followed participants from infancy to late adolescence and found continuity
- higher rate of social competence in more secure attachments in infancy
- Hazan and Shaver's Love Quiz
98
what was Hazan and Shaver's Love Quiz?
- 600 participants carried out a love quiz
- gave information about their early attachments (A) and later adult relationships (B)
- correlational study
99
what did the love quiz study find?
- strong relationship between childhood attachment type and adult attachment types
- those who had secure childhood attachments (56%) were often described as trustworthy and felt confident they were loved in adulthood
- anxious avoidant (25%) types doubted the existence of love
- 19% classified as insecure resistant
100
what did the love quiz study aim to investigate?
- the continuity hypothesis and the internal working model
- effect on the internal working model on adult relationships
- influence on early attachment
101
who criticised Hazan and Shaver's love quiz and why?
Zimmerman et al
- longitudinal study of 44 children, assessing attachments at 12 to 18 months and then interviewed them at 16 years old, as well as recording life events
- childhood attachments did not predict attachments in adolescence, a more important predictor was life events
- suggests continuity hypothesis may only apply when life events do not impact the child
102
what study did Mary Ainsworth carry out?
- Strange situation
103
what was he aim of Ainsworth's strange situaton?
- to investigate and classify attachment type by conducting a controlled observation of how infants (aged between 9 and 18 months) would behave when put in a condition of mild stress and novelty
104
what was the procedure of Ainsworth's Strange Situation?
- involved 8 episodes lasting 3 minutes each, showing particular behaviours
- data was collected by observers using a video recorder and a one way mirror
- each behaviour was scored on intensity between 1 and 7
105
what were the particular behaviours Ainsworth wished to demonstrate during the strange situation?
- separation anxiety
- stranger anxiety
- reunion behaviour
- exploratory behaviour
106
what are a few of the 8 episodes Ainsworth demonstrated during the strange situation?
- stranger enters and talks to parent
- parent leaves infant alone
- parent returns, greets infants and offers comfort
107
what were the findings of Ainsworth's strange situation?
- explored a total of 106 US middle class infants and found exploratory behaviour declined in all infants throughout the episodes, and crying increased
- found three main attachment types
108
what were the three attachment types Ainsworth found from the strange situation?
- secure attachment (type B)
- insecure avoidant attachment (type A)
- insecure resistant attachment (type C)
109
what percentage of infants did Ainsworth's strange situation classify as having secure attachments?
66%
110
what percentage of infants did Ainsworth's strange situation classify as having insecure-avoidant attachments?
22%
111
what percentage of infants did Ainsworth's strange situation classify as having insecure-avoidant attachments?
12%
112
what does having a secure attachment mean according to Ainsworth's strange situation?
- infants are harmonious and cooperative with carer
- mild separation protest
- show stranger anxiety
- easily soothed by carer upon reunion
- reluctant to leave caregivers side initially
- use carer as a secure base to explore
113
what does having a insecure-avoidant attachment mean according to Ainsworth's strange situation?
- avoid interaction and intimacy
- little response to separation
- don't seek proximity upon reunion with carer
- high levels of anxiousness
- explore with or without carers prescence
114
what does having a insecure-resistant attachment mean according to Ainsworth's strange situation?
- immediate and intense distress with separation from carer
- seeks and resist intimacy
- display conflicting desires for and against contact upon reunion with carer
115
what were the conclusions of Ainsworth's strange situation?
- most US infants are securely attached
- mothers behaviour has a role in determining type of attachment
116
what are the strengths of Ainsworth's strange situation?
observations had high reliability
- data is consistent
- inter observer reliability is high
- determined by comparing the ratings made by a panel of experienced judges
found almost perfect agreement when rating exploratory behaviours (0.94 agreement between raters)
- accepted as being reliable
117
what are the limitations of Ainsworth's strange situation?
other types of attachment
- overlooked a fourth type of attachment
- Mairi and Soloman analysed over 200 strange situation videotapes and proposed the insecure-disorganised type D attachment
- characterised by lack of consistent patterns of social behaviour
- Van IJzendoorm et al supported this with a meta analysis of 80 US studies
- found 15% insecure disorganised
- suggests Ainsworth's original conclusions were oversimplified and don't account for all attachment behaviours
118
what are cultural variations?
- different groups of people differ in social practices therefore behaviour
119
what is inter cultural variation?
- differences of findings between cultures
120
what is intra cultural variation?
- differences of findings within cultures
121
what did Van IJzendoorn and Kroonenburg do?
- conducted a meta analysis of the findings of many studies which explored attachment behaviour
- a lot of these had used Ainsworth's strange situation
122
what was the aim of Van IJzendoorn and Kroonenburg's study?
- to investigate whether inter cultural and intra cultural variations existed within attachment studies
123
what were the findings of Van IJzendoorn and Kroonenburg's study?
- found small differences in inter cultural variations
- intra cultural variations were 1.5x greater than inter cultural variations
- secure attachments types were the most common classification
- insecure avoidant attachment was the second most common except in Japan and Israel
124
what research support is there for cultural similarities in attachment?
Tronick et al
- explored an African tribe
- culture involved living in extended family groups whereby infants were breastfed by multiple women but mainly fed by their mother at night
- findings suggest that despite differences in childcare practices, after 6 months, the infant still displayed one primary attachment
125
what research support is there for cultural differences in attachment?
Takahashi
- conducted strange situation with 60 Japanese infants
- found infants showed similar secure attachment to that of the original study conducted with US infants
- however, Japanese infants showed no sign of insecure avoidant attachment but high rates of insecure resistant attachment (32%)
- 90% showed extreme stress to the point that the study had to end
126
what did the findings of research into attachment types in different cultures suggest?
- cultural variations in attachment may be a result of different childcare practices
127
what is a limitation of research into cultural variations?
all attachment styles are measured with strange situation
- criticised as imposed etic, as strange situation is based on Western values and childcare practices
- Takahashi infants had to stop halfway as it was too distressing for them which reduced the stages explored
- argues the tool is not measuring attachment style but just the infant's reaction to a very strange and stressful situation
128
what is Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation?
- prediction of the long term consequences of separating from the primary caregiver (mother)
- link between separation and emotional maladjustment
129
what are the key aspects of Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis?
- importance of continuous relationships
- effects on development
- affectionless psychopathy
- separation anxiety
- consequences
- 44 Thieves study
130
what did Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis suggest about the importance of a continuous relationship?
- relationship must be continuous in the first 5 years
- critical period of 2 and a half years
- discontinuous relationships disrupt the development of the attachment
- after 5 years of age, children are better able to cope with separation
131
how does lack of a continuous relationship affect development according to Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis?
- unable to develop a warm, intimate and continuous relationship with their mother
- long term negative effects on their social, emotional and intellectual development
132
what is affectionless psychopathy according to Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis?
- inability to experience guilt, have deep feelings for others
- consequent lack of meaningful interpersonal relationships
133
what does the effect of having separation anxiety due to discontinuous relationships with carers suggest according to Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis?
- individual will fear that separation will occur again in the future
- lead to increasing aggressive behaviour, clinginess, detachment and psychosomatic reactions
- proposed by Richards (1987)
134
what did Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis suggest about the consequences of separating from carers at an early age?
- would be severely negative and irreversible
- substitute mothering could moderate these negative effects
135
what was the aim of Bowlby's 44 thieves study?
- to test maternal deprivation hypothesis
- correlational study
136
what was the procedure of Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis?
- analysed case histories of many of his patients in Child Guidance Clinic
- all children were emotionally maladjusted
- he studied 88 of them
- half had been caught stealing and the other half were a control group
- suggested some of the thieves had experienced frequent early separations from their mothers and were affectionless psychopaths
- lacked normal signs of affection, shame or sense of responsibility
137
what were the findings of Bowlby's 44 thieves study?
- 86% of the affectionless thieves experienced frequent early separations from their mothers
- often consisted of continual or repeated stays in foster homes or hospitals
138
what are strengths of Bowlby's 44 thieves study?
real world application
- positive impact on post war thinking about childrearing and also how children were looked after in hospitals
- before, visiting was discouraged or forbidden
- Robertson filmed a 2 year old girl during her 8 day period in hospital, found she was frequently distressed and begged to go home often
- led to a major social change in the way children were cared for in hospitals
long term effects support
- experiencing early maternal deprivation can lead to increased likelihood of negative outcomes (not always definite)
- study of women who had experienced separation from their mothers (ie. due to maternal death, etc) found 25% experienced depression or anxiety compared to 15% who had not been separated
- mental health problems were much greater in women whose loss occurred before 6 years of age
- supports critical period and that deprivation early on can lead to greater vulnerabilities
139
what is a slight limitation of Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis?
physical and emotional separation
- ie. physically present mother with depression may be unable to provide emotional care
- study of mothers who were severely depressed found 55% of their children (mean age of 32 months) were insecurely attached compared to 29% of a non depressed group
- suggests emotional separation can also lead to deprivation
140
what is an institution?
- place where people sleep, as opposed to going to daily
- ie. an orphanage
141
what did Rutter and Sonuga-Barke wish to investigate?
- the effects of institutionalisation
142
what was the procedure of Rutter and Sonuga-Barke's study into institutionalisation?
- studied 165 Romanian children who had spent their early lives in institutions
- 111 were adopted before the age of 2 years and 54 by the age of 4
- tested at regular intervals to assess their physical, cognitive and social development
- progress had been compared to a control group of 52 British children adopted before the age of 6 months
143
what were the findings of Rutter and Sonuga-Barke's study into institutionalisation?
- at the time of adoption, Romanian orphans lagged behind their British counterparts on all measures of development
- smaller, weighed less and classified as mentally retarded
- by 4 years old, some had caught up (Romanian orphans adopted before 6 months of age)
- follow ups found significant deficits remain in a minority of orphans who remained in institutions after the age of 6 months (many showed disinhibited attachments and had problems with peer relationships)
144
what is disinhibited attachment?
- child does not discriminate between anybody in seeking an attachment figure
- display over friendliness and attention seeking behaviours
145
what are the main effects of institutionalisation?
- physical underdevelopment
- intellectual under functioning
- disinhibited attachment
- poor parenting in later life
146
what is a limitation of research into the effects of institutionalisation?
individual differences
- may not be true that all children who experience this are unable to recover
- Rutter et al suggested it might be that some children received special attention in their institution which could enable them to cope better
- not possible to conclude that institutionalisation inevitably leads to an inability to form attachments
147
what is a strength of research into the effects of institutionalisation?
value of longitudinal studies
- these studies followed the lives of children over many years
- without these studies, we may mistakenly conclude that there are some major effects due to early institutional care, whereas some of the studies show that some effects disappear after sufficient time and high quality care
- wrong to assume institutionalisation inevitably causes negative effects
148
what two studies research the influence of early attachments?
- Hazan and Shaver's love quiz
- Sroufe Minnesota study
149
though both Hazan and Shver, and Sroufe were studying the same overall influence of early attachments, how did they differ?
- Hazan and Shaver were investigating its influence on adult relationships
- Sroufe was investigating its influence on childhood relationships and development
150
what was Sroufe's minnesota study's aim?
- to investigate the relationship between early attachment type and social and emotional development (in their early years)
151
what was the procedure of Sroufe's minnesota study?
- followed and interviewed children and teachers through their early life
- monitored the children through this
- longitudinal study
152
what were the findings of Sroufe's minnesota study?
- those classified as having secure attachments were later rated as more socially competent
- suggests internal working model and ability to form healthy relationships depends on their childhood relationships
- positive expectations of relationships, good self esteem, confidence and trust others (internal working model)
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what is the internal working model?
- template for future relationships and expectations
- AKA a schema about relationships
- infant learns about a relationship from experience and what they are and how each person behaves in one
- 'operable' model of self and attachment partner
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what behaviours are influenced by the internal working model?
- childhood friendships
- poor parenting
- romantic relationships
- mental health
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how are childhood friendships influenced by the internal working model?
- Minnesota study found continuity between early attachment and later behaviour
- securely attached infants have higher expectations that others are friendly/ trusting
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how is poor parenting behaviours influenced by the internal working model?
- Harlow's monkeys shooed a link between poor attachment and later difficulties in parenting
- Quinton et al showed the same with humans
- lack of an internal working model means individuals lack a reference point to form relationships with their own children later
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how are romantic relationships influenced by the internal working model?
- Hazan and Shaver demonstrated a link between early attachment type and later relationships
- individuals who were securely attached had long lasting romantic relationships with others in the future
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how is mental health influenced by the internal working model?
- lack of attachment in the critical period results in a lack of an internal working model
- children with attachment disorder (ie. disinhibited attachment) have no preferred attachment figure and experience severe neglect
- this had recently been classed as a distinct psychiatric condition
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what limitations are their for research into the influence of early attachment?
retrospective clarification
- adults recollection may be flawed when asked to recall early lives
- memories of the past aren't always accurate
overly determinist
- Hazan and Shaver suggests very early experiences have a fixed effect of later adult relationships
- however this is not the case as other researchers have found plenty of instances where participants were experiencing happy adult relationships despite not having secure attachments as infants
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how can retrospective classification also be used as a strength of the influence of early attachments?
- longitudinal studies also support Hazan and Shaver's findings
- Simpson et al found participants that were securely attached as infants were rated as having higher social competence as children, were closer to their friends at 16 and were more expressive and emotionally attached to their romantic partners in early adulthood
