attachment

Question 1

Reciprocity and interactional synchrony - early interactions

Answer 1

From a very early age babies and caregivers have intense and meaningful interactions

These quality of these interactions is associated with the successful development of attachments

Two kinds of interaction: reciprocity (taking turns and respond) and interactional synchrony (simultaneous imitation).

Question 2

reciprocity - interactions involve reciprocity

Answer 2

Reciprocity is achieved when baby and caregiver respond to and elicit responses from each other

for example, a caregiver responds to a baby’s smile by saying something and then the baby responds by making some sounds of pleasure.

Question 3

reciprocity - alert phases are times for interaction .

Answer 3

babies have ‘alert phases’ in which they signal (e.g by making eye contact) that they are ready for interaction

Mothers successfully respond to their babys alertness around two thirds of the time (Feldman and Eidelman 2007)

from around 3 months this interaction becomes more intense and reciprocal.

Question 4

reciprocity - babies have an active role

Answer 4

Traditional views of childhood have seen the baby in a passive role, receiving care from an adult

however it seems that babies are active participants. Both caregiver and baby can initiate interactions and take turns to do so

e.g brazelton et al described this interaction as a ‘dance’ because it is just like a couples dance where where each partner responds to the other persons moves.

Question 5

interactional synchrony - interactions involve synchrony

Answer 5

People are said to be synchronised when they carry out the same actions simultaneously

a formal definition is ‘the temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behaviour’ (Feldman 2007) e.g caregiver and baby mirror each others behaviour

it takes place when baby and caregiver interact in such a way that their actions and emotions mirrior the other.

Question 6

interactional synchrony - the beginnings of IS

Answer 6

Meltzoff and Moore (1977) observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in babies as young as two weeks old

adult displayed one of three facial expressions or one of three gestures. filmed the babies response

babies’ expression and gestures were more likely to mirror those of the adults than chance would predict.

Question 7

interactional synchrony - importance of attachment

Answer 7

Isabella et al (1989) observed 30 mothers and babies together and assessed the degree of synchrony

the researchers also assessed the quality of mother-baby attachment

they found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attachment e.g the emotional intensity of the relationship.

Question 8

strength of research on caregiver infant interactions research (filmed observation)

Answer 8

• the use of filmed observations
  Mother-baby interactions are usually filmed. often from multiple angles. very fine details of behaviour can be recorded and analysed later. therefore it is unlikely that the researchers will miss seeing key behaviours

also babies don’t know they are being observed, so their behaviour does not change in response to observation (generally the main problem for overt observations)

this means that studies have good reliability and validity.

Question 9

limitation of the research (difficult interpreting)

Answer 9

• the difficulty in interpreting a baby’s behaviours

it is hard to observe babies behaviour because they are not very co-ordinated. we just observe small gestures and small changes in expression

it is also hard to interpret the meaning of babies’ movements e.g deciding if a hand movement is a response to the caregiver or a random twitch

this means we cannot be certain that any particular interactions observed between the baby are caregiver are meaningful.

Question 10

another limitation + counterpoint (no importance / still some evidence)

Answer 10

• simply observing a behaviour does not tell us its developmental importance

Feldman (2012) points out that synchrony (and reciprocity) simply describe behaviours that occur at the same time

these are robust phenomena in the sense that they can be reliable observed, but this may not be useful as it does not tell us their purpose

this means that we cannot be certain from observational research alone that reciprocity or synchrony are important in development

CP: there is some evidence from other sources e.g Isabella et al to suggest that good levels of reciprocity and synchrony are associated with good quality attachments
this means that these early interactions are likely to have importance for development.

Question 11

Schaffer and emerson proposed 4 identifiable stages of attachment. Stages are based on a longitudinal observational study of 60 Glasgow babies.

stage 1 asocial stage (first few weeks)

Answer 11

babys behaviour towards people and inanimate objects is quite similar
some preference for familiar people (more easily called by them)
babies are also happier in the presence of people
at this stage the baby is forming bonds with certain people and these form the basis for later attachments.

Question 12

Stage 2: Indiscriminate Attachment (2-7 months)

Answer 12

babies now display more observable social behaviour, with a preference for people rather than inanimate objects

they recognise and prefer familiar people

babies do not show stranger or separation anxiety

attachment is indiscriminate because its the same towards all (they will accept comfort from any person).

Question 13

stage 3: specific attachment (from around 7 months)

Answer 13

stranger anxiety and separation anxiety when separated from one particular person. baby is said to have formed a specific attachment with the primary attachment figure

this is not necessarily the person the child spends the most time with but is in most cases the person who offers the most interaction and responds to the babys ‘signals’ with the most skill (the mother in 65% of cases) - if a child is adopted before 7 months they are more likely to form an attachment.

Question 14

stage 4: multiple attachments (by one year)

Answer 14

secondary attachments with other adults form shortly after

in Shaffer and Emersons study, 29% of babys had secondary (multiple) attachments within a month of forming a primary (specific) attachment

by the age of one year the majority of infants had multiple secondary attachments.

Question 15

Shaffer and Emerson (1964) stages of attachment - procedure

Answer 15

60 babies from Glasgow, most from working class families. Researchers visited babies and mothers at home every month for a year and again at 18 months

seperation anxiety measured by asking mothers about their childrens behaviour during everyday seperations e.g adult leaving the room

stranger anxiety was measured by asking mothers questions about their childrens anxiety response to unfamiliar adults.

Question 16

Shaffer and Emerson (1964) stages of attachment - findings and conclusions

Answer 16

babies developed attachment through a sequence of stages, from asocial through to a specific attachment to multiple attachments

the specific attachment tended to be the person who was most interactive and sensitive to babies’ signals and facial expressions i.e reciprocity. this was not necessarily the person the baby spent the most time with.

Question 17

Strength of Schaffer and Emerson’s study + CP (external validity / biased)

Answer 17

• it has external validity
  most of the observations (not stranger anxiety) were made by parents during ordinary activities and reported to researchers

the alternative would be to have observers present in the babies’ homes. this may have distracted babies or made them feel anxious

this means it is highly likely that the participants behaved naturally while being observed

CP: mothers may have been biased in what they reported e.g they might not have noticed when their baby was showing signs of anxiety or may have misremembered it

this means that even if the babies behaved naturally their behaviour may not have been accurately recorded.

Question 18

limitation of Schaffer and Emersons study (asocial)

Answer 18

• poor evidence for the asocial stage
  because of their stage of physical development young babies have poor co-ordination and are fairly immobile

if babies less than 2 months old felt anxiety in everyday situations they might have displayed this in quite subtle, hard to observe ways
this makes it difficult for mothers to accurately report signs of anxiety and attachment from this age group

this means the babies might actually be quite social, but, because of flawed methods, they appear to be asocial.

Question 19

Strength of Schaffer and Emerson’s study (real world application day care)

Answer 19

• real world application to day care
  in the early stages (asocial and indiscriminate attachments) babies can be comforted by any skilled adult

but if a child starts day care later, during the stage of specific attachments, care from an unfamiliar adult may cause distress and longer term problems

this means that schaffer and Emersons stages can help parents making day care decisions.

Question 20

extra limitation of schaffer and Emersons study (generalisability glasgow)

Answer 20

• generalisability
  Schaffer and Emerson based their stages on a single but large scale study of babies’ development conducted in working class Glasgow

however, child-rearing practices vary considerably according to cultural and historical context e.g multiple attachments is the norm in collectivist countries (van IJzendoorn 1993)

this means that some of the observations from this study may not generalise to other populations.

Question 21

Animal studies of attachment- Lorenz (1952) imprinting - procedure

Answer 21

Konrad Lorenz randomly divided a large clutch of goose eggs:
- one half were hatched with the mother goose in their natural environment
- the other half hatched in an incubator where the first moving object they saw was Lorenz
mixed all goslings together to see whom they would follow
Lorenz also observed birds and their later courtship behaviour.

Question 22

Animal studies of attachment- Lorenz (1952) imprinting- findings

Answer 22

incubator group followed Lorenz, control group followed the mother

Lorenz identified a critical period in which imprinting needs to take place e.g few hours after hatching

if imprinting did not occur within that time, chicks did not attach themselves to the mother figure and they will not imprint in the future

sexual imprinting also occurs whereby the birds acquire a template of the desirable characteristics required in a mate.

Question 23

Harlow (1958) importance of contact comfort - procedure

Answer 23

Harry Harlow reared 16 rhesus ( because they’re most similar to humans) monkeys with two wire model ‘mothers’
- condition 1- milk was dispensed by the plain-wire ‘mother’
-condition2- milk was dispensed by the cloth covered ‘mother’
the monkeys’ preferences were measured

to measure attachment-like behaviour, Harlow observed how the monkeys reacted when placed in frightening situations. For example, Harlow added a noisy mechanical teddy bear to the environment

Harlow and his colleagues also continued to study the monkeys who had been deprived of their ‘real’ mother into adulthood.

Question 24

Harlow (1958) importance of contact comfort-findings

Answer 24

Baby monkeys cuddled the cloth covered mother in preference to the plain - wire regardless of which dispensed milk. This ingests that contact comfort was of more importance than food when it came to attachment behaviour

the monkeys sought comfort from the cloth covered mother when frightened

as adults, the monkeys who had been deprived of their real mothers suffered severe consequences- they were more aggressive, less sociable and less skilled in mating than other monkeys.

Question 25

strength of Lorenz imprinting (chicks)

Answer 25

- support for the concept of imprinting Regolin and Vallortigara exposes chicks to simple shape combinations that moved a range of shape combinations were then moved in front of them and they followed the original most closely this suggests that young animals are born with an innate mechanism to imprint on a moving object in the critical window of development, as predicted by Lorenz.

Question 26

limitation of Lorenz imprinting (birds vs humans)

Answer 26

- generalising from birds to humans the mammalian attachment system is quite different from imprinting in birds for example, mammalian mothers show more emotional attachment to their young this means that it may not be appropriate to generalise Lorenz' ideas bout imprinting to humans.

Question 27

extra evaluation - strength of Lorenz (human behaviour)

Answer 27

the concept of imprinting can explain some human behaviour for example 'baby duck syndrome' in which computer users become attached to their first operating system this means that imprinting ia. meaningful process in humans as well as birds.

Question 28

strength of Harlows study (real world value zoos)

Answer 28

- his research has real world value it has helped social workers and clinical psychologists understand that a lack of bonding experience may be a risk factor in in child development thus allowing them to intervene to prevent poor outcomes we also now understand the importance of attachment figures for baby monkeys in zoos and breeding programmes this means that Harlows research is not just theoretical but also practical.

Question 29

limitation of Harlow (monkeys to humans)

Answer 29

- generalising from monkeys to humans moneys are clearly more similar to humans than Lorenz' geese and all mammals share some similarities in their attachment systems however they are not human and in some ways the human mind and behaviour are much more complex this means that it may not be appropriate to generalise Harlows findings to humans.

Question 30

extra evaluation of Harlow - limitation (ethical)

Answer 30

- ethical issues Harlows procedures caused severe long term distress to his monkey participants, though the research led to useful applications however the findings and conclusions have important theoretical and practical applications this suggests that in spite of its benefits, Harlows research perhaps should not have been carried out.

Question 31

explanations of attachment - learning theory- Dollard and Miller (1950) - importance of food

Answer 31

this is sometimes called the 'cupboard love' explanation because it emphasises the importance of food in attachment formation. children learn to love whoever feeds them.

Question 32

explanations of attachment - role of classical conditioning

Answer 32

Classic conditioning involves learning to associate two stimuli. in attachment: UCS (food) leads to UCR (a feeling of pleasure). This response is not learned so it is an unconditional response (unlearned).

Question 33

explanations of attachment - baby learns that mother produces a sense of pleasure

Answer 33

a caregiver starts as a neutral stimulus e.g something that produces no response however when the caregiver provides food over time, he/she becomes associated with 'food'. so the neutral stimulus becomes a CS once conditioning has taken place the sight of the caregiver produces a CR of pleasure. According to a learning theorist, the conditioned pleasure response is the basis of love now an attachment has formed and the caregiver becomes an attachment figure.

Question 34

explanations of attachment - role of operant conditioning

Answer 34

operant conditioning explains why babies cry for comfort (an important building block for attachment) crying leads to a response from the caregiver e.g feeding. as long as the caregiver provides the correct response, crying is reinforced because it produces a pleasurable consequence.

Question 35

explanations of attachment - negative reinforcement

Answer 35

at the same time as the baby is reinforced for crying, the caregiver receives negative reinforcement because the crying stops (negative reinforcement is escaping from something unpleasant, which is reinforcing) this interplay of positive/negative reinforcement strengthens an attachment.

Question 36

explanations of attachment - drive reduction

Answer 36

Hunger is a primary drive, an innate biological motivator. we are motivated to eat to reduce the hunger drive attachment is a secondary drive learned by an association between the caregiver and the satisfaction of a primary drive. Sears et al (1957) suggested that, as caregivers provide food, the primary drive of hunger becomes generalised to them.

Question 37

limitation of learning theory (counter evidence lorenz)

Answer 37

- counter evidence from animal studies Lorenz' geese imprinted on the first moving object they saw, regardless of whether this object was associated with food. Harlows monkeys, when given a choice attached to a soft surrogate in preference to a wire one which provided milk in both these animal studies, imprinting/attachment did not develop as a result of feeding this shows that factors other than feeding are important in attachment formation.

Question 38

another limitation of learning theory (counter from human studies)

Answer 38

- counter evidence from human studies Schaffer and Emerson showed that for many babies their main attachment was not to the person who fed them also, Isabella et al found that interactional synchrony predicted attachment quality this again suggests that other factors are more important in attachment formation than feeding.

Question 39

strength of learning theory (warmth comfort)

Answer 39

-some elements of conditioning could still be involved It seems unlikely that association with food is central to attachment. however, conditioning may still play some role in attachment for example a babys choice of primary attachment figure may be determined by the fact that a caregiver becomes associated with warm and comfort this means that conditioning could still be important in choice of attachment figures, though not the process of attachment formation.

Question 40

counter point (active role)

Answer 40

however, both classical and operant conditioning see the baby as playing a relatively passive role in attachment development, simply responding to associations. however, research suggests that babies take a very active role in the interactions that produce attachment. for example, they initiate interactions (Feldman and Eidelman) this suggests that learning theory may not be an adequate explanation of any aspect of attachment.

Question 41

the role of the father - primary attachement (usually w mothers)

Answer 41

Schaffer and Emerson found that the majority of babies became attached to their mother first (this happens around 7 months) in only 3% of cases the father was the first was the first sole object of attachment in 27% of cases the father was the joint first object of attachment w the mother.

Question 42

role of the father - 75% eventually form secondary attachments w father

Answer 42

however it appears fathers go on to become important attachment figures. in 75% of babies studied an attachment was formed with the father by the age of 18 months this was indicated by the fact the babies protested when their father walked away, a sign of attachment.

Question 43

the role of the father - a distinctive role for the father

Answer 43

Grossman et al (2002) carried out a longitudinal study where babies attachments were studied until their late teens. the researchers looked at both the parents' behaviour and its relationship to the quality of their babys later attachments to other people this research found that quality of attachment with the father was less important for adolescent attachment than the quality of attachment with the mother therefore fathers may be less important in long term emotional development however, grossmann et al also found that the quality of fathers' play with babies was related to quality of adolescent attachments this suggests that fathers have a different role in attachment, one that is more to do with play and stimulation and less to do with emotional care.

Question 44

the role of fathers - fathers can be primary attachment figures

Answer 44

some evidence suggests that when fathers do take on the role of being the main caregiver they adopt behaviours more typical of mothers field (1978) filmed 4 month old babies and found that primary caregiver fathers, like mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding babies than secondary caregiver fathers these behaviours are related to interactional synchrony and the formation of an emotional attachment (Isabella et al).

Question 45

the role of fathers - level of response is most important

Answer 45

smiling, imitating, and holding babies (interactional synchrony) are behaviours that are important in building a primary (emotional) attachment with a baby so it seems the father can be the more 'emotional' attachment figure the key to the attachment relationship is the level of responsiveness not the gender of the parent.

Question 46

limitation of research on role of the father (confusion over research)

Answer 46

- confusion over research questions some psychologists want to understand the role of fathers as secondary attachment figures. but others are more concerned with fathers as a primary attachment figure the former have tended to see fathers as behaving differently from mothers and having a distinct role. the latter have found that fathers can take on a 'maternal role' this means psychologists cannot easily answer the question what is the role of the father.

Question 47

another limitation of father (conflicting evidence)

Answer 47

-conflicting evidence from different methodologies Grossman et al suggest fathers have a distinct role in children development involving play and stimulation however, if fathers play an important role we would expect children that grow up without a father to turn out differently than those that do. however, other studies e.g Mcallum found that children without a father do not develop differently from children in two parent heterosexual families this means the question of whether fathers have a distinct role remains unanswered.

Question 48

counter point of father (other families adopt)

Answer 48

findings may not be in conflict. fathers may typically take on particular roles in two parent heterosexual families. other families adapt to not having fathers this means that findings may be clear after all-there may be a distinctive role for fathers when present, but families adapt to not having one.

Question 49

strength of research on the role of the father (parenting advice)

Answer 49

-using findings in parenting advice mothers may feel pressured to stay at home and fathers to focus on work. this may not be the best situation for all families research on the flexibility of the role of the father can be used to offer reassuring advice to parents this means that parental anxiety about the role of fathers can be reduced and parenting decisions become easier.

Question 50

Bowlby's mono tropic theory of attachment- attachment is innate, like imprinting

Answer 50

Bowlby gave an evolutionary explanation - that attachment is an innate system that gives a survival advantage imprinting and attachment evolved because they ensure young animals stay close to their caregivers and thus protects them from hazards.

Question 51

bowlbys theory described as mono tropic

Answer 51

mono tropic = having a primary attachment figure bowlbys theory is described as montropic because of the emphasis on the childs attachment to one caregiver this attachment is different to others and more important bowalby believed that the more time a baby spent with this primary attachment figure/ 'mother figure the better for two reasons: 1) the law of continuity - the more constant a childs care, the better the quality of attachment 2) law of accumulated separation - the effects of every seperation add up. so, the 'safest dose is therefore a zero dose'.

Question 52

bowlby- babies are born with social releasers

Answer 52

Bowlby suggested that babies are born with a set of innate 'cute' behaviours e.g smiling that encourage attention from adults the purpose of these social releasers is to activate adult social interaction i.e make an adult attach to the baby. Bowlby recognised that attachment is a reciprocal system.

Question 53

bowlby - there us a critical period

Answer 53

Bowlby proposed that there is a critical period of about two years when the infant attachment system is active in fact, he viewed this as more of a sensitive period a child is maximally sensitive at 6 months and this may extend up to the age of 2 years. if an attachment has not formed in this time, a child will find it much harder to form one later.

Question 54

bowlby - the first attachment forms an internal working model of relationships

Answer 54

bowlby argued that the child will form a mental representation(internal working model) of the relationship with their primary caregiver. this internal working model serves as a 'template' for what their relationships are like a child whose first experience is a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver will tend to form an expectation that all relationships are loving and reliable. however a child whose first relationship involves poor treatment they may expect this treatment from others the internal working model may also affect the child's later ability to be a parent themselves.

Question 55

limitation of Bowlby's theory (lacks validity)

Answer 55

- the concept of montropy lack validity the relationship with the primary attachment figure may simply be stronger than other attachments, rather than different in quality as bowlby believed other family members may well develop attachments with the baby that have such qualities, such as comfort and a secure base from which to explore this means that bowlby may have been wrong to suggest that there is a unique quality to a childs primary attachment.

Question 56

Strength of Bowlby's theory (evidence social releasers)

Answer 56

- evidence supporting the role of social releasers there is clear evidence that cute baby behaviours are designed to elict interaction from caregivers Brazelton et al instructed primary attachment figures to ignore their babies' social releasers babies (who were previously shown to be normally responsive) initially showed some distress, but eventually some curled up and lay motionless this supports the idea that social releasers play an important role in attachment development.

Question 57

another strength of bowalby's theory + counter point (internal working model predicts / other influences)

Answer 57

- support from the idea ion the internal working model the idea of the internal working model predicts that patterns of attachment will be passed from one generation to the next Bailey et al studied 99 mothers and their 1 year old babies. they measured mothers' attachment to their own primary attachment figures and also the attachment quality of the baby. those with poor attachment to their parents were more likely to have one year olds who were poorly attached this supports bowlbys idea that mothers' ability to form attachments to their babies is influenced by their internal working models CP: there are other influences on social development. for example a babys genetically influenced personality is important in the development of social behaviour, including their late parenting style this suggests that bowlby overemphasised the importance of the internal working model in development.

Question 58

Ainsworth and bell - the 'Strange Situation' procedure

Answer 58

Ainsworth and bell developed the strange situation as a method to assess the quality of a babys attachment to a caregiver it is a controlled observation procedure in a lab (controlled environment) with a two way mirror which psychologists can observe a babys behaviour five categories are used to judge attachment quality: 1) proximity seeking - well attached babies stay close to caregiver 2) exploration and secure base behaviour-good attachment makes a baby confident to explore, using the caregiver as point of safety 3)stranger anxiety-displayed by well attached babies 4)separation anxiety-displayed by well attached babies 5)response to reunion with the caregiver after separation for a short period of time- well attached babies are enthusiastic the procedure has seven 'episodes', each lasting 3 mins: - baby is encouraged to explore by caregiver - stranger enters and talks to caregiver, approaches baby -caregiver leaves -caregiver returns, stranger leaves -caregiver leaves baby alone - stranger returns - caregiver returns.

Question 59

Ainsworth and bell - the 'Strange Situation' findings

Answer 59

they found distinct patterns in the way babies behaved. they identified 3 main types of attachment: type B - secure attachment (60-75% of British toddlers) - baby happy to explore but seeks proximity to caregiver -shows moderate separation and stranger anxiety -requires + accepts comfort from caregiver on reunion type A - insecure avoidant attachment (20-25% of British toddlers) -baby explores freely but does not seek proximity -shows little/no serration and stranger anxiety -avoids contact at the reunion stage type C - insecure resistant attachment (3% of British toddlers) - baby explores less and seeks greater proximity - shows considerable stranger and separation anxiety - resists comfort when reunited with caregiver.

Question 60

strength of strange situation (inter rater reliability)

Answer 60

- the strange situation shows very good inter-rater reliability bick et al tested inter rater reliability for the strange situation for a team of trained observers and found agreement on attachment type in 94% of cases this may be because the Strange Situation takes place under controlled conditions and because the behavioural categories are easy to observe. therefore, we can be confident that the attachment type of an infant identified in the Strange Situation does not just depend on subjective judgements.

Question 61

limitation of strange situation (culture bound)

Answer 61

- may be a culture bound test the strange situation test might not have the same meaning in countries outside Europe and the US where it was created cultural differences in children's experiences mean they respond differently e.g Japanese babies show anxiety because they are not used to being left by caregiver and so a disproportionate number were classified as insecure resistant. however this response may nnot be reflective of their attachment type but due to the unusual nature of the experience where in Japan mother-baby seperation is rare this means it is difficult to know what the stage situation is measuring when used outside europe and the US.

Question 62

another strength of strange situation + cp (predictive validity / genetics)

Answer 62

- has good predictive validity attachment type predicts later development for example, researchers have found secure babies tend to have better outcomes than others both in later childhood an adulthood. in childhood this includes greater success at school and less involvement in bullying (Mccormick) , and they also tend to have better mental health in adulthood (Ward et al) in contrast, insecure - resistant attachment is associated with the worst outcomes e.g bullying and adult mental health problems this means that strange situation measures something real and meaningful in a childs development CP: although the strange situation measures something that predicts later development, it may be measuring genetic differences in anxiety which could account for variations in attachment behaviour in the strange situation and later development this means the strange situation may not actually measure attachment.

Question 63

cultural variations in attachment - van LJzendoorn and Kroonberg procedure

Answer 63

The researchers looked at the proportion of secure, insecure avoidant and insecure resistant attachments across a range of countries they also looked at the differences within the same countries to get an idea of variations within a culture they found 32 studies of attachment where the strange situation had been used. these were conducted in eight countries, 15 in the US overall the studies yielded results for 1990 children the data was eta analysed, results being combined and weighted for sample size.

Question 64

cultural variations in attachment - van LJzendoorn and Kroonberg findings

Answer 64

Secure attachment type B was the most common classification in all countries but ranged from 50% in china to 75% in Britain individualist countries had under 14% with type C, insecure resistant, whereas collectivist had 25% variations within same country 150% in US only 1 study found 46% securely attached whereas another study found 90%

Question 65

cultural variations in attachment - simonelli et al and jin et al - procedure

Answer 65

simonelli et al assessed 76 babies aged 12 months in Italy using strange situation to see whether the proportion of attachment types still matched previous studies in Italy jin et al compared the attachment types of 87 Korean babies to proportions in other studies.

Question 66

cultural variations in attachment - simonelli et al and jin et al - findings

Answer 66

simonelli et al found that 50% were secure, with 36% insecure avoidant. this lower rate of secure attachment may be because increasingly mothers work long hours and use more children. this shows that cultural changed can affect patterns of attachment jin et al found similar patterns of secure and insecure attachment to other studies. however within insecure categories there were differences - only one baby was avoidant. this pattern is similar to Japan and may be because both countries have similar child-rearing practices.

Question 67

strength of the studies + counter point (indigenous / not true across all)

Answer 67

- the use of indigenous researchers indigenous researchers are those from the same cultural background as the participants using indigenous researchers aids communication between researchers and participants and helps prevent misunderstandings e.g of instructions this means that there is an excellent chance that researchers and participants communicated successfully, increasing the validity of the study CP: this has not been true of all cross cultural attachment research e.g Americans Morelli et al studied patterns of attachment in Congo this means that some cross cultural attachment research may have communication errors and sense lacks validity.

Question 68

limitation of the studies (confounding variables)

Answer 68

- the impact of confounding variables studies conducted in different countries may not be matched for sample characteristics e.g studies in different countries may use children of different ages and social classes environmental variables may also differ e.g using smaller rooms which might encourage babies to explore more this means that studies assessing attachment types carried out in different countries may tell us little about cultural differences in attachment.

Question 69

another limitation of the studies (culture)

Answer 69

- imposing a test designed in one culture using a test (the strange situation) in a different cultural context from the one for which it was designed may be meaningless an imposed etic occurs when we assume an idea or a technique that works in one cultural context will work in another the strange situation was designed in the US where lack of affection at reunion represents insecure attachment. however in Germany it would be a sign of independence this means that it may be meaningless to compare attachment behaviours across countries.

Question 70

bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 70

continued emotional acre is essential - continuous emotion care from a mother or mother substitute is necessary for normal emotional and intellectual development separation may lead to maternal deprivation- bowlby believed that mother love in infancy is as important for mental health as are vitamins and protein for physical health Separation from a primary attachment figure that is prolonged and results in lack of emotional care. separation is different from deprivation - - separation means the child not being physically in the presence of the primary attachment figure - deprivation means losing emotional care as a result of the deprivation deprivation can be avoided if an alternative emotional care is offered, thus separation doesn't always cause deprivation critical period of 2 ½ years- if a child is serrated from their mother for an extended amount of time during the first 2 ½ years, then psychological damage is inevitable. there is a continuing risk up to the age of 5 intellectual development: lower iq- if a child is deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period they would experience delayed intellectual development, characterised by an abonrmally low IQ.. researchers found lower IQs in children from institutions compared to fostered children emotional development: affection less psychopathy- lack of emotional care may also lead to this - the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion towards others. this prevents the person developing normal relationships and is associated w criminality.

Question 71

bowlby 44 thieves study - procedure

Answer 71

Bowlbys 44 thieves study examined the link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation The sample in this study was 44 delinquent teenagers accused of stealing all 'thieves' were interviewed for signs of affection less psychopathy characterised by a lack of affection, guilt and empathy families were also interviewed to establish any prolonged separation from mothers.

Question 72

bowlby 44 thieves study-findings

Answer 72

-14 out of 44 of thieves were affection less psychopaths -12 if these had experienced prolonged separation from there mothers in the first 2 years of their lives - in contrast only five of the remaining 30 thieves had experienced separations. - this suggests prolonged early separation/deprivation cause affection less psychopathy.

Question 73

Limitation of Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation + CP (flawed evidence / rats)

Answer 73

- sources of evidence for maternal deprivation are flawed the 44 thieve study is flawed because it was open to bias bowlby himself assessed both deprivation and psychopathy, knowing what he hoped to find study of wartime orphans which bowlby was influenced by is flawed because he used children who had experienced early trauma and institutional care as well as prolonged seperation from primary caregivers. this introduced confounding variables this means that bowlby originally had no solid evidence on which to base his theory of maternal deprivation CP: there is some evidence from newer studies to support the theory of maternal deprivation. for example levy et al found that separating baby rats for one day had a permanent effect on their social development this means that there us now some evidence for the theory of maternal deprivation after all.

Question 74

another limitation for bowlbys theory (deprivation vs privation)

Answer 74

bowlby confused deprivation and privation - rutter made the distinction between deprivation and privation - privation has more serious affects the children bowlby studies and others he based his ideas on e.g wartime orphans may have been prived rather than deprived this means that bowlby probably exaggerated the effects of deprivation on development.

Question 75

a further limitation of bowlbys theory (sensitive period)

Answer 75

- the critical period is more of a sensitive period researchers conducted a case study of Czech twin boys who experienced severe physical and emotional abuse from age 18 months (locked in a cupboard) . however, although they were severely emotionally damanged later they were looked after by two loving adults and appeared to recover fully by their teens shows that severe deprivation can have positive outcomes provided the child has some social interaction and good care this means that the period identified by bowlby may be a sensitive one but it cannot be critical.

Question 76

romanian orphan studies procedure

Answer 76

Rutter et al (2011) English and Romanian adoptee study the researchers have followed a group of 165 Romanian orphans who experienced very poor conditions before being adopted in the UK the longitudinal study has tested the extent to which good care can make up for poor early experiences in institutions. physical, cognitive and emotional development has been assed at 4,6,11,15, and 22-25 yrs old the study also followed a control group of 52 adopted children from the UK.

Question 77

romanian orphan studies findings

Answer 77

-those adopted before 6 months had a mean IQ of 102 - those adopted between 6m-2y had a mean iq of 86 - those adopted after 2 years had a mean IQ of 77 children adopted after 6m showed signs of disinhibited attachment (clinginess, attention seeking, indiscriminate social behaviour to everyone) children adopted before 6m rarely showed this behaviour - attachment differences are linked to timing of adoption

Question 78

Zeanah et al procedure

Answer 78

the researchers used the strange situation to assess attachment in 95 Romanian children aged 12-31 months who had spent most of their lives in institutional care they were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never experienced institutional care.

Question 79

Zeanah et al findings

Answer 79

- 19% of institutional group were securely attached vs 75% of control group - 44% of the institutional group had disinhibited attachment vs less than 20% in the control group.

Question 80

Effects of institutionalisation

Answer 80

disinhibited attachment- such children tend to be equally friendly and affectionate towards people they know well or total stranger. this may be an adaption to multiple caregivers damage to intellectual development- institutionalised children often show signs of intellectual disability, this effect is not pronounced if the children are adopted before 6 months.

Question 81

strength of roman orphan study (real world application)

Answer 81

-real world application results from this have led to improvements in the way children are cared for in institutions children homes now avoid having large numbers of caregivers for each child. they have one or two 'key workers' who play a central role this means children in institutional care have a chance to develop normal attachments and disinhibited attachment is avoided.

Question 82

another strength of roman orphan study + counterpoint (fewer confounding variables / internal validity)

Answer 82

- fewer confounding variables than other research there were many orphan studies before the romanian orphans became available to study, these often involved children who experienced loss or trauma before they were institutionalised neglect, abuse, bereavement meant it was heard to observe the effects of institutionalisation in isolation. the children were affected by multiple factors functioning as confounding variables this means we can be fairly sure that differences in institutionally cared for children are the result of this type of care, so high internal validity CP: romanian orphan studies may have new confounding variables because quality of care was so poor, making it hard to operate effects of institutional care from those of poor institutional care this means that internal validity may not be better than in previous studies after all.

Question 83

limitation of romanian orphans study (lack of adult data)

Answer 83

- lack of data on adult development it is too soon to say for certain whether children suffered permanent effects because we only have data on their development as far as their early twenties it will be some time before we have information about some key research questions e.g orphans ability to form and maintain romantic and parenting relationships this means the Romanian orphans studies have not yet yielded their most important findings, some children may 'catch up'.

Question 84

Influence of early attachment on later relationships - internal working model

Answer 84

first attachment is a template for future relationships- the quality of a child's first attachment is crucial because it provides a template that will affect the nature of their future relationships. this is due to the influence of the internal working model created by that first attachment good attachment=good relationship expectations- a child whose first experience is a loving relationship with a reliable attachment figure assumes this is how all relationships are meant to be. they will then seek out functional relationships and behave functionally with them bad attachment=bad relationship expectations- a child with bad experiences of their first attachment will bring these experiences to bear on later relationships. this may mean they struggle to form relationships in the first place or they do not behave appropriately in them childhood- securely attached babies tend to form the best quality childhood friendships securely attached children are less likely to be involved in bullying whereas insecure avoidant children are most likely to be victims and insecure resistant are most likely to be the bullies adulthood - people base their parenting style on their internal working model. Bailey et al found the majority of mothers had the same attachment classification to their babies as they had to their own mothers.

Question 85

Bailey 2007 research on link between attachment and parenting procedure

Answer 85

internal working models shape parenting styles and are passed through generations Bailey measured 99 mothers attachment type with their baby, and the mothers own mother mother-baby measured using strange situation, mother-mother used interviews

Question 86

Bailey 2007 research on link between attachment and parenting findings

Answer 86

most mothers share same attachment classification with their baby from their own mother

Question 87

strength of influence of early attachment + CP (research support / not all evidence)

Answer 87

-strong research support there are many studies showing a link between infant attachment type and later development, including bullying, success in romantic relationships and parenting other researchers concluded that infant attachment influenced development in many ways, disorganised attachment was most predictive e.g of later mental disorder this means that insecure attachment appears to convey a disadvantage for children's development CP: not all evidence supports the link between infant attachment and later development . other researchers found no evidence of continuity of attachment type from age 1-16 this means it is not clear how strongly attachment influences later development.

Question 88

limitation of influence on attachment (retrospective)

Answer 88

- validity issues with retrospective studies most studies assess participants' attachment type in adulthood, not infancy using questionnaires or interviews. these rely on honest answers a further problem is that these studies assess attachment in late childhood or adulthood and assume it has remained the same since infancy this means that the measures of attachment may not be valid.

Question 89

another limitation of influence on attachment (confounding variables)

Answer 89

- possible confounding variables some studies do not make assessments of infant attachments and follow up children, assessing their later development however, these studies may be affected by confounding variables for example parenting style and personality may affect both attachment and later development this means that we can never be entirely sure that it is infant attachment and not some other factor that is influencing later development.