Attachment 2

Question 1

caregiver - infant interactions

Answer 1

social interaction with the carer is important for infant-caregiver interaction to form

• reciprocity - essential in a convo and both r reciprocal and responding to eachother and elicit responses
• alert phases :
• baby signals that they are ready for interaction
• mother usually picks up on this two thirds of the time but depends on the skill of the mother and environmental stresses
• at 3 months it becomes more frequent and involves close attention of verbal signals and facial expressions
• active involvement :
• baby and caregiver interact and take turns - described as a “dance”
• interactional synchrony :
• temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behaviour and the baby and caregiver interact by mirroring eachothers emotions and actions
• meltzoff and moore observed IS from 2 weeks old
• adults made 1/3 facial expressions and the babys response was filmed and lablled by independant observers
• found strong assoication and that the baby did mirror the adults response
• shows importance for caregiver-infant attachemnet
• isabella et al also did a study and showed that higher levels of IS meant there was better quality of baby-mother attachment ( assessed 30 mothers and

Question 2

caregiver - infant interactions
evaluation

Answer 2

1. filmed observations
   - cargiver-infant interactions are usually filmed in a lab setting
   - this means high degree of control so no distractions
   - fine details can also be recorded and analysed later so no key behaviours are missed
   - if more than 1 observer records data then there is inter-rater reliability
   - also babies dont know they are beinf observed so they dont change their behaviour
   - increases validity and reliability
2. difficulty observing babies
   - hard to intepret a babies behaviour
   - they lack co-ordination and are immobile bascially with small gestures
   - difficult to understand whats happening from the babys perspective
   - so we are not certain that behaviours in caregiver-infant interactions have a special meaning
3. developmental importance
   - simply just observing does not tell us anything about developmental importance
   - feldman said that synchrony simply jut gives a name to patterns of observable behaviour
   - robust phenomena : - we can reliabiliy obs erve them but have no purpose of their behaviour
   - we are not certain that synchrony or reciprocity are essential for development
   counterpoint : - isabella et al

Question 3

schaffer & emerson’s study

Answer 3

aim : investigate the formation of early attachments

procedure : 60 babies from glasgow which came from skilled working class families
- baby and mother were visited at home every month for 1 year + 18 months
- see if they showed separation and stranger anxiety, questions about their protests

findings :
- 25 - 32 weeks - 50% of babies showed signs of separation anxiety to a particular adult
- specific attachment to caregiver w the most reciprocity
- 40 weeks - 80% - specific A and 30% had multiple A

Question 4

schaffer’s stages of attachment

Answer 4

1. asocial stage
   - first few weeks
   - baby recognises and forms bonds with carers
   - similar behaviour towards inanimate objects and humans
   - some have particular preference of an adult
   - generally happier in presence of humans
2. indiscriminate attachment
   - around 2-7 months
   - baby shows clearer signs of obvious and observable social behaviours
   - they have a clear preference of humans over inanimate objects
   - recognise and prefer company of familiar people
   - accept comfort from anyone but show separation and stranger anxiety
3. specific attachment
   - around 7 months
   - baby shows separation and stranger A to one adult
   - has specific attachment to their PAF, the one who responds to their signals the most and most interaction
   65% of the time its the biological mother
4. multiple attachments
   - extend their attachments to multiple people who they spend time with regularly
   - have secondary attachments and 29% of these form within month of PA
   - developed by 1 year

Question 5

schaffer’s stages of attachment
evaluation

Answer 5

1. good external validity
   - most observations were recorded by parents during ordinary activities and reported back to researchers
   - no presence of the obersver means that there is less distractions or anxiety so more natural behaviour
   - good external validity as a result
   counterpoint :
   - mothers as observers means they are likely to be objective
   - they may be biased in what was reported
   - they may have not noticed or misremembered when the baby showed signs of anxiety
   - even if baby behaved naturally, it may have been recorded inaccurately
2. poor evidence for asocial stage
   - babies are young and lack co-ordination, fairly immobile
   - not many observable behaviours
   - difficult to report back signs of anxiety
   - babies may be social but because of flawed methods the evidence is not reliable
3. real world-application in day care
   - practical application, can be planned
   - during first two stages it is straightforward, baby can be comforted by any skilled adult
   - more difficult w unfamiliar adults in specific attachment stage

Question 6

role of the father

Answer 6

1. attachment to fathers
   - majority of babies attach to their mother first ( 7 months )
   - they form secondary A to other family members including the father within a few weeks or months of this
   - only 3% of the time is the father the first sole object of A and 27% of the time its joint first
   - 75% of A to fathers happen by 18months and is determined by separation anxiety
2. distinct role of fathers
   - grossman et al conducted a longitudinal study of the parents behaviour and its relationship to quality of childrens A into their teens
   - found quality of infant attachment to mother related to childs adolescent A and fathers A was less important
   - found quality of fathers play with infants related to quality of adolescent A
   - this is because the fathers role is diff in A and is focused more on stimulation and play rather than emotional development
3. fathers as a PAF :
   - fathers can have an emotional role if they are a primary care-giver
   - field filmed 4 month old babies and their face to face interactions w their PAF mothers, fathers and second A figure father
   - found that the PAF fathers like the mothers spent more time smiling, holding the baby and imitating them than secondary A fathers
   - these are important in the process of A
   - fathers can take on the role of emotion focused PAF but it depends on their level of responsiveness not their gender

Question 7

role of the father
- evaluation

Answer 7

1. confusion of research Qs
   - lack of clarity over the qs being asked
   - researchers are concerned about the role of the father in diff contexts ( some abt their role as a SAF and some as a PAF )
   ( some say they have a distinct role from mothers and others say they can take on a maternal role )
   - difficult to simply answer ‘ role of the father ‘ as it depends on the specific role being discussed
2. conflicting evidence
   - findings vary depending on the methodology used
   - grosseman suggests that fathers have a distinct role as a SAF
   - children in same sex parent families or single mother families are expected to development differently
   - however studies such as McCallum’s show that they actually are no different in development to those in heterosexual parent families
   - question of fathers distinctive role remains unanswered
   counterpoint : fathers do adopt a distinctive role in heterosexual parent families and in the other type of families they can accommodate the role of the father
   - we can suggest that the question is answered as the father having a distinctive role when they are present and if not they can adopt to having no father with no implications
3. real world application
   - helps give advice to parents
   - many argue over who should be the PAF
   - research reassures that fathers are capable of being a PAF and for others that having no father will not affect development
   - reduces parental anxiety

Question 8

animal studies - ( lorenzo )

Answer 8

imprinting :
- the first moving object that an animal sees is what they will attach to

procedure :
- randomly divided a large clutch of goose eggs into 2 diff groups
1. hatched w mother goose in natural environment
2. hatched in incubator and fmo they saw was lorenzo

findings :
- even when both groups were mixed the control group still followed the mum and the experimental group followed lorenzo
- bird species are quite mobile from birth so will attach to the fmo
- critical period - attachent cant take place if imprinting doesnt occur within this time period ( usually a few hours after birth )

sexual imprinting :
- birds who imprinted on humans showed courtship bhevaiour towads humans
- lorenzo used case study of peacock which was reared in a reptile house and the fmo it saw was a tortoise and so its courtship was towards a tortoise

Question 9

animal studies - ( lorenzo )
- evaluation

Answer 9

1. research support
   - supports the idea of imprinting as a study was done with chicks who were exposed to simple shape combos that moved
   - then introduced to a bunch of shape combos that moved and it was found that they followed their original one most closely
   - supports idea that young animals are born with the innate mechanism to imprint on the fmo present in the critical window of development
2. generalisability
   - mammalian attachment is much more complex and different and so it is a two-way process as the animals attach to their mothers but their mothers also show emotional attachment to their animals
   - not appropriate to generalise to humans
3. imprinting may not be as permanent
   - guilton et al found that chickens imprinted on yellow gloves and tried to mate with them but with experience they realised they prefer mating with other chickens
   - not as permanent as suggested

Question 10

animal studies - ( harlow )

Answer 10

• investigated the importance if contact comfort
• found that some soft objects can serve some functions of a mother
• reared 16 baby monkeys withy 2 wire model mothers 1. milk dispensed by a plain wire model mother
  2. milk dispensed by a cloth covered mother

findings :
- they preferred the ccm over the pwm
- sought comfort from ccm regardless of who dispensed milk
- shows contact comfort is more important than food

maternally depeieved :
- severe consequences of maternal deprivation of the monkeys
- reared with pwm - most dysfunctional
- reared with ccm - didn’t develop normal social behaviour
- more aggressive, less sociable , bred less, unskilled at mating, when they became mothers themselves they were neglectful and attached and killed their children

Question 11

animal studies ( harlow )
- evaluation

Answer 11

1. real world application
   - helps social workers and clinical psychologists understand a lack of bonding experience may be a risk factor in child development
   - they can intervene early and prevent poor outcomes
   - also enables us to understand a lack of attachment figures for baby monkeys in zoos and breeding programmes is dangerous
   - has theoretical and real world application
2. generalibaility to humans
   - rhesus monkeys are similar to humans than l birds but the human brain and behaviour is still much more complex so we cannot generalise the findings to humans
   - even though mammals show some similar attachment behaviours

Question 12

explanations - learning theory

Answer 12

• classical conditioning - when the creiver provides food overtime there is an association
• when the baby sees the person they have an expectation of food
• learning theorists see this as a conditionied pleasure response of love
• atachment is formed and the caregiver becomes the attachment figure
• ucs - food = ucr - pleasure
• ns - caregiver
• pair the ns and ucs together and creates a ucr of pleasure and eventually there is a cs of caregiver and cr of pleasure
• operant conditioning :
• crying for example would create a response from the caregiver such as feeding
• positive reinforcement as the caregiver gives the correct response
• baby can then direct crying for comfort towards the caregiver who will give a response of comforting social suppressor behaviour
• two way process as cg will have negative reinforcement as crying has stoped and they escaped the displeasure
• mutual reinforcement wil strengthen the atttachment
• attachment as a secondary drive - use idea of dive reduction - hunger is a primary drive and is innate and biological motivator but reduced by eating
• when the cg gives food the primary drive becomes generalised to them
• sears et al suggests that attachment is SD because of learnt association between the cg and satisfaction of PD

Question 13

explanation - learning theory
- evaluation

Answer 13

1. some conditioning may be involved - some elements of conditioning may be useful in understanding development of attachments
   - for example some babies associate feeling warm and comfortable with a particular adult
   - influences their main atttachment figure
   - counterpoint : - both operant and classical conditioning show babies have a passive role in attachment and their response to associations between reward and comfort
   - fieldman and eidelman also suggest that babies have an active role in the interactions that produce attachment
2. counterevidence from animals
   - there is conflicting evidence from research conducted on animals
   - example is loren geese who imprinted on the fumo regardless of the association with food
   - another example is harlow monkeys who preferred the ccm no matter who dispensed the milk
   - shows that attachment is not developed as a result of feeding
3. counterevidence from humans
   - feeding is not a main factor in formation of attachment in humans
   - isabella et al found that high levels of interactional synchrony predicted quality of A
   - schaffer and emerson’s babies had main attachment to their mother regardless of who fed them
   - shows there’s no association between feeding and attachment

Question 14

explanations - monotropic theory

Answer 14

• provides an evolutionary explanation and the idea that attachment is an innate system that gives advantage to survival
• monotropy is the idea that a child is attached to one particular person ( monotropy )
• based on 2 principles
  1. law of continuity - the more constant and predictable care a child has, the better quality of attachment
  2. law of accumulated separation - the effects of every separation with the mother adds up
• social releases and critical period :
• babies are born with cute innate behaviours which help activate the adult A system and since A is reciprocal and it becomes hard-ride to become attached the attachment relationship builds
• critical period - 6 months when the infant attachment system is active but up to 2 years and after this it is difficult to then form an attachment
• internal working model - model of what a relationships should look like
• forms with PAF
• if they have loving paf, then later loving rls and vice versa with poor paf
• also influences child’s later ability to parent as they based it on how they were parented

Question 15

explanations - monotropic
- evaluation

Answer 15

1. monotropy challenged
   - schaffer and emerson’s babies were evidence that babies can form more than 1 ttachment at the same time rather than just the PAF
   - although the PAF is stronger it isn’t necessarily different in quality of babies other attachments
   - so other attachments are just as important for a baby

2.support for social releasers
- brazelton et al observed mothers and their babies and during interaction and social releasers being used, mothers then ignored their babies
- was found that when ignored the babies were initially distressed but then layed motionless - shows that SR are important for emotional development and attachment

3. support for iwm
   - heidi bailey assessed 99 mothers and their attachment to their babies and own parents
   - the mothers who reported poor attachment to their mothers also had poorly attached babies
   - shows that a mothers ability to attach to their child is influenced by their iwm and in turn early experiences of attachment
   counterpoint : - other factors influence it such as genetic differences which influence social behaviour , could impact parenting ability and so bowlby overstated the importance of iwm

Question 16

types of attachment - ainsworth

Answer 16

procedure : controlled observation to help test security of child’s attachment to their caregiver
- in a controlled lab with a two way mirror so that infants behaviour can be observed

episodes :
1. baby explores
2. stranger enters, speaks to cg, approaches baby
3. cg leaves , stranger and baby tgth
4. cg returns, stranger leaves
5.cg leaves, baby alone
6. stranger returns
7.cg returns - reunited

test :
1. exploration / secure base
2. stranger anxiety
3. stranger + separation anxiety
4. reunion, exploration, secure base
5. separation anxiety
6. stranger anxiety
7. reunion behaviour

findings : - ainsworth identified 3 different attachment types

TYPE A : INSECURE-AVOIDANT :
- don’t seek proximity, explore freely, no secure base behaviour, low stranger + separation anxiety, avoid and show no contact on reunion

TYPE B : SECURE :
- regular proximity, explore freely, but return to cg, moderate stranger + seperation anxiety, accept and require comfort on reunion

TYPE C : INSECURE - RESISTANT :
- much greater proximity, explore much less, high stranger + seperation anxiety, resist comfort on reunion

Question 17

types of attachment - ainsworth
- evaluation

Answer 17

1. good reliability
   - brick et al tested inter-rater reliability for the SS using traine observers
   - there was an acceptance of 94% of cases of attachment type
   - controlled condition so observations are easier to make because they are large movements so we can conclude the SS is not subjective
2. good predictive validity
   - outcomes help us predict aspects of a child’s later development - more meaningful and real as a result
   - for example typ b are better than others - childhood have better school achievements and less bullying, good mental health is adulthood
   - type c the worst
   counterpoint : - kagan found that genetically influenced anxiety levels have affect on variations of attachment and later development so its not necessarily attachment so the SS cannot measure attachment
3. culture-bound
   - cannot apply the SS in different cultural contexts
   - each baby in different contexts experience differently so will respond to the SS differently
   - Japan - Takahashi found higher levels of seperation anxiety because its unusual to have. baby and mother separated
   - not appropriate to see what the SS measures if used outside Europe and US

Question 18

cultural variations of attachment

Answer 18

1. van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg
   - wanted to test the proportion of attachment types between countries to test any variations between cultures
   - also wanted to see differences within a culture

procedure :
- located 32 studies of attachment using the SS is 8 diff countries ( 15 studies in US ) using 1990 kids
findings :
- secure A was common across all countries - 75% in britain and 50% in china
- insecure - resistant was lower than 14% in individualist cultures and above 25% in collectivist cultures and insecure A was lower than
- variations within countries was 150% greater than betweeen countries
- us was securely attached

2. other studies

italian study :
- simonelli et al assesssed 76 babies aged 12 months and compared it to previous studies
- found 50% SA which is lower and 36% IA which is higher
- increasing number of mothers with young children working long hours so use professional childcare
- shows cultural changes can have a dramatic difference on patterns of attachment

korean study :
- jin et al wanted to see proportion of attachment in korea against other studies
- assessed 87 babies using the SS
- found proportion of secure and insecure A was similar to most countries
- insecure resistant more common than avoidant
- similar distribution of A types in japan too
- possibly due to similar child rearing styles

conclusion :
- secure A most common across all, supports bowlbys idea that A is innate and universal
- cultural practices can impact A types

Question 19

cultural variations
- evaluation

Answer 19

1. indigenous researchers
   - most of the research was conducted by indigenous psychologists meaning they are from the same cultural background as their ppts
   - avoids problems that can occur in cross-cultural research such as miscommunication or bias
   - enhances the validity because of better effective communication
   counterpoint : - some research shows outsiders from america had difficulty in gathering evidence from ppts outside their own culture meaning that some countries would have been faceted by bias causing cross - cultural problems
2. imposed ethic
   - applying a theory designed by one country to other countries and cultures
   - cros cultural psych has emic and etic issues
   - SS conducted and made by americans and was found that what might be seen in uk and us as avoidance may be seen as independence in germany - not an insecurity in cultural context
   - meaningless to apply the theory across different cultures
3. large samples
   - some research includes meta analysis of 2000 babies and their paf
   - overall larger samples means that their is better validity
   - reduces impact of anomalous result caused by methodology issues or unusual ppts

Question 20

bowlby - maternal deprivation

Answer 20

separation vs depriation :
- when child is not in presence of the PAF
- only becomes a problem if the child is deprived of emotional care
- brief separations but substitute caregiver who provides emotional care is not significant on development
- prolonged separations causes deprivation which causes harm

critical period :
- first 2.5 years of life - critical period for psychological development
- inevitable psychological damage is caused if child is prolonged separated from mother and absence of substitute cg and deprived of emotional care
- risk can continue till age 5

effects on development :
- intellectual development - delayed and have a lower IQ if maternally deprived
- goldfarb found that there were lower IQs for those kids in institutions rather than fostered because they had a higher standard of emotional care

• emotional development - affectionless psychopathy - inability to experience guilt and have strong emotions towards others
• prevents development of fulfilling relationships which is associated with criminality - lack of remorse and can’t appreciate victims feelings

bowlbys research :
- 44 thieves study - link between AP and MD
- 44 teenagers accused of stealing
- interviewed for signs of AP such as lack of affection, guilt, empathy
- families also interviewed to see if child had any prolonged separation from mother in early years
- compared to control group of 44 non criminal teachers but they were emotionally disturbed

findings :
- 14 / 44 were AP
- 12 experienced prolonged separation in first 2 years of life
- 5 of remaining 30 had separation, 2 in cg
- bowlby concluded that prolonged separation in early years causes AP

Question 21

bowlby - maternal deprivation
- evaluation

Answer 21

1. deprivation vs privation
   - confusion between the 2 early experiences
   - ruttter drew importance on the distinction between the two
   D : loss of paf after attachment has formed
   P : failure to form any attachment
   - long term effects sugggested by bowlbys may be a result of privation
   - many of the 4 thieves had disruptive early lives and didn’t form any strong proper attachments
   - bowlby may have overestimated the seriousnesss of effects of deprivation
2. critical vs sensitive period
   - bowlby suggests that inevitable damage is caused if a child does not form any attachment a during first 2.5 years
   - other research suggests that with good aftercare this damage can be helped and reversed
   - study done of czech twins who experienced severe physical and emotional abuse aged 18months - 7 years resulted in emotional damage
   - received excellent aftercare and recovered fully by their teens
   - long lasting effects may not inevitable even in severe cases of privation - critical period better seen as a sensitive period
3. flawed evidence
   - poor quality of evidence
   - bowlby conducted the interviews himself for AP and so was open to bias of who he expected to give AP signs
   - also was influenced by other research such as goldfard who had many confounding variables ( institutional care, prolonged separation and early trauma )
   counterpoint : other new lines of evidence provide support for long-term effects of MD
   - levy et al found that separation of baby rats from their mothers for as little as one day lead to long term effects on their social development
   - although bowlby used flawed evidence, there is other to support

Question 22

influence of early attachment in later rls

Answer 22

internal working model :
- template for what future adult and childhood rls should look like
- bowlby says that a child’s rl with their first PAF is a mental representation of future rls
- so the quality of early attachment is crucial, if its loving they will assume that for other rls later in life
- children with bad experiences with their PAF will carry this into adult rls
- they may struggle to form rls, may not behave appropriately in rls and may show insecure A and R behaviour towards their friends and partners

rls in childhood :
- attachment type is associated with quality of peer rls in childhood
- secure : better childhood rls
- insecure friendship difficulties
- myron-wilson and smith conducted a study where they assessed a type and bullying involvement using a standard questionnaire with 196 kids aged 7-11 in london
- found for secure they weren’t involved, insecure A were victims, insecure R were bullies

rls in adulthood :
- mccarthy assessed 40 adult women who were also assesseds as babies to establish early attachment type
- secure : best adult rls and romantic rls
- insecure A - problems with intimacy in rls
- insecure R - difficulties maintaining friendships
- iwm also effects a child’s ability to parent their own children as they base parenting behaviour on their iwm - their attachment is likely to be passed down for generations in a family.

Question 23

influence of early attachment in later rls
- evaluation

Answer 23

1. research support
   - the idea that early attachment consistently predicts later development, emotional wellbeing and a child’s attachment to their own children
   - relationship between early attachment and later development depends on attachment type and aspects of later development
   - secure - advantages
   - insecure A - mild disadvantages
   - disorganised A - associated with later mental disorders
   counterpoint : other research suggests the opposite
   - regensburg longitudinal study assessed 43 individuals from age of 1
   - at 16 their A was assessed using the adult A interview and it was found that there was no continuity
   - no clear to what extent early A influences later development - may be other important factors in influence
2. validity with retrospective studies
   - many studies are retrospective
   - not longitudinal and assess A type through interviews which causes 2 validity problems
3. asking ppts questions relies on their honesty and accuracy of perception of ppts
4. hard to know what is being assessed - early or adult A
   - measures of early A used may be confounded
5. confounding variables
   - some studies assessed A in infancy which is valid
   - cv may affect the associations between A quality and later development
   - e.g. parenting style or genetically influenced personalities
   - x sure that early A influences later development

Question 24

romanian orphans study

Answer 24

procedure : rutter and his colleagues followed 195 romanian adoptees for the romanian and english adoptee study study
- the orpahns were adopted by uk families
- the aim was to investigate how much good care can reverse the damage caused by poor institutional care
- their physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at the ages of 4,6,11,15 and 22-25
- a contro group of 52 uk children who were adopted around the same time was used

findings :
- half the adoptees had delayed intellectual development
- majority were malnourished
- at age of 11 there was differential rates of recovery depending on the age of adoption
- the mean IQ for those before 6 months was 102
- 6 - 2 years was 86
- 2 years plus was 77
- difference remained at age 16
- adhd was more common in 15 and 22-25 year old samples
- in terms of attachment for after 6 months they showed disinhibited attachment and for before 6 months they showed no signs of this

zeanah et al’s research :
- conducted the BEI project
- assessed attachment in 95 romanian children aged 12 - 31 months who spent 90% of their life in institutional care
- compared to cg of 50 children who never lived in institutions
- carers were also asked about any unusual behaviour

findings :
- 19% - secure A in I group
- 74% - secure A in C group
- 44% - disinhibited A in I group
- >20% - disinhibited A in I group

effects of institutionalisation :
- disinhibited A - child shows similar affection and friendly behaviour to familiar people and strangers - unusual as they should show stranger anxiety at 2 years old
- rutter suggested disinhibited A is an adaptation to living with multiple carers during sensitive period of A formation
- poor institutions may have children with up to 50 carers but may not spend enough time with one and so no secure A is formed
- intellectual disabilities in those adopted before 6 months caught up with cg by age of 4
- this damage can be reversed if adoption takes place before 6 months

Question 25

romanian orphans study - evaluation

Answer 25

1. real world application - helps to improve experience of children in institutions - psychologists can understand the the effects of early institutional care and how to prevent it getting worse - children homes now often require 1/2 key workers who have a central role in emotional care - institutions are seen as undesirable option for looked-after kids - considerable effort to get these kids to be adopted - they have a chance to form secure attachments and disinhibited attachment is avoided 2. fewer confounding variables - many orphan studies were available to review before this one - the kids in these studies experienced varying degrees of trauma and so it’s difficult to disentangle the effects of neglect, physical abuse and beareavment - however these kids are often handed over by loving parents who simply can’t afford to care for them - so less confounding negatives - increases internal validity counterpoint : there may be other confounding effects - these institutions had very poor care with kids receiving little intellectual stimulation and comfort - harmful effects seen in these studies may be a result of poor care not institutional care per se 3. lack of adult data - can’t track adult development - latest one was early mid 20s - not certain of long-term effects of early institutional care - longitudinal studies take long to gather data so maybe these later adoptees catch up