Attachment: Evaluation Flashcards
Caregiver-Infant Interactions Research AO3
+ research support: Murray and Trevarthen (1985) “Still Face Experiment”, 2 month olds interacted via video monitor with mother in real time, then monitor played tape of mother not responding to infant, acute distress, infants tried to attract interest, turned away
+ methodology: controlled observation, high levels of control, videotaped for inter-observer reliability
- difficulty in reliability: infants mouths in fairly constant motion, expressions tested occur frequently, difficult to distinguish between general activity and specific imitations, overcome by filming and asking observers to judge
- failed to replicate: Koepke et al (1983) didn’t find infants imitating adults, Piaget (1962) said infants in original copying due to conditioning, being rewarded, infants learnt to respond, no innate interactional synchrony
Stages of Attachment - Schaffer AO3
+ research design: scientific, clear behaviour categories, longitudinal method so same children had follow up observations, better internal validity than cross-sectional design which makes it harder to compare
- biased sample: working class, may apply to that social group not others, 1960s, parental care changed, more women work, children cared for outside home or fathers stay home,number of dads who choose to stay home has quadrupled over past 25 years
- inflexible: stage theory proposes fixed order for development, single attachments must come before multiple, some situations and cultures multiple may come first
Lorenz AO3
+ research support: Guiton et al (1966) demonstrated chickens exposed to yellow rubber gloves for feeding furing first few weeks became imprinted, Lorenz said animals not born with predisposition to imprint on specific object
+ real world applications: used by sheep farmers, new born orphaned lamb not normally accpeted by another ewe who lost lamb, if dead lamb of ewe skinned and pelt tied to orphaned lamb good chance of attachment, olfactory imprinting
- research shown reversible: Guiton et al (1966) disagreed with irreversible nature, did try to mate with gloves, when had chance to spend time with others of species developed taste for mating
- hard to apply to other species: research on birds doesn’t generalis to other mammals let alone humans, mammals tend to form closer emotional bonds, also have ability to form attachments long after critical period in birds
Harlow AO3
+ real world applications: practical value in treatment of other species in captivity and parental neglect of human infants, highlights need for good emotional care in early life, invaluable in helping rescue children from families where emotional care missing
+ research support: act as important pointer in understanding human behaviour, links to what Schaffer and Emerson found, infant most attached to person that feeds them
- not all variables controlled: two heads on wire monkeys different, confounding variable as varied systematically, possible that cloth covered had more attractive head
- ethical issues: suffered physically because of consequences and Harlow’s ‘rape rack’, suffered emotionally in short term and into adulthood, never fully recovered
Learning Theory AO3
+ cc and oc explain human behaviour: do learn through association and reinforcement, food may not be main reinforcer, attention and responsiveness from cg are important rewards that assist in formation of attachment, not part of original account of learning theory, responsiveness something that infants imitate, learn about how to conduct relationships
+ oc research support: Dollard and Miller (1950) calculated in first year babies fed 2,000 times, generally by main carer, creates ample opportunity for mother to become associated with removal of unpleasant feeling of hunger, negative reinforcement
- cc refuting research: Harlow (1958) found baby monkeys became attached to towelled mother even when didn’t produce milk, didn’t become attached to wire monkey even though food giver, towel material could be ucs instead of food
- oc and cc refuting research against foundation of theory: Schaffer and Emerson (1964) studied 60 babies where mothers asked about babies’ protests in various separation situations, left alone, left with babysitter, put to bed, not always attached to those involved in giving food
Bowlbys Theory AO3
+ research support: Hodges and Tizard’s (1989) longitudinal study of institutionalised children living in orphanages who formed no attachments in early parts of their lives, had difficulty forming relationships with peers
+ research support: Sroufe et al’s (2005) longitudinal study followed ps from infancy to late adolescence, early attachment type predicted later emotional and social behaviour, secure infants more likely to be rated more popular
- refuting research: Schaffer and Emerson’s (1964) study of 60 infants from Glasgow showed most infants formed first attachment with one person, nearly one third formed multiple attachments in which appeared to be no preferred attachment figure, increasingly common as infants grew older.
- biologically reductionist: despite rapid advances in genetics, there is no direct evidence of gene for attachment or genes for attachment
Strange Situation AO3
+ high internal and external reliability: internal reliability tested through inter-observer reliability, almost perfect agreement when rating exploratory behaviour (.94 agreement), external reliability also high, Main (1985) found 100% of infants securely attached before 18 months still securely attached at 6 years
+ intervention strategies for disordered attachment patterns: Circle of Security Project (Cooper et al., 2005) teaches cgs to better understand infants’ signals of distress and to increase understanding of what it feels like to experience anxiety, project showed decrease in number of cgs classified as disordered (from 60% to 15%) and increase in infants classed as securely attached (from 32% to 40%)
- measure quality of particular relationship not attachment type: Main and Weston (1981) found children acted differently depending on which parent were with, might be insecurely attached to mothers but securely attached to father, attachment patterns reflect qualities of distinct relationships rather than characteristics of children.
- overlooked 4th type: Main and Solomon (1986) analysed over 200 Strange Situation videotapes, proposed insecure-disorganised type D, lack of consistent patterns of social behaviour, some don’t have consistent type of attachment, lack coherent strategy for dealing with stress of separation, show very strong attachment behaviour suddenly followed by avoidance or looking fearful towards cg, Van Ijzendoorn et al. (1999) further supported this with meta-analysis of nearly 80 studies in US, 62% secure, 15% insecure-avoidant, 9% insecure- resistant and 15% insecure-disorganised.
Cultural Variations AO3
+ meta analysis: included 32 studies from 8 different countries looking at over 2000 strange situation classifications, reliable conclusions drawn, don’t know how well each of studies was conducted, could hide errors in methods that were used (e.g., the participants may not have been representative of the country)
+ understanding of why similarities: Bowlby’s theory of attachment reason for universal similarities in how attachments form because it’s an innate mechanism, unmodified by culture, Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg concluded at least some cultural similarities might be explained by effects of mass media, spread ideas about parenting, children all over world exposed to similar influences
- comparing countries not cultures: compared Japan with US, within each country many different subcultures, may have different childcare practices, one study of attachment in Tokyo (urban) found similar distributions to Western studies, rural sample found over-representation of i-r individuals (van Ijzendoorn and Sagi, 2001), van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg found more variation within cultures than between cultures, because data was collected on different subcultures within each country
- imposed etic: Japanese children may appear to be more insecurely attached than are, in traditional Japanese culture dependence rather than independence would be sign of secure attachment, Japanese children appear to be insecurely attached according to Western criteria, securely attached by Japanese standards
Bowlby’s MDH AO3
+ support for long term effects: Bifulco (1992) studied women who experienced deprivation through maternal death or temporary separation, 25% experienced depression or anxiety disorder later in life (compared to 10% of control)
+ real world application: post-war thinking on childrearing and looking after children in hospitals, before parents discouraged from visiting children when in hospital for extended periods of time
- individual differences: Bowlby studied 60 children in hospital for long time as suffered from TB, nurses could not provide substitute emotional care, could only be visited by parents once a week, experienced deprivation, follow-up showed no difference in those who had experienced deprivation and those who had not, in terms of intellectual development
- psychological as well as physical separation: if mother physically present, suffered from depression, may be unable to provide suitable emotional care, depriving children of care, Radke-Yarrow et al (1985) found 55% of children of depressed mothers insecurely attached (compared to 29% in control).
Romanian Orphan Studies AO3
+ importance of early adoptions: in past mothers who going to give up baby encouraged to nurse baby for significant period of time, by time baby adopted critical period for attachment formation passed, more difficult to make secure attachments, today most adopted within week of birth, research shows adoptive mothers and children just as securely attached as non-adoptive families
+ longitudinal: followed lives of children over many years, take lot of time and planning but benefits large, without may mistakenly conclude major effects due to early institutional care, these studies show effects may disappear after sufficient time and with suitable high-quality care
- individual differences: some research suggests that those who don’t form primary attachment within early sensitive period unable to recover, not true of all children who experience institutionalisation, some not as strongly affected as others, Rutter suggests because some did receive special attention in institution and may have had some early attachment experiences
- other factors: Romanian orphans faced with much more than emotional deprivation, physical conditions appalling, impacted health, lack of cognitive stimulation also affect development, more likely damage only occurs when multiple risk factors, for many institutionalised children, poor care in infancy followed by poor subsequent care, living in poverty, parental disharmony.
Influence of Early Attachment on Childhood Relationships AO3
+ research support: Youngblade and Belsky (1992) found 3–5-year-old children who had secure attachment more curious, competent, empathetic, resilient and self-confident, got along with other children bette, more likely to form close friendships, Mullis et al (1999) reported in late childhood attachments to peers reflect those to parents in infancy
- refuting research: Becker-Stroll et al. (2008) conducted Regensburg longitudinal study, followed 43 individuals from one year of age, attachment assessed up until age 16, found no evidence of continuity, McCarthy (1999) found was continuity between childhood and adulthood, Bowlby’s MDH states lack of attachment in childhood will affect relationships in adulthood
Role of Father AO3
+ type of role: Paquette (2004) found fathers more likely to encourage toddlers to take risks and be brave during physical play, commonly structure talk around active play whereas mothers talk primarily emotional, designed to soothe and reassure
+ research support for equal roles: Field (1978) stated when fathers have role of main caregiver adopt mother behaviours, 4 months interactions filmed with pcg mothers, pcg fathers and scg fathers, pcg fathers spent more time smiling, imitating and holidng infants than scg fathers
- studies investigate different aspects: inconsistent findings, some interested in faher as primary figure, some as secondary, some in role in play, some in nurturing
- refuting research: MacCallum and Golumbok (2004) suggested children growing up in single parent families or same sex parent families don’t develop any differently to those in 2-parent heterosexual families
Influence of Early Attachment on Adulthood Relationships AO3
+ research support: McCarthy (1999) studied 40 adult women who had early attachment type assessed when babies, those securely attached babies had best adult friendships and romantic relationships, insecure-resistant had problems maintaining friendships, insecure-avoidant struggled with intimacy in romantic relationships, another researcher replicated Hazan and Shaver’s research using 108 undergraduate students, found similar findings further showing link between infant attachment type and later romantic relationships in adulthood
- self report measures: Hazan and Shaver (1987) placed quiz in news for people to fill out themselves, may be some social desirability bias, classifications based off these self-report measures are retrospective
