T5 Background

Question 1

Define “attachment”

Answer 1

A close two way emotional bond between two individuals

Each sees the other as essential for their own emotional security

Question 2

How can we recognise attachment (3 behaviours)

Answer 2

Proximity seeking - staying close to attachment figure
Separation distress - upset when figure leaves
Secure-base behaviour - returning to figure when anxious

Question 3

Overview of behaviourist perspective on attachments

Answer 3

Referred to as “cupboard love theory” because it involves food
John Dollard & Neal Miller (1950)

Question 4

Classical conditioning as an explanation for attachments

Answer 4

Food (UCS) - Pleasure (UCR)
Food (UCS) + Mother (NS) - Pleasure (UCR)
Mother (CS) - Pleasure (CR)

Question 5

Operant conditioning as an explanation for attachments

Answer 5

Baby cries and the caregiver responds by feeding or comforting (this is pleasurable for the baby so crying is reinforcement and will occur again

Caregiver experiences an unpleasant stimulus (crying) this is negative reinforcement and means that they will always comfort or feed the baby when it cries.

Question 6

Drive Reduction as an explanation for attachment

Answer 6

Dollard & Miller

Babies have innate drives to motivate behaviour

Primary drives = hunger and thirst
Primary reinforcers = food and drink
Secondary reinforcer = caregiver who provides food

Baby associates caregiver with a reduction in primary drive

So attachment i a secondary drive through its association with an innate primary drive.

Question 7

What 3 advantages does Bowlby suggest attachments bring?

Answer 7

Baby feels safer
Gives the baby a secure base to explore the environment
Provides a model for their relationships

Question 8

Explain monotropy

Answer 8

Attachment to one particular caregiver is different from all other attachments

Other attachments are an emotional safety net

Question 9

Social releases and the critical period

Answer 9

Attachment behaviours are triggered by a Baby’s “cuteness”.
This cuteness is a social releaser because it causes a caregiver to comfort & give attention

First 6 months are critical for developing attachments
First 30 months important

Question 10

Internal working model

Answer 10

Attachment figure provides the baby with a template for what a relationship should look like
Attachments are transmitted to one generation to another according to Bowlby

Question 11

What is the continuity hypothesis?

Answer 11

Proposes a direct ink between the internal working model and the behaviour in future relationships

Question 12

What did Heidi Bailey (2007) find?

Answer 12

99 mothers with poor attachment to their own mothers were more likely to have one year olds who were poorly attached - supporting Bowlby’s internal working model

Question 13

Name and explain the 4 types of attachment

Answer 13

Secure: seeks proximity to the caregiver because they are loving
Insecure Avoidant: Avoids the caregiver because they are rejecting
Insecure Resistant: Distress and anger to get attention because caregiver is inconsistent
Insecure Disorganised: No clear response from the baby because of frightening behaviour

Question 14

Privation v deprivation

Answer 14

Privation is where a bond was never formed whereas deprivation is where a bond was formed but was removed

Question 15

What did Bowlby investigate and find in terms of deprivation?

Answer 15

Maternal deprivation hypothesis
44 juvenile thieves (males)
Interviewed themselves and their families

14/44 diagnosed with affectionless psychopathy (12/14 had separations from their mothers before the age of 2)
5/30 who weren’t diagnosed also experienced a separation.

Deprivation of a maternal bond in the critical period leads to emotional maladjustments. But since 5/30 not diagnosed also experienced separation there may have been another factor such as genes.

Question 16

Evaluate Bowlby’’s research into deprivation.

Answer 16

Gender bias: girls may react differently to deprivation (bandura showed that gender of models plays a role in behaviour)
Interviews: lead to socially desirable answers = low internal validity
Researcher bias: only Bowlby interviewed
Control group: can compare the effect of IV (Psych as a sci)

Rutter (1991): early childhood was disrupted that much that attachments were never formed. May be privation rather than deprivation.

Question 17

Explain the ERA study on privation.

Answer 17

Investigated whether it is possible to reverse the effects of privation if sensitive care is given in later childhood

Proposed a sensitive period rather than critical

165 Romanian orphans
52 British adoptees

When the Romanian adoptees arrived they had lower mental ages and were undernourished but 60% went onto form a secure attachment

This demonstrates that the 6 month period is sensitive rather than than critical since some children were still able to form attachments - however, some were still impaired (individual differences must play a part)

Question 18

Evaluate the ERA study

Answer 18

Lack of control: Do not fully know the previous experience of any of the individuals so cannot be sure of the reliability
Socially sensitive: could be used to justify discrimination against women, should they be working?

Question 19

Robertson & Robertson (1971) study on privation

Answer 19

Children aged 17 months - 3 years left in the hospital or care when their mother went away. Parents were not allowed to visit

Children showed distress, despair and then deattachmeent

When an attachment is broken the child becomes confused and does not not how to behave

Evaluation:
Cannot control treatment in hospital
Attachment beforehand not considered
Results in a change in hospital policy

Question 20

Explain the case of Genie.

Answer 20

Isolated from 20 months
Tied to a potty during the day and bed at night
No stimulation
No one communicated with her and she was not allowed to make sound

She was discovered at 13 and was severed malnourised and could not speak or communicate

She eventually made attachments but could never communicate