Attachment Flashcards

Question

Evaluate Schaffer and Emerson’s research

Answer 1

Positives: Good external validity: • The study was conducted in participants’ own homes and most of the observations were done by the parents during normal activities • Behaviour of the babies was not effected by researchers • Babies behaved naturally! Longitudinal design: • Same children were observed over a period of time • Cross-sectional design: different children at different ages • Longitudinal design- Better internal validity as they do not have confounding variables of individuals differences between participants Negatives: Limited sample characteristics: • Research is limited due to participants being from the same town, same social class and over 50 years ago! (Does it have temporal validity?) • Child rearing practices vary from culture and historical events Issues with studying the asocial stage: Firstly, it is very difficult to gather any meaningful data from infants at this age as they’re immobile and have little coordination. However, evidence has shown that infants are social at this age e.g. Melzoff and Moore – ability to imitate at 2 weeks and that babies prefer their mother’s face/voice to that of a stranger. This lack of clear behavioural data challenges the accuracy of the stages proposed by S and E Conflicting evidence for multiple attachments: Some psychologists (Bowlby) agree with the assumption that an attachment with a single caregiver (primary attachment figure) needs to come before developing multiple attachment. HOWEVER this only reflects the cultures where the child is reared by one person (usually the mother). In their meta analysis, van Ijzendoorn found that in some cultures, multiple attachments are the norm (collectivist cultures) and are formed much earlier than S&E suggested. Measuring multiple attachment: How do we measure ‘true’ attachment. Bowlby (1969) pointed out that children have playmates as well as attachment figures and may get distressed when a playmate leaves the rooms, which does not signify attachment. Therefore, some multiple attachment do not reflect genuine attachment relationships

Answer 2

Lorenz geese imprinting experiment 1935

Answer 3

To study animals in their natural environment: using grey lag geese Two experimental conditions: Condition 1: He was the first thing that the goose chicks saw when they hatched. Condition 2: The goose mother was the first thing the goose chicks saw when they hatched

Answer 4

Condition 1: The chicks who saw Lorenz before anything else, followed him like he was their mother. Condition 2: The chicks which saw their mother first, followed her when they were young.

Answer 5

Lorenz called this rapid formation of attachment, imprinting: This is the tendency to form an attachment to the first large moving object seen after birth. In later studies he found that the strongest tendency to imprint takes place between 13 and 16 hours after the gosling has hatched. By 32 hours, the tendency to imprint has virtually passed and the attachment will not take place

Answer 6

Harlow- the need for contact comfort 1959

Answer 7

Harlow aimed to find out whether baby monkeys would prefer a source of food or a source of comfort and protection as an attachment figure. In laboratory experiments rhesus monkeys were raised in isolation. They had two 'surrogate' mothers. One was made of wire mesh and contained a feeding bottle, the other was made of cloth but didn't contain a feeding bottle.

Answer 8

The monkeys spent most of their time clinging to the cloth surrogate and only used the wire surrogate to feed. The cloth surrogate seemed to give them comfort in new situations. When the monkeys grew up they showed signs of emotional and social disturbance. The females were bad mothers who were often violent towards their offspring.

Answer 9

Infant monkeys formed more of an attachment with a figure that provided comfort and protection. Growing up in isolation affected their development.

Answer 10

Positives: This was a laboratory experiment, so there was strict control of the variables. This means that it’s unlikely the results were affected by an unknown variable. Theoretical value- Harlow (supporting): • Profound effect on understanding of mother-infant attachment • Attachment is formed through comfort, not as a result of being fed • Importance of quality of early relationships for later social development including the ability to hold down adult relationships and successfully rear children. Practical value – (supporting research): • Howe (1998)- research has helped social workers understand risk factors in child neglect and abuse and how to prevent it. • Importance of attachment for monkeys in zoos and breeding programmes Negatives: It can be argued that you can’t generalise the results of this study to human beings, because humans and moneys are qualitatively different. There were also ethical problems with this study- the monkeys were put in a stressful situation, and later they showed signs of being psychologically damaged by the experiment. Monkeys are social animals, so it was unfair to keep them in isolation. The fact that they were in isolation also means the study lacked ecological validity- the monkeys weren’t in their natural environment, so the results cannot be reliably applied to real life. Laboratory experiments can usually be replicated, but ethical guidelines now in place mean that you couldn’t repeat this study today

Answer 11

Lorenz called this rapid formation of attachments IMPRINTING This is the tendency to form an attachment to the first large moving object seen after birth.

Answer 12

Generalisability to humans: • Investigated the relationship between imprinting and adult male preferences. The birds that had imprinted on humans, later displayed courtship behaviours towards humans. • However, we cannot generalise the findings from Lorenz’s study to humans. • Mammalian attachment is different from birds- they show more emotional attachment and mammals may be able to form attachments at any time Questionable findings- Lorenz: -Lorenz suggested that imprinting is irreversible and has a long last effect in on mating behaviour. • Imprinting and mating behaviour- Guiton et al. (1966) found that chickens imprinted on yellow washing up gloves, would try to mate with them as adults but with experience they eventually learned to prefer mating with other chickens • This suggests it is not permanent.

Answer 13

• Harlow and Zimmerman (1959) – fearful stimulus.: - When the oversized toy was added to the cage, the monkey would cling to the cloth surrogate and then explore the object. - Monkeys with the wire surrogate would remain frozen or run wildly around the cage. • Harlow and Sumoi (1970) - food or no food: - when the monkeys were placed with a cloth surrogate with food and a cloth surrogate without food- food was preferred Harlows’s open field test: -baby monkey placed in an unfamiliar rooms the. The two surrogate mothers were placed inside. The monkeys behaviour were observed. The monkey with the cloth mother immediately went to it for comfort before exploring the room. The monkey with the wired mother showed distress and explored the room a little

Answer 14

Learning theory views children as being born with blank slates. Everything we know is learned through our experiences, so a baby has to learn to form an attachment with its mother. We learn to form attachments through classical and operant conditioning, in line with learning theory and behaviourism. This is the idea of 'cupboard love' i.e. where we form attachments to the person providing us with food. Hunger is a primary drive for attachment and the result is an association formed between the caregiver and the satisfaction of primary drive reduction (food comfort)

Answer 15

• By the process of classical conditioning, the baby forms an association between the mother (a neutral stimulus) and the feeling of pleasure that comes with being fed (an innate unconditioned response) Before conditioning: Food is an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) that naturally produces pleasure (the unconditioned response – UCR). The mother is initially a neutral stimulus (NS) — she does not produce this response on her own. During conditioning: Every time the baby is fed, the mother is present (e.g. during breastfeeding or bottle-feeding). Over repeated pairings, the baby begins to associate the mother with the pleasure of being fed. After conditioning: The mother becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS). The presence of the mother alone now produces pleasure (a conditioned response – CR), even without food.

Answer 16

• The child carries out an action such as crying, which triggers a response, such as the mother coming to comfort or feed the baby • The more this happens, the more that the action is reinforced, as the child associates the mother with those rewards • ie the reward for crying encourages the child to cry more to receive more rewards like attention and food • Food is the primary reinforcer as it satisfies the babies requirements - The mother is the secondary reinforcer (as the child associates the mothers with food)

Answer 17

- There is contradictory evidence from animal studies. For example, Harlow demonstrated that contact comfort was more important than food in the development of an attachment, where the baby monkeys formed a primary attachment to the cloth-bound mother, regardless of which mother was dispensing milk. This suggests that there is no unconditioned stimulus (of food) and even if there is, it has very little influence upon the formation of attachments. Additionally, Lorenz geese’s imprinted before they were fed and maintained this attachment despite who fed them. — There is also contradictory evidence from human studies! For example, Brazleton et al emphasised the importance of interactional synchrony and reciprocity in the secure formation of attachments between a primary caregiver and infant - these are universal features of attachment. Attachments form not to the person who spends the most time with the infant, but rather the person who is most attentive to the infant and deals with their signals most skilfully. This means that the unconditioned stimulus of food is irrelevant in most cases! — The focus on unconditioned and conditioned stimuli means that there is a loss of focus. Interactional synchrony and reciprocity are both universal features of attachment and should be treated as such, as demonstrated by Feldman and Brazleton. Therefore, the learning theory is reductionist and so is a limited explanation of only some aspects of attachment formation.

Answer 18

Some elements of conditioning could still be involved (supporting): - Many areas of human development are affected by conditioning - The attachment is not necessarily about food but the reinforcement between primary caregiver and the provision of comfort and social interaction Supporting evidence for the learning theory of attachment: Skinner rats (operant conditioning) Pavlov’s dog (classical conditioning) A newer learing theory explanation (supporting): - Hay and vespo (1988)- social learning theory - The theory suggests that parent teach children to love them through modeling and imitation of behaviour - For example, hugging or interactions such as ‘that’s a lovely smile/hug’

Answer 19

Evolution is the process whereby USEFUL FEATURES are introduced into a species. Features are useful if they help the animal SURVIVE long enough to successfully REPRODUCE. To survive and reproduce, animals need to be WELL ADAPTED to their environment. For this reason, useful features are said to be ADAPTIVE.

Answer 20

Attachment is an innate, evolutionary behaviour that has developed because it increases the infant’s chances of survival. Babies are born with a biological drive to form attachments, ensuring they survive: Adaptive- attachment behaviour provide an ‘adaptive advantage’, making us more likely to survive. This is because if an infant has an attachment to a caregiver, they are kept safe, given food, and kept warm Monotropy-Bowlby believed that infants form one very special attachment with their mother. This special, intense attachment is called Monotropy. If the mother isn’t available, the infant could bond with another ever-present, adult, mother-substitute. 1. The law of continuity- the more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better the quality of their attachment. 2. The law of accumulated separation- the effects of every separation from the mother add up ‘and the safest dose is therefore a zero dose’. Secondary attachment figures also provide an emotional safety net and are important for healthy psychological and social development. Sensitive Period (critical period): Babies should develop attachments with their caregiver during the most Sensitive period (3-6 months). • As the months pass it becomes increasingly difficult to form infant-caregiver attachments. The infant has a critical period, around 2 yrs– 2 ½ yrs when the infant attachment system is active. If the child fails to form an attachment in this critical period they could be damaged for life – socially, emotionally, intellectually, and physically. Social Releasers-: Babies have Social releasers, which ‘unlock’ the innate tendency of adults to care for them. It provides protection and enhances survival. • These Social releasers are both: • Physical – the typical ‘baby face’ features and body proportions • Behavioural – e.g. crying, cooing Internal Working model: through the monotropic attachment, the infant would form an Internal working model. This is a special model for relationships and has several consequences. 1) In the short-term it gives the child insight into the caregiver's behaviour and enables the child to influence the caregiver's behaviour, so that a true partnership can be formed. 2) In the long-term it acts as a template for all future relationships because it generates expectations about what intimate, loving triendships are like. Most importantly the IWM affects the child's later ability to be a parent themselves. continuity hypothesis: infants who are strongly attached will continue to be socially and emotionally competent in their adult relationships. Whereas, infants who aren't strongly attached have more social and emotional difficulties in future adult relationships.

Answer 21

Supporting: Supporting research: Lorenz’s (1935) research on imprinting in geese supports the idea of a critical period and innate attachment mechanisms. Lorenz showed goslings imprint on the first moving object they see, usually the mother, supporting Bowlby’s concept of innate biological processes guiding attachment. Harlow’s (1959) monkey study also supports Bowlby’s theory by demonstrating the importance of a caregiver for comfort and security, which aligns with Bowlby’s idea that attachment is an adaptive behaviour for survival. Support for social releasers: • Brazleton et al. (1975) observed mothers and babies during their interactions, reporting the existence of interactional synchrony. • They extended their study to an experiment- primary attachment figures were instructed to ignore babies social releasers. • The babies initially showed distress and then some responded by curling up and lying motionless. • This showed the significance of infant social behaviour in eliciting the caregiver. Limitations: Contrasting researc: • Schaffer and Emerson found that a significant minority of infants formed multiple attachments at the same time. This idea is also supported by van Izjendoorn and Kronenberg, who found that monotropy is scarce in collectivist cultures where the whole family is involved in raising and looking after the child. This means that monotropy is unlikely to be a universal feature of infant-caregiver attachments, as believed by Bowlby, and so is a strictly limited explanation of some cases of attachments. Monotrophy is a socially sensitive idea: • The law of accumulated separation states that having substantial time apart from a primary attachment figure risks a poor quality attachment that will disadvantage the child in a range of ways later. This place a terrible burned on mothers as suggested by Burman Temperamental hypothesis: An infants temperament which is a result of their genetic makeup will determine their later social behaviour. e.g. some babies are more anxious, some are more sociable These temperaments are innate and not influenced by a child’s early experiences and quality of attachments (Kagan, 1982).

Answer 22

IWM = this template will be the basis of our assumptions about all relationships we will seek out, and form. Our future relationships will mirror our original template (IWM) e.g. insecure resistant may be controlling or argumentative in relationships

Answer 23

(Kerns, 1994): Securely attached infants go on to form the best quality friendships while insecurely attached infants struggle. This shows that attachment type is associated with the quality of peer relationships in childhood Myron-Wilson and Smith (1998): Gave questionnaires to 196 children aged 7- 11 from London. Found that insecure-avoidant infants are most likely to be bullied while insecure-resistant infants are most likely to be bullies These findings support the idea that attachment style in infancy influences social competence and relationship quality in later childhood, consistent with Bowlby’s theory.

Answer 24

McCarthy (1999): Method-N= 40 adult women who were assessed as infants to establish early attachment types. The participants were then followed up in adulthood to examine their friendship and romantic relationship Results- Securely attached infants had the best adult friendships and romantic relationships. Insecure-resistant had problems maintaining friendships whilst those classified as insecure-avoidant struggled with intimacy Conclusion-McCarthy’s findings support Bowlby’s Internal Working Model — early attachment experiences act as a template for future relationships.

Answer 25

Hazan and Shaver’s “Love Quiz” (1987) Procedure: analysed 620 replies to a “love quiz” printed in a local newspaper. The quiz had three sections: 1. Assessing respondents’ current or most significant relationship 2. General love experiences 3. Assessing attachment type by responding to one of three statements

Answer 26

Out of 620 replies: 56% of respondents classified themselves secure 25% avoidant 19% resistant Love experience and attitudes towards love (internal working model) were related to attachment type Those who were securely attached: believed love is enduring, had mutual trust and were less likely to get divorced Those who were insecurely attached: felt love was rare, fell in and out of love easily, found relationships as less easy, were more likely to be divorced

Answer 27

Supporting: McCarthy (1999) supports both the continuity hypothesis and the internal working model. She found that adults who were securely attached as infants had better quality adult relationships, while those with insecure attachments struggled with intimacy or maintaining friendships. This suggests that early attachment types are carried forward into adult life through the internal working model, supporting Bowlby’s theory. Contradicting: Zimmerman (2000) contradicts Bowlby’s continuity hypothesis. In a longitudinal study, he found no consistent relationship between infant attachment type and later attachment to parents in adolescence. This challenges the idea that early attachment forms a fixed internal working model, and instead suggests that later experiences may play a more significant role in shaping attachment over time. - Freud and Dann (1951) studies six children who were rescued after WWII. They were not attached to an adult in their early life. However, they formed very close bonds to each other and successful rations with their new caregivers ( ‘normal’ relationship and normal IQ scores.). This challenges Bowlby’s critical period and the idea that early deprivation always leads to long-term social and emotional damage. It suggests that attachment development may be more flexible and that peer relationships can act as a form of emotional compensation.

Answer 28

• Bowlby (1969) argued that the internal working model is unconscious (e.g. we aren’t aware of it existing and can’t describe/explain its effect on us). This presents a major issue for researchers, because most studies investigating the IWM rely on self-report methods — such as interviews or questionnaires — which depend on a person’s conscious understanding of their own relationships. People can only describe how they consciously understand their relationships (and this will be influenced by loads of other variables - media, previous experiences, expectations, etc.) so, at best, we get a partial picture of the internal working model Therefore, the data collected through self-report may only provide a partial or distorted picture of the IWM, reducing the validity of the findings and making it difficult to test Bowlby’s theory.

Answer 29

Bowlby’s theory suggests that a child’s early attachment forms an internal working model — a mental representation of what relationships are like.. This model influences later relationships, such as friendships, romantic relationships, and even parenting style. Through Bowlby early views he had suggested that this model is deterministic. Therefore, there was no way of changing your future relationships based on attachment type. This could lead to people being pessimistic about the future, leading to relationship issues Clarke and Clarke (1998) describe the influence of infant attachment on later relationships as probabilistic. People are not doomed to always have bad relationships, just because they had attachment problems.Therefore, the IWM is open to change through later experience.

Answer 30

Key term: the emotional and intellectual consequences of separation between a child and his/her mother or mother substitute.

Answer 31

Seperation = Distress when separated for a relatively short period of time from primary caregiver to whom an attachment hasbeen formed + ———————-> Bond disruption Deprivation = Occurs when a bond that has been formed is broken

Answer 32

• Bowlby believed that infants who were deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period would have delayed intellectual development- abnormally low IQ • Goldfarb (1947) found lower IQ in children who remained in institutions. as opposed to those who were fostered This suggests that emotional care in early childhood is crucial for intellectual development, and a lack of attachment (maternal deprivation) can lead to long-term cognitive impairments.

Answer 33

Bowlby - the 44 juvenile thieves (1944)

Answer 34

Case studies were completed on the backgrounds of 44 juveniles who had been referred to the clinic where Bowlby worked because they’d been stealing. There was a control group of 44 ‘emotionally disturbed’ adolescents who didn’t steal Clinical interviews were carried out with the children and their parents.

Answer 35

17 of the thieves had experienced frequent separations from their mothers before the age of two, compared with 2 in the control group. 14 of the thieves were diagnosed as ‘affectionless psychopaths’ (they didn’t care about how their actions affected others) while 12 of these 14 had experienced separation from their mothers There were zero affection less psychopaths in the control group

Answer 36

Deprivation of the child from its main carer early in life can have very harmful long-term consequences e.g affectionless psychopathy. This supports Bowlby maternal deprivation hypothesis. The primary caregiver and infants should not experience prolonged seperation before or during the critical period otherwise the child will experience severe consequences.

Answer 37

Support: Supported Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis: The study found a strong association between prolonged maternal separation and affectionless psychopathy, supporting the theory that early separation from the mother can damage emotional development. Practical application: Bowlby theory of maternal deprivation supports the importance of early attachment and influences policies such as extended materiality leave which helps parental bond with their children. (Vulnerable children are supported to mitigate affects of seperation) Animal studies show effects of maternal deprivation (supporting research): • Levy et al. (2003) showed that separating baby rats from their mother for as little as a day had a permanent effect of their social development Negatives: Interviewer bias: Bowlby was involved in assessing the children, potentially influencing his interpretations. Retrospective data: Mother’s recall of past events may be inaccurate.This lowers the internal validity of the study Temporal validity: The research was conducted in the 1930s where it was a time of high poverty. The society has changed much different currently (NHS and child benefits) .Therefore, the findings may not apply today. Counter-evidence: • Lewis (1954) partially replicated the 44 thieves on a larger scale(N=500). A history of early prolonged separation from the mother did not predict criminality or difficulty forming close relationships.This may suggest Bowlby has add an incorrect casual conclusion. However, this experiment was a lack of replication. Sensitive rather than critical period: Koluchova(1976)- reported the case of twin boys from Czechoslovakia who were isolated from the age of 18 months until 7 years but later recoveredThis suggest that the effects of maternal deprivation may not be irreversible. This undermines his critical period concept. Correlation, not causation: The study shows a link between maternal deprivation and affectionless psychopathy, but does not prove causation. Other factors (e.g., poverty, neglect, or trauma) could be responsible. What did Bowlby mean by deprivation: • Rutter (1981) claimed that when Bowlby talked of deprivation, he was muddling two concepts • Deprivation- loss of the primary attachment figure after attachment has developed • Privation- the failure to form any attachment in the first place. He suggest that Bowlby overstated the effects of deprivation and believes that privitation caused more severe impacts

Answer 38

• Bowlby identified affectionless psychopathy as the inability to experience guilt or strong emotion for others.This prevents the person developing normal relationships and is associated with criminality. This leads to a lack of remorse for their crimes as they cannot appreciate the feelings of the victims. Bowlby believed that prolonged seperation at a young age can also result in depression, anxiety or other emotional disturbances and difficulty to form secure relationships in the future

Answer 39

Secure attachments: most desirable attachment type, associated with psychologically healthy outcomes. In Ainsworth strange situation: Proximity seeking: The baby stayed close to the mother while playing and look over at her Exploration and secure base: Willing to explore; uses caregiver as a secure base while orientating behaviour towards the mother Stranger Anxiety: Shows moderate distress around strangers Separation Anxiety: Distressed when caregiver leaves Response to reunion: Easily comforted when reunited

Answer 40

Low anxiety but weak attachment. In Ainsworth strange situation: Proximity seeking: The baby was not interested in the mother and did not look up at her much. Exploration and secure base: the baby is willing to explore (no orientation towards the mother) Stranger Anxiety: No distress and cam interact wth stranger Separation Anxiety: no seperation anxiety when primary care giver leaves. Response to reunion: Uninterested when reunited.

Answer 41

Stronger attachment and high anxiety. In Ainsworth strange situation: Proximity seeking: The baby was not interested in exploring Exploration and secure base: the baby is unwilling to explore (orientation towards the mother) Stranger Anxiety: high levels of distress Separation Anxiety: very distressed when primary caregiver leaves Response to reunion: The baby seeks comfort but resists it

Answer 42

Ethnocentrism is the tendency to believe that one’s ethnic or cultural group is certainly important, and that all other groups are measured in relation to one’s own

Answer 43

In what way is the strange situation seen to be ethnocentric: Participants- all British white babies Researchers- all western researchers (influenced by individulism) Conclusion- The research has a western bias and does not account for other countries rearing practices (assumes secure attachment is the norm) e.g in Japan children are rarely separated from mothers and may have extreme seperation anxiety (Westernerns may see this has insecure-resistance despite it being secure in Japan). Therefore,it wrongly labels children in other countries cultures where societal norms differ. Therefore, it lacks cross-cultural validity, making it ethnocentric

Answer 44

Attachment differences depended upon the sensitivity of the mother (i.e how well the mother could read her infant’s feelings and moods) Sensitive mothers generally had the infants who were securely attached Less sensitive and less responsive mother (i.e those who ignored their infant or were impatitent with them) had babies who were more likely to be insecurely attached A baby’s attachment seems to be affected by the quality and sensitivity of the caregiver.

Answer 45

Positives: Support for predictive validity: • Attachment type is strongly predictive of later development. Babies assessed as secure tend to have better outcomes- for example: - Success at school - Success in romantic relationships and friendships in adulthood • Insecure-resistant is associated with the worst outcomes including bullying in later childhood (Kokkinos, 2007) and adult mental health (Ward et al. 2006). Controlled observation: Standardised procedure allows for replication and cross cultural comparisons. This enhances reliability of attachment assessments High reliability: Showed very good inter-rater reliability. Bick et al. (2012) looked at inter-rater reliability in a team of trained strange situation observers and found agreement on attachment types for 94% of tested babies This supports the methods dependability and findings. Limitations: Lack of ecological validity: Controlled unfamiliar location does not reflect the child behaviour at home. Therefore, the findings may have low external valdity and can’t be generalised to real life Another attachment types: Main and Solomon (1986) argue another attachment type should be added as some infants show contradictory behaviours that don’t fit into the original three categories. - This is known as disorganised attachment- children display an odd mix of resistant and avoidant behaviours Ethnocentrism: Research on the strange situation was ethnocentric and was heavily influenced by Western bias. Therefore,it wrongly labels children in other countries cultures where societal norms differ. Therefore, the research lacks cross-cultural validity, making it ethnocentric. Culture- bound: • Takahashi (1990) has noted that the test does not really work in Japan because Japanese mothers are so rarely separated from their babies that, we would expect, there are very high levels of separation anxiety. During reunion stage, Japanese mothers rushed to the baby and scooped them up, meaning the child’s response was hard to observe.This makes hte method culture-bound and lack cross-cultural validity. What does the strange situation measure: Ainsworth assumed the Strange Situation measured attachment quality. Kagan (1982) has suggested that temperament, the genetically influenced personality of the child, is the most important influence on behaviour in this situation.Temperament could be a confounding variable. This question the interval validity of the research Overemphasis of the role of the mother: The Strange Situation focuses on the mother as the primary attachment figure, assuming the infant’s behaviour only reflects this one relationship. This ignores the role of multiple attachments, which are common in many cultures and households.This reduces external validity and may not reflect the child’s full attachment network.

Answer 46

Proximity Seeking – An infant with good attachment will stay close to the caregiver Exploration and Secure Base Behaviour – Good attachment enables a child to feel confident to explore with orientation to the mother Stranger Anxiety – a sign of good attachment is to show anxiety when a stranger approaches Separation Anxiety – a sign of good attachment is to protest at separation from caregiver Response to Reunion - good attachment is when the child reacts upon being reunited with caregiver.

Answer 47

Secure- Proximity seeking: The baby stayed close to the mother while playing and constantly looks over at her Exploration and secure base: Willing to explore (plays with toys); uses caregiver as a secure base while orientating behaviour towards the mother Stranger Anxiety: Shows moderate distress around strangers (crawls away from stranger) Separation Anxiety: Distressed when caregiver leaves Response to reunion: Easily comforted when reunited Insecure-avoidant- Proximity seeking: The baby was not interested in the mother and did not look up at her much. Exploration and secure base: the baby is willing to explore- playing with toys (no orientation towards the mother) Stranger Anxiety: No distress and even interacted with the stranger Separation Anxiety: no seperation anxiety when primary care giver leaves. Response to reunion: Uninterested when reunited. Insecure-resistant- Proximity seeking: The baby was not interested in exploring Exploration and secure base: the baby is unwilling to explore (orientation towards the mother) Stranger Anxiety: high levels of distress Separation Anxiety: very distressed when primary caregiver leaves Response to reunion: The baby seeks comfort but resists it (seeking comfort by hugging but pushing her away)

Answer 48

US/UK: Great Britain and the US are individualistic – we encourage independence and not being reliant on others, hence the exploration behaviour. Most children are securely attached as autonomy and interdependence are encouraged. Children are encouraged not to be overly dependent on caregivers though early seperation though daycare and school. AS a result infants become less distressed and attached to caregivers resulting in insecure-avoidant behaviour to be common. Japan: Secure attachment is commonly found here suggesting it is universal. This is formed as Japanese parents commonly are responsive to the babies demands and don’t develop any insecure characteristics. Japan infants are rarely separated from their mothers. When seperation does occur it causes extreme stress and seperation anxiety. This insecure-resistant behavuour may reflect cultural norm, not true insecurity. Germany: Many germs infants are raised with responsive parents who eventually except children o become independent. Thus many children are securely attached. German study highlights a high percentage of avoidant behaviour, typical of independent children. This is not surprising given that Grossmann et al (1985) stated that German parents seek 'independent, non-clingy infants, who do not make demands on parents, but obey their commands.

Answer 49

• Simonella et al. (2014) – conducted a study using the strange situation. Only 50% of infants were securely attached (n= 76 12- month-olds) The researchers suggest this change could be due to increasing numbers of mothers working longer hours.This reflects how society can influence attachment int the same culture over time (temporal validity) • A Korean study: Jin et al. (2012)- 87 children were assessed. Most infant were securely attached. More of those classified as insecurely attached were resistant. This was similar to Japan. Similar child rearing practices between the two countries. This reinforces the idea that attachment can be influenced by cultural practices not just the quality of care giver. (Lack of cross cultural validity to Ainsworth research)

Answer 50

Meta-analysis summarized findings from 8 countries, which included the UK, US, Sweden, Japan, China, Holland, Germany & Israel. The meta- analysis examined 32 studies and consulted nearly 2000 Strange Situation classifications in total.

Answer 51

Average findings were consistent with Ainsworth’s original research - Secure 65% - Avoidant 21% - Resistant 14% Intra-cultural variation was nearly 1.5 times greater than the cross-cultural variations. Van Ijzendoorn speculated that this was linked to differences in socio-economic factors and levels of stress that varied between samples used within each country. 6/8 countries produced findings that were proportionally consistent with Ainsworth & Bell (70). Japan & Israel revealed a higher incidence of resistant than avoidant children. Chinese findings revealed the lowest rate of secure attachments (50%) with the remaining children falling into the other categories equally. It was concluded that the the small differences found between cultures are likely because of the influence of mass media which often spread similar ideas about how to raise children.

Answer 52

Strengths: Standardised methodology: The use of the strange situation as a procedure means that accruate comparison of attachment behaviour can be made across cultures, and the reliability is therefore high High interval valdity: They used a large sample therefore it has high internal validity by reducing the impact of the anomalous result. Weaknesses: Lower numbers of studies: some countries had a lower number of studies: This raises concerns about the representativeness of the samples (sample may not reflect diversity of attachment types in a country e.g Japan). Therefore, the study may have low ecological validity. Ethnocentric: The strange situation was developed with a Western context. As a result may not be applicable to all cultures.( In Japan the seperation episode caused extreme anxiety in infants) - Takahashi (1990) 90% of children stopped the procedure due to distress suggest that high insecure-resistant reflects cultural norms than attachment issues..t his suggest that culturally sensitive methods for studying attachment are required. Overall findings are misleading : As a disproportionately high number of the studies reviewed were conducted in the USA (18/32), the overall findings would have been distorted by these. This means that the apparent consistency between cultures might not genuinely reflect how much attachment types vary between cultures. What does the strange situation measure: Ainsworth assumed the Strange Situation measured attachment quality. Kagan (1982) has suggested that temperament, the genetically influenced personality of the child, is the most important influence on behaviour in this situation.Temperament could be a confounding variable. This question the interval validity of the research

Answer 53

Method: Takahashi (1990) replicated the Strange Situation with 60 middle class Japanese infants & mothers using the same standardised procedure and behavioural categories. Takahashi’s observation revealed distinct cultural differences in how the infants responded to the 8 stages of the procedure. The findings were as follows: Results: 0% insecure-avoidant. Infants became severely distressed in the “infant alone step”; this situation was quite unnatural and broke cultural norms for the infants 32% insecure-resistant 68% secure 90% of infant-alone steps had to be stopped due to excessive infant anxiety. Conclusion: Takahashi’s findings challenge the cultural validity of the Strange Situation.It shows that attachment behaviours and their meanings are interpreted differently across cultures.The Strange Situation may have low external validity when applied to non-Western settings — especially collectivist cultures like Japan, where proximity and dependence are culturally valued. Strange situation demonstrated an imposed etic as it is developed based on western culture around attachment and not applicable to other cultures. This demonstrate Ainsworths study as ethnocentric

Answer 54

Rutter et al. -A longitudinal study of Romanian orphans (1998: 2007: 2011)

Answer 55

165 Romanian orphans who were adopted by British families were compared with a group of 52 UK adoptees and followed over a prolonged period. Some of the orphans were adopted before they were 6 months old and some were older than 6 months. Each child was assessed at ages 4, 6 and 11 and 15.

Answer 56

The children who were younger than 6 months when they were adopted had the same level of emotional development as other UK children, who were adopted at the same age. However, the Romanian orphans who were older than 6 months at adoption, showed signed of insecure attachments and social problems. Whereas the UK children who were older than 6 months at adoption did not show the same problems.

Answer 57

The effects of privation can be reversed if an attachment starts to form before the age of 6 months. Long term effects are more permanent if attachment does not start to occur within 6 months. Maternal deprivation on its own does not cause permanent effects because the UK adopted children had been separated but did not show any problems.

Answer 58

Positives: Real world application: The findings have been vital in improving institutional care practices. In order to ensure healthy attachments are formed to prevent long term consequences. longitudinal study: Rutter was able to investigate the children over a long period of time, meaning the results provided a better insight into the long-term effects of privation. This increase the internal valdity of the findings of the effects of institutionalisation. Demonstration that recovers is possible: Children were were adopted before 6 months of age showed normal emotional and cognitive development comparable to UK children. Therefore, this challanegs Bowlby’s idea that damage is irreversible after the critical period . Limitations: Confounding variables; Children may have experienced different levels of neglect and trauma before the orphaned. The results with the older children may be due to a lack of any stimulation in the orphanage. This reduces interval valdity as we are unsure institutionalisation caused problems. Data interpretation: They collected mainly qualitative data, which although detailed, is more difficult to create generalised laws or theories from Not generalisable: •Romanian orphanage conditions were far worse than other institutions and results cannot be applied to children in better resourced institutions. Long timer effects unclear: • The studies have followed up fostered or adopted orphans into their mid teens and found lasting effects of early experience. • However, it is too soon to say with certainty whether children suffered short- or long- term effects.

Answer 59

• Bowlby’s theories of maternal deprivation would predict that institutional care will have permanent and irreversible effects on the psychological well being of the children. In under-resourced orphanages there is not a single caregiver who consistently responds to a child’s needs. This makes it ideal to study the impact of not forming a secure attachment. Prolonged emotional deprivation can not be manipulated for ethical reasons therefore children are observed institutions to study these effects.

Answer 60

• Procedure: 95 children aged 2-31 months • Compared to a control group of 50 children • Attachment was measured using the Strange situation • Carers were asked to report unusual social behaviours such as clingy, attention- seeking behaviour directed inappropriately at all adults (disinhibited attachment)

Answer 61

Results: 74% of the control group were securely attached. Whereas Only 19% of the experimental group were securely attached, with 65% being classified with disorganised attachment 44% were disinhibited attachment compared to 20% of controls Conclusion: Institutionalisation harms attachment — children raised in institutions were more likely to show disorganised or disinhibited attachment.Early placement in foster care improved outcomes, showing the importance of early, stable caregiving during the sensitive period for healthy attachment.

Answer 62

Rutter (2006) suggested that disinhibited attachment is an adaptation to the experience of living with multiple caregivers during the sensitive period for attachment formation. In institutional settings, children often experience lack of a consistent primary caregiver due to high caregiver turnover and neglect.Because of this, children fail to develop a secure attachment to any one adult. Without a secure base, children do not learn to discriminate between familiar caregivers and strangers. This leads to the disinhibited attachment pattern, where children treat all adults similarly, showing excessive friendliness and lack of appropriate social boundaries.

Answer 63

Mental retardation- cognitive impairment caused by early deprivation or institutionalisation Research shows that those adopted before six months did catch up with the control group by age 4. This suggests that intellectual development can recover if intervention happens before a critical sensitive period, roughly six months. Intellectual development can recover if the infant is adopted an attaches to a primary care giver before the age of 6 months and they will eventually be similar to a normal child in terms of cognitive ability

Answer 64

Deprivation dwarfism is a condition where a child’s physical growth is stunted (slowed or stopped) due to emotional deprivation. • Gardner (1972) studied 8 month old girl who was never cuddled. She was physically stunted and withdrawn. With attention from hospital staff, she made a full recovery. This highlights the importance of emoetional care for physical development ( emotional disturbances may affect the production of growth hormones)

Answer 65

• Affectionless psychopaths- prolonged maternal deprivation, especially during the critical period ,could lead to affectionless psychopathy. ( no remorse for their actions on others) • Delinquency- Bowlby argued that maternal deprivation disrupted the development of the superego (morality), leading to a lack of guilt and increased risk of criminal behaviourThis is also seen in institutionalised children who may not develop appropriate boundaries, self-control. • Anaclitic depression- depression seen in young children who experience sudden or prolonged separation from their primary caregiver.

Answer 66

Positives: Real life application: Policies now avoid placing children in institutional care and instead prioritise early adoption or fostering, ideally before the age of 6 months.This shows the study has high external validity and benefits real-world child care practices. • Langdon (2006)- these studies have led to improvements in the way children are cared for in institutions.Key workers- children can form an attachment to one person and it helps to avoid disinhibited attachment. Negatives: Confounding variables: Many of the children in institutions had experienced multiple risk factors (malnutrition, poor healthcare, abuse or neglect ) This makes it hard to isolate institutional care as the sole cause of negative outcomes. Therefore, the internal validity is reduced, as we cannot be sure that the effects are purely due to institutionalisation. Lack of generalisability: The study was conducted in Romanian orphanages during the which are unusually poor in terms of standards of care. These conditions were extremely harsh (e.g. low caregiver-to-child ratios, almost no stimulation), so findings may not apply to all forms of institutional care. Therefore, the study may have limited population validity when generalising to institutions in other cultures or time periods.

Answer 67

• Schaffer and Emerson found that 75% of the infants in their study formed a secondary attachment to their father by the age of 18 months, with 29% doing so within a month of forming a primary attachment This suggests that the father is important, but is unlikely to be the first person to which the child develops an attachment to.

Answer 68

• Sexual imprinting is also a similar idea, where animals will attach to and display sexual behaviours towards the first moving object or animal they see directly after birth. Lorenz reported in a case of a peacock who was born surrounded by turtles, and so only desired to mate with turtles in later life.

Answer 69

There were seven stages which each lasted 3 minutes. (Controlled observation) 1. The caregiver enters a room, places the child on the floor and sits on a chair. The caregiver does not interact with the child unless the infant seeks attention. 2. A stranger enters the room, talks to the caregiver and then approaches the child with a toy. 3. The caregiver exits the room. If the infant plays the stranger observes without interruption. If the child is passive, the stranger attempts to interest them in the toy. If they show distress the stranger attempts to comfort them. 4. The caregiver returns while the stranger then leaves. 5. Once the infant begins to play again, the caregiver may leave the room, leaving the child alone briefly. 6. The stranger enters the room again and repeats behaviour mentioned in step 3 (observing, engaging, comforting as needed) 7. The stranger leaves and the caregiver returns. The "strange situation" places the child in a mildly stressful situation in order to observe 4 different types of behaviour which are separation anxiety, stranger anxiety, willingness to explore and reunion behaviour with the caregiver.

Answer 70

• An inability to form attachments in the future (see the Internal Working Model) • Affectionless psychopathy (being unable to feel remorse) • Delinquency (behavioural problems in the child's teenage years) • Problems with cognitive (brain) development

Answer 71

Privation occurs when a child never forms an attachment to a caregiver in early life — typically due to severe neglect, abandonment, or extreme institutionalisation. As a result they have difficulty forming attachments in the future. Therefore they will struggle forming an attachment it’s their own children leading for this to be repeated to the next generation (cycle of privation)

Answer 72

When some children experience disruptions of early attachments this affects their social and emotional development. Children with attachment disorder have: • No preferred attachment figure. • An inability to interact and relate to others that is evident before the age of five. -struggle forming attachment later in life These are two kinds of attachment disorders: • Inhibited: shy and withdrawn, unable to cope with most social situations • Disinhibited attachment: over-friendly and attention seeking

Answer 73

Bowlby suggested that there will be continuity (a similarity or connection) between your experiences as a baby/your attachment type or quality, and your relationships later in life. These relationships include friendships, romantic relationships and family relationships etc. He said that when we form our first main attachments, we form an internal working model, which is a mental template for what a relationship is and how to behave. Early attachments have also been found to determine various personality types, which can influence many parts of your life, but one notable part is your parenting style when you have a child of your own. It has been found that we are more likely to raise our children similarly to how we were raised, as our internal working model was built using our parent's' parenting style as a template, which was demonstrated by Bailey et al (2007). A result of this is that you and your child will have a similar attachment type to that of you and your parents. This is why attachment style tends to be passed on through generations of a family. The internal working model affects your expectations of others and subsequently your attitude towards them, which would have an impact on the quality of romantic relationships in adulthood. A child's internal working model can lead to the development of an attachment disorder. If they experience abuse or neglect in their childhood, they may grow up to resist or reject intimacy in their adult relationships. It may also lead to a lack of responsiveness or excessive over-familiarity.

Answer 74

Supporting: This is supported by Bailey (2007).They found that the majority of women (out of the 99 studied) had the same attachment classification both to their babies and their own mothers.This supports the idea of continuity, as suggested by Bowlby. The internal working models that we develop in response to our first attachment to our primary attachment figure contain our perceptions of what a normal relationship looks like, and so we seek out such relationships in accordance with our internal working model. Hazan and Shaver supported the idea that the quality/type of early attachments have a significant impact on our ability as adults to form attachments..Hazan and Shaver found that those who were securely attached as children had happier and longer lasting relationships, and those who were insecurely attached had more divorces and tended to believe love was rare.This supports the idea that childhood experiences have significant impact on people's attitude toward later relationships. Bowlby suggest the influence of early attachment on future relationships is guilty of determinism.There are significant problems with the research. For example, the theory suggests that children who are insecurely attached are doomed for later relationships. This is deterministic because it assumes that implies no choice/free will, and that self-fulfilling prophecies must occur. As a result many people lack motivation to find a relationship as this theory suggests that attachment type determine quality of future relationships Contrasting: Some research challenges Bowlby’s theory by showing that not all insecurely attached children grow up to have poor relationships. Many go on to form happy, secure adult relationships, suggesting that later life experiences can override early attachment patterns. The temperament hypothesis (Kagan) offers an alternative explanation. It argues that a child’s innate personality (temperament) affects both their early attachment style and later relationships. This suggests that attachment style might not be the cause of later relationship quality — personality could be more important. This means Bowlby’s theory may be too deterministic, and changing attachment styles might not be as effective as understanding someone’s biological traits. Clarke and Clarke (1998) describe the influence of infant attachment on later relationships as probabilistic. People are not doomed to always have bad relationships, just because they had attachment problems.Therefore, the IWM is open to change through later experience.

Answer 75

Positives: Supporting Research: Meltzoff and Moore (1977) - found that babies as young as 2 weeks old could imitate facial expressions and gestures, suggesting synchrony may be innate. Feldman (2007)- found that synchrony becomes more frequent around 3 months, and is important for social and emotional development. Isabella et al. (1989)- found stronger interactional synchrony in infants with secure attachments with mother. This shows the importance of interactional synchrony in forming strong emotional bonds Highly controlled observational methods: Meltzoff and Moore- used independent observers to code infant reactions, reducing bias and increasing inter-rater reliability.The findings are replicable and consistent, supporting their scientific credibility. Real life application: • There is evidence that reciprocity is helpful in the development of mother-infant attachment as well as helpful stress responses, empathy, language and moral development. Negatives: Difficulty in interpretation: It is hard to determine the purpose of infant behaviour. Just because a baby mimics a facial expression doesn’t mean they understand or intend it.Therefore, conclusions about attachment or emotion based on synchrony must be made cautiously. Contrasting research: • Feldman (2012)- suggests that interactional synchrony simply describes behaviours that occur at the same time; They do not tell us their purpose.

Answer 76

A longitudinal study of 65 children who had been placed in a residential nursery before they were four months old. They had not had the opportunity to form close attachments with any of their caregivers. By the age of four, some of the children had returned to their birth mothers, some had been adopted and some had stayed at the nursery.

Answer 77

At 16 years old, the adopted group had strong family relationships, although compared to a control group of children from a 'normal' home environment, they had weaker peer relationships. Those who stayed in the nursery or who returned to their mothers showed poorer relationships with family and peers than those who were adopted.

Answer 78

Children can recover from early maternal privation if they are in a good quality, loving environment, although their social development may not be as good as children who have never suffered privation.

Answer 79

Strengths: Ecological valdity: This was a natural experiment, so it had high ecological validity. Therefore, the finding can be generalised to real life application. This increases external valdity of he study Longitudinal design: The children were studied over many years — into adolescence. This helps to observe the long-term consequences of institutional care, including how adoption or restoration to families influences outcomes over time. This supports Bowlby’s theory and the concept of a critical period for forming attachments. Challenged the idea that institutional damage is irreversible: Some children in the study, especially those who were adopted, showed good cognitive development and were able to recover socially over time.This challenges Bowlby’s original claim that damage from early deprivation is always permanent and instead supports the idea that with the right care, recovery is possible. Negative: limited sample: The sample was quite small and more than 20 of the children could not be found at the end of the study, so it is hard to generalise the results. Therefore, the study has low external valdity of correlation is not causation: Lots of institutionalised children are unfortunately often underfed and malnourished with a lack of stimulation, it could be these factors that influence their behaviour, rather than the lack of attachment itself.

Answer 80

Quinton et al. (1984): n= 50 women who were institutionalised n=50 women who were not (control group) Mothers who had faced privation as children were less sensitive and less responsive to their children’s needs, and many showed insecure or disrupted attachment behaviours. They were unable to attach to their own children. This suggests that early privation had a lasting impact on their ability to form attachments — even with their own children.(This cycle then continues)

Answer 81

Baby alert phases are specific times when a baby is naturally more awake, attentive, and ready to interact with their caregiver. During these phases, babies are more likely to engage in social behaviors (hugging, smiling etc). This helps to strengthen attachment between the infant and caregiver

Attachment Flashcards

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