1
Q
What is an attachment?
A
A strong emotional and reciprocal bond between two people especially between an infant and its caregiver. Two characteristics of this bond are, distress on separation and pleasure when reunited.
2
Q
What are the 4 characteristics of attachment identified by Maccoby?
A
- Seeking proximity especially at times of stress (reaching/looking at caregiver)
- Distress on separation (crying)
- Please when reunited (comforted easily)
- General orientation of behaviour towards the primary caregiver and use of them as a secure/safe base
3
Q
What are the short term benefits of attachment?
A
- Survival: attachments offer care, protection and security for infants (benefits infant and caregiver as they both want the infant to survive)
- Safe base from which to explore the world: this aids the infant’s cognitive development
4
Q
What did Hazan and Durrett (1982) say about securely attached infants?
……….. attached infants are more ……… about ……. their environment, which will allow their ………. skills to develop
A
Securely attached infants are more confident about exploring their environment, which will allow their cognitive skills to develop
5
Q
What are the long term benefits of attachment?
A
- Internal working model: Bowlby argues that the type of attachment a child first forms acts as a template for all later relationships (continuity hypothesis)
6
Q
Why were animals used rather than humans in some studies of attachment?
A
Due to ethical concerns
7
Q
What was the procedure of Lorenz’s experiment in 1935?
A
He divided a clutch of goose eggs in to two groups. One half was hatched by the mother goose in normal conditions (control group). The other half was placed in an incubator and the first moving thing they saw was Lorenz (experimental group). Lorenz varied the time between birth and seeing a moving object in order to measure the critical period for imprinting. Lorenz then marked the goslings so he would know which group they were from and placed them under a box. Lorenz and the mother were close by. When the box was removed the goslings behaviour was observed.
8
Q
What were Lorenz’s findings?
A
He found that the naturally hatched goslings (control group) followed their mother. The incubator hatched goslings (experimental group) followed Lorenz in the same way. When the box was removed, the goslings went to the “parent” they had seen on hatching suggesting the bond made to Lorenz was irreversible as they did not go to their biological mother. Lorenz found that imprinting would only occur between 4-25 hours after hatching. The goslings who had imprinted onto Lorenz tried to mate with humans when they were sexually mature.
9
Q
What were Lorenz’s conclusions?
A
Imprinting is an irreversible behaviour that is under biological control and not learned. Close contact is maintained with the first large moving object seen. Imprinting has to happen within the critical period. Imprinting ensures proximity for the offspring’s safety and so they can learn. This can be important for later in the offspring’s life (mating)
10
Q
What are the strengths of Lorenz’s research?
A
- Important implications for attachment research. The fact that the goslings imprinted irreversibly so early suggests that there is a critical period which was underpinned by biological changes.
- The instinctive behaviour displayed by the goslings suggests that attachments are biologically programmed into species and that these are adaptive (for survival). Goslings innately follow moving objects shortly after hatching, as this would be adaptive given their premature mobility. This may have important implications when understanding human attachments (consequences of critical period).
- Practical value for social work as it suggests risk factors in vulnerable children should be identified earlier so they can be placed in good quality care and avoid long term consequences.
11
Q
What are the weaknesses of Lorenz’s research?
A
Generalisation from birds to humans is a problem. The mammalian attachment system is very different to that in birds e.g. mammalian mothers show more emotional attachment to their young than birds do, and mammals may be able to form attachments at any time (but less easily than in infancy). Therefore it may not be appropriate to extrapolate Lorenz’s ideas to humans.
Also, some of the observations have been questioned (e.g. the idea that imprinting has a permanent effect on mating behaviour). Guiton et al (1966) found that chickens that had imprinted on yellow washing up gloves would try and mate with them as adults, but with experience, they eventually learned to prefer mating with other chickens. This suggests that the impact of imprinting on mating behaviour is not as permanent as Lorenz believed.
12
Q
What was the aim of Harlow’s research in 1959?
A
To investigate whether food or contact comfort was more important in attachment formation
13
Q
What was the procedure of Harlow’s research?
A
-Harlow tested the idea that a soft object serves some of the functions of a mother.
- In one version 16 baby Rhesus monkeys were separated from their birth mothers and raised in isolation chambers with a surrogate wire mother that dispensed milk and a separate surrogate cloth mother who did not dispense milk but provided contact comfort.
- The monkeys were introduced to a noisy robotic teddy bear designed to induce fear.
- The monkeys were observed and the time the monkey spent with each surrogate mother was timed to measure contact comfort attachment behaviour.
14
Q
What were the findings of Harlow’s research?
A
- The baby monkeys cuddled the cloth mother in preference to the wire mother.
- When frightened by a noisy mechanical teddy bear the monkeys sought comfort from the cloth mother regardless of the lack of milk.
- The research has a long term impact on the social development of the monkeys, those reared by the wire monkey only became dysfunctional in adulthood.
15
Q
What conclusions were made about Harlow’s research?
A
- Contact comfort was more important to the monkeys than food when it came to attachment behaviour.
- Affectional drives are more important than survival (feeding)
- Implications for human attachment, emotional and physical closeness is vital for forming healthy attachments
- Critical period of 90 days to form an attachment. After this, early deprivation damage is irreversible.
16
Q
What are the strengths of Harlow’s research?
A
- Important theoretical implications for attachment research. The Rhesus monkey’s willingness to seek refuge when scared with something offering comfort rather than food would suggest that food is not as crucial as comfort when forming a bond.
- The isolated monkeys displayed long-term dysfunctional behaviour suggesting that early attachment experience predicts long-term social development. Despite being fed the isolated monkeys failed to develop functional social behaviours, suggesting that animals have greater needs than just food.
- Overall, Harlow demonstrated the importance of the quality of early relationships for later social development, including forming healthy adult relationships.
- Important practical application. Social workers now understand the risk factors of child neglect and abuse and so intervene to prevent it (Howe 1998). It is also vital that all children’s needs are catered for, for their long term development.
- Generalisation from monkeys to humans is more credible than geese to humans (Lorenz). Green (1994) states that, on biological level, all mammals have the same brain structure as humans, just different sizes and number of connections.
17
Q
What are the weaknesses of Harlow’s research?
A
- The ethics of the research has been criticised as the monkeys suffered greatly as a result of his procedures. The monkeys are considered to be similar to humans so would have suffered like a human. However, others would argue that Harlow’s research was sufficiently important to justify the effects.
- The critical period found in Harlow’s monkeys may be more of a ‘sensitive period’ in humans. Studies have demonstrated how children have been able to recover from early deprivation (e.g. Romanian adoptee studies)
- It is questioned if the findings and conclusions can be fully extrapolated and applied to complex human behaviours. It is unlikely that the observations reflect the emotional connections and interactions that characterise human attachments.
18
Q
What is Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory of Attachment?
A
Influenced by evolutionary theory, he believed that attachment behaviour was innate (adaptive response was necessary for survival).
His theory suggested…
- Babies are born with social releasers (actions that encourage a social response in adults which promotes close contact and aids bonding - crying)
- Attachment behaviour is reciprocal and caregivers are pre-programmed to respond to the infant’s needs.
- There is a critical period of attachment (before 2yo) if an attachment is not made during this time it is not possible after.
- Bowlby believed in monotropy which is a special bond between a baby and it’s main carer. Bowlby said mothers were more sensitive to a baby’s needs than its father.
- The first attachment forms an Internal Working Model which is the template to all future relationships, continuity hypothesis.
- In the short term, babies use the attachment figure as a safe base from which they can explore. If the attachment is poor, exploration will not occur as the child will not move far from their base and so cognitive development will be hindered.
- Consequences of a lack of attachment will be dire and possibly irreversible.
19
Q
What does ASCMIC stand for?
A
Adaptive
Social Releasers
Critical period
Monotropy
Internal Working Model
Continuity Hypothesis
20
Q
What is evolution?
A
The process by which genes are shaped for survival due to natural selection
21
Q
What does innate mean?
A
Present at birth without having to be taught
22
Q
What is the critical period?
A
(later called sensitive period) it is the period in which attachments are most likely to occur
23
Q
What is monotropy?
A
The first attachment which becomes the basis for our internal working model/blueprint for all other attachments.
24
Q
How did McCarthy’s 1999 research support Bowlby’s theory?
A
He interviewed women whose attachment types had been recorded in infancy and found that
- insecure avoidant infants grew to have the most difficult romantic relationships
- insecure resistant infants grew up to have the poorest relationships
- securely attached infants grew up to have the most successful romantic relationships and friendships
This supports Bowlby’s idea of the internal working model.
25
How did Bailey et al's 2007 research support Bowlby's theory?
They **interviewed 99 mothers with 1 year old infants about the quality of their attachment to their own mothers**. They then observed the women with their children to assess the quality of the attachment. The mothers who reported poor quality attachments in the interviews were more likely to have insecurely attached children.
This provides evidence of the internal working model and the continuity hypothesis.
26
How did Zimmerman's 2002 research contradict Bowlby's theory?
He found that serious life events were more important in predicting adult attachment types, than infant attachment types.
This demonstrates that the internal working model is not the most influential factor that effects future relationships.
27
How did Brazleton et al's 1975 research support Bowlby's theory?
They observed the presence of social releasers between mother and babies. The mothers were instructed to ignore the babies' communication signals. The babies initially showed distress, then curled up and were motionless.
This supports the idea of social releasers.
28
How did Suess's 1992 research support Bowlby's theory?
He found that attachment to the mother was more important than the attachment to the father (assessed using the strange situation) in predicting later attachment behaviour.
This provides evidence for the monotropy theory particularly with the mother
29
How did Schaffer and Emmerson's research contradict Bowlby's theory?
They found that 27% of babies formed a joint first attachment.
This weakens Bowlby's monotropy theory that there is one primary, unique attachment
30
How did Kagan's 1982 research contradict Bowlby's theory?
He suggests that the baby's temperament (genetically influenced personality) is more important than the sensitivity of the attachment figure in determining attachment type. Some babies may be more anxious and some more social than others. This may determine the success of future relationships more than the nature of early attachments.
This contradicts Bowlby's idea of the internal working model and suggests that genetics determine temperament not monotropic attachment
31
How do behaviourists believe attachments were formed?
By classical conditioning and operant conditioning
32
How can attachment be explained through classical conditioning?
- Food is an unconditioned stimulus that elicits an unconditioned response in children of happiness.
- Mothers however act as a neutral stimulus (produce no response).
- However, if the mother and the food become associated due to repeated pairings, they will both produce a happiness response in the child.
- Ultimately the food will no longer need to be present, for the mother (conditioned stimulus) alone creates a response of happiness (conditioned response), as the child has begun to associate the two together.
- Consequently, the child has become conditioned to make an attachment to its feeder.
33
How can attachment be explained through operant conditioning?
- Dollard and Miller suggested that the human infant, when hungry feels uncomfortable and enters a primary hunger drive.
- The drive motivates the baby to find some way to lessen the discomfort of being hungry (often by crying to encourage other people to feed it).
- Being fed satisfies the infant's hunger and makes it feel comfortable again. This results in happiness which is rewarding and the child learns that food is a primary positive reinforcer.
- The person who supplies the food, the mother, is associated with the food and becomes a secondary positive reinforcer.
- From then on, the infant seeks to be with the mother because she is now a source of reward. The infant has become attached.
- The baby's cries are also a source of discomfort to the mother, so she cuddles/feeds the baby to prevent the crying (negative reinforcement)
34
What is positive reinforcement?
When something is added (producing a pleasant outcome) that strengthens a behaviour and makes it more likely to be repeated.
35
What is negative reinforcement?
When something is taken away (avoiding an unpleasant outcome) that strengthens a behaviour and makes it more likely to be repeated.
36
What is association?
The link between the neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus to produce a conditioned response.
37
What are the strengths of the learning theory of attachment?
- It is grounded in established theory based on scientific, objective evidence, such as Pavlov's research...
- It has face validity as it is plausible than an association could be made between the provision of needs and the person providing resources for those needs. This could lead to an attachment being formed.
- Although other researchers found contradicting evidence, there is a limit to their ability to discredit learning theory (Harlow - extrapolation) (Schaffer and Emerson - social desirability of mothers)
38
What are the weaknesses of the learning theory of attachment?
- It suggests that attachments are formed to the person who feeds the child, however Fox studied children raised in an Israeli kibbutz. They were **fed and cared for by nurses but formed a strong attachment to their parents**. This suggests that there may be a biological reason for attachment contradicting the learning theory. But the study lacked population validity so limits generalisabilty.
- Harlow found that when given the choice of a wire mother and a cloth mother, baby rhesus monkeys spent more time with the cloth mother suggesting **attachment is for comfort.**
- Schaffer and Emerson found that in 39% of cases, children were **more likely to make attachments with those that interacted with them and not those that fed them** (food not the main mechanism for attachment)
- Behaviourism is reductionist, it **tries to explain a complex process using simple mechanisms** such as association and reinforcement. An alternative explanation is Bowlby's theory which is an evolutionary theory that suggetss infants form attachments to their parents to ensure their genes are passed on. This is something innate in all individuals and would explain the findings of Fox's kibbutz research.
39
Who were the two researchers who conducted The Strange Situation principally?
Ainsworth and Bell
40
What was the aim of The Strange Situation?
To produce a method of assessing quality of attachment and to investigate individual differences between attachment styles
41
What was the procedure of The Strange Situation?
It was a controlled, non-participant, overt, structured, event-sampled observation of 100 middle class 12-18 month old infants and their mothers from the USA. It involved a set of 8 predetermined activities which took a maximum of 3 minutes each. It was designed to increase exposure of the infant to separation from their mother and stranger anxiety. Observations were made using a two-way mirror and the observers used cameras and then recorded 5 key behaviours during the activities.
42
What were the 5 key behaviours recorded in The Strange Situation?
Stranger anxiety - an infant's display of anxiety when a stranger approaches.
Separation anxiety - an infant protesting when separated from caregiver.
Reunion behaviour - an infant greeting the caregiver's return with pleasure and seeking comfort from them.
Level of exploration and safe base behaviour - the confidence an infant has to explore but using their caregiver as a safe place to return to.
Proximity seeking - the infant staying close to the caregiver.
43
What were the overview of the findings of The Strange Situation?
Type A - Insecure avoidant attachment (15%)
Type B - Secure attachment (70%)
Type C - Insecure resistant attachment (15%)
44
What characterises insecure avoidant attachment?
Infants were not concerned by their mother's absence, they carried on playing and didn't cry. They showed little interest on their mother's return and didn't seek contact. They showed little stranger anxiety but avoided the stranger treating their mother and the stranger in a similar way. They did not orientate their behaviour towards their mother and whilst they explore freely they didn't return to their mother as a safe base.
45
What characterises secure attachment?
Infants explore the room but regularly returned back to the mother using her as a safe base. They were subdued when their mother left, stopped playing and cried (moderate separation anxiety). They greeted their mother positively when she returned, usually making physical contact and being easily and quickly calmed. The infants showed moderate avoidance of stranger, they were wary but comfortable when their mother was present. They treated their mother and the stranger very differently.
46
What characterises insecure resistant attachment?
The infants were described as ambivalent as they displayed intense distress on separation but when their mother returned they sought and then rejected comfort (often hitting her). They could not be comforted by their mother easily. They had intense stranger anxiety. They alternated between seeking proximity and wanting distance. They sought proximity more than other types of attachment therefore explored less.
47
What conclusions were made after the original Strange Situation?
- There were significant individual differences between infants.
- Most infants from the USA are securely attached however their is low population validity so these results shouldn't be generalised.
- Type of attachment is related to sensitive responsiveness.
48
What are the strengths of the Strange Situation?
- High predictive validity: the identification of attachment type can be used to predict future relationships of the child. This also supports the internal working model theory.
- High reliability due to the use of inter-observer reliability where the agreement on attachment type was 94% according to Bick et al. This suggests that the research was highly controlled with viable behavioural categories. Additionally the use of the study all over the world support the study as a reliable method of assessing quality of attachment.
49
What are the weaknesses of the Strange Situation?
- **Alternative factors such as genetics** could account for differing levels of anxiety therefore the Strange Situation may not measure attachment specifically.
- The study has **low cultural validity** as it was developed in the USA so the results may not be generalisable to other cultures as they may have differing rearing styles. The study can be said to be **culture-bound with an imposed etic** (taking an american lens and trying to apply it to other cultures). Evidence for this comes from **Takahashi's study** on babies in Japan who displayed high levels of separation anxiety so a disproportionate number were classified as having an insecure resistant attachment but this may be because babies are rarely separated from their mothers.
- An extra type of attachment was suggested by Main and Solomon. **Type D** is disorganised attachment which is a mix of resistant and avoidant attachment. There seemed to be a general trend that these infants had experienced some form of **neglect** and seemed to go on to develop psychological conditions.
50
What is cross-cultural research?
Research into one phenomenon in different cultures to find similarities and differences.
51
What are int**er** cultural differences?
Differences between cultures
52
What are int**ra** cultural differnces?
Differences within cultures
53
What are individualistic cultures?
Cultures where the needs and happiness of individuals are seen as most important (e.g. USA)
54
What are collectivist cultures?
Cultures where the needs and happiness of the group (family, tribe etc) are seen as most important (e.g. Japan)
55
What was the aim of the Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg study of attachment?
To investigate how attachment types differ from country to country with a focus on inter and intra cultural differences.
56
What procedure did Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg use in their study of attachment?
They used meta analysis to compare the results of the Strange Situation in 32 studies across 8 different countries. A total of approximately 2000 infants were studied. The countries involved were West Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands, Sweden, Israel, Japan, China and the USA.
57
What were the main statistics found by Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg in their study of attachment?
Secure attachment:
75% in GB
50% in China
Insecure avoidant:
35.3% in West Germany
5.2% in Japan
Insecure resistant:
28.8% in Israel
2.8% in GB
58
Which were the most common and least common types of attachment overall in the Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg study?
Secure type B attachment was the most common in all countries. The highest figure for secure attachment was GB (75%). Whereas insecure resistant was the least common but Israel has the highest percentage (28.8%)
59
What is the general pattern for type A avoidant in the Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg study?
Less common than secure attachment however more common than insecure resistant. Figures were higher than expected in individualistic cultures (West Germany 35.3%) but according to the original strange situation figures this should be 15%.
60
What is the general pattern for type C resistant in the Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg study?
Least common of all, but figures were higher than expected in collectivist cultures (Israel 28.8% and Japan 27.1%)
61
What were Van Ijzendoorn and Krooneneberg's other findings?
- Differences within cultures (e.g. in the two Japanese studies, one had no type A babies, and the second had 20%)
- Overall they noted that intra-cultural differences were x1.5 greater than inter-cultural differences. (e.g. in the USA in one of the studies 46% were securely attached and in another 90% were)
62
What were Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg's conclusions?
- **Secure attachment** is the most common attachment type across all cultures.
- Attachment styles vary from one culture to another.
- The **greater variation within cultures** suggests that sub-cultural comparisons studies may be more valid than cross-cultural comparisons.
- Meta analysis suggests that secure attachment is the most common independent of country or culture so there must be some **biological reason** (Bowlby's idea of humans being adaptive for survival)
63
What did Simonella et al study?
They studied whether the proportion of babies in **Italy** of different attachment types still matched those found in previous studies. They assessed **76 12 month old babies** using the Strange Situation. They found that **50% were securely attached and 36% were insecure avoidant**. This was a **lower rate of secure** attachment than has been found in many studies - the researchers suggested this was due to the increasing numbers of **mothers of young children who work long hours and use professional childcare**. This suggests that cultural change can make significant differences to patterns of secure and insecure attachment.
64
What did Jin et al study?
They conducted a study to compare the proportions of attachment types in Korea, they used the Strange Situation to assess 87 children. The overall proportions of insecure and secure babies were like those found in most countries - most infants were secure. However, more of those classified as insecurely attached were resistant and only 1 child was avoidant. This distribution was similar to the distribution of attachment styles found in Japan (V I and K). Since Japan and Korea have similar child-rearing styles, this suggests attachment could be explained in terms of child-rearing styles.
65
What does ethnocentric mean?
Where one particular culture is used as the standard by which other cultures are judged.
66
What are the strengths of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg's research?
- The study is a substantial meta analysis, considering the attachment behaviours of a very large number of infants (approx. 2000). Therefore the results can be more confidently generalised to infants in other cultures around the world, increasing the population validity of the conclusions made.
- Many cross-cultural studies of attachment are conducted by indigenous researchers. Since the researchers are from the same cultural background as the participants, there are fewer difficulties in the research process (cultural stereotype or bias are reduced). Likely to have higher validity.
- All use the Strange Situation so all methodologies were highly controlled and standardised with the same 8 3-minute episodes in the same order.
67
What are the weaknesses of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg's research?
- They **did not actually compare cultures, but instead countries**. This is a problem as within countries there are sub-cultures which may be overlooked. (e.g. Tokyo had patterns of attcahment type similar to Western cultures but rural Japan had more resistant children than expected as shown in a later study by Van Ijzendoorn). Therefore, conclusions drawn about whole countries may not be meaningful.
- **18 of the 32 studies were carried out in the USA**, reflecting the dominance by America in research in the area. 27 of the studies were carried out in individualistic cultures, and only 5 in collectivist. Therefore, the sample may not truly be representative of each type of culture.
- While all the studies used the Strange Situation as the basis for assessing attachments, **cross cultural differences may mean the methodology is not exactly the same in every study**. Extraneous variables such as poverty, social class, urban/rural settings may affect the results of cross-cultural studies. This may lower the internal validity of any findings generated and make it harder to compare different cultures fairly.
- All the studies in the meta-analysis used the Strange Situation as their method for measuring attachment type but this was developed in North America and may be most suited to studying attachment types in Western cultures. This is an example of an **imposed etic**. (assuming that all behaviours are universal)
68
What was the procedure of Takahashi's research?
Repeated the Strange Situation on 60 middle class Japanese children
69
What did Takahashi find?
- 68% of the children were securely attached
- 0% of the children had insecure avoidant attachment
- 32% of the children had insecure resistant attachment.
Observational differences: Japanese infants were much more disturbed after being left alone (this episode had to be stopped for 90% of participants)
70
What does Takahashi's research demonstrate?
That the application of a western lens via the Strange Situation to other cultures is not viable
71
How are babies raised in Japan and how did that lead to incorrect classification of attachment?
Babies are very rarely separated from their mothers so they reacted violently when left leading them to be wrongly classified as having insecure resistant attachment
72
How are babies raised in Israel and how did that lead to incorrect classification of attachment?
Families live in small communities called Kibbutz so babies are rarely exposed to strangers so they protest violently when confronted with a stranger leading them to be wrongly classified as having insecure resistant attachment
73
How are babies raised in Germany and how did that lead to incorrect classification of attachment?
Independence is highly valued and encouraged so babies showed little distress on separation leading them to be wrongly classified as having insecure avoidant attachment
74
How can the Strange Situation be criticised for cultural reasons?
The procedure is arguably ethnocentric as it was devised in North America so may not be applicable to other cultures as it fails to take into account differences in child rearing styles. This may result in children being wrongly assigned to a particular attachment type. This could explain why such a high percentage of children were classified as insecure resistant in Takahashi's study. Some children may have had previous experiences of separation so they were unable to cope with the stress of the Strange Situation so were incorrectly classified.
75
What is separation?
A period of time the child spends away from their attachment figure. This may be long or short term (links to law of accumulation)
76
What is deprivation?
A lack of something and the consequences of this lack (e.g. a lack of consistent primary caregiver)
77
What is affectionless psychopathy?
A behavioural disorder where someone has no ability to experience shame or guilt and lacks a social conscience. They may find it "easier" to commit crime. (must include this in a 16 marker)
78
Fill the gaps:
" ........... - ..... in infancy and childhood is as important for ............ ........... as are ............ and proteins for ............. ............" - Bowlby
"Mother-love in infancy and childhood is as important for mental health as are vitamins and proteins for physical health"
79
What is Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis?
Bowlby claimed that children needed to have a **"warm, intimate and continuous relationship"** (social sensitivity) with their mother or primary caregiver in the **first 2.5 years** of their life. Occasional short separations could be tolerated if **good quality substitute care was provided, that met all the child's physical and emotional needs.** However, if long term separations or many short-term separations occurred **(law of accumulation)** this could lead to maternal deprivation and the child's long-term development would be affected. While Bowlby said that the **first 30 months of a child's life were most critical for avoiding separations,** he said that children could be **susceptible to maternal deprivation up to the age of 5 years.**
80
What did Bowlby say maternal deprivation could cause?
-Inability to make attachments with others, and therefore childhood and adulthood relationships are affected.
- Affectionless psychopathy, individuals who have no shame or guilt (no social conscience) and therefore are more likely to commit crime.
- Cognitive impairment and therefore perform badly in IQ tests and school exams - must include this last part for the mark.
- Bedwetting
- Depression
81
What did Bowlby say about the damage of maternal deprivation?
The damage is **permanent unless the situation can be reversed during the critical period (first 2.5 years).** Bowlby stressed the importance of a monotropic bond and said the first attachment still formed the basis for future relationships (internal working model or continuity hypothesis)
82
What are the strengths of Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis?
- Supporting scientific evidence from Harlow's research with Rhesus monkeys. He found that isolation affected a monkey's ability to make attachments with own offspring and other monkeys in later life. This supports Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis as it suggests that the separation from their mothers affected the monkey's late attachments. (however extrapolation weakens support)
- Bowlby's study of 44 thieves found that 86% of thieves diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths had experienced prolonged separation. Suggesting that maternal deprivation may have played a part in this. (but unrepresentative sample as all males from clinic for disturbed adolescents). Also only correlational so can't establish cause and effect.
- Goldfarb found that infants adopted later than others had lower cognitive abilities, IQ scores and an inability to form attachments. This supports the hypothesis' claims about relationship impacts and intellectual retardation.
- Real life implications, in terms of emotional care provided in institutions such as hospitals and orphanages/children's homes
83
What are the weaknesses of Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis?
- Some infants **recover from deprivation which disputes Bowlby's claim that the effects are permanent**. E.g. Bowlby found that children who had experienced prolonged separation from their primary caregiver during the critical period whilst being treated in hospital for TB had no differences in terms of delinquency or problems forming social relationships compared to a control group. Many of them had normal intellectual development.
- **Lewis replicated the 44 thieves study** but on a larger sample of 500 adolescents. She found that a **history of prolonged maternal separation did not predict criminality or difficulty with relationships**. This suggests maternal deprivation does not always lead to the outcomes predicted by the maternal deprivation hypothesis.
- Many studies in support of the hypothesis are from **children who were raised in institutions where they were deprived in many ways**, therefore perhaps it wasn't the maternal deprivation but some other type of deprivation that led to maladjustment.
- The theory is possibly **gender biased and could have negative implications for the economy**. Women could feel pressure to stay at home with their babies for up to five years, taking them out of the workforce and interrupting their careers. This theory does not place the same parental responsibility on fathers.
84
What does privation mean?
The failure to develop attachment during early childhood
85
What is institutionalisation?
The effect of living in an institution for a long, continuous time. More likely if the institution does not provide emotional care during the stay. This can affect behaviour, intellect, emotional responses and general development of attachment.
86
What is disinhibited attachment?
A type of insecure attachment that leads to children being unable to form close, long-term attachments. It causes children to be attention seeking of adults and treat unfamiliar adults inappropriately, often making close personal contact with them. This can make the children very vulnerable to inappropriate adult behaviours like grooming.
87
What were the aims of Rutter et al's Romanian adoptee study?
- To compare Romanian adoptees adopted in the UK with the control group of UK born adoptees.
- To investigate the effect of long periods of time in poor quality orphanages.
88
What were Rutter et al's procedures during the study of the Romanian adoptees?
**Longitudinal** study which compared **165** Romanian adoptees adopted by UK families with UK born adoptees. The Romanian adoptees entered the orphanage with very poor conditions **age 1-2 weeks**. At the time the children were rescued, over half of them were extremely malnourished. **58** children were adopted before they were **6 months old**, **59** between the ages of **6 and 24 months,** and **48** between the ages of **2 and 4 years "late adoptees"**. At age **4, 6, 11 and 15** they were followed up using **interviews and observations** using a modified version of the Strange Situation. They also used **parental reports and investigator ratings** of childrens behaviour.
89
What were Rutter et al's findings of the Romanian adoptee study?
- Those adopted before 6 months had low levels of disinhibited attachment and an average IQ of 102 at age 11. Those adopted at 6-24 months displayed moderate disinhibited attachment and an average IQ of 86 at age 11. Those adopted aged 2-4 years had marked disinhibited attachment and average IQ of 77 at age 11.
- Many of the Romanian adoptees displayed quasi autism (having obsessions and problems understanding social context)
- All Romanian adoptees were small in stature and underweight.
- Disinhibition was rare in the UK adoptee group.
- When assessed by the age of 4, most Romanian children adopted before 6 months had caught up with the UK adoptee group.
- The differences seen in the other groups were still present when the children were assessed at 15/16 years old.
90
What were the conclusions of the Romanian adoptee study?
Suggests that disinhibited attachment (possibly due to having multiple carers when in the institution so they didn't have one primary caregiver) and cognitive impairment is more likely in children that have experienced longer periods in institutions. When followed up in 2007, it was found that this behaviour was persistent in the children who had been adopted past the age of 6 months. The effects of institutional deprivation are not fixed however, for many they can recover the damaging effect of institutional care by becoming part of a supportive adoptive family.
91
What is the procedure of Zeanah's Bucharest Early Intervention Project?
Assessed the attachment type of 95 Romanian children ages 12-31 months who had spent most of their lives in institutional care (90% of their lives on average). They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never lived in an institution. Their attachment type was measured using the Strange Situation. In addition, carers were asked about unusual social behaviour including clingy, attention-seeking behaviour directed inappropriately at all adults (a measure of disinhibited attachment)
92
What were the findings of The Bucharest Early Intervention Project?
- 74% of the control group were classed as securely attached in the strange situation.
- 19% of the institutional group were securely attached.
- The description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44 % of institutionalised children but less than 20% of the control group
93
What are the strengths of Rutter's Romanian adoptee study?
- Rutter used a **range of measurements** (triangulation) such as interviews and observations. This makes the research rich and detailed as more data is collected and overcomes the problem of social desirability in interviews as they are also being observed, therefore the researchers can gain a more valid assessment of the adoptees behaviour.
-**Real life applications** as it has led to improved conditions for children who cannot be cared for by their biological family. The study has provided knowledge about the long-term effects of institutionalisation and how to prevent these effects. e.g children's homes now avoid having large numbers of carers for each child, instead children have two key workers who play a central role in the child's emotional care. Fostering is preferred so that children can be raised in a more normal family environment. Therefore children are more likely to develop secure, healthy attachments in the short and long term.
- Rutter's study was a **natural experiment**, as he did not control the independent variable (age at which the infants were adopted). This means it is more ethical than the Bucharest Early Intervention Project as he did not interfere with the adoption process.
- The study of Romanian adoptees has **fewer extraneous variables** than other orphan studies as the infants went into Romanian orphanages at a very early age, therefore the infants had not experienced varying degrees of trauma from neglect, bereavement, abuse etc. This means the effects of institutionalisation were much less likely to be confounded by other negative early experiences.
94
What are the weaknesses of Rutter's Romanian adoptee study?
- As the research was longitudinal, **attrition** may be an issue as the participants who drop out of the research may differ from those who stay in the research, giving **skewed results**. It may be possible that those who drop out were having more difficulties adjusting to family life. This means that the sample may be unrepresentative which limits the extent to which the findings can be generalised.
- It may be **too early to conclude** that the Romanian adoptees will never catch up in terms of intellectual or attachment development as the most recent data in this study was collected when the Romanian adoptees were in their mid 20s so there is no data on their ability to form long-lasting adult romantic relationships or relationships with their own children. It will be some time before there is a complete picture of the long-term effects of institutionalisation.
- Rutter et al acknowledge that it has been **difficult to obtain information about the quality of care in many institutions in Romania**, making it difficult to assess the extent of privation in early environments of the children in the study. Also the Romanian orphanages were not typical as the conditions were so bad, so the results **cannot be usefully applied to other childcare settings**. The Romanian orphans also experienced very low standards of care especially regarding their intellectual stimulation and attachment care, this limits the extent to which the results can be generalised to other care situations.
-As the study was a natural experiment, the infants were **not randomly allocated to conditions**, therefore it could be that the infants adopted earlier were **naturally more social** and so were likely to have better relationships with their new families (confounding variable). However, the Bucharest Early Intervention Project did randomly allocate infants to conditions (institutional or foster care). Although methodologically better, it is considered unethical to withhold a child from an adoption opportunity for research.
- LeMare and Audet carried out a longitudinal study on the physical growth and health of 36 Romanian adoptees adopted by Canadian families ad compared them to a group of children raised in normal Canadian families. Data was collected for each child at 3 time points (11 months after adoption, 4.5 years of age, and 10.5 years of age). First two sets of data show that the adoptees were behind the non-institutionalised group but by 10.5 years there was no difference. This suggests that **early difficulties may be overcome and are not necessarily permanent**.
95
What did Kerns find about the effect of infant attachment type on childhood relationships?
Kerns found that **securely attached infants tend to go on to have the best quality childhood relationships** with their peers. Children with insecure attachment types in infancy are more likely to have friendship problems.
96
What did Myron-Wilson and Smith find in their study of attachment type?
They found that **attachment type can be a predictor of bullying**. They sampled 196 children from London, aged 7-11 years, and assessed their attachment type and bullying involvement using standard questionnaires. They found that securely attached children were unlikely to be involved with bullying. Insecure-resistant children were more likely to be bullies and insecure-avoidant children were more likely to be victims of bullying.
97
What was the Minnesota Child-Parent study?
This is an ongoing longitudinal study which has found that continuity between a child's early attachment and later emotional/social behaviour. Those classified as **securely attached in infancy were rated highest for social competence later in childhood, they were less isolated, more popular with peers and more empathetic**. This can be explained in terms of the IWM because securely attached infants have higher expectations that others are friendly and trusting, and this would enable easier relationships with other children throughout childhood.
98
What did Sroufe find about childhood relationships?
He found hat those children rated as **securely attached in infancy were also later rated as being more popular with peers, having more initiative in relationships and being higher in social competence, self-confidence and self-esteem.**
99
What were the aims of Hazan and Shaver's love quiz?
To see if there was a correlation between the infant's attachment type and their future approach to romantic relationships
100
What was the procedure of Hazan and Shaver's procedures of the love quiz?
- The love quiz consisted of 2 components:
1. A measure of attachment type (a checklist of childhood relationships with carers and their relationships with eachother).
2. A love experience questionnaire (assessed individual's beliefs about romantic love)
- Love quiz was printed in a local newspaper (volunteer sample), they analysed the first 620 replies aged from 14-82. They classified the respondents' according to Ainsworth's attachment types.
101
What were the findings of the love quiz?
Hazan and Shaver found significant, positive correlation between the infant attachment types and the adult romantic love styles.
102
What did Hazan and Shaver conclude about their results from the love quiz?
They concluded that there was evidence to support the concept of the internal working model. The infant attachment type does seem to have a life-long effect on later attachments. However, they did concede that not everyone stayed true to their infant attachment style and that some people did change as they got older.
103
What are the strengths of Hazan and Shaver's love quiz research into adult relationships?
- Feeney and Noller found that securely attached individuals had the most long-term enduring romantic relationships while insecure-avoidant types had the most short-lived and least intense relationships.
- In a 4-month study of heterosexual relationships among Canadian undergraduates Keelan, Dion and Dion found that those with a secure attachment style expressed more satisfaction with and greater commitment to the relationship and trusted their partner more.
- McCarthy studied women whose attachment types had been recorded in infancy and found:
1. Insecure-avoidant infants grew up to have the most difficulty in romantic relationships.
2. Insecure-resistant infants grew up to have the poorest relationships .
3. Securely attached infants grew up to have the most successful romantic relationships and friendships.
- Hazan and Shaver repeated the love quiz again and found strong evidence for a correlation between infant attachment type and adult love style - though the correlation was not quite as strong this time.
104
What were the weaknesses of Hazan and Shaver's love quiz research into adult relationships?
- The participants relied on retrospective data and self-reports as they were recording their memories of infant experience. Such memories may not always be accurate and therefore the internal validity is decreased also due to under or over exaggeration.
- Hazan and Shaver's participants were self-selecting and, therefore the results may be subject to volunteer bias (as a certain type of person is more likely to take part) so the results may be unrepresentative and can't be generalised to the wider target population.
- Hazan and Shaver only established a correlation. Therefore, cause and effect cannot be assumed from their work.
- Kagan's temperament hypothesis suggests that infants are born with an innate "personality", therefore infants with a naturally friendly temperament are more likely to form secure attachments than those without. The warm temperament causes the infants to be easier to interact with so better quality bonds are formed. So, the innate temperamental characteristics can have a serious impact on the quality of the mother-infant relationship and thus the attachment type.
- Belsky and Rovine found that those babies who had been calmer babies were more likely to go on to be securely attached than difficult babies. These innate temperamental characteristics would influence the individual throughout life, including their later childhood and adult relationships rather than the IWM.
Psychology
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