psychology- attachment

define an attachment

• a close emotional bond between two people that endures overtime

• characterised by mutual affection and a desire to maintain proximity

• its a reciprocal behaviour (two way emotional bond)

why do we form attachments

• physical- aids survival

• social- acts as a template for later relationships- friendships, partnerships, and parenting

• cognitive- promotes exploration

• emotional- basis of trust, security, and happiness. Acts as a temple for later relationships

what are Maccoby’s characteristics of attachment

• seeking proximity- the desire to be closer to the person you have formed an attachment with

• separation anxiety- the distress that results from being separated from the person you have formed an attachment with

• pleasure when reunited- relief and observable joy when reunited with the person you have formed an attachment with

• general orientation of behaviour towards the caregiver- the Childs awareness of where the person they have formed an attachment with is and the reassurance they feel by them being close

what is reciprocity

where the primary caregiver and the infant take turns and respond to each others signals. The actions of one person elicits a response from the other

what is interactional synchrony

the caregiver and infants behaviours and movements mirror one another and they do this in a coordinated (synchronised) way

describe research into Interactional synchrony

Meltzoff and Moore

Procedure: The sample consisted of infants that were 2-3 weeks old. An adult model would display different facial expressions in front of the child. The child had a dummy in its mouth during the initial display to prevent any response. Following the display the dummy was removed and the Childs expression was filmed. An independent observer was asked to note down all gestures and expressions that the baby displayed in the film/video using a number of different behavioural categories

Findings: there was an association between the gestures made by the adult model and the actions of the child/infant

Conclusions: interactional synchrony is present from an extremely young age in infants and interactional synchrony is likely to be innate as there was no time to learn it in this study

how do we measure attachment with babies

we have to use observational techniques because their speech and cognitive abilities aren’t fully developed yet meaning that self report techniques won’t work

we record babies and use frame by frame video analysis

how does frame by frame video analysis increase the reliability of attachment research

it can be repeated and the same video can be checked by different observers/researchers which makes it more reliable (removes observer bias)

Evaluate measuring infant behaviour

• babies can’t express their attachment directly (via self report techniques)

• very young infants have limited abilities such as they can’t smile or move their limbs which can be used as indicators of attachment- if they are attached you won’t be able to observe the attachment

• infants mouths are moving constantly (can’t tell if reciprocity or interactional synchrony is occurring)

how did Meltzoff and Moore reduce some of the issues with measuring infant behaiour

• placed a dummy in the infants mouth during the initial display to prevent any response from the infant so that any movement from the infant after the display would be reciprocity or interactional synchrony and not a random movement

• got an independant observer to observe the frame by frame video analysis of the infant and record the infants behaviour. The observer had no idea what behaviour the infant was trying to imitate from the adult model which increases the internal validity of the data

Evaluate research into infant and caregiver interactions

weaknesses

P: one limitation into caregiver infant interactions is the reliability of testing children is questioned

E: Meltzoff and Moore’s research into interactional synchrony used children as participants

E: Children/infants move their mouths and wave their arms constantly which makes it hard for researches to measure infants intentional behaviour

L: therefore we can’t be certain that the infants were actively engaging in interactional synchrony or reciprocity and that the infants actions may have been random or coincidental which decreases the internal validity of the data gathered from Meltzoff and Moores research into caregiver infant interactions

P: One weakness of Meltzoff and Moores research into infant caregiver interactions is that securely attached infants engage more in interactional synchrony

E: Isabella found that the more securely attached the infant was, the higher the levels of interactional synchrony were

E: infants used as participants have individual differences that Meltzoff and Moore may have overlooked. These individual difference could be the different types of attachment that the infants may have with their primary caregiver, which according to isabella’s findings would increase levels of interactional synchrony.

L: This shows that infant caregiver interactions such as interactional synchrony is innate and may be affected by nature factors that Meltzoff and Moore didn’t consider which decreases the validity of their findings

Strengths

P: a strength of research into caregiver infant interactions is that there is research to support the idea that the infants are making intentional gestures

E: DeYong observed infant behaviour of infants reacting with two different objects. One object simulated tongue movements and the other object simulated a mouth opening and closing. DeYong found that infants made little response to the objects

E: this shows that infants don’t just imitate anything the see and that infant caregiver interactional are a specific social response to other humans

L: DeYong’s research supports other studies that suggest infant caregiver interactions are an innate aspect of attachment

Describe research into stages of attachment

Schaffer and Emmerson

Method:

60 babies aged between 1-6 months old. 31 male and 29 female

all babies came from working class families based in Glasgow

Schaffer and Emerson visited home every month for a year then again at 18 months to interview the mothers

• to measure attachment, they asked the mothers how much protest the babies showed in everyday separations (separation anxiety)

• the mothers were also asked to report the intensity of the babies protest (crying, screaming) on a 4 point scale and who the babies protest was aimed at

• stranger anxiety was measured in response to the researcher visiting each month

Findings:

• 6-8 months of age 50% of babies showed signs of separation anxiety towards an adult, usually the mother (specific attachment)

• Attachment was the strongest towards the most sensitive/interactive person (normally mother)

• 9 months- 80% of babies had a specific (discriminate) attachment and 30% displayed multiple attachments

Conclusion:

Schaffer and Emmerson propesed 4 stages of attachment that all babies go through (Asocial, indiscriminate, specific, multiple)

what is the asocial stage of attachment

0-2 months

infants show similar responses to objects and people

towards the end of this stage they display a preference for faces and eyes

what is the indiscriminate stage of attachment

• occurs at 2-6 months

• preference for human company over non-human company

• they can distinguish between different people

• are comforted indiscriminately (by anyone)

• no signs of stranger anxiety

what is the specific stage of attachment

• occurs at 7-12 months

• use familiar adults as a secure base and protection

• show separation anxiety

• show stranger anxiety

• infant shows joy on reunion

• primary attachment (preference) to one particular individual (most sensitive/interactive person)

what is the multiple stage of attachment

• occurs at 1 year onwards

• develop bonds with external individuals

• start to form multiple attachments

evaluate research into stages of attachment

Strengths

P: One strength of Schaffer and Emersons study is that it has high ecological validity

E: Schaffer and Emmerson conducted their observations and study in the participants own home and the questions asked were based on real world behaviour which means that the child and the parent were more likely to act natural

E: Therefore, because the study was conducted in a natural setting the results can be generalised to other children from a similar demographic in their own homes

Weaknesses

P: A criticism of Schaffer and Emersons research is that it lacks population validity

E: the sample consisted of only 60 babies which were all from working class families in Glasgow, who may form very different attachments than families from wealthier backgrounds and different countries and cultures

E: This means that we are unable to generalise the results of this study to mothers and babies from other backgrounds and cultures as their behaviours may not be comparable

P: Schaffer and Emerson research is also criticised due to the possibility of social desirability bias

E: Schaffer and Emmerson interviewed the mothers every month for a year and then again at 18 months about their children. Some of the mothers may not have reported accurate details about their chidrens’s behaviour to appear as ‘better’ mothers that have secure attachments with their infant

E: this could cause a bias in the data that would reduce the internal validity of the findings because the infants natural behaviour wouldn’t have been recorded

what are the 3 different roles of the father

secondary attachment figure- Schaffer and Emerson

to do with play- Geiger

the role of the father can be a primary attachment figure- Field

explain Schaffer and Emerson research into the role of the father

they suggested that the role of the father is to be the secondary attachment figure

• they found that babies become attached to their mothers first

• 75% of infants formed a secondary attachment with the father within 18 months (multiple attachments)

explain Geigers research into the role of the father

Geiger found that the fathers provide play and stimulation for their children

Geiger found out that mothers are more nurturing and provide emotional support to their children

Geiger concluded that both the mother and the fathers role are crucial to the child’s wellbeing

Explain Field’s research into the role of the father

Field found that when fathers have the role of the main caregiver they adopt behaviours that are more typical of mothers

Field filmed 4 month old babies having interactions primary caregiver mothers, primary caregiver fathers, and secondary caregiver fathers

Primary caregiver fathers spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants (like mothers do) than the secondary caregiver fathers

evaluate research into the role of the father

Weaknesses

P: The real world applications aren’t clear

E: Geiger found that fathers should provide play and stimulation for their children, Schaffer and Emerson suggest that the father is the secondary caregiver, whereas Field suggests that the Father can be the primary caregiver.

E: These inconsistent findings may cause confusion in how the Father should act and what role they should play in their Childs development

P: Research into the role of the father provides a description of their role but not an explanation. There is no explanation as to why fathers don’t become the primary caregiver

E: It could be due to the traditional roles of the parents in society and the belief that the mother should be more caring towards the child and primarily look after them and therefore fathers don’t feel as if they should act towards the child in the same way that the mother does. Or it could be due to hormones, oestrogen creates higher levels of nurturing within the mother that would biologically predispose the mother to become the primary caregiver

E: This provides an incomplete explanation for why fathers aren’t typically the primary caregiver

what is the learning theory explanation of attachment

operant conditioning and classical conditioning

How do children form an attachment through classical conditioning

• according to learning theory the baby has to learn to form an attachment with its mother

• before conditioning has taken place the food (UCS) generates the feeling of pleasure within the baby. The mother (NS) doesn’t produce a response from the baby

• during classical conditioning the baby forms an association between the mother (neutral stimulus) and the feeling of pleasure that comes through being fed (pleasure is an innate unconditioned response)

• Each time the baby is fed the mother is there too which causes the baby to associate the mother with the pleasure the baby fans from being fed

• after conditioning has occurred the mother (CS) stimulates the feeling of pleasure ( CR) within the baby on her own, even without food

• This means that the baby feels happier when the mother is near and an attachment has formed

How does a baby form an attachment through operant conditioning

Drive reduction theory- Dollars and Miller

• a drive is something that motivates behaviour

• a hungry infant has the drive to reduce its hunger

• when the infant is fed by the mother the drive is reduced and this produces a feeling of pleasure (negative reinforcement) the unpleasant stimulus of hunger is removed

• This causes the infant to associate the mother with the reward (pleasure)

• food becomes the primary reinforcer because it supplies the reward of pleasure

• the mother who supplies the food is associated with avoiding discomfort (hunger) and becomes the secondary reinforcer

• The baby will repeat any behaviour such as crying to bring the caregiver close to reduce the baby’s discomfort

• the end of the baby crying is a negative reinforcer because the crying provides a negative stimulus. When baby is fed crying stops (negative stimulus removed)

evaluate the learning theory of attachment

weaknesses

P: the learning theory doesn’t provide a complete explanation of attachment

E: Bowlby’s theory offers a better explanation of attachment as his theory explains why attachments might form, whereas learning theory only explains how attachments might form

E: Therefore, Bowlbys theory offers a more complete explanation of attachment behaviours than learning theory does

P: Drive theory is reductionist

E: There are somethings that people do which increases discomfort, such as bungee jumping

E: therefore, drive theory doesn’t explain why we do certain things out of our comfort zone, because drive theory suggests that we do things to remove discomfort and form attachments to remove discomfort

L: Therefore, drive theory is an incomplete explanation of attachment

P: Research from Harlow conflicts the learning theory explanation of how attachments might form

E: Harlow had 8 monkeys and split them into two groups of 4 monkeys. Each group had a cloth mother for comfort and a wire mother. In one group the cloth mother provided food, and in the other group the wire mother provided the food. In both groups the monkeys spent the majority of their time with the cloth mother for comfort

E: This suggests that attachments can form from contact comfort and not based on food to remove discomfort, unlike learning theory suggests

L: this is a limitation of learning theory because Harlow’s research suggests that learning theory is reductionist and doesn’t take into consideration other factors that can lead to attachments forming such as contact comfort

briefly describe Bowby’s theory of attachment

It is an evolutionary theory that states the formation of attachments between infants and caregivers is an innate behaviour that is adaptive

what is Bowby’s evolutionary explanation of attachment

• attachment is a naturally selected behaviour

• it increases an infants chance of survival

• imprinting and attachment evolved because they ensured that young animals and humans stay close to their mothers that provide food and protect them from danger

• Parents that care for their offspring will ensure they survive long enough so that they can reproduce and pass their genes on to the next generation

why do we have an innate tendency to form attachments with infants

Baby face hypothesis

infants have desirable features in their appearance (babyface) that makes us attracted to them such as:

• large round eyes

• small chin

• large curved forehead

Grundle asked participants to rate different pictures of a woman based on attractiveness. The pictures were AI generated and ranged from 100% adult woman to 50% child and 50% adult woman. Most participants preferred female faces displaying between 10-50% child. Only 9.5% of participants preferred the 100% adult woman

what are bowlbys mono tropic theory key terms

Every- evolutionary/adaptive/innate

Man- monotropy

Sings- sensitivity hypothesis

Christmas- critical period

Songs- social releasers

In- internal working model

Church- continuity hypothesis

what does it mean by bowlbys monotropic theory of attachment being evolutionary/innate/adaptive

Bowlby rejected learning theory and suggested that attachment is innate in infants through evolution so that humans can continue to survive, reproduce and pass their genes on through generations

what does the term monotropy mean in bowlbys monotropic theory of attachment

infants have a special emotional bond to one particular caregiver

the bond is more important for emotional development than other secondary attachments (e.g. with the father)

In turn the caregiver only attaches to one child at a time

what does the term social releasers mean in bowlbys monotropic theory of attachment

these are innate behaviours from infants to get attention from adults and ensure that infants can elicit a care giving reaction

behaviours include smiling and gripping

can also be the infants physical properties that gain them attention from adults such as their big round eyes or curved forehead (baby face)

what does the term critical period mean in bowlbys monotropic theory of attachment

the period of time that an attachment must form within if it’s ever going to form

was originally 3-6 months then revised to 2.5 years

if no attachment has formed within this timeframe than an attachment will never form

what does the term sensitivity hypothesis mean in bowlbys monotropic theory of attachment

attachment is determined by caregiver sensitivity within the critical period

caregiver sensitivity means behaviours like interactional synchrony and reciprocity

what is the internal working model within bowlbys monotropic theory of attachment

the child forms a mental representation of their relationship with their primary caregiver called their internal working model

the internal working model is used as a template for all future relationships

what is the continuity hypothesis within bowlbys monotropic theory of attachment

securely attached infants will be socially and emotionally competent adults

not securely attached infants will have social and emotional difficulties within childhood and adulthood

what are the benefits of animal research on attachment

Ethical benefits:

there are fewer ethical issues when separating an animal mother from its infant than separating a human mother from its infant

Practical benefits:

Animals grow and breed faster than humans so psychologists can study multiple generations of a family of animals easily

describe research for imprinting

Lorenz

Method: Lorenz took a clutch of geese eggs and randomly split them into 2 groups. One group was left with their biological mother and the other group of eggs were taken into an incubator. Lorenz made sure that when the geese in the incubator hatched, the first moving object that they saw was Lorenz. After this he marked the two different groups and returned them to their biological mother

Findings: Lorenz found that the geese that had hatched from the incubator continued to follow Lorenz, but the geese that hatched naturally would follow their biological mother

Conclusion: Lorenz concluded that goslings are programmed to imprint (attach) to the first moving object they see, highlighting the rapid formation of attachment in animals

What is imprinting

this occurs in bird species that are mobile from birth such as geese and ducks

It is when they attach (imprint) to the first moving object they see

how does the critical period differ in geese to humans

the critical period for geese is only a few hours after hatching, whereas the critical period for humans is 2.5 years

if imprinting doesn’t occur within a few hours after birth for the baby geese then they will not attach themselves to a mother figure

what is sexual imprinting

when imprinting affects adult mate preferences

Lorenz described a peacock that was born in a reptile zoo and the first moving object the peacock saw after birth was a giant tortoise. As an adult bird the peacock would only direct its courtship routine towards giant tortoises

evaluate research into imprinting

Strengths:

P: A number of other studies have demonstrated imprinting in animals

E: Guiton found that baby chicks fed with rubber yellow gloves imprinted to the yellow rubber gloves. Later on the adult chicks tried to mate with the yellow rubber gloves (sexual imprinting)

E: This supports Lorenz’s theory that young animals will imprint on any moving object during the critical period

L: Therefore this supports Lorenz's research into imprinting because in Guiton's study instead of Lornez being the first object they see it was yellow rubber gloves. The chicks still formed an attachment to the yellow rubber gloves like the geese did with Lorenz. This shows that Lorenz's theory imprinting is reliable as his original study with geese had been replicated

Weaknesses

P: there is some dispute over the characteristics of imprinting

E: After Gution did some further research it appeared that imprinting is a more plastic mechanism as he found a way to reverse it. He found that if the chicks who tired to mate with the rubber glove spent more time with their own species then normal sexual behaviours for the chick were restored

E: This conflicts Lorenz’s characteristics of imprinting, where Lorenz suggested that imprinting was permanent

E: Therefore, because Guiton found that imprinting could be reversed, Lorenz’s theory of imprinting may not be valid

How do the results of Lorenz’s research support bowlbys theory of attachment

Bowlby argued that attachments were evolutionary and innate in humans and animals for the purpose of survival. Surviving allows species to pass their genes on through generations

Lorenz’s work on geese shows that imprinting is innate and evolutionary within young animals (birds that are mobile since birth) as imprinting allows the animals to form an attachment with a mother figure to increase chances of survival by providing protection from danger and food

How do the results from Lorenz’s research counter the learning explanation of behaviour

• learning theory suggests that species learn to attach as a result of forming an association between the mother and food through operant or classical conditioning

• However, Lorenz’s geese imprinted from birth showing that attachment behaviours like imprinting and attachment are innate and aren’t a result of association learned through feeding and conditioning

To what extent can we generalise the results of Lorenz to attachment in humans

the nature of attachments in humans and Geese are very different

Geese imprint onto the first moving object they see after birth as an innate survival mechanism to help them get food and become protected from danger. Whereas humans don’t follow the first moving object they see. Humans form attachments for physical, emotional, cognitive, and social reasons

Therefore, it isn’t appropriate to generalise Lorenz’s results to human attachment

Describe Harlows research

Method:

8 monkeys split into two groups of 4 were placed in a cage for 165 days with 2 surrogate mothers. One mother was made of wire and the other mother was wrapped in cloth for comfort. In one group the food (milk bottle) was attached to the cloth mother and in the other group the food was attached to the wire mother

Findings:

Harlow found that all the monkeys spent most of their time with the cloth covered mother regardless of which mother provided the food

Conclusion:

Harlow concluded that monkeys develop attachments based on contact comfort and not food

explain the effects of maternal depravation on monkeys

Harlow concluded that the critical period for attachment for monkeys was 90 days

Harlow studied monkeys that had become maternally deprived and concluded that they were more aggressive, less sociable, bred less often than typical monkeys would, neglected their young

evaluate Harlow’s research

Weaknesses

P: The two stimulus (the surrogate mothers) differed in more ways than just being cloth or wire

E: The two heads of the surrogate mothers were different

E: This meant that the monkeys could’ve spent more time with one mother because they have a more attractive head than the other mother and not because of contact comfort with the cloth

L: Therefore, these confounding variables make it difficult to establish cause and effect of the monkeys behaviour which means that Harlow’s study lacks internal validity

P: There is difficulty applying findings from animal studies to humans

E: Harlows study observed monkeys to figure out why attachments form

E: The human brain is much more complex than monkeys brains as we have found that humans form attachments for social, physical, cognitive and emotional reasons

L: Therefore, animal studies may give an indication of some aspects of human attachment, but they can’t be seen as totally generalisable to human caregiver-infant behaviours

P: There are ethical issues involved with using monkeys for research purposes

E: some of the monkeys experienced emotional harm as the monkeys later found it difficult to form relationships with their peers

E: this violates the ethics that participants should be protected from psychological harm. On the other hand the study can be justified as it has had a significant effect on our understanding of attachment

L: therefore, it could be argued that the benefits outweigh the costs to the animals involved in the study

How do the results of Harlows research refute Bowlby’s theory of attachment

Bowlbys theory suggests that infants adapt for survival reasons. However, Harlows monkeys spent most of their time cuddled to the soft mother that provided no food, only contact comfort. This goes against Bowlby’s theory, because according to Bowlbys theory the monkeys would’ve spent the majority of their time attached to the surrogate mother that provided food instead of contact comfort

How do the results from Harlow’s research refute the learning theory

Learning theory suggest that we learn to attach based on associating the mother with the food through operant or classical conditioning. Harlows results disproved the learning theory as the monkeys formed an attachment with the mother through contact comfort and not via associating the wire mother with the food (milk bottle)

To what extent can we generalise the results of Harlow and Lorenz’s research to attachment in humans

Whilst monkeys are more genetically related and closer to humans than geese are, humans brains and behaviours are still more complex than a monkeys

Therefore, the generalisability of Harlows research is greater than Lorenz’s but is still questionable

What is the strange situation

it is an assessment technique that investigates how caregiver-infant attachment types may differ between different children (individual differences)

What was Ainsworth’s explanation for the cause of different attachment types

Attachment types are due to the sensitivity and intensity of the mother/ primary caregiver

Describe the method of the Strange Situation

• the caregiver and child enter an unfamiliar room and the caregiver sits on a chair and reads a magazine whilst the infant is encouraged to play and explore- secure base behaviour and exploration

• A stranger enters the room and tries to interact with the infant- stranger anxiety

• The caregiver leaves and the stranger tries to interact with the infant- stranger anxiety and separation anxiety

• The caregiver returns and the stranger leaves- response to reunion and secure base behaviour and exploration

• The caregiver leaves the child alone- separation anxiety

• The stranger returns and tries to interact with the child- stranger anxiety

• The caregiver returns and is reunited with the child- response to reunion

Describe research into types of attachment

Ainsworth’s Strange Situation

Method:

Ainsworth used a controlled observation through a two way mirror on 100 children aged 9-18 months old who were undergoing the Strange Situation assessment.

Findings:

She found three patterns of attachment:

• Sensitive parent = secure attachment (66%)

• inconsistent parent = insecure resistant (12%)

• absent parent = insecure avoidant (22%)

Conclusion:

Ainsworth suggested that attachment type was determined by the primary caregivers behaviour (sensitive, inconsistent, avoidant)

what are the characteristics of a securely attached infant

• exploration are secure base behaviour- explores and uses mother as a secure base

• separation anxiety- medium anxiety

• Stranger anxiety- medium anxiety

• reunion behaviour- joy on reunion

what are the characteristics of insecure avoidant attachment

• exploration are secure base behaviour- explores and doesn’t use mother as a safe base

• separation anxiety- low anxiety

• Stranger anxiety- low anxiety

• reunion behaviour- no joy on reunion

what are the characteristics of insecure resistant behaviour

• exploration are secure base behaviour- keeps near mother and doesn’t explore

• separation anxiety- high anxiety

• Stranger anxiety- hot and cold

• reunion behaviour- rejects (resists) mother on reunion

evaluate research on types of attachment

Weaknesses

P: A limitation of Ainsworth’s analysis is that it overlooked a fourth type of attachment

E: Soloman observed over 200 strange situation tapes and proposed insecure disorganised type D which was characterised by a lack of consistent social behaviour

E: This shows that Ainsworth’s explanation of types of attachment is incomplete because there is a 4th type that Solomon discovered that was unseen by Ainsworth. Therefore Ainsworth’s findings don’t fully explain types of attachments in humans

L: therefore, this decreases the validity of Ainsworth’s original attachment research

P: maternal sensitivity isn’t a cause of secure attachment

E: Raval found low correlations between the level of maternal sensitivity and the strength of attachment

E: This undermines Ainsworth’s explanation of what causes specific attachment types

L: Therefore, this decreases the validity of Ainsworth’s research into attachment

Strengths

P: Ainsworth’s research had high inter-observer reliability

E: She used an experienced panel of judges that had 94% agreement between them when rating exploration behaviour

E: Ainsworth’s procedure had high control over variables and a standardised procedure that could be replicated

L: Therefore, the results gathered from Ainsworth’s study are highly reliable and are a consistent way of measuring attachment types

what is culture

the set of shared attitudes, values, goals and practices that characterises a group of people

what is ethnocentrism

the tendency to believe that your own ethnic or cultural group is the most important, and that all other groups are measured in relation to your own

what is the difference between collectivist cultures and individualist cultures

Collectivist	individualist
Focus on interpersonal development of infants	Focus on developing initiative in infants
Less tolerant of antisocial behaviour	More tolerant of antisocial behaviour
Emphasis on group effort and cooperation	Emphasis on personal achievements
more favourable reaction to obedience and social behaviour	Mothers react favourably to independence

Give some examples of countries with a collectivist culture

• India

• Israel

• Japan

• China

give some examples of countries with an individualist culture

• Germany

• Netherlands

• USA

• UK

what is cross culture research

research that takes place amongst different cultures

It allows us to investigate whether attachment types are universal or culturally specific

what is a meta analysis

a statistical technique which combines findings from a number of studies that examined the same topic to look for patterns/trends

describe research into how culture affects attachment types

Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg

Method:

Performed a meta analysis from the results of 32 different studies using the strange situation that took place across 8 different countries. The countries were USA, UK Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Israel, China, Japan. All were laboratory studies where Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg observed different children’s responses to the strange situation

Findings/conclusions:

• the most common type of attachment amongst all cultures and countries was secure

• insecure avoidant attachment types were more common amongst individualist cultures e.g. Germany 35% and Japan 5%

• insecure resistant attachment types were more common within collectivist cultures e.g. Japan 27% and Germany 8%

Secure attachments seem to be the norm amongst all cultures and countries which supports Bowlby saying that attachment is innate

However there are cultural variations in attachment types which could suggest that child care practices may have an influence of attachment

Describe Simonellas research

Simonella

Method:

replicated Ainsworth’s study using the strange situation with 76 12 month old infants

Findings:

50% secure

36% insecure avoidant

Conclusions: The decrease in secure attachment % compared to Ainsworth could be due to cultural changes with the fact that mothers are spending less hours with their children due to working longer hours and placing their children in childcare more often than they did when Ainsworth’s study took place.

Simonellas study also supports Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s research because secure attachment still had the highest %

what is one weakness of the strange situation

P- The method for the strange situation is biased

E- The strange situation was designed by Ainsworth who is American and was based on Bowlbys theory of attachment who is British

E- This makes it difficult to apply theories and conclusions from the strange situation which represent Anglo-American culture to other cultures (imposed etic). Secure behaviours may look different between cultures. For example, lack of stranger anxiety in Anglo-American culture may indicate insecure avoidant attachment but in Germany this may indicate a sign of independence within the child and the child may still be securely attached to its caregiver

L- Therefore, this decreases the validity of the strange situation as we aren’t able to asses children in all cultures using the strange situation to determine attachment type

describe separation

• when you aren’t in the presence of the primary caregiver

• brief separations are fine especially when there is a substitute caregiver

• longer separations such as adoption would still be called separation a long as adequate emotional care is given by the substitute mother

describe deprivation

• extended separations can lead to deprivation if adequate emotional care isn’t being received

• caused by when an attachment is formed but is then discontinued

• when a person is deprived of some element of emotional care due to physical distance or being emotionally unavailable

what is privation

when no opportunity is given for attachments to form

how is maternal deprivation caused

if the child is separated from its mother or substitute mother during the critical period (2.5 years after birth) for an extended period of time, and so deprived of emotional care then damage is inevitable and irreversible (according to Bowlby)

what are the effects of maternal deprivation

Intellectual development:

• low IQ

Goldfarb found that orphans who remained in orphanages after WW2 developed a lower IQ than orphans who were adopted and had better emotional care

Emotional development:

• affection less psychopathy

• agression

• less likely to have functional relationships

• criminality

what is affectionless psychopathy

an inability to show affection or concern for others and are often unable to form relationships. Such individuals act on impulse with little regard for the consequences of their actions

describe research into maternal deprivation

44 thieves study- Bowlby

Method:

Interviewed 44 adolescents who were referred to a child protection programme in London because of stealing. Also had a control group that consisted of 44 children who had been referred to the clinic because of emotional problems, but had not yet committed any crimes. He interviewed the parents of the children in both groups and asked whether the children had experienced separation during the critical period and if so, for how long

Findings:

More than half of the thieves had been separated from their mothers for more than 6 months during their first 5 years

He found that 14 of the 44 thieves showed affectionless psychopathy. 12/14 experienced prolonged separation with their mothers during the critical period

None of the control group were affectionless psychopaths

Conclusions:

Affectionless psychopaths are unable to form relationships and show little affection or concern for others. Bowlby concluded that the reason for anti-social behaviour and emotional problems within the thieves was due to prolonged separation and maternal deprivation in the early years/critical period

Evaluate research into maternal deprivation

Strengths

P- Bowlby’s ideas about maternal deprivation have real world applications

E- In the past children were separated from their parents when they spent time in hospital. Visiting one another was discouraged or even forbidden

E- This meant that if the mother or individual spent a prolonged period of time in hospital away from the other than maternal deprivation could be caused. This led to change within hospitals that allowed visits which prevented and reduced the chances of maternal deprivation occurring

Weaknesses

P- rutter argued that bowlbys view of deprivation was too simplistic

E- Bowlbys explanation of deprivation didn’t state whether the child’s attachment bond had formed but been broken or if the child never formed an emotional bond in the first place.

E- This caused Rutter to come up with the term privation to refer to the faliure to form an attachment and deprivation to refer to when an attachment had formed but had then been broken

P- There are individual differences in the reaction to separation

E- Barrett found that securely attached children were able to cope with separation and insecurely attached children became very distressed

E- This suggests that maternal deprivation doesn’t effect children in a uniform way as some react differently to others