Attachment

attachment

deep and enduring emotional bond that forms between individuals, particularly between infants and their primary caregivers. It influences how people interact with others and plays a crucial role in human development.

When an infant is attached, the following behaviours are displayed.

1. Seeking proximity, especially at times of stress (such as stranger anxiety).

2. Distress on separation and pleasure when reunited

3. Secure base behaviour- infants are happy to explore but regularly return to attachment figure

Research into imprinting and the critical period name and date and aim

Lorenz 1953

Lorenz imprinting method

• he split a clutch of goose eggs into two batches. One naturally hatched by the mother, one in an incubator with Lorenz as the first moving object they saw.

• He marked the goslings and placed them under an upturned box, then removed the box and recorded their behaviour (who they moved towards and followed).

• He varied the time between birth and seeing a moving object so he could measure the critical period for imprinting

Lorenz imprinting results

• The incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere whereas the control group followed their mother goose.

• When the two groups were mixed up the incubator group continued to follow Lorenz and the control group - the mother goose.

• There was a critical period of between 4-25 hours and if imprinting did not occur the chicks did not imprint.

• Lorenz also reported that the goslings imprinted on humans would later attempt to mate with humans, rather than other geese.

Lorenz imprinting conclusions

• There is a critical period of attachment

• once imprinting has occurred, it cannot be reversed, nor can a gosling imprint on anything else.

• Imprinting provides a template for future mating behaviour

Research into factors impacting attachment name date and aim

harlow and harlow 1959

to determine whether food or close comfort was the important factor in attachment

harlow and harlow factors affecting attachment method

• Harlow removed 16 baby rhesus monkeys from their mothers and placed them in cages with two surrogate mothers; a monkey made of cold/harsh wire or a soft cloth mother.

• The mothers either dispensed food (milk) or did not.

• He measured: The amount of time spent with each mother, Time feeding, Mother preference during stress (monkeys frightened with mechanical monster)

harlow and harlow factors affecting attachment results

• Monkeys preferred contact with the cloth mother when given a choice of surrogate mothers, regardless of whether she produced milk.

• Monkeys with only the wire mother showed signs of stress.

• When frightened by a loud noise, monkeys clung to the cloth mother in conditions where she was available.

• Some of these monkeys were followed into adulthood and severe consequences were found – they were more aggressive, less sociable and bred less often than monkeys raised by monkey mothers.

• As mothers, these monkeys neglected their young and others attacked their children even killing them in some cases

harlow and harlow factors affecting attachment conclusion

• Comfort is more important than food

• Baby monkeys preferred the soft cloth mother over the wire mother, even when the wire mother provided food, showing that comfort and security are more important for attachment than nourishment.

• Long-term effects of attachment deprivation: Monkeys raised without proper maternal care grew up to be more aggressive, less social, and struggled with parenting,

• highlighting the importance of early attachment for healthy emotional and social development

generalisability of animal studies of attachment AO3

• less appropriate to generalise Lorenz’s findings as the attachment system of birds (i.e. geese) – imprinting - is much less complex than human attachment formation and involves less emotion than that of mammals

• Harlow’s study into the attachment of monkeys can be said to be more similar to humans than geese supported by Green

• neither sample are human it can be argued that we cannot necessarily generalise Harlow’s or Lorenz’s research to human attachments, regardless of the similarities between mammals.

Green supporting Harlow’s study on animal attachment

(1994) states that, on a biological level at least, all mammals (including rhesus monkeys) have the same brain structure as humans; the only differences relates to size and the number of connections making it easier to generalise from this sample to humans

ethical issue of research on animals for animal attachment

• animals have a right not to be researched on/ harmed. The animals could not consent or withdraw from the research. Many psychologists believe the pursuit of academic conclusions for human benefits is detrimental to non-human species

• counter argument is that it would not be possible to carry out this research on human infants and that the findings have had useful real-life applications and impacts, for example, helping social workers to identify risk factors in vulnerable children and preventing long term negative consequences

• using a cost-benefit analysis of the harm caused to the rhesus monkeys versus the benefit to human infants and our understanding of human attachment, we may say that the benefit outweighs the harm done

animal attachment study has useful findings

• Lorenz’s concept of a critical period greatly influenced Bowlby’s research into monotropy and maternal deprivation, leading to the idea that human infants need to attach by the age of 2.5yrs or there would be serious long term consequences to their ability to form healthy relationships

• Harlow’s research showed us the consequences of early neglect in childhood and the potential long-term consequences of poor attachment for future relationships, again influencing Bowlby’s internal working model.

• regardless of being able to fully generalise animal studies the findings have been of huge significance to understanding human attachment and how to improve and strengthen it

2 explanations for attachment

• learning theory (nurture) by Dollar and Miller: behavioural explanation of attachment. Attachment can be explained using the concepts of classical conditioning and operant conditioning

• monotropic theory (nature): Evolutionary explanation of attachment. Based on the work of Lorenz and Harlow. Attachment is an innate system.It is biologically programmed into babies from birth.

• However, the quality of a caregiver’s responsiveness and sensitivity to their infants’ needs is also an (environmental) important factor

classical conditioning

attachment is formed due to learning through association

Applying classical conditioning to attachment

• Milk (unconditioned stimulus) naturally produces a sense of pleasure in a child (unconditioned response).

• The person who feeds the infant initially (neutral stimulus) provides no natural response but over time the “feeder” eventually produces the pleasure associated with the food.

• Pleasure now becomes a conditioned response and the feeder the conditioned stimulus.

• This association between an individual and a sense of pleasure is the attachment bond.

operant conditioning

attachment is formed due to learning through consequence

positive reinforcement

adding a desirable or pleasant consequence after a behaviour, such as a reward, in order to increase the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated

negative reinforcement

preventing an unpleasant consequence after the desired behaviour is displayed in order to increase the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated

Applying operant conditioning to attachment:

• infant cries and the caregiver feeds the child.

• For the infant crying is positively reinforced so they will repeat this behaviour to obtain food.

• The sound of crying is unpleasant to the caregiver and so they will provide food to stop the crying.

• For the caregiver feeding is negatively reinforced.

• The process of operant conditioning works with classical conditioning to create attachment behaviours like seeking proximity and separation distress.

• According to the theory the underlying driver of all this is the primary drive for food

research in animal attachment challenging learning theory of attachment AO3

• theory suggests that we should attach to whoever feeds us. but, Harlow’s rhesus monkey study, found that they were more likely to attach to the cloth surrogate mother, even though she offered no food (unlike the wire). shows it is not food that is the key to attachment but comfort.

• Similar findings have been found in Lorenz’s geese imprinted before they were fed and maintained these attachments regardless of who fed them, showing that forming an association between our caregiver and food is not the only factor

• shows learning theory is wrong about the role of food being the cause of attachment, other factors

Learning theory criticised for being overly simplistic understanding of attachment. AO3

• Explaining something as complex as human attachment by stating that it is learnt through a simple stimulus-response association (food-pleasure) or by reinforcement (attachment formed due to the reward of food) fails to consider the more intricate aspects of this bond between carers and infants.

• Isabella (1991) supporting

• This suggests that learning theory is an incomplete explanation as it does not take into account parents’ sensitivity to their infants’ needs, that are shown to impact the quality of an attachment, aside from food.

research supporting learning theory being too simplistic

Isabella (1991) suggests that the main factor impacting attachment is actually how sensitive the caregiver is to the baby’s needs – rather than simply their ability to provide them with food. This suggests responsiveness is a key predictor of attachment, not feeding behaviour

learning theory over emphasis on the importance of the role of ‘nurture’ in the development of attachments AO3

• Learning theory says develops as the result of environmental factors. However, this fails to take into account any innate or biological factors

• Perhaps a baby does at first learn to associate its mother with food, however we should also consider the biological drive to survive that allows the baby to do this, alongside its innate social releasers such as smiling that condition a mother to attach to her child (monotropic theory).

• Therefore, to best explain attachment an interactionalist approach should be taken where we consider both nurture and nature

further strengths of learning theory AO3

• supported by well-established principles of classical and operant conditioning, based on Pavlov and Skinner, so strong empirical foundation.

• offers a clear, testable explanation for how attachments might form through reinforcement and association, useful for understanding certain aspects of infant-caregiver interactions, such as feeding routines

monotropic theory of attachment

Bowlby created the monotropic theory of attachment, which emphasises the importance of the innate bond between mother and child, as this plays a pivotal role in a child's ability to form healthy relationships throughout life

key ideas of Bowlbys theory (CrIIMPS)

• Critical period (0-2.5yrs)- if the monotropic attachment doesn’t occur by the age of two and a half then a child will have difficulty forming attachments later in life, due to their internal working model.

• Innate programming- attachment is an innate (genetically caused) system that is biologically programmed into babies from birth to help them to survive.

• Internal working model (IWM)- the monotropic bond forms a mental representation of what relationships are like. This template for relationships affects future relationships with peers, with romantic partners and with future children.

• Individuals who are strongly attached as children continue to be socially and emotionally competent in relationships and with their own children, whereas infants with poor attachments have more social and emotional difficulties in childhood and in adulthood (the continuity hypothesis)

• Monotropy – infants have one special emotional bond, normally the biological mother (but sometimes a female substitute) and that this relationship is different and more important than any others.

• Proximity seeking- one way in which babies are biologically programmed to attach is through their instinct to seek proximity to their principal carer (mother) for safety as it protects them from hazards.

• Social releasers- Social releasers are innate mechanisms (natural characteristics or behaviours) of babies that lead to adults wanting to provide care e.g: crying, smiling, clinging, giggling. These ‘cute’ behaviours elicit caring from adults

animal study support of Bowlbys theory AO3

• Harlow’s supports many concepts, Mostly, the monkeys did not mate successfully and the monkeys who did become mothers were often aggressive and abusive to their offspring.

• supports as it suggests the grown monkeys had a poor internal working model as they had no real monotropic bond due to having to attach to a cloth monkey over a wire monkey.

• increases the validity of the monotropic theory, as it showcases that the concepts applicability

monotropy as socially sensitive, as it has negative implications for parents (especially mothers) AO3

• Bowlby’s 1950s World Health Organisation report suggested that babies needed constant care from the mother for healthy social development – which increased social stigma on women who chose not to be primary caregivers and men who chose to be PCGs.

• Feminist Erica Burman supporting it socially sensitive

• creates an inaccurate and stereotypical idea of what a parent-child relationship should look like.

feminist erica burman supporting monotropic being socially sensitive

suggests that monotropy places a terrible burden of responsibility on mothers and pushes them into certain lifestyle choices (e.g. leaving economic work), as well as blaming them if anything goes wrong in a child’s life, regardless of the fact that that good substitute care either in a nursery, the father or a family member does not have a detrimental effect on social development

Bowlbys theory emphasising both nature and nurture AO3

• Bowlby’s theory believes that the drive to form an attachment is innate and that a baby has a biological drive to survive and to attach

• But, Bowlby also acknowledged the role of environmental factors such as responsiveness and sensitivity of caregivers during attachment formation –poor attachments have repercussions in the form of a dysfunctional internal working model.

• This makes it less reductionist that the learning theory’s focus on nature alone.

research suggesting importance of multiple attachments going against bowlbys theory

Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found that many infants formed multiple attachments, not just to the mother, suggesting that Bowlby may have underestimated the importance of multiple attachments in healthy development

research going against bowlbys strict critical period

Rutter et al. (2011) found that some children adopted after this age could still form attachments, challenging the idea that failure to attach in this window leads to irreversible damage

types of attachment name date and aim (strange situation)

Ainsworth and Bell (1970) : to assess the security of an infant’s attachment behaviour in an unfamiliar environment.

Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation.’ method

• strange situation takes place in a controlled laboratory setting but is classed as a controlled observation (there is no IV or DV, therefore not an experiment). The infant is placed in a mildly stressful situation and observed for their behaviour in four key areas:

• Level of exploration (secure base behaviour)

• Stranger anxiety

• Separation anxiety

• Reunion behaviour

If the infant became severely distressed in a particular stage, that stage was shortened

(ethical consideration).

Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation.’ results (8 stages)

• stage 1 (30s): Caregiver, infant, researcher present, Researcher brings infant and caregiver into room then leaves.

• stage 2 (3mins): Caregiver and infant present. Caregiver sits; infant is free to the explore room. measuring Secure base behaviour and exploration

• stage 3 (3mins): Caregiver, infant, stranger present. Stranger comes into the room, talks to the caregiver and tried to interact with the infant. Caregiver leaves, measuring Separation anxiety

• stage 4 (3mins): Infant, stranger present. Stranger tried to interact with the infant. measuring Stranger anxiety

• stage 5 (3mins): Infant, caregiver present. Stranger leaves as caregiver returns, At the end of this stage the caregiver leaves. measuring Reunion behaviour

• stage 6 (3mins): Infant present. Infant alone in room. measuring Separation anxiety

• stage 7 (3mins): Infant, stranger present. Stranger returns and tries to interact with infant. measuring Stranger anxiety

• stage 8 (3mins): Caregiver, infant present. Caregiver returns and interacts with the infant, stranger leaves. measuring Reunion behaviour

Ainsworth and Bell’s (1970) original research

used American infants aged between 12months and 18months and their caregiver (usually their mother). The third individual involved in the strange situation was a stranger, a confederate who remained the same for all participants

3 types of attachment

secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant.

ainsworth and bell secure attachment

• 66% of children show these behaviours

• Willingness to explore (using caregiver as a base)

• High stranger anxiety

• Some separation anxiety but can be soothed

• Enthusiastic on reunion with caregiver

• Harmonious and cooperative relationship

ainsworth and bell insecure avoidant attachment

• 22% showed these behaviours

• High willingness to explore (independently from caregiver)

• Low stranger anxiety

• Indifferent/little/no separation anxiety

• Avoids contact on reunion with caregiver

• Avoids social interaction and intimacy with others and treat caregivers and strangers similarly

ainsworth and bell insecure resistant attachment

• 12% showed these behaviours

• Low willingness to explore

• High stranger anxiety

• Very distressed on separation from caregiver (high separation anxiety)

• Seeks and rejects reunion from caregiver (angrily resisting being picked up but seek proximity in different ways)

• Both seeks and resists intimacy and social interaction

Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation.’ conclusions

• Strange Situation is a controlled way of measuring individual differences in attachment behaviour

• three broad types – secure (A), insecure avoidant (B) and insecure resistant (C).

• Secure attachment is likely to be the most common and preferred type of attachment in North America;

• Ainsworth and Bell argued that it linked to healthy emotional and social development later in the child’s life.

• They claimed that the mothers’ behaviour towards the infant created the type of attachment the infant displayed.

strange situation inter rater reliability AO3

• Different observers watching the same children in the strange situation tend to agree on what attachment type to classify infants as

• Bick (2012) found the inter-rater reliability to be as high as 94%.

• This means we can be confident that the attachment type of an infant observed does not just depend on who is observing them

• numerous studies have reported similar findings so replicated and so are reliable

researcher supporting strange situation inter rater reliability

Bick (2012) found the inter-rater reliability to be as high as 94%

strange situation most popular in research for investigating attachment AO3

• However, as it is a controlled observation and the mother and child are in an unfamiliar playroom and the mother is aware they are being observed (overt observation) low ecological validity. could lead to a distortion of behaviour

• However.. research by Vaughn and Waters (1990) contradicts this

• suggest that the findings of the strange situation, despite concerns, are actually ecologically valid

research supporting strange situation being popular and not in fact having low ecological validity

Vaughn and Waters (1990) compared the behaviour of 1 year olds in the strange situation and at home and found that children showed the same attachment style in both the controlled and home environments; securely attached children were still securely attached

strange experiment being culture bound assessment tool AO3

• different cultures children and caregivers may respond differently to the 8 stages and may value certain attachment behaviours more or less highly than in the USA. Therefore, it may not be a valid tool to use across cultures

• Takahasi supporting it having cultural bias and low population validity

• This means that only be a truly valid test of attachment in cultures that have similar child rearing practices to American children

• in cultures not similar such as Japan and Germany incorrect conclusions (that display value judgements of the researchers) about childrearing may be drawn using the strange situations

research supporting strange situation cultural bias

• Takahasi (1990) found that the strange situations is not a valid assessment tool for Japanese children because Japanese mothers are so rarely separated from their children that

• they show very high levels of separation anxiety (so appear as highly resistant) in observations.

• Japanese mothers tended to race to their children and scoop them up at the reunion stage meaning the response was hard to observe in the first place.

• Similarly, German children are encouraged to be independent and so may appear to show avoidant attachment using the strange situations.

strange situation may not, in reality be testing attachment AO3

• behaviours observed may not be a result of the mother’s sensitivity towards their child, but due instead to the child’s natural temperament.

• The temperament or personality of the child is genetically caused, not caused by the behaviour of the mother. For example, some infants are naturally more anxious and others are calmer and more easy-going.

• This may have nothing to do with the mother’s responsiveness to her child.

• Therefore, this means that the concept of attachment as something caused by mother’s responsiveness is flawed, as it over emphasises nurture rather than innate factors which may ultimately be the cause of the infant’s behaviour

further strengths of strange situation AO3

• contributed to practical applications in early years settings.

• can help professionals intervene early to support children’s emotional development, social work and education applications

• influential in shaping attachment theory, leading to Main and Solomon’s (1986) identification of a fourth attachment type: disorganised attachment.

• foundation for theoretical development in the field

main purpose of looking at attachment behaviours around the world

to see if attachment is innate and biological (nature) or is it a result of culture and upbringing (nurture)

if attachment is a result of nature then cultural variation results…

we would expect to see very similar attachment behaviours found around the world, there would be universality

if attachment is a result of nurture then cultural variation results…

we would expect to see large differences in attachment behaviours from culture to culture

cultural variation in attachment style researchers and aim

van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg

to find out if attachment styles differ between cultures

cultural variations in attachment method

• meta analysis carried out on results of 32 studies that used the strange situation to measure attachment behaviour

• used 8 diff countries half western half non western

• 32 studies yielded results for 1,990 children

cultural variations in attachment findings

• secure attachment most common in all nations

• western cultures dominant style of insecure attachment was avoidant

• non western cultures dominant style of insecure attachment was resistant

• variation within cultures was 1 ½ greater than between cultures

• so more differences in attachment styles within and around a single country than between that country and another

• 75% of UK securely attached

• 35% West germany avoidant

• 29% israel resistant

cultural variations in attachment conclusions

• as secure attachment most common suggests may be universal (innate) characteristics in infant-caregiver interactions

• variations in insecure attachment around the world suggest culture just play some part (nurture)

• some cultures have higher levels of some insecure attachment than others

• but findings oversimplify and sub-cultures within most large countries this is shown in the variation between cultures

cultural variations in attachment using strange situation strength AO3

• strange situation was high inter rated rater reliability with Bick finding it to be as high as 94%

• highly standardised research with easily replicable conditions

• as meta analysis individual studies may not be an exact replication

• but such high inter rater reliability means no matter the confederate playing the stranger the attachment types observed is the same regardless

cultural variations in attachment using strange situation weaknesses AO3

• ethnocentric research as it was designed in US and based on US ideals of attachment behaviour

• researchers by rothbaum explored how US and japanese mothers regarded attachment and important differences

• interpreted how their child calling for nap time differently: US regarded it as negative behaviour as child testing boundaries but japanese regarded it as sign of secure attachment

• so lacks external validity, so incorrect to suggest japan had higher levels of insecure attachment that UK as clingy behaviour misinterpreted as insecure when in fact in japan viewed as secure

cultural variations in attachment lacking population validity AO3

• 27 out of 32 studies were carried out in western countries, and not a single in African countries

• merman et al found the gusii in rural kenya expressed sensitive responding to their children in more physical ways than verbal ways typical in US

• suggests it isn’t truly a cross cultural study as mostly western countries and excludes a whole continent where child rearing experts see differently to western

further strengths of cultural variations in attachment AO3

• large sample size: included nearly 2000 infants increasing population validity as reduction of anomalies nap more reliable

• supports nature-nurture debate: findings that secure attachment was most common type across all cultures supports idea attachment has biological basis

• whereas variation in insecure attachment types highlights influence of cultural rearing practices (nurture)

further weaknesses of cultural variations in attachment AO3

• lack of control over original studies as it’s meta analysis reducing internal validity

• assumes cultural homogeneity ignoring intercultural difference so lacks generalisability

maternal deprivation

when a bond has been formed but during the critical first 2.5yrs there is a prolonged separation from the mother with no substitute caregiver

Bowlby the maternal deprivation hypothesis

• believed a child must have a warm intimate continuous relationship with their mother

• breaking the maternal bond with the child during the early years of its life is likely to have serious effects

• if prolonged separation occurs before the ages of 2.5 without a substitute, severe effects on the wellbeing of child

• but even at risk up to 5yrs old

• law of accumulated separation: any separation from the mother no matter how brief has over all negative effects

long term effects of maternal deprivation

• intellectual: risk of low IQ so academic struggle

• emotional: risk of behavioural disorders so hard to control and in trouble

• social (IWM): trouble forming relationships later on and unable to be good parent

• affection less psychopathy: behavioural disorders where unable to show remorse or guilt

• effects permanent and irreversible

maternal deprivation study: name and aim

Bowlbys 44 thrives study

to investigate the relationship between early prolonged separation from mothers and development of affection less psychopathy in children

maternal deprivation study: method

• 88 children reported to child guidance clinic

• 44 for stealing (experimental group)

• other 44 for other types (control)

• bowlby diagnosed affectionless psychopathy among the children

• and undertook an examination of children’s histories for early and prolonged separation from mothers

maternal deprivation study: results

• experimental group: 14/44 of thieves were diagnosed affectionless psychopaths, 86% had early prolonged separation from mothers

• control group: none were diagnosed, only 4% experienced prolonged separation

maternal deprivation study: conclusions

• early and prolonged separation from mothers is strongly associated with development of affectionless psychopathy in children

• separation likely casual factor in development of affectionless psychopathy

maternal deprivation study: further research supporting

• spitz visited several orphanages in south america

• the kids received very little warmth or attention becoming apathetic

• many suffered from depression (resigned helplessness and loss of appetite)

• this was attributed to lack of emotional care and long term disruption of attachment from their mothers

Weakness of maternal deprivation is bowlby confuses concepts of deprivation and privation AO3

• Rutter said bowlby never made a distinction between the 2 and it wasn’t clear where his 44 thieves attachment bond had formed then disrupted (maternal deprivation) or never formed (privation)

• many of the kids had experienced several changes of caregiver during their early childhood leading rutter to believe their later problems were caused by privation not deprivation also in spitz

• long term damage actually from privation and may not lead to long term negative consequences bowlby thought

• questions the validity

various contradictory evidence for maternal deprivation AO3

• research by lewis partially replicated 44 thieves study on a larger scale with 500 kids

• in her sample, history of prolonged separation from mothers didn’t predict criminality or difficulty in relationships unlike Bowlbys hypothesis

• weakens support for theory as it suggests other factors such as mothers emotional instability and tendency to neglect may be more cause of problems than deprivation

strength of maternal deprivation hypothesis is that it’s led to significant real world applications

• enormous effect on child rearing and led to major social change in the way children were cared for in hospitals

• before the research, parents were discouraged or forbidden from visiting children who had gone into hospitals for disease control, however research and footage showed kids distress at being alone

• led to changes that now children’s wards have spaces for parents to sleep in and some even require parents to stay overnight

• significant changes in families lives reducing suffering of kids

further weaknesses of maternal deprivation theory

• deterministic: effects permanent and irreversible but later research shows children can recover if given emotional care

• ignored wider social factors: focuses narrowly on mother child bond and overlooks other important influences such as poverty family dynamics

institutionalisation

• living arrangements outside family home e.g orphanage

• result in child adopting rules or norms of institution that can impair functioning e.g loss of personal identity

• children growing in institutions had so many change in carers that impossible to form attachments

• if since baby the privation may occur

ERA (english romanian adoptee) study name and aim

Rutter ERA study

to investigate long term effects of early institutionalisation on physical emotional cognitive development in romanian children adopted by Uk families in comparison to uk adopted children without deprivation

ERA study: method

• 165 romanian children adopted before 3 ½ by UK fams were compared to control group of 52 Uk adopted kids without deprivation

• orphans divided into those adopted early (less that 6 months) and adopted late (more than 6)

• control groups included to ascertain whether negative effects due to separation or institutional conditions

• assessed on physical intellectual cognitive functioning abilities

• assessed at 4,6,11,15,22 and beyond (longitudinal research)

ERA study results: physical development

• in childhood weight: on arrival to UK 51% of romanian adoptees were in bottom 3% of population

• in childhood height: shorter than normal

• in childhood by age 4 physical differences no longer apparent

• in adulthood physical effects on brain much longer lasting for romanian late adoptees

ERA study results: emotional development

• in childhood disinhibited attachment shown in late adoptees: including lack of wariness of strangers, inappropriate affectionate behaviour, walking off with strangers

• by age of 6 many displayed this

• at age of 11 still displayed by 50% of romanian children but rate of recovery better for those adopted early

• in adulthood self reported emotional difficulties showed a marked increase in young adulthood for late adoptees

ERA study results: cognitive development

• IQ measured at 11 was: 102 for those adopted early, 86 for between 6months and 2yrs, 77 after 2 yrs

• some late adoptees showed difficulties not experienced by uk adoptees like autism like qualities, adhd like qualities

• in adulthood IQ had returned tk normal rates by childhood but unemployment was higher in late adoptees

key finding for ERA study

20% had none of the adverse effects listed above and were problem at all assessments

ERA study conclusions

• age of adoption and level of exposure to institutionalisation has no impact on recovery

• those adopted before 6 months had no significant problems

• after 6 months showed adverse effects in all areas

• all orphans improved when good care given

• evidence used to refute bowlbys maternal deprivation

neurobiological evidence for long term effects of institutionalisation study name and aim

mackes

investigate long term neurobiological effects on brain volume, IQ ADHD symptoms in young adult romanian adoptees compared to british ones who hadn’t experienced institutionalisation

neurobiological evidence for long term effects of institutionalisation study: method

• mackes took MRI scans of 67/165 og romania's orphans

• and 21/52 british adoptees all aged 23-28yrs at time of scan over 20yrs after start of the project

neurobiological evidence for long term effects of institutionalisation study: results

• found brains of romanian adoptees who were institutionalised as children, were 8.6% smaller than english

• longer the time institutionalised, smaller their brain volume. each additional month 0.27% reduction

• deprivation related changes in brain volume were associated with lower IQ and more severe symptoms of ADHD

neurobiological evidence for long term effects of institutionalisation study: conclusion

length of time spent in institutions before adopting significantly impacts recovery of child

longer institutionalised leads to more pronounced neurobiological effects

ERA study revolutionary, longitudinal, multi method investigation AO3

• expertly followed romanian adoptees for past 24yrs with research still carried out meaning we can see real life long term effects of institutionalisation. shows that unlike previously believed by bowlby children after adoption make improvements

• highlights substantial minority who get adopted after 6months and continue to experience significant problems sand MRI scan shows neurobiological impacts of institutionalisation which has never been done before

• ERA highly scientific, reliable so we have faith in results which have revolutionised our understanding

ERA study natural experiment weakness AO3

• IV occurred without researchers having control over extraneous variables, difficult establishing cause and effect

• rutter didn’t randomly allocate kids to conditions/ adoption, may have been kids with better social skills and IQ engaged better with parents so adopted earlier. suggest cause of later difficulties due to biological pre existing conditions

• he acknowledged difficult to find out quality of care as some may have received special treatment not experiencing privation

• lack of controlling extraneous variables weakens support

• however reliability of findings is supported by bucharest early intervention project where children were randomly allocated

ERA study valuable real life applications AO3

• findings have led to improvements in the way kids are cared for by institutions

• kids now assigned key worker and may have only 1 or 2 caregivers responsible for them so they are able to form healthy attachments

• demonstrated value of research as enhanced our understanding of the negative effects of institutionalisation

ERA study further strengths

• cross cultural validity: involved kids adopted into UK allowing researchers to observe how children from 1 cultural context developed in another, increases generalisability as it suggests effects of institutionalisation arent culture specific

• high internal validity due to range of assessment methods

ERA study further weaknesses

• ethical concerns regarding informed consent and long term follow ups

• lack of diversity: orphanages were unusually deprived so not generalisable to children in more typical institutional settings

continuity hypothesis

based on internal working model stating childhood attachment types (avoidant,resistant, secure) are also reflected in adult relationships

continuity hypothesis in childhood relationships

• early attachment provides a template or prototype for all relationships in a persons life including childhood friendships

• formations of schema from first attachment relationships affect childhood relationships

• e.g if a child cries and gets ignored by parents in the future if a friend is upset they don’t respond by comforting but ignoring them

continuity hypothesis in adult relationships

• early attachment provides a template or prototype for adult attachment

• formations of schema from first attachment relationships affect adult relationships and own success as an adult

• e.g if a child cries and gets ignored by parents in the future they are likely to ignore their own child’s crying repeating the cycle

2 different perspectives of the IWM

prototype and revisionist perspective

prototype perspective

belief the child’s IWM is consistent over their life and we can predict future relationships based on the IWM

revisionist perspective

• belief the IWM is revised and updates as a result of life experiences

• adult IWM can differ hugely from infant

• this approach allows for changes in the pattern of relationships that a person may have through their lives

researchers support of IWM in childhood

• Belsky

• Smith

• Harlow and Suomi

Belsky support of IWM in childhood

• found 3-5yr securely attached children were more curious, resilient, self confident, got along better with other kids and more likely to form close relationships

• they expect others will be friendly and can be trusted, prepared to let people get close to them

• tend to be more confident and less likely to be targets for bullies for fear they will stand up for themselves and have closer friendships so more support from other kids