Attachment Theory 22 mark 11/7/25

How many paragraphs total will the assessment be?

7 paragraphs

What content will be included in the first paragraph?

The theory of imprinting: Is it life long? what is the life long impact? Where can it happen? when does it happen? How does it happen? Does it vary? (Introduce Freud's Cupboard Love Theory and why it is false).

What will be included in the second paragraph?

Attatchment Theory by Bowlby: Stages, critical period, ecological theories referring towards reciprocal relationship of child need and motherly love, Internal working model, lack of attatchmet.

What will be included in the third paragraph?

The introduction to Ainsworth's research: who is she and what did she propose as a change to Attatchment theory? What is the strange situation Test?

What will be included in paragraph 4?

Attatchment styes: Securely, insecurely (avoident and ambiveleny), disorganized, continuity hypothesis

What will be included in the fifth paragraph?

Evaluating key studies: Van Ijzendoor and Kroonenberg (1988), Fonagy et al (1991)

What will be the final paragraph of the essay?

Evaluating predictive validity through longitudinal studies and real-world applications.

Who was the person to discover the theory of imprinting?

Konrad Lorenz

What is imprinting?

The process by which animals create an attachment with the identification of a parental figure.

Do all animals imprint?

Yes, but not in a similar way

How do animals imprint?

Animals will enter what is known as a critical period in their lives, where they are most sensitive to making bonds with others. For most birds, this happens as soon as they open their eyes. On the contrary, humans will have a critical period up to 2 years old.

Is imprinting lifelong?

Yes, imprinting is life-long

What was Freud's Cupboard Love Theory?

The theory that children evolved to love their parents because they provide the child resources and a way to survive (food). This theory was officially debunked with the introduction of Bowlby's Attachment Theory and the Imprinting Theory (when ducks imprinted on boots, the boots would not give them food, but they were still attached to them)

What is Attachment Theory?

The theory that attachments are made early in the life and deal in life-long connectiveness between humans. Bowlby mentioned how the bond is made between a child and female caregiver although later studies show that this caregiver need not be female or even human at all. The theory mentions how attachment can affect the course of the rest of the life. (attachment or no attachment)

What participants did Bowlby use to prove his research on attachment style? Why?

Evacuees, Tuberculosis patients, Juvenile Delinquents, children who lost their families in WW2 in the UK. Bowlby used these participants because they had lacked the presence of a mother for most of their lives, therefore proving that attachment creates lifelong habits. This research is plagued by Hindsight bias and non-generalizability to the overall population.

What is Bowlby's Ethological Theory?

recognizes that infants' emotional tie to their caregiver is an evolved response that promotes survival. The mother is also therefore drawn to grabbing and protecting their child.

What are the four stages of Attachment development?

1. Pre-attachment phase (birth - 6 weeks): Ethological reciprocal action theory

2. "Attachment in Making" Phase (6 weeks - 6 to 8 months): the infant will recognize the presence of the mother compared to others

3. "Clear Cut" Attachment Phase (6-8 months to 18 months - 2 years): attachment becomes evident, especially with separation anxiety.

4. Formation of Reciprocal Relationship (18 months - 2 years and on): The relationship created continues, building confidence in exploration

What is the Internal Working Model?

The template for future relationships based on the first attachment is made, showing that confidence in certain ideas, like sense of self or sense of other,s and attachment with them can impact future relationships in what is known as the continuity hypothesis.

Who is Ainsworth and what is she known for?

Ainsworth is a female psychologist who is known for adding on to Bowlby's research on attachment theory. Instead of attachment or no attachment, she discovered attachment styles through her highly replicated experiment, the Strange Situation Test.

What is the Strange Situation Test?

Laboratory procedure designed to evaluate attachment style by observing one-year-olds' reactions to being separated, then reunited with their primary caregiver, while also sometimes being in the presence of a stranger

What type of attachment styles exist?

Secure, Insecure-avoidant, Insecure-ambivalent, Disorganized

What is Secure attachment?

When a child has separation anxiety, stranger anxiety, positive reunion, and is interested in exploration around their mother

What is Insecure-avoidant attachment?

When a child has no separation anxiety, no reunion, no stranger anxiety, has a sense of self but a negative sense of the caregiver.

What is insecure-ambivalent attachment?

When a child has high separation anxiety, stranger anxiety, but is restrictive to reunion therefore having a low sense of self but a positive sense of the caregiver. Typically happens with caregivers who are inconsistent with care.

What is Disorganized attachment?

When there are both traits of insecure-avoidant attachment and insecure-ambivalent attachment for a child, which needs to be studies multiple times to determine.

What is the aim for Fonagy et al (1991)?

to investigate the question of how a mother's attachment style affects the development of her child using a prospective study.

What was the method used for Fonagy et al (1991)?

longitudinal study (correlational)

What was the procedure used for Fonagy et al (1991)?

The sample consisted of 100 women expecting a first child recruited from the London Parent-Child Project. All over the age of 20. Generally middle-class. The first part was during the final trimester of their pregnancy, where mothers were asked about their childhood experiences, therefore defining them in attachment styles. They were either dismissive, preoccupied, or autonomous. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. Second part was twelve months after women gave birth and were invited to do the SST. Last stage included a final interview after the SST to ask about major life events.

What were the results of Fonagy et al (1991)?

attachment styles generally predicted attachement patterns 75% of the time. 73% of mothes dismissing or preoccupied had insecurely attached children.

What was the conclusion of Fonagy et al (1991)?

Parenting attachment styles predicted attachment patterns or children.

Evaluate Fonagy et al (1991)

triangulation makes the results more reliable through interviews

Sample is biased due to being mostly WEIRD

First interview was done in parents home for greater ecological validty but lower internal validity

correlational

fathers or other caregivers excluded

deterministic approach makes results less reliable

What is the aim of Van Ijzendoor and Kroonenberg (1988)?

to determine if the rate of secure attachment was universal

What is the method used by Van Ijzendoor and Kroonenberg (1988)?

meta-analysis (correlational)

What was the procedure used in Van Ijzendoor and Kroonenberg (1988)?

meta-analysis of 32 SST's from US, Britain, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Japan, China, and Israel.

What were the results of Van Ijzendoor and Kroonenberg (1988)?

Western countries had more avoidant than ambivalent behavior and Japan had more ambivalent than avoident behavior. All results however were relatively similar. Most was secure

What was the conclusion of Van Ijzendoor and Kroonenberg (1988)?

The findings were mostly similar among all cultures with the majority being secure. There is greater variation in cultures rather than between them.

valuate Van Ijzendoor and Kroonenberg (1988)

Majority of results come from the US

Study only focuses on developed countries

SST may not be representative of all cultures

Samples are generally small compared to general culture

Research biases when collecting research based on a set of criteria

lacks temporal validity due to globalization effects since 1988