Evaluative points

Animal studies into attachment

• Opposing research - yellow glove chicks imprinted on, but later could mate with their own species

• Ethical - monkeys - long term psychological harm

• Generalisability - human attachment much more complicated than birds

LT

• Opposing research - Harlows monkeys sought comfort in contact rather than food

• Application - apply to hospitals, encourage father to feed child more

• Supporting research - Pavlovs dogs - make sure to link back to classical conditioning in infants and attachment, the dogs and infants both form associations with food

Bowlbys evolutionary (biological) theory - So MAGIC (social releasers, monotropy, adaptive advantage, good quality care, critical period

• Supporting research - Bailey et al

• Socially sensitive - blames mother if healthy attachments not formed in future since they are primary care giver

• Useful application of critical period - makes sure orphanages have children adopted at early ages, before two years old

Ainsworth strange situation

• Inter rater reliability - 94% agreement on attachment types across all researchers

• ethnocentic

• lacks ecological validity - not real life setting, two way mirror

Cultural variations

• ethnocentric - japan and germany

• generalisability - large sample size however only 5 of the 32 studies were carried out in collectivist cultures

• useful applications

Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation (ACIDIC)

• Affectionless psychopathology

• Critical period

• IQ low – Intellectual issues

• Deprivation

• Internal Working Model

• Criminal behaviour – delinquency

• supporting research - 44 Thieves (data is retrospective)

• useful application - applied to hospitals encouraging parents to keep in constant touch with children so they don’t experience MD and any long term effects of it - encourages parents to maintain contact and routine when their children are in hospital. Parents are encouraged to uphold routines within the hospital such as bathing, dressing, reading, or singing to the child.

• Socially sensitive - blames mothers for delinquency or affectionless psychopathy in children. This negative perception may put pressure on mothers to stay at home with their children because this theory could make mothers feel guilty for going to work.

44 Thieves

• Data is retrospective - had to look back to their childhood in interviews

• Social desirability bias - parents may have wanted to appear better

ERA

• attrition rates high - children dropping out of the study, negative long term effects could drop out which would make the results seem like the children have developed better.

• supporting research - Chugani et al, PET scans showing lower activity in amygdala and hippocampus - associated with decision making and emotions

• Internal validity - prospective adoption parents chose the child - children who were adopted earlier were probably more likely to be sociable, and potentially have less issues, therefore are more desirable to adopt. This introduces a confounding variable, so can’t establish cause and effect between institutionalisation and the developmental effects on the child.

• Useful application - unsure children in institutions have 1-2 main care givers to prevent disinhibited attachment

Influence of early attchment, IWM

• supporting research - Hazan and Shaver love quiz

• Application - can form interventions since we know attachments run in generations that teach mothers to change their attachment type and help respond to their babies needs so they don’t become secure

• Hazan and Shaver lacks generalisability - self selected sampling method, certain types of people tend to volunteer themselves eg. not shy people or people who know they have a healthy attachment type

• Interview - lacks internal validity, social desirability bias