attachment

define reciprocity

The caregiver and infant respond to each others signals appropriately e.g. The caregiver smiles and the infant smiles back. It is always two way like a conversation however as it is just reciprocal it doesn't tell us anything about the quality of the interaction. for example a child shrieking and an adult shouting back is reciprocal but may not be an interaction that improves their attachment bond. This teaches the child about turn-taking in conversations, even though neither party can understand what the other is saying (start of learning how to conversate)

define interactional synchrony

the infant mirrors the actions of the caregiver and more importantly the emotions. e.g. facial expression/ hand gestures. the infant and caregiver are synchronised because they are moving in the same time or pattern therefore does tell us about the quality of the interaction.

metltzoff and Moore study

observation on babies as young as two weeks old in which adults displayed 3 facial expressions and a hand gesture as the child’s response was filmed and identified by independent observers who had no knowledge of what the children had just witnessed. The behavioural categories were mouth opening, termination of mouth opening, tongue protrusion, termination of tongue protrusion. Each observer scored the tapes twice (high inter-observer reliability could be calculated) all scores were greater than 92. An association was found between the expression or gesture the adult had displayed and the babies actions. In conclusion reciprocity exists from a very young age. 

isabella et al study

observed mother-infant interactions at 3 and 9 and 12 months old, assessing the quality of their attachments using the strange situations and found:

1.       Good interactional synchrony lead to secure attachments

2.       Minimally involved mothers who were unresponsive or mothers who were intrusive and over stimulating led to insecure attachment

Concludes that interactional synchrony= biggest predictor of healthy and secure interactions and attachment.

evaluation of caregiver- infant interactions - research

P- there is research that shows the existence of reciprocity as a type of caregiver-infant interaction from a very early age

    E- Meltzoff and Moore study

    E- an association was found: expression or gesture displayed by adult and action by infant (suggesting imitation)

    L- research shows us the existence of reciprocity in caregiver-infant interactions and that these occur at a very young age, suggesting that reciprocity is innate behaviour rather than something that has been learnt, therefore must be a universal phenomena in caregiver infant interactions.

evaluation of caregiver-infant interaction- strength of research

P- a strength of caregiver infant interactions is that most of the research uses controlled observations.

   E- (filmed multiple angles, recorded, babies do not know they are being observed)

   E- ensures very fine detail of behaviour is recorded and recording can be watched multiple times etc.

  L- research is high in validity and therefore provides us with faith in the concepts of reciprocity and Interactional synchrony. Reliability of observers is also high= 0.92 (high inter-rater reliability)

evaluation of care-giver interaction- weakness of research

P- research into caregiver-infant interaction could be socially sensitive

E- interactional synchrony suggests that in order for secure and strong attachments to be formed then the mother needs to be present from birth in order to develop this sensitive relationship with their child.

E- children whose mothers return to work after the child’s birth then have restricted opportunities in achieving interactional synchrony

L- this research then has implications for particular social groups e.g. working mothers as suggests their attachments may not be as secure if work is preventing interactional synchrony from taking place.

Schaffer’s study of attachment

A longitudinal study using 60 babies from Glasglow, the majority from skilled working class background. They were visited at home every month for the first year and then at 18 months. Mothers were interviewed to measure the infants level of attachment asking questions about how their infants responded to seven questions. E.g. adult leaving the room and observations were conducted to investigate the level of distress the presence of a stranger caused. Findings- signs of separation anxiety shown by 50% of infants by 7 months, 80% of infants by 40 weeks and almost 30% displayed multiple attachments. By one year 78% of infants had developed multiple attachments with 33% having five or more multiple attachment figures.

schaffer’s stages- stage 1

Pre attachment

Bith-3 months

Babies start to smile and become more ‘sociable’. They can tell people apart and like to be in human company, so form stronger attachments. However they can be easily comforted by any individual, therefore the attachment cannot progress. (show no fear of strangers)

schaffer stage 2

Indiscriminate attachment

3 months to 7/8 months

Infants are recognising and forming bonds with their carers through interactional synchrony and reciprocity. However their behaviour towards animate or inanimate objects is quite similar. Easily calmed by familiar adults but will allow strangers to look after them.

Schaffer stage 3

Discriminate attachment

7/8 months onwards

The infant begins to show separation anxiety and protests usually by crying when their primary attachment figure leaves. They have now formed a specific attachment and they begin to show fear of strangers.

schaffer stage 4

Multiple attachments

9 months onwards

Begin to make multiple attachments (29% within a month after showing a specific attachment) usually towards friends, grandparents etc.

evaluation of the stages of attachment- challenging research

The pre-attachment stage assumes that infants emotional responses aren’t directed to a specific induvial but research shows that this might not actually be the case. Bushnell- presented 2 day old babies with either their mothers face or the face of a female stranger until they had spent a total of 20 seconds focusing on one of them. They found that 2/3 infants preferred their mothers face over a strangers. This suggest that Schaffer pre-attachment phase is incorrect in assuming infants responses aren’t directed to a specific individual in this early stage. It implies that even young children respond to one specific person in a unique way.

evaluation of schaffer’s stages- strength of research

based on longitudinal research evidence- observed the Glasgow babies every month for a year and then at 18 months- improves the validity of research as it allowed him to clearly observe the stages the babies went through and what time in order to decide on his stages. allows us to improve understanding of the dynamic processes that shape a child’s development.

evaluation of Schaffer’s stages- issue

Sample of babies were all from Glasgow and all from a working class background- questions whether this research can be generalised. In other cultures having multiple caregivers is the norm.

Bowlby’s concept of monotropy

suggested babies needed constant care of the mother for healthy social development and that fathers should provide economic rather than emotional functional.

role of the father- paquette and hrdy

found that fathers are more likely to foster risk taking behaviour in their children than mothers by engaging in more physical play and enjoyable games. Fathers are also preferred when children are in positive emotional state and want stimulation. Whereas mothers are preferred when children are distressed and seeking comfort.

fathers are less able to detect low levels of infant distress

= these findings suggest there are key differences in the roles and capabilities of mothers and fathers however other research suggest this is not because fathers are not as capable as mothers but because they haven’t been given the opportunity to develop these skills

role of the father- field

filmed 4 month old babies in face to face interactions with primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers and primary caregiver fathers. They found that primary caregiver fathers like mothers spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants, unlike secondary caregiver fathers. (this behaviour is Important in forming attachments) = suggesting the father is just as capable as the mother of being sensitive and caring primary caregiver when given the chance and that it’s the level of responsiveness and not the gender of the parent that is key to building attachment relationship.

role of the father- lamb

the characteristics of individual fathers e.g. masculinity, intellect are much less important than the quality of the relationship established. Children who have secure, supportive, reciprocal and sensitive relationships with their fathers do better on every measure of the child development

evaluation of role of the father- inconsistency

A weakness of the research is that there are inconsistent findings as to the role of the father in attachments. For example research into the role of the father in attachment is confusing as some researchers are interested in understanding the role of the father as a secondary attachment figure, whereas others are more focused on when they are primary attachment figures. Research has tend to found that fathers either behave differently from mothers and have a distinct role or fathers can take on maternal role. this is an Issue as psychologists cannot easily answer the question of what is the role of the father as the a findings are Inconsistent and firm conclusions cannot be drawn.

evaluation of role of the father- criticism

if fathers have such a distinct role, then why aren’t children without fathers any different. McCallum and Golombok- have found that children growing up in single or same sex parent families do not develop any differently from those in two parent heterosexual families

evaluation of role of the father- issues

Socially sensitive- some of the research into the role of the father can have serious positive and negative implications for all mothers and fathers so can be seen as socially sensitive. Research that tends to show greater differences between mothers and fathers can have negative implications. For example Bowlby’s monotropic theory suggest that fathers cannot play the role of the primary caregiver and suggests mothers should stay at home and fathers should work.

how to answer outline and evaluate research into multiple attachments (A01)

multiple attachments are attachments to two or more people. research has shown that most babies are able to form multiple attachments once they have formed a specific attachment to their main caregiver.

Schaffer- 29% of infants develop multiple attachments within a month of developing specific attachments (by 40 weeks) ……

bowlby’s monotropic theory- multiple attachments are not as important as primary caregiver

role of father- one of the key multiple attachments- important for a child’s development although research differs.

how to answer outline and evaluate research into multiple attachments (A03)

there is a disagreement to when multiple attachments actually occur- schaffer and Bowlby believe that a baby must form specific attachments before they are able to form multiple. however some psychologists believe that in some cultures multiple attachments occur earlier. shows either timing of Schaffer’s stages are incorrect or they cannot be generalised to all countries and cultures as perhaps multiple attachments actually differs from culture to culture.

Bowlby believed that multiple attachments were not of equal strength to the primary attachment and not as important also. However Rutter (1995) saw all attachments as being equal – so he believed there was no such thing as primary and secondary attachments. All of the child’s attachments give the child an idea of how relationships work (the internal working model) and are of equal importance.

Sagi et al (1994) looked at children raised in a community children’s Kibbutz (so looked after by many different adults) but with family based sleeping arrangements. Attachment to the mother was strong with 80% securely attached and no avoidant. The findings of this research support Rutter’s belief that there is no difference in the importance of primary and multiple attachment, in fact it shows that these multiple attachments may actually lead to stronger primary attachments. All of this means that fathers and mothers can happily go out to work without there being any negative social or emotional impact on their children which has positive economic implications for families and for the economy in general.

lorenz-

-to investigate the mechanisms of imprinting, where bird species mobile from birth follow and form an attachment to the first moving thing they see. Lorenz 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. The incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere whereas the control group followed their mother. When the two groups were mixed up, the incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere whereas the control group followed the mother. There was a critical period between 4-25 hours where if imprinting did not occur, the geese did not attach to a mother figure. The geese that imprinted on humans would later try to attempt to mate with humans.

Harlow’s study

to determine whether food or close comfort was the Important factor in attachment. Harlow placed 16 baby monkeys in cages with two surrogate mothers, a harsh wired mother or a towelling mother. There was four conditions: wire mother producing milk, towel mother no milk. Wire mother no milk, towel mother producing milk. Wire mother producing milk. Towelling mother producing milk. The amount of time spent with each mother was recorded as well as feeding time. The monkeys were frightened with a loud noise to test for mother preference during stress. Findings- monkeys preferred contact with the towelling mother when given a choice of surrogate mothers, regardless of whether milk was being produced. They even stretched across to the wired mother for feeding when clung onto the towelling mother. Monkeys with only the wired mother showed signs of diorehha and stress.  When frightened by a loud noise, monkeys cling to the towelling mother in conditions where she was available. Monkeys in adulthood- some experienced extreme consequences and were found more aggressive, less sociable, bred less often and were unskilled at mating. Some of the monkeys neglected their children and even attacked them.

evaluation of animal studies- generalisability

Problems with generalisability- as there is an issue generalising animal study findings to human infants- comparing humans to geese seems less appropriate as birds have much less complex cognition and involve less emotion than mammals. However Harlow’s monkeys seem more appropriate as monkeys are more similar to humans than geese (biologically) and have the same brain structure as humans

evaluation of animal studies- usefulness

Despite the arguments of whether we can generalise animal research to humans the findings have still been useful to understanding human attachment. Lorenz’s idea of a critical period greatly influenced Bowlby’s research and led to the idea that human infants need to attach by the age of 2 or there would be serious long-term consequences. Similarly, Harlow’s research showed us the consequences of early neglect in children and the potential long-term consequences of poor attachment in childhood for future relationships, again influencing Bowlby’s internal working mode

evaluation of animal studies- ethics

The use of animals in research can be questioned on ethical grounds. It could be argued that animals have a right not to be researched on/ harmed and the pursuit of academic conclusions for human benefits could be seen as detrimental to non-human species. However, the counter-argument is that it would not be possible to carry out this research on human infants and that the findings have had huge significance, for example, helping social workers to identify risk factors in vulnerable children and preventing long term negative consequences. This means we have to think about a cost-benefit analysis of the harm caused to the rhesus monkey’s versus the benefit to human infants and our understanding of human attachment.

explain learning theory

classical conditioning- food (UCS) leads to a natural response from the child (UCR) the PCG who is the feeder is the (NS). over time the infant begins to associate the PCG with the food. the PCG is now the CS and the CR is the associated pleasure. the attachment has now began as the infant wants the PCG around not due to food anymore but because they are the new CS.

operant conditioning- we learn via punishment and rewards. infants learn that they can receive attention by crying, laughing etc these behaviours are positively reinforced for the infant as it is rewarded. e.g. when the infant cries they are rewarded with food and therefore this behaviour is repeated even more. child has now learnt that if it behaves in a certain way, it can get what it wants. the PCG is also rewarded by a negatively reinforcer removed (the infant stops crying) this means the PCG is also likely to repeat the behaviour as it is rewarding and something unpleasant is removed.

primary drive is something the infant needs to survive e.g. food

secondary drive is a stimulus that reinforces behaviour after it has been associated with the primary drive e.g. food is the primary drive and the PCG is the secondary drive as they provide the food. the attachment begins when the infant forgets about the primary drive and looks for the secondary drive the Pcg.

explain Bowlby’s monotropic theory

 Critical period

Innate

Internal working model

Monotropy

Proximity

Social releasers

Bowlby believed we are born with the ability to attach in order to aid survival (it is an innate system) he proposed the idea of monotopy in which infants have one special emotional bond, usually the mother, and this relationship is different and more important than any others. he believed that the more time spent with the primary attachment figure the better. proximity is also an important factor of his theory as babies seek proximity to their primary attachment figure for safety as it protects them from hazards (used to be animals now more modern things such as cars etc). therefore secure attachments are useful for survival. he suggested the concept of social releasers which are innate an act as behaviours that will perform to attract attention for example by crying, laughing etc. these are important for the development of this parent-infant attachment as they elicit caregiving from the parent.

Bowlby suggested the critical period which believed that if this monotropic attachment had not occurred by age 2 the infant would have difficulty forming attachments later in life. this monotropic attachment forms an internal working model which acts as a mental representation for what future relationships should look like. therefore it has a powerful effect on future relationships and the ability to parent themselves (continuity hypothesis) . he suggested that strongly attached infants would be socially and emotionally competent in relationships whereas those who are poorly attached would have social and emotional issues in future relationships.

evaluation of monotropic theory- Harlow

Harlow and Harlow supports many concepts of the monotopic theory. Innate programming- instinctively went to the cloth mother without learning this. Monotropy- spent 22/24 hours a day with the cloth monkey only leaving to feed. Internal working model- some of the monkeys found it difficult to mate and the monkeys that did become mothers were often bad mothers because they had a poor internal working model as has no real mother themselves. Proximity- in a variation when Harlow showed a scary robot to the monkeys they appeared very distressed and ran and clung to the cloth mother for safety.

evaluation of learning theory- harlow

Harlow contradicts learning theory. Learning theory would predict that the infant monkeys would attach to and so spend the majority of time with the one that fed e.g. the wire monkey. Harlow’s monkey study showed the monkeys actually preferred the comfort monkey who gave no food. So shows it is not food that is key to attachment but comfort. Other animal studies have also shown us that young animals do not necessarily attach to those who feed it. Lorenz’s geese imprinted these attachments regardless of who fed them.

issues with both learning theory and monotropic theory

One issue with both explanations is their over emphasis on the importance of nature and nurture in the development of attachments. Bowlby’s theory believes that attachment is innate and that a baby has biological drive to survive and to attach, whereas learning theory claims attachment develops as a result of environmental factors e.g. is learnt through a combination of stimulus response association and reinforcement.  Explaining how attachments are developed through is a complex process and is too simplistic to look at nature or nurture alone. In order to best explain attachment, an interactionalist approach should be taken. Perhaps a baby does at first learn to associate its mother with food but its biological drive to survive and seek food that allows it do this and its innate social releasers such as smiling that condition a mother to attach to her child.

issues with learning theory-

An issue with the learning theories explanations of attachment is its too basic. To explain something as complex as human attachment to say it is learnt through stimulus and response or by reinforcement is just too simplistic. It ignores the importance of interactional synchrony in attachment formation for example. Research (Isabella) suggest that it is the sensitivity of the caregiver that is important and this directly links to the quality of the attachment. If attachment was just purely about food then there would be no need for these complex interactions.

issue with monotropy theory

It has been argued that the concept of monotropy is socially sensitive as had negative implications for parents especially mothers. Bowlby’s 1950’s world health organisation report suggested that babies needed constant care of the mother for healthy social development which it is believed led to stay at home mothering and there is still the idea today amongst some that mothers should not work. Burman- and other feminists state that it places a terrible burden of responsibility on mothers pushing them into a particular lifestyle choices and placing the blame on them if anything goes wrong in a child’s life. This social sensitivity is an issue with Bowlby’s theory especially when we look at further evidence that shows that good substitute care either in a nursery, the father or a family member does not  have a detrimental effect on social development and so a mother can happily return to work after having a child.

ainsworths types of attachments

secure attachment- This is a strong and contented attachment of an infant to his/her caregiver, which develops as a result of sensitive responding by the caregiver to the infant’s needs. Securely attached infants are comfortable with social interaction and intimacy. Secure attachment is related to subsequent healthy cognitive and emotional development.

insecure attachment- This is a form of attachment between infant and caregiver that develops as a result of a caregiver’s lack of sensitive responding to the infant’s needs. It may be associated with poor subsequent cognitive and emotional development. There are two types of insecure attachment; avoidant and resistant.

Insecure-avoidant- A type of attachment that describes children who tend to avoid social interaction and intimacy with others. Insecure-resistant- A type of attachment that describes those infants that both seek and reject intimacy and social interaction

ainsworths strange situation aims and procedure

To produce a method for assessing the security of an infant’s attachment by placing the infant in a mildly stressful situation and observing the attachment behaviors that result.

The strange situation took place in a laboratory. The original participants were American infants aged between 12 and 18 months and their caregiver (usually their mother). The third individual involved in the strange situation was a stranger. The same stranger was used all the time. The procedure lasted for just over 20 minutes and the behavior of the infants was closely observed to assess the infant’s levels of exploring, playing and distress behaviors at separation and reunion with the caregiver and when left with the stranger.

there is eight stages of the procedure each lasting 3 minutes except the first stage lasting 30 seconds. first stage is the caregiver, infant, researcher all in the room. stage 2 is the caregiver and infant, stage 3 is the caregiver, stranger, infant, stage 4 is the infant and stranger, stage 5 is the infant and caregiver, stage 6 is the infant alone, stage 7 is the infant and stranger, stage 8 is the caregiver and infant.

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

ainsowrth strange situation findings and conclusion

66% had secure attachment style- high willingness to explore, high stranger anxiety, enthusiastic reunion with caregiver, some separation anxiety, cooperative relationship.

22% had insecure avoidant attachment- avoid social interaction and intimacy's with others, treat caregivers and strangers similarly, high willingness to explore, low stranger anxiety, no separation anxiety, avoid reunion contact with caregiver.

12% had insecure resistant- both seek and reject intimacy's and social interaction, low willingness to explore, high stranger anxiety, very distressed with seperation, seeks and rejects reunion from caregiver.

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 later healthy emotional and social development. They also said that there was an association between the mothers’ behaviour and the infant’s attachment

evaluation of ainsworths strange situation- ecologically valid?

The strange situation was a controlled observation and because of this the validity of the findings have been questioned. As a way of investigating attachment, it is easily the most popular and hasbeen used numerous times in research. However, there is one argument that as the mother and child are in an unfamiliar playroom and mothers know they are being observed then thisartificiality leads to a distortion of the children and mother’s behaviour. If this is the case then it means we have to question the ecological validity of the findings as the behavior observed may not actually reflect the real attachment types of the mother and children in their own homes

evaluation of ainsworths strange situation- high inter-rater reliability

One strength of the strange situation is that he it has inter-rater reliability. Different observers watching the same children in the strange situation tend to agree on what attachment type to classify infants as. In fact, Bick found the inter-rater reliability to be as high as 94%. This strengthens the support for the study as it means we can be confident that the attachment type of an infant observed using the strange situation does not just depend on who is observing them i.e. it is reliable. Also, numerous studies have reported similar findings to Ainsworth and Bell thus their findings can be easily replicated and so are reliable.

evaluation of ainsowrth’s strange situation- culture bound

One weakness of the strange situations is that it may be a culture-bound test. It was developed in America, on American infants and so it may not be valid to use it to study attachment types in different cultures where children and caregivers may respond differently to the strange situations and also where attachment behaviors regarded as healthy in the USA may not be so regarded. For example, Takahasi (1990) found that the strange situations does not work on 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) and 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.

cross cultural research into attachment around the world- kroonenberg

A meta-analysis was carried out on the results of 32 studies that used the strange situation to measure attachment behaviour. Research from 8 different countries was used, including Western cultures (e.g. USA, UK, Germany) and non-Western cultures (e.g. Japan, China, Israel). The 32 studies yielded results for 1,990 children.

Findings 1. Secure attachment was the most common attachment style in all nations.

2. In Western cultures the dominant style of insecure attachment found was avoidant

3. In non-Western cultures the dominant style of insecure attachment was resistant

4. Variation within cultures was 1 ½ greater than between cultures, so they found more differences in attachment styles and behaviours within and around a single country than between that country and another.

what does kroonenberg’s findings suggest?

As secure attachment was the most common style of attachment, it suggests that there may be universal (potentially innate) characteristics in infant-caregiver interactions. The variations in insecure attachment around the world suggests that here culture must play some part However, and suggest that some cultures have higher levels of someinsecure attachment than others. Also, the findings indicate that it is wrong to think of any given culture/country as using exactly the same child rearing practices. The idea that there is a single British, Chinese or American culture is grossly oversimplified and in fact there are several sub-cultures within most large countries differing considerably in not just their child rearing practices but language and customs too

evaluation of cultural variations in attachment- high reliability study

One strength of cross-cultural research into attachment is that they mostly use the strange situations as a research tool. The strange situation has been found to have very high inter-rater reliability with Bick finding it to be as high as 94%. This is because it is a highly standardized piece of research with carefully controlled conditions that is easy to replicate. As it is a meta-analysis they may not be exact replications of each other; with different strangers for example, but with such high inter-rater reliability it means we can be confident that the attachment type of an infant observed using the strange situation wherever in the world would be the same regardless of who is observing.

evaluation of cultural variations in attachment- cultural bias

A major issue when looking at cross cultural research into attachment is that most of the research uses the strange situations as a tool for measuring attachment. The Strange Situation is an example of ethnocentric research as it was designed in America to assess attachment but based on American ideals of attachment behaviour. The USA do not value over-dependency on the caregiver (insecure-resistant attachments) as demonstrated by Rothbaum’s research (2007) and Rothbaum also shows how this “clingy” behaviour (amae) is actually valued in other cultures, such as Japan, and seen as an indication of security. This means that the findings and insights based on the research by Van Izendoorn (1998) and Sagi (1991) lack external validity and so have less meaning than previously believed.

evaluation of cultural variations- lack of population validity

One weakness of the Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s meta-analysis is that it lacks population validity. 27 out of the 32 studies were carried out in what would be considered western cultures, with only one in China and 2 in Japan, for example, and there wasn’t a single study carried out in any African countries. Mesman et al found that the Gusii in rural Kenya expressed sensitive responding to their children in more physical ways than verbal ways typically found in America. This suggests that the study isn’t a true cross-cultural study with most countries studied being western, only very few in some non-western cultures and none at all in Africa where childrearing may be expressed in very different ways to Western cultures and so this needs to be taken into consideration when making conclusions from the findings.

what is Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation

breaking the maternal bond with the child during the early years of its life is likely. If the prolonged separation occurs before the age of two and a half, without a substitute, the effects on the well-being of the child are particularly severe, (critical period) although the child is at risk of deprivation up to the age of five to have serious effects. this includes- Intellectual- Risk of low IQ so may struggle in exams and academically. 3. Emotional- They would be at risk of behavioural disorders so may get in trouble at school or with the police and be hard to control. 4. Affectionless psychopathy- This was a particular behavioural disorder mentioned by Bowlby when a child shows no remorse or guilt over their behaviour for e.g. stealing. Bowlby believed that these effects would be permanent and irreversible.

also have a negative internal working model- They would have trouble forming relationships with others later on, and this could lead to inability to be a good parent also.

Bowlby’s 44 thieves

Bowlby studied 88 children aged 5 to 16 who had been referred to a child guidance clinic where he worked. 44 were referred for stealing the other half were a control group; Bowlby diagnosed 16 of the 44 as affectionless psychopaths – shameless and conscienceless. The control group had been referred for other types of behaviour but none of them were diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths. Bowlby interviewed the children and their family to build a record of their early life experiences. Bowlby discovered that 86% of the affectionless psychopaths had experienced early and prolonged separation from their mothers; only 4% of the control group had experienced such separation. He concluded that the separation had caused affectionless psychopathy. Review of the main findings. From 44 thieves, 16 were diagnosed with affectionless psychopaths. 86% of the 16 had suffered early and prolonged separation from their mothers. None of the control group were considered to be affectionless psychopaths, and only 4% of the control group had suffered early and prolonged separation.

spitz research

o visited several orphanages and other institutions in South America. Children in these orphanages received very little warmth or attention from the staff and had become apathetic. Many suffered from anaclitic depression (resigned helplessness and loss of appetite). This was attributed to their lack of emotional care and long-term disruption of attachment from their mothers.

evaluation of Bowlby’s mental deprivation hypothesis- confusing with privation

Rutter claimed that Bowlby was actually mixing up the concepts of deprivation and privation. He claims Bowlby never made a distinction between the two and never made it clear whether the child’s attachment bond had actually even been there in the first place. Many of Bowlby’s juvenile delinquents has experienced several changes of home/principle caregiver during their early childhood leading Rutter to believe that their later problems were the result of privation and NOT deprivation like Bowlby believed as was the case for the children in Spitz’s study. So in fact the severe long-term damage that Bowlby associated with deprivation was much more likely to be the result of privation and deprivation may not actually lead to bond disruption like Bowlby believed especially when there is good substitute care. This seriously questions the validity of Bowlby’s whole hypothesis

evaluation of Bowlby’s maternal dep- challenging evidence

Lewis- partially replicated Bowlby’s 44 thieves study on which his hypothesis was based but on a much larger scale, looking at 500 young people. In her sample, a history of prolonged separation from the mother did not predict criminality or difficulty in forming close relationships like Bowlby claimed in his maternal deprivation hypothesis and found that other factors may be the cause. This hugely weakens the support for the theory of maternal deprivation because it suggests that other factors such as a mother's emotional instability and her tendency to neglect and/or to reject may be more the cause of behavioural, emotional and social problems than deprivation

evaluation of bowlby maternal dep - real world application

Bowlby’s theory and work by Robertson has had an enormous effect on childrearing and led to major social change in the way children were cared for in hospitals. Before the research and his hypothesis parents were discouraged or even forbidden from visiting children who had to go into hospital but his research and footage showing how distressed these children became changed this and now children’s ward’s have spaces for parents to sleep in and in fact in some hospital one parent is required to stay with young children and infants overnight. The fact that this research has led to such important and significant changes in families lives increases the usefulness of the theory

what is institutionalization

Institutionalisation refers to living arrangements outside the family/family home that results in child adopting rules and norms of the institution that can impair functioning; leading to loss of personal identity, deindividuation etc. Examples of places where this can occur are children’s homes, orphanages, hostels, hospitals. Often (and particularly in the past) children had so many changes of carers in the institutions that it was impossible for them to form any attachments. If the children had been in the institution since they were babies, privation may result where the child has formed no attachments at all.

Rutter study procedure -

165 Romanian children (adopted before the age of 3 ½) by UK families were assessed on a variety of measures of physical, intellectual and cognitive functioning abilities at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15 and beyond. A control group of 52 British adopted children who had not experienced deprivation were also assessed to ascertain whether negative effects were due to separation from carers or the institutional conditions of the Romanian orphanages

Rutter study findings-

physical- 51% of children were in the bottom 3% of the population for weight- also shorter in height than was normal. however by the age of 4, especially those adopted before 6 months, they caught up to the physical effects. however the physical effects on the brain were much more long lasting for those adopted later.

emotional- By the age of 6 many of the children showed signs of disinhibited attachment- lack of wariness of strangers, inappropriate affectionate behaviour, walking off with strangers and leaving the caregiver. At age 11 this was still displayed by 50% of the children. The rates of recovery depended on the age the child was when adopted with those adopted before 6 months fairing much better

cognitive- - Again the age that the child was adopted/how long they spent in the institution impacted on recovery rates. At age 11- mean IQ = 102 for those adopted before 6 months 86 for those adopted between 6 months and 2 years, 77 for those adopted after 2 years.

A proportion of the children adopted after 6 months also showed difficulties not experienced by the British adoptees. These were- -autistic-like qualities and social functioning issues -ADHD like qualities such as inattention, overactivity and generally poor mental functioning

kumsta findings

identified 4 patterns associated with institutional deprivation that occurred by the age of 6 and were still present several years later in the minority of children but many previously institutionalised children did show one or more several years after adoption 1. Quasi-autism- symptoms resembling autism including; social and communication problems, obsessive preoccupations (e.g. watches, plumbing systems)

2. Disinhibited attachment-lack of wariness of strangers, inappropriate affectionate behaviour, walking off with strangers and leaving caregiver.

3. Cognitive impairment-low IQ, very general negative effects on cognition including poor performance of GCSE’s

. 4. Inattention/over activity-problems with concentration and focusing on the task at hand.

mackes research

took MRI scans of 67 of the original 165 orphans and 21 of the original 52 British adoptees (who had not suffered institutionalization) all aged 23-28 years at the time of the scan (so over 20 years after the start of the ERA project). Findings 1. The brains of young adult Romanian adoptees who were institutionalised as children were around 8.6% smaller than the brains of English adoptees who have not suffered this form of deprivation. 2. The longer the time the Romanian adoptees spent in the institutions, the smaller the total brain volume, with each additional month of institutionalisation associated with a 0.27% reduction in total brain volume. 3. Deprivation related changes in brain volume were associated with lower IQ and more symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

evaluation of the Romanian orphan studies - revolutionary

The English and Romanian Adoptee (ERA) Project was a revolutionary, longitudinal, multi-method investigation of the development of children adopted into the UK from Romania in the early 1990's. It has expertly followed the Romanian adoptees for the past 24 years, with research still being carried out now and means that we can see the real life, long term effects of institutionalisation in a way never done before and has shown that, unlike previously believed by researchers such as Bowlby, that children who experience extreme institutional deprivation will usually make a huge improvement in psychological functioning following successful adoption into loving families. It highlighted that a substantial minority of those adopted after the age of sixth months though will continue to experience significant problems and the recent MRI scans of the orphans and the control group into adulthood has allowed researchers to see the neurobiological impact (reduction in brain volume of 0.27% for every month in the institution) of the institutionalisation on the children adopted after 6 months, something never done before. The ERA study is highly scientific, reliable (the findings are similar in all of the studies) so we can have faith in the results which have revolutionised our understanding of the impact of early adversity on development

evaluation of Romanian orphans- extraneous variables

As these pieces of research had to be natural experiments there are of course going to be issues with extraneous variables and difficulties in establishing cause and effect. Rutter couldn’t randomly allocate the children to conditions, for example, and so couldn’t decide who was adopted first and who were adopted later. It could have been that those adopted earlier did better overall because they were naturally better at coping or more social and not because of early adoption. Also, Rutter acknowledges that is was difficult to find out informationabout the quality of care the children received in the institutions and thus the level of privation. Some children coped much better than others and it is thought that some children may have received special attention in the orphanages if they maybe smiled more for instance. This lack of control of all extraneous variables does weaken the support for some of the conclusions of the research but later brain scan studies in 2020 showing that each additional month in the institution lead to a 0.27% reduction in brain size highlights that maybe these extraneous variables weren’t a problem for the conclusions of the research.

evaluation of Romanian orphan studies - application

The findings of Romanian orphanage studies have been immensely valuable in practical terms (Langton 2006). The findings have led to improvements in the way children are cared for in institutions. Children in institutions now are assigned a key worker and have perhaps only one or two other caregivers responsible for them sothat the children have a chance to develop normal attachments, avoiding disinhibited attachments. This further increases the support for the research into Romanian orphans as it has enhanced our understanding of the negative effects of institutionalisation and has shown practical ways to improve children in institutions lives for ever.

what is the continuity hypothesis

based upon the internal working model is more specific and says that the actual attachment types of children (avoidant, resistant, secure) are also reflected in their adult relationships

what is the prototype perspective

the internal model has an impact on future relationships then it follows that a child’s internal working model is fairly consistent over its life or else we wouldn’t be able to predict these future relationships

what is the reviosnist perspective

the internal working model is revised and updated as a result of life experiences and so adult internal working models can differ hugely from infant ones

belsky’s research

found that 3-5 year old securely attached children were more curious, resilient, selfconfident, got along better with other children and were more likely to form close relationships than insecurely attached children. Securely attached children have higher expectations that others are friendly and trusting and so enables easier relationships with others and closer relationships as they are prepared to be trusting and let people get close to them

Smith’s research

assessed attachment type and bullying involvement using standard questionnaires in 196 children aged 7-11 from London and found that secure children are unlikely to be involved in bullying. Insecure-avoidant children were most likely to be victims and insecure-resistant were most likely to be bullies. As securely attached children tend to be more confident (Belsky 199) they are less likely to be the target of bullies for fear that they will stand up for themselves and as they have close friendships bullies risk them having the support of other children

Hazan and Shaver - the love quiz

They analysed the responses from 620 respondents of a “love quiz” they published in the rocky mountain news (an American small-town newspaper). Sample-205 were from men, 415 women; 14-82 years old, 91% heterosexual, 42% married, 28% divorced or widowed, 9% co-habiting and 31% dating (some fitted more than one category). The questionnaire firstly asked questions to assess current or most important relationship, secondly it asked questions about attitudes towards love as an assessment of the internal working model. Thirdly investigated attachment history to identify current and childhood attachment types

Securely attached respondents tended to have a positive internal working model -They also found a positive correlation between attachment type and love experiences; the more attached a person was the more positive they found their love experiences. Securely attached respondents described love experiences as happy, friendly, trusting and were able to accept and support their partner despite their faults. -Securely attached love relationships were more enduring- lasting on average 10 years compared to 5 for resistant and 6 avoidant and if married they tended not to divorce. -Both insecure types were vulnerable to loneliness with resistant being the most vulnerable -Avoidant types tended to reveal jealousy and fear of intimacy

evaluation of early attachment on childhood and adulthood relationships- determinist

An issue with using the internal working model to look at the impact of childhood attachments on future relationships is that it is biologically determinist. It is suggesting that if a person has a negative internal working model or insecure attachments as a child that they WILL go onto have poor relationships as an adult, leaving no room for freewill and the idea that you can actively seek to change your relationships and make them positive or that life events can make secure attachment types insecure in adulthood. Research to support this comes from Zimmerman (2000) who found that infant attachment type did not in fact predict adult attachment types but rather life-events had a greater influence. Other research suggests that life events such as the transition to parenthood, counselling and treatment for mental disorders can all change insecure childhood attachment into positive adult relationships and with their own children. The research shows that this determinism may be incorrect and that we can not predict adult relationships based on childhood attachments and that a person can work to develop healthy relationships instead of their fate having been determined by their poor childhood environment.

evaluation of early attachments on childhood and adulthood relationships- an issue

The majority of studies that support that the internal working model can be used to predict future relationships (prototype perspective) rely on retrospective data. The studies ask adults for information on their childhood attachments so areasking them to recall their early life. These recollections are likely to be flawed as our memories of the past are not always that accurate due to poor recall. They are also likely to be biased as adults who currently have a positive internal working model are more likely to process attachment related info with a positive bias and a negative bias is likelyfrom those with negative internal working models (Dykas and Cassidy 2011). So this means that the evidence supporting the link between childhood and adult relationships may be flawed and inaccurate and makes us questionwhether there really is a link at all.

evaluation of early attachments of childhood and adulthood relationships- cause and effect

The research linking the internal working model to relationships is correlational with only relatively weak correlation coefficients so we can not establish cause and effect. We can’t therefore claim that the reason for the later relationship style is definitely the earlier attachment; there may be other reasons such as the child’s temperament or personality which remains relatively stable over time also. The correlations are also weak; Steele (1998) found only a small correlation of 0.17 between having a secure attachment type in childhood and early adulthood. Fraley (2002) conducted a review of 27 samples where infants were assessed in infancy and reassessed up to 20 years later and found correlations ranging from 0.50 to as low as 0.10. Such weak correlations suggest that attachment type is not very stable and that we cannot say for example that poor childhood attachment CAUSES poor adult relationships